"Innovation success leads to the emergence of a virtuous circle : once a critical threshold has been reached, investment attracts investment, talent attracts talent, and innovation generates more innovation."

Said : Global Innovation Index 2013 report, published annually since 2007. Global Innovation Index (GII) - now in its sixth edition - provides a major bench marking tool to business executives, policy makers and others about the state of innovation around the world. This year's report analysed 142 country profiles, including data, ranks and strengths and weaknesses on 84 indicators.

The Global Innovation Index (GII) is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD (one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools having capuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, a specialized agency of the United Nations). 

According to this year's report, the top five innovative countries were : Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Netherlands and USA in that order. "The United States continues to benefit from its strong education base (especially in terms of top-rank universities), and has seen strong increases in software spending and employment in knowledge-intensive services. The US was last in the GII top 5 in 2009, when it was number one," said a GII press release.

Top Ten 2013 ranking :

1. Switzerland (Number 1 in 2012)
2. Sweden (2)
3. United Kingdom (5)
4. Netherlands (6)
5. United States of America (10)
6. Finland (4)
7. Hong Kong (China) (8)
8. Singapore (3)
9. Denmark (7)
10. Ireland (9)

The report notes that "despite the economic crisis, innovation is alive and well. Research and development spending levels are surpassing 2008 levels in most countries and successful local hubs are thriving. A group of dynamic middle- and low-income countries – including China, Costa Rica, India, and Senegal - are outpacing their peers, but haven’t broken into the top of the GII 2013 leader board."

The report also notes that "too many innovation strategies have been focused on trying to replicate previous successes elsewhere, like Silicon Valley in California. However, fostering local innovation requires strategies that should be deeply rooted in local comparative advantages, history and culture. They should be combined with a global approach to reach out to foreign markets, and attract overseas talent."

According to the GII 2013 report, R&D expenditures have grown since 2010 in spite of adversity and tightened budget policies. The R&D expenditures of top 1,000 R&D spending companies have grown between 9 and 10 % in 2010 and 2011. A similar pattern has been observed in 2012.

Another striking trend, the report observes, is that emerging markets have increased their R&D faster than high-income countries. Over the last five years, China, Argentina, Brazil, Poland, India, Russia, Turkey and South Africa (in that order) have been at the forefront of this phenomenon. Emerging markets, and notably China, are also largely driving the growth in patent filings worldwide.

Mr. Li Yingtao, Head of Huawei’s R&D laboratories (one of the knowledge partners), commenting on the findings of the report said : "Growing research and development investments and the rising number of intellectual property patents filed are tangible examples of a growing commitment to innovation. In the global economy, innovation from anywhere can drive change and create new opportunities everywhere. Everyone concerned with innovation as a catalyst for economic and social development needs to remain focused on how the value of innovation is to transform industries, businesses and people’s lives, not just locally but across the world.”

"At no other point in history has so much money been spent on R&D worldwide. Never before has innovation been so well distributed among countries," observed the GII 2013 publishers while releasing the same at the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland) on 01 July 2013.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his remarks at the launch of GII 2013, said : "Science, technology and innovation have played an enormous role in advancing health, education, sustainable energy and other development challenges. This year’s Global Innovation Index shows that the face of innovation in the twenty-first century is changing. Innovation is increasingly open, collaborative and international." 

The full GII 2013 report is available here.

Syariah Law in Brunei : "The penal code (Syariah Law) - with implementation starting six months from now - will prescribe stoning for adulterers, amputation for theft and flogging for drinking alcohol and for abortion."

His Majesty delivering his royal speech
Pic:BT/Saiful Omar

Said : His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darrusalam while delivering his royal speech at this year's Knowledge Convention yesterday, reported the Brunei Times.

The Brunei Times has reported that Brunei Darussalam is enforcing its first Syariah Penal Code six months from now. According to the news report, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darrusalam has announced that the Islamic laws will be introduced in a phased manner, punishing criminal offences such as theft, apostasy and illicit sexual relations, will come into force in six months. The Syariah penal code prescribes stoning for adulterers, amputation for theft and flogging for drinking alcohol and for abortion.

According to the newspaper, the Sultan made the announcement in his titah or royal speech during this year's Knowledge Convention (Majlis Ilmu) held on 23 October, 2013. The monarch officially signed the new legislation - the Syariah Penal Code - at the launch of the Knowledge Convention (Majlis Ilmu) 2013 yesterday. The code outlines the punishment for Hudud crimes, where punishment has been ordained by Al-Quran and the Sunnah (deeds and sayings) of Prophet Muhammad. Hudud crimes cover areas including theft, illicit sexual relations, making unproven accusations of illicit sex, causing physical hurt, drinking intoxicants, apostasy, and acts contrary to Islamic beliefs.

His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan being briefed on one of the exhibits.

An exhibition held alongside the Knowledge Convention showed posters explaining certain penal codes to be carried out. The posters displayed a historical portrayal of how the Syariah Panel Code came into existence. There was also a demonstration of lashing carried out by prisons personnel where a dummy was struck with a cane, showing the proper movements and the specific measurements of the cane. (watch video here)

According to the Brunei Times, the legislation states any person that sells food, drink or tobacco for immediate consumption in a public place during fasting hours can be punished by a fine of up to $4,000 and/or a prison term not more than a year. Additionally, Muslims who insult, mock, or deny the teachings Al-Quran or hadith (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) are liable to imprisonment of up to 30 years and 40 strokes of the cane. Other offences such as theft can be punishable by amputation of the right hand, if the property stolen amounts to/exceeds the nisab (required minimum value) and two credible witnesses besides the victim are produced. The recent ban on Muslim-owned restaurants serving food during the fasting hours of Ramadhan is covered by the Syariah law. Syariah law is generally confined to Muslims, but can extend to non-Muslims if they are involved in aiding or abetting an offence committed by a Muslim.

The Sultan, according to the newsreport, also said : “This Act without doubt, is now part of the great history of our nation. The code is a special guidance from Allah (SWT) to us all. Indeed this guidance is wholly Allah’s (SWT) right to bestow upon us. By the grace of Allah (SWT), with the coming into effect of this legislation, our duty to Allah (SWT) is therefore being fulfilled."

The monarch said the country will continue to plan and develop “in our own way” and that Syariah laws will guarantee justice and well-being for all Muslim citizens. “The step we are taking, does not in anyway change our policies. As a member of the family of nations, we will continue to work together with our friends wherever they may be, to establish more cordial and harmonious relationships based on mutual respect,” he added.

The State Mufti, following Sultan's announcement, said : "The Syariah law created by Allah (SWT) guarantees justice for everyone and safeguards their well-being. In his inaugural lecture at the Knowledge Convention, he said : "both Muslims and non-Muslims are protected under Islamic criminal law as it is all-encompassing and ensures justice as well as security for everyone," adding further that “The dzimmi, non-Muslims living in a Muslim territory, are never to be hurt, they are not to be tyrannised or persecuted by anyone; to do so is a sin,” citing a narration of Islam’s final messenger, Prophet Muhammad.

"It is alarming to hear the statements on the right to use military force to ensure one's own interests in the Middle East region under the pretext of the "remaining in demand for leadership" in the international affairs. All the recent history testifies that no State - no matter how big or powerful - can cope alone with the challenges of that scope faced by mankind today."

Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Said : Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation at the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly on September 27, 2013.

Lavrov said that the pace of developments in today's world is very rapid and less predictable as a result of which the international relations have become more complex and multi -dimensional. UN - a truly universal organization - only has the power to undertake the urgent task to agree upon collective responses to the key issues of today's globalized world. 

Lavrov observed that certain sections of the world community has a tendency to believe that the collective actions are those which are in agreement with the viewpoint of one particular group of countries. This could happen in various areas "on issues of international security, settlement of the conflict situations, functioning of the world economy, the choice of the development models and core values."

Aiming to hint and hit at the US approach, Lavrov said : "Recently, a common argument has been increasingly used to prove that the threat or use of force, directly prohibited by the UN Charter, is nearly the most effective method to address international problems, including settlement of national domestic conflicts. There are attempts to extrapolate such an approach also to the situation in Syria. This happens despite the fact that all the experience of such interventions with the use of force in the recent years has proven that they are ineffective, meaningless and destructive." 

However, Lavrov added that solidarity efforts might be productive only if they reflect all the spectrum of views of the international community on the global challenges and threats, all historical experience and all cultural and civilization diversity of the modern world.

Lavrov cited his leader President Vladimir Putin's remark made in a recent article published in the New York Times : "we must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement."

Full text of the speech made by Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, is available here.

China's rapid development over the years has given rise to worries that China might follow the old pattern of wealth breeding arrogance and strength leading to hegemony; and various versions of the China threat theory have surfaced. However, what happened in the past should not be applied to today's China. The outdated Cold-War mentality has no place in the new era of globalization.

Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the People's Republic of China

Said : Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, at the General Debate of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 27 September 2013.

Wang talked about two "centenary" goals of China's "new central collective leadership" for its 1.3 billion people. According to Wang, the first goal was to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020 and the second one to turn China into a modern socialist country by the mid-21st century.

Wang declared China's commitment to pursuing peaceful development and also peaceful resolution of international and regional disputes. With regard to China's disputes with some countries over territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, Wang said : "We sincerely hope to properly resolve them through negotiation and consultation with countries directly involved. Those disputes that cannot be resolved now can be shelved for future resolution. This is our consistent position and practice." He repeated China's commitment of working with others to establish, what he called "a new type of international relations based on win-win cooperation."

"On the other hand, we will, under whatever circumstances, firmly safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and resolutely uphold China's legitimate and lawful rights and interests," Wang asserted.

Calling the United Nations a big family, where people of all countries are brought together, Wang said that China would like to see a United Nations that plays a bigger role in international affairs. He said China had a consistent position that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter with regard to international relations as well as world peace and stability must be observed. Wang said : "Respecting national sovereignty and opposing interference in internal affairs, safeguarding peace and opposing aggression, and promoting equality and opposing power politics are important principles of the UN and must be observed." 

Wang assured that China would firmly fulfill its due international responsibilities and obligations, although China was still a developing country facing a daunting task of development. Wang said : "China, as the second biggest economy and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is fully aware of its responsibilities and expectations placed on it by the international community."

Full text of the speech made by Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, is available here.

We live in a world of imperfect choices. Different nations will not agree on the need for action in every instance, and the principle of sovereignty is at the center of our international order. But sovereignty cannot be a shield for tyrants to commit wanton murder, or an excuse for the international community to turn a blind eye.

Said : US President Barack Obama in his Address at the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 24 September 2013.

President Obama said that today's new generation of world leaders like us are facing new and profound challenges, and the United Nations, as a world body, continues to be tested. He acknowledged that the United Nations had, in fact, made a difference by its help and contribution to eradicate disease, to educating children, to brokering peace. But now the question is, Obama asked : "whether we possess the wisdom and the courage, as nation-states and members of an international community, to squarely meet those challenges; whether the United Nations can meet the tests of our time."

President Obama outlined U.S. policy towards the Middle East and North Africa, in clear terms, as under :

• The United States of America is prepared to use all elements of our power, including military force, to secure our core interests in the region.
• We will confront external aggression against our allies and partners, as we did in the Gulf War.
• We will ensure the free flow of energy from the region to the world. Although America is steadily reducing our own dependence on imported oil, the world still depends on the region’s energy supply, and a severe disruption could destabilize the entire global economy.
• We will dismantle terrorist networks that threaten our people. Wherever possible, we will build the capacity of our partners, respect the sovereignty of nations, and work to address the root causes of terror. But when it’s necessary to defend the United States against terrorist attack, we will take direct action.
• And finally, we will not tolerate the development or use of weapons of mass destruction. Just as we consider the use of chemical weapons in Syria to be a threat to our own national security, we reject the development of nuclear weapons that could trigger a nuclear arms race in the region, and undermine the global nonproliferation regime.

President Obama's full speech is available here.

As many as 46 per cent of Chinese with assets worth more than RMB10 million (US$1.57 million) are considering moving abroad. Another 14 per cent have begun the process. Chinese people’s desire to emigrate stems from dissatisfaction with life in China and by the prospect of a better life abroad.

Said a study published by the Bank of China and Hurun Report. The first destination of their liking is Singapore due to its economic stability and high quality bilingual education system. Additional advantages of Singapore include its nearness to Beijing and the language. It takes just six hour to fly to Beijing and Mandarin is spoken almost everywhere in Singapore. Wealthy Chinese have perhaps no choice but to look beyond China because of the restrictions imposed on buying property in some 40 cities. There is also a limit on the number of houses that people can own and new property taxes have been introduced in major cities like Shanghai.

According to this study, High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) in China, whose number has increased exponentially during the fast few years, have started feeling uncomfortable with the overall deteriorating quality of life in large cities and complaining about rising pollution and inadequate health care facilities. Surveys and visa numbers show that members of China's wealthy elite are heading for the exits in search of things money can't buy in China.

According to the Harun's 2013 Wealth Report there are 1.05 million millionaires (whose assets are more than 10 million RMB) while the number of super rich, whose assets are over 100 million, has reached 64,500. 

Students attend the commencement ceremony
for Green River Community College at the
ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington, on June 14
Deng Yu/China Daily

A large number for wealthy Chinese who plan to emigrate have already made investments abroad and sent their children for studies abroad. 80% Chinese rich want to send their children abroad for education most of them before they reach university age or senior high school level. The US, UK and Canada continue to remain top three destinations of their choice. The study observes that more people are also now choosing Switzerland, which has overtaken Australia, to the fourth place. Japan, on the other hand, has fallen out of the top 10. 

With regard increasing trend of emigration of Chinese rich, the report says : "Institutionalized corruption has created a culture of dishonesty and negligence that extends to hospitals and schools, where bribing doctors and teachers has become the norm. HNWIs’ greatest fear is that if the history repeats itself, and a redistribution of wealth is carried out (a worst-case scenario), then only international investments can protect their wealth." These fears emanate from the imagination that their country can face major political unrest in coming years.

However, in order to obtain Singaporean citizenship, or even residency, a family must invest 5 million Singaporean dollars (US$3.8 million) which is quite substantial. A large number of Chinese, therefore, are routing their emigration plans via two tiny island nation of St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean which offers cheaper citizenship plans through investment programs. St Kitts and Nevis is an independent Commonwealth Realm – like Australia – and its citizens enjoy the same visa-free travel to the UK, Ireland, Canada and all EU countries that Australians do. This option turns out to be quite attractive because Chinese passport holders face lot of travel restrictions by other countries as well as their own. St Kitts and Nevis citizenship, obtainable in just five months, provides them virtually visa-free travel.

Claire van den Heever

Buying government-approved real estate for between US$400,000 and US$1 million is one way to become a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis, but only a small proportion of people – estimated at 10 percent – tend to take that route because property in St Kitts and Nevis is overvalued. The more affordable, and equally quick and easy, process of obtaining citizenship is to make a once off donation of between US$200,000 and US$250,000 to a government approved project. This option is more popular and about 90 percent of applicants go for it. 

Mr Oleg Lemeshko, a consultant for immigration and second citizenship specialist, Elma Global, has been quoted saying that : "The most difficult decision Chinese nationals face is whether they are willing to give up the nationality they were born with; China does not recognize dual citizenship. Fortunately, this is not a dilemma that new St Kitts and Nevis citizens have to face. Unlike Singapore, St Kitts and Nevis does allow dual citizenship, leaving it up to Chinese nationals to report – or not to report – their newly acquired passport to the PRC."

"Increasing number of Chinese are buying homes in Phuket (Thailand) and Dubai also. Chinese rank sixth for the number of villa-style properties bought by foreigners in Dubai. In the eyes of mainland Chinese, Hong Kong is, perhaps, the least exotic of islands – after all, it is part of China. Getting their money out of China – insofar as “China” is a separate jurisdiction – is far more important to the super rich than moving there," writes Claire van den Heever in her article. 

American real estate market, which is one of the most transparent in the world, also presents opportunities for wealthy Chinese. In fact, they have been buying residential properties in the U.S. for a number of years now, largely in cash, recently more and more Chinese real estate investors are thinking in terms of yields and returns, and considering commercial real estate. Number of EB-5 visas issued has nearly doubled each year since 2009, in large part because of demand from wealthy Chinese. But that's also led to rising fraud. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which oversees the program, about 80% of the 7,641 EB-5 visas issued in the last fiscal year went to Chinese investors and their immediate families. However, many scams have been reported that are blocking Chinese investors' path to U.S. green cards.

The U.S., Canada and Britain, as well as smaller nations like the Caribbean islands of Antigua and St. Kitts, all encourage applications. Still, these programs can be both expensive and difficult to navigate. Applicants who made their start-up capital in the heady and legally ambiguous days of privatization can be the hardest to explain. Chinese HNWIs almost always want to chose U.S. citizenship for their children and have a strong desire, to have children educated in the United States. Most wealthy Chinese say they want a safe refuse overseas because they fear they will the targets of public or government anger if there were any major social unrest in China. There is also a perception that their wealth will be better protected in countries with a stronger rule of law.

Pic : U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services poster

According to a recent newsreport in the Daily Mail, "Rich Chinese couples are paying as much as $120,000 for 'designer' American babies to help get Green Cards and to bypass their nation's restrictive 'One Child' policy." Wealthy Chinese are hiring American women to serve as surrogates for their children. Chinese elite who want a baby outside the country's restrictive family planning policies, who are unable to conceive themselves, or who are seeking U.S. citizenship for their children are increasingly using the services offered by various surrogacy agencies in China and the United States. Emigration as a family is another draw - U.S. citizens may apply for Green Cards for their parents when they turn 21."

Currently 3.6 million Chinese people live in the United States - 430,000 of them in the San Francisco Bay Area. That is more than 1 percent of the U.S. population.

The bionic man is built entirely out of synthetic body parts from 17 manufacturers around the world by assembling them together for the first time. The robot has about 60 to 70% of the function of a human. It stands six-and-a-half feet tall and can step, sit, stand and talk. It also has a functioning heart that, using an electronic pump, beats and circulates artificial blood, which carries oxygen just like human blood. An artificial, implantable kidney, meanwhile, replaces the function of a modern-day dialysis unit.

The Incredible Bionic Man : On display in
"Moving Beyond Earth" through December 11

Said : Rich Walker, Managing Director of London based Shadow Robot Company. According to the company's website, Shadow was the technical consultant for the project, responsible for designing the Bionic Man and the integration of parts from high-end manufacturers. Assembly began in August 2012 and took three months to finish.  The bionic man is the first-ever walking, talking “robot” or artificial “man” with a human face. The latest vision recognition algorithms from Shadow’s research projects were used, allowing the “Bionic Man” to locate, move to and grasp objects. The robot has a motionless face and virtually no skin. It is controlled remotely from a computer, and bluetooth wireless connections are used to operate its limbs.  "The people who made it decided to program it with the personality of a 13-year-old boy from the Ukraine," Walker said. "So, he's not really the most polite of people to have a conversation with."

A documentary titled The artificial "man" can be accessed on the Smithsonian Channel - a part of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum where the bionic man is on display in "Moving Beyond Earth" through December 11 to showcase medical breakthroughs in bionic body parts and artificial organs. The Smithsonian Channel have put together a great interactive timeline entitled Rise of the Robots: A Sci-Fi History of Mechanical Men & Hybrid Humans, which includes Shadow's E1 Dexterous hand and the Bionic Man.

The video, here, produced by Troy Hauschild and titled "Explore the Million Dollar Man", shows the bionic man with an artificial heart capable of pumping 2.5 gallons of blood per minute. 

Rich Walker was at Comi-Con in New York last week to promote the Incredible Bionic Man built by Shadow Robot Company. Watch the video here to see Rich explaining the project to Mike Gambino from SilverCheeseTV.

Other video worth watching are : 

The Incredible Bionic Man : Meet the Bionic Man: a talking, breathing, walking man, made of the best prosthetic body parts and robotic technology available. 

The Incredible Bionic Man : Bringing the Incredible Bionic Man to Life

England's 'Bionic Man' Visits U.S.