GETTING YOUNG INDIANS TO CHOOSE TEA OVER COFFEE

India is traditionally a tea-drinking country. But Indians are gaining a new taste
for coffee. This has led international coffee companies to consider moving into
the market. At the same time, local business people are looking for new ways
to profit from the country's tea-drinking tradition. They are opening new places
that offer tea. Coffee shops have spread from major cities like New Delhi and
Mumbai to smaller towns. In the past ten years, cafes have become increasingly
popular. India's huge population of young people has quickly taken to the coffee
culture. Indians now drink twice as much coffee as they did ten years ago. The
success of the coffee market has gained the attention of foreign companies like
Starbucks. The American-based company will open its first store in India later
this year. Other companies like Lavazza and Costa Coffee are already there.
The head of the India Coffee Trust, Anil Kumar Bhandari, praises Starbucks's
decision. He says cafes in India have become central to the lifestyle of the
young middle-class. He says coffee companies like Starbucks "should have
been here before ... Almost any cafe chain which has a reasonable quality with
its service, ambiance and food -- and coffee first -- will succeed in this country."
Look at the young population, he says, "they are all taking to it like ducks to
water." India has over a billion people. Business experts point out that half of
them are under the age of twenty-five. Yet even with the growth in coffee
drinking, Indians still drink eight times more tea. They have been drinking tea
for more than one hundred fifty years. India is also one of the world's biggest
producers of tea, or chai, as people call it locally. Indians usually drink tea at
home or in offices or buy it mostly from street sellers. But some business people
hope to change that. Amuleek Singh Bijral is thirty-six years old and a graduate
of Harvard University in the United States. He opened a place called Chai Point
in Bangalore, the center of India's information technology industry. In less than
a year thirteen more Chai Point locations have opened in the city. One tea
drinker in Bangalore welcomes the new outlets: "Out-of-home options like this
are new, especially since coffee-drinking has boomed in the last couple of
years. This is a little different." For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.

HIGHER EDUCATION OPENS TO MORE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE

More people are able to receive higher education worldwide than in the past.
but the amount of higher education is causing social and economic divisions in
many countries. A recent study by the Organization for Economic
Development and Cooperation, or OECD, also finds that some developing
countries are making progress. Five years ago, the world financial crisis hurt
many nations. But it did not slow growth in education.

The OECD report notes the quality and amount of education is increasing the
division between what it calls the “haves” and the “have-nots”. In some areas,
rising unemployment has affected people with lower education levels more than
others. They earn considerably less than those with higher degrees. There are
34 economically developed countries in the OECD. Among those countries, the
unemployment rate for people with a university education is about 5 percent.
However, the rate is almost 20 percent for 25 to 34-year olds who do not have
a university degree. This situation also exists in developing economies.

Andreas Schleicher is the Education and Skills Director for the OECD. He says
education makes more of a difference in the life chances of people than in the
past. The report finds that education makes a greater difference for individuals
within countries. But it also notes that education is reducing divisions between
developed and developing countries. Mr. Schleicher says countries like China,
Vietnam and Brazil are making education an important goal. He says they are
investing their limited resources to get good teachers and school leaders.

ASIA INFRASTRUCTURE
In Manila and other cities in Asia, people are building office and apartment
buildings. But building roads, railways, and other important infrastructure has
been slower, partly because of the 1997 financial crisis. After that crisis,
developing Asian countries reduced the amount they spend on infrastructure.
In May, Philippines President Benigno Aquino III approved $1.4 billion in
spending for commuter trains in Manila and other projects. That brought the
total for infrastructure investment to $31.8 billion since 2010. In India, the
biggest program is the $100-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project.
It will create seven industrial cities, high-speed railways, six airports and three
seaports. The government says India also needs 450 new coal power plants. In
Vietnam, the government approved plans for a new airport near Ho Chi Minh
City. It will cost $15.8 billion. Vietnam also plans to spend $22.5 billion on
new highways. The demand for power in that country increases by 10 percent
every year. State media say Vietnam needs to spend $125 billion in the next 20
years to keep up with the demand. Thailand has a $92 billion building plan for
the next few years. The plan includes high-speed train routes that will run from
China in the north, through Malaysia and Singapore to the south. It calls for
expanding seaports and commuter trains in Bangkok. The Asian Development
Bank has estimated that developing Asian economies need to invest $8 trillion
by 2020.

IN-STORE TRAINING ON HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES

Many poor families buy processed foods because they seem to cost less than
fresh vegetables, fruits and whole-wheat products. But a national group is
showing families that they can buy healthy foods for about the same amount of
money as manufactured foods. The group, called Share Our Strength, was set
up to fight hunger and poverty. It offers free programs to help Americans living
on a budget eat a much better, healthier diet. Nutrition educator Lindsey
Seegers leads tours at a store in Maryland. She says people should make meal
plans before they go to a store because it helps them eat healthier meals. She
warns that if no plans are made, you might buy something that is not as healthy.
Lindsey Seegers says the people she teaches do not have much money so they
need to spend it wisely. The grocery store tour is offered several times a week.
People learn to compare prices and how to find the best value. And they learn
that frozen fruits and vegetables can be a good choice. Lindsey Seegers shows
people how to find and carefully read information on food packages. She says
people should avoid foods with high amounts of sugar, salt and fat. Tina Pawlik
says the information she learned from Lindsay helped her change the way she
eats. She says that she thought it was impossible to get healthy food on a small
budget. But after learning to shop more effectively, she and others now make
better choices at the grocery store.

NEW CLOTHING MANUFACTURING JOBS COULD INCREASE IN

SOUTH ASIA
A new World Bank study says South Asian countries can improve economic
conditions and provide millions of jobs for women by increasing the number of
clothing factories.The cost to make clothing in China is rising. Factories in
other countries can make clothes for a lower cost.The bank says countries like
Vietnam and Cambodia are increasing clothing manufacturing jobs faster than
South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.But the
study says lower costs and an increasing number of young workers give South
Asian countries the chance to compete. Clothing manufacturing is a labor-
intensive industry needing many workers.These jobs are important for an area
where few women work outside the home. The share of women who are
employed in clothing factories is much higher than in other industries.In Sri
Lanka, about two-thirds of clothing factory workers are women. In India and
Bangladesh, about one-third are.Onno Ruhl is the World Bank country director
in India. He said the number of women working in the country has been
dropping over the last 10 to 15 years. “It is a trend we would really like to
see reversed in India,” he said.The World Bank study found that in countries
where more girls and women work, marriages take place later in life. Women
have fewer children. They eat better food and their children are more likely to
go to school. All these help an economy grow.Wages are an important issue for
the clothing manufacturing industry. Workers in Bangladesh are paid about 50
cents an hour while Indian workers are paid more than one dollar. That is much
less than the amount workers in China are paid -- about $2.50 an hour.Clothing
manufacturing jobs can improve the lives of women. But working conditions
in the industry are of great concern and are being watched by groups around the
world.Conditions in the industry were recognized as a major issue in 2013,
when an eight-story building in Bangladesh collapsed. More than 1,100
clothing workers died. The collapse increased attention on dangerous working
conditions in the industry.About five million people work in the industry
according to the World Bank study, which is called “Stitches to
Riches? Apparel Employment, Trade, and Economic Development in South
Asia.” Several million more work informally in smaller factories or businesses
that may not be known to government officials or inspectors.The study says
clothing manufacturing can be a valuable industry for development. But it also
says there is a need for industry supervision, better wages and higher-value
products.
 ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO USE LINK
Alcohol drinkers are often cigarette smokers. Scientists have noted the
relationship for a long time. But, they have not been able to determine why the
two behaviors are connected. Now, a new study may provide some explanation.
Mahesh Thakkar is head of research in the Department of Neurology at the
University of Missouri’s School of Medicine. He led the study. The Journal of
Neurochemistry published the research. Thakkar says alcohol causes
sleepiness. He says nicotine, a drug in cigarettes, fights that sleepy feeling. This
means the drinker can stay awake and consume more alcohol. At the same time,
nicotine is addictive. So, the more a person drinks, the more that person will
smoke, and then drink, and so on. The study measured brain activity in rats.
The researchers injected the rats with both nicotine and alcohol, and then
studied brain activity in the animals as they slept. The researchers found that
nicotine cancels out the sleep-causing effects of alcohol. They say the nicotine
does this work in the basal forebrain area. Mahesh Thakkar says that is the
“reward center” of the brain. This area is responsible for memory and learning.
Earlier research has shown that more than 85 percent of American adults who
are dependent on alcohol are also dependent on nicotine. The World Health
Organization blames alcohol and nicotine use for more than seven million
deaths a year.