The training contract was signed on the sidelines of China’s Big Data conference and exhibition at Guiyang. Separately, the company sealed an agreement with the provincial government to establish a Big Data Talent Research Center in Guiyang “to enhance innovation and research.”The once impoverished city of Guiyang, the provincial capital of the southwestern Guizhou province — well known in history for its role during Mao Zedong’s Long March — is now fast emerging as one of the most prominent landmarks in China’s cyberspace.

And the Gui’an New Area

The Gui’an New Area — like many other dedicated and massive industrial zones, such as Shanghai’s Pudong and the lesser known Lanzhou New Area — is at the heart of the new enterprise.Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who addressed a conference and exhibition last week, formally endorsed Guiyang as the country’s Big Data hub. He pointed out that the Chinese government, apart from Big Data, will support an inter-linkage with e-commerce, cross-border e-commerce, cloud computing, and Internet of Things.

Dovetailing with the transition

Analysts say that the directive from the Premier dovetails with China’s transition from a low-end workshop-of-the-world to an advanced digital economy based on hi-end consumption, and production. Robots, sometimes armed with laser cutting tools, will play a major role, in the new production chain, in tune with a modern services industry.The Prime Minister earlier held a meeting with top cyber entrepreneurs, which included Michael Dell, CEO of Dell computers, Pony Ma, chairman of the messaging and gaming group Tencents Holding Ltd., Terry Gou of the Foxconn Technology Group as well as Rahul Patwardhan, NIIT’s global head.

As its name suggests

Big Data is a massive accumulation of information, siphoned from multiple sources and domains, which can then be analysed for reading trends and making informed decisions. Consequently, Guiyang will host server storage farms, intertwined with an army of engineers, who can cull out useful information from the vast data reservoirs that are being established in the city.Several factors have gone Guiyang’s way to emerge as China’s Big Data core. The climate here is mild, power is plentiful and cost of establishing businesses lower than China’s more developed parts along the coast. Besides, the local government has been relentless in pushing for hi-tech industry, mindful that large- scale agriculture is unsustainable in the mountainous province.

The provincial economy has so far been dependent on the production of coal, fertilizers, tyres and the renowned Maotai liquor, which caught global attention when the beverage was served by China’s former Prime Minister, Zhou En-lai to toast U.S. President Richard Nixon, during his famous visit to Beijing in 1972.

On a hardware accumulation spree

“China is accumulating massive amount of hardware and on account of the proposed scale, major shortages of trained programmers are inevitable. That is where we, as digital trainers, come in,” says Kamal Dhuper, NIIT’s country head, in a conversation with The Hindu.Mr. Dhuper points out that the company can cope with the heavy workload, that is expected, as well as the challenge posed by the perceived Chinese language barrier. “Most of our trainers are Chinese, so language is not an issue. Besides we actively follow Synchronous Learning Technology. This allows trainers to connect with multiple locations in real time,” he observed.

At least 23 people were killed in Russian air strikes overnight in the rebel-held Syrian city of Idlib, the heaviest bombardment there since a cessation of hostilities was agreed in February, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.The Observatory said the air strikes targeted a number of positions in the city, one of them next to a hospital. Seven children were among the dead, Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said. The toll was likely to rise with scores of injured, mostly civilians, in a critical condition.Residents of Idlib said hundreds of families had begun leaving the city for fear of further air raids. Two rebel sources said Russian jets also intensified strikes on towns in rural Idlib including Binish, Maarat Misreen and Saraqeb.

However, a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman on Tuesday denied it had conducted air strikes overnight against Idlib, calling the Observatory’s allegations “a horror story” that should be regarded with scepticism.Russia deployed warplanes to Syria last year to support President Bashar al-Assad against rebels seeking to end his rule.The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the air strikes had killed more than 60 civilians and complained in a statement about what it said were the “indefensible” crimes of the Russian and Syrian governments. It gave no indication how it arrived at the higher toll.Later the monitor reported that unidentified jets bombed a major camp of the powerful Islamist Ahrar al Sham insurgent group in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, leaving a large number of dead and wounded.

The Observatory, which tracks violence across the country, said top trainers from among Ahrar al Sham’s leaders were normally present at the camp, located in the Sheikh Bahar area of rural Idlib. A senior member of the group, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to comment, said the report was unfounded but gave no details.Rescue workers searched for casualties through the night, finding some survivors including a child under the rubble of buildings, the Civil Defence said on its Facebook page.Idlib city and the province by the same name is a stronghold of rebel groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

The U.N.-backed Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities agreement was intended to allow an opportunity for peace talks and delivery of humanitarian relief across Syria.However, peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the war have so far failed and the cessation of hostilities agreement has all but collapsed with intensified fighting among warring parties.In Aleppo city, the Syrian army stepped up its bombing and shelling of the Castello highway, the only route for civilians and rebels in and out of the city.”The artillery shelling has affected the traffic on the road but they have not taken it,” said Captain Abdul Salam Abdul Razaq, a military spokesman for Nour al Din al Zinki, a main rebel group operating in northern Syria.

The Syrian army and allied fighters failed in three major offensives in the past month to advance toward the highway from the village of Handarat, several kilometres to the northeast, where rebels have been holding their ground, he added.The rebel held towns of Anadan, Hreitan and Maarat al-Artieq just north of Aleppo city that are located along the rebels’ supply route, also witnessed intense raids by Russian and Syrian fighter jets, Abdul Razaq said.In southern suburbs of Damascus, the Syrian army made new advances in an area that they had seized almost two weeks ago, the Syrian Observatory and rebel sources said.The monitor said army had taken large parts of the town of Mahamadieh and Beit Nayem, further consolidating gains made with the help of Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.The areas seized are mainly lush agricultural land that provide food for tens of thousands of residents.

The United States Department of State warned its citizens planning a visit to European nations this summer that there might be a threat of terror attacks across Europe, particularly public places including the venue of the 2016 UEFA European football championship. The department, however, does not have specific information on the threat.The Euro 2016 football tournament is scheduled from June 10 to July 10. “The Euro Cup stadiums, fan zones, and unaffiliated entertainment venues broadcasting the tournaments in France and across Europe” could be potential targets for terror attacks, the state department said in an alert.

“The large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for terrorists planning attacks in public locations, especially at large events,” the travel alert read, adding that the warning has been issued till August 31.The U.S. Department of State has warned the American tourists in Europe to be extra vigilant at tourist sites, restaurants, commercial centres and while using mass transportation.Meanwhile, France has tightened security for the soccer championship and the Tour de France cycling race scheduled to be held between July 2 and July 24. Poland is organising the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day event in Kraków between July 26 and July 31 and close to 2.5 million people are likely to attend the event.

This is the second alert the U.S. has issued for Europe this year. The first alert was issued on March 22 after attacks on Brussels airport and Maalbeek metro station and it is scheduled to expire in June, Reuters reported. At least 32 people were killed in the attack.”We took the opportunity, because it’s the beginning of summer, to make our concerns known. I’m not aware of any specific, credible, terrorist event around these events or in any particular place in Europe. This was issued … based on an accumulation of information,” Reuters quoted State Department spokesperson John Kirby as saying.Commenting on the alert issued by the U.S., Italy’s anti-terrorism police unit’s chief Lamberto Giannini said he has “no specific warnings or particular evidence” about potential terror threats, but there was a need for “maximum attention” across Europe.