Upgraded transportation app to be launched

The Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission has been tasked to create a smart application which will include comprehensive transportation information of the city by 2020, Jiefang Daily reported.

The application, which will be introduced during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), will combine information on public transportation from existing apps. The current transportation app offers real-time information on the city's 1,134 buses, with a waiting time forecast accuracy of 96 percent. It has been downloaded about 8 million times and has more than 20 million daily users.

Drones to take aerial photos of Shanghai

More than 30 drones will be used to capture aerial photographs of Shanghai's historic districts in the coming four months, according to ThePaper.cn.

The photos taken between June 10 and Sept 30 will be exhibited at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center on World Cities Day on Oct 31.

The municipal government of Shanghai has designated 44 areas in Shanghai as historic districts. These zones include 26.96 million square meters of downtown spaces and 14 million sq m in Pudong New Area and the suburban areas.

More elderly service centers to be launched

As many as 100 elderly services centers will be available across the city this year, in addition to the 73 elderly care homes built as of last year, the local Shanghai Morning Post reported.

In the second half of 2014, Shanghai launched a trial to boost elderly care in communities by upgrading existing public facilities and making use of idle resources. The 73 senior care centers provide convenient services for residents from neighborhoods across Shanghai.

There are 4.58 million registered residents aged at and above 60 years old as of the end of last year, accounting for 31.6 percent of Shanghai's registered population.

State college renamed to attract Chinese students

In an attempt to attract foreign students, the Vermont State College has renamed the newly-merged Lyndon and Johnson state colleges to Northern Vermont University. Patricia Coates, director of communications for the chancellor's office, told US media that the main reason for the name change is because the term "college" refers to high school or junior colleges in a number of countries, including China.

Last year, 328,547 Chinese students studied in the US, accounting for 32 percent of the foreign students in the country, according to data from the Institute of International Education (IIE). The university will welcome its first freshman class in 2018.

( from: China Daily USA )