Asia

London, UK:  European Union has signed a digital partnership with Japan, South Korea and Singapore amid the Chinese tension in these countriesThis push by the EU is aimed at building influence in Asia after the messy US and NATO military exit from Afghanistan, Nikkei Asia newspaper reported. According to a draft strategy document seen by the publication, the bloc will seek to reinforce semiconductor value chains with Asian partners as the pandemic amplifies fears about industrial supply chain vulnerabilities. Earlier this year, the EU released its own Indo-Pacific strategy policy paper, which the experts regarded as an unprecedented declaration that promises to put the EU at loggerheads with China. “Democratic principles and human rights are also under threat from authoritar...

Afghanistan: Afghanistan reserves need to be released otherwise Afghanistan may slip into economic crisis said the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI), Afghanistan Chamber of Mines and Industry (ACMI) The private sector representatives called the freeze of Afghanistan’s reserve by the United States in contrary to the humanitarian laws and called on the United Nations to defend the rights of the people of Afghanistan in addition to the work it is doing for attracting humanitarian support for Afghanistan. According to the private sector officials, in the last one month due to disruption in banking systems between Afghanistan and international banks, all the financial transactions has stopped and if this continues the private sector will face severe recession. The...

336 kg drug seized by Sri Lankan Navy; 7 Pakistani nationals involved The Sri Lankan Navy has apprehended a trawler, allegedly involved in drug trafficking, in the high seas off Male, and brought it back to Colombo. Seven persons, all Pakistan nationals, were taken in custody, and 336 kg heroin was seized in the operation earlier this week. The trawler, reportedly acting as a multi-day fishing trawler, was transporting drug consignments to other boats, and investigations are still in progress. The stock of heroin weighing 336 kg with a street value of around Rs 3.1 billion was detected by the Sri Lanka Navy was found in this operation. A seven-member crew were found to be Pakistan nationals with a multi-day fishing vessel used to transport the heroin from a foreign port. ...

The US-India trade is going to cross the pre covid-19 trade. The Trade has increased by 40% in June this year. "2021 #US-India Trade data in goods through June show increases of over 40 per cent in US-India and India-US trade from 2020, on-track to surpass even pre-pandemic highs," tweeted the US Embassy in India. The embassy upbeat with the growth set another landmark of USD 500 billion trade. "This strong and growing trade relationship can anchor regional prosperity and global stability. Let's shoot for $500B!, tweeted the embassy.

The congress expressed its views to Joe Biden saying that, America should not forget that Afghanistan is still under the constitution and Taliban seizure is still illegal for the land. The statement said that Saleh and Massoud chose to stay and fight for the freedom of the Afghan people and oppose extremism. They also called on the president to designate the Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and urge him to publicly support Congressional efforts to stand with “our friends in the Panjshir Valley who will serve as a bulwark against regional terror.” "We call on President Biden to designate the Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and we urge him to publicly support Congressional efforts to stand with our friends in the Panjshir Valley who ...

ISLAMABAD: Farhan Junejo who is involved in multi million rupee scandle along with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has been arrested by Italian police. Junejo had been declared a proclaimed offender by a Karachi court, and a red warrant had been issued against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for Interpol to apprehend him. The FIA Karachi chapterand headquarters have got the information about Junejo’s arrest in Italy and are working to get him repatriated to Pakistan through Interpol. Pakistan and Italy have no extradition treaty. A senior FIA official told The News that the agency was dispatching the requisite documents related to the charges against Junejo to Italy, seeking his return. Nearly two dozen people are accused of embezzling billions of...

Rawalpindi: The water scarcity in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi and Islamabad are alarming as the water level of dam found all time low in the dam which supplies water to both the cities.   The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has warned that residents of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad may face a severe water crisis in coming days because of 44 feet reduction in water level of Khanpur Dam. “The residents may face a complete stoppage of drinking water in the coming days,” WASA warned here on Wednesday. Low rainfall in the monsoon season has been deemed as the major reason behind water scarcity in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The district administrations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have informed Khanpur Pure Dam authorities. According to letter number CDA/DD...

Pakistan’s economy is continuously going in debt and the FDI is consistently declining in the recent years. The net flows fell by just under 39pc year-on-year in July in continuation of the trend witnessed last fiscal when long-term, non-debt-creating investments plummeted by 29pc to $1.85bn from the previous year. State Bank data for the last four years shows that inward FDI flows are either plunging or stagnating while outward flows have surged over time. Hence, FDI stocks have declined from $41.9bn to $35.6bn in five years from 2016 to 2020. With rising fears of the impact of the Afghan situation on Pakistan, net FDI flows are expected to shrink further. The rise in Pakistan bond yields soon after the collapse of the government in Kabul indicates the loss of global investors’ confid...

ISLAMABAD: The largest data centre of Pakistan is hacked. The centre was run by federal Board of Revenue. “There has been a national crisis like situation since 2.00 am Saturday morning and we may not be out of the woods by Sunday evening,” a senior official said while explaining the gravity of the situation. The FBR’s official version was awaited till the filing of the story. “The FBR’s website is temporarily down for scheduled maintenance,” read the website when it was opened. However, the authority issued a general press release regarding in-progress service optimisation activities at the FBR House Data Center, Islamabad. The FBR explained that the technical team is currently migrating services. The completion of this migration shall result in the increased overall produ...

SHANGHAI: China’s securities regulators punished 19 institutional investors as authorities tighten scrutiny over price-setting behaviours under a more liberalised listing system. China launched the tech-focused STAR Market in Shanghai in mid-2019, along with the introduction of a US-style, registration-based initial public offering (IPO) system in that market. The Securities Association of China (SAC) said late on Friday that a joint probe recently with the Shanghai Stock Exchange over STAR IPOs had exposed issues with 19 institutional investors. The problems included weak internal controls, inadequate rationale for price-settings, non-compliance with stipulated procedures and improper storage of working papers, the SAC said in a statement, without identifying the companies.