Asia

Asia shares take a breather, hope for flexible Fed
Asia, Market, World

Asia shares take a breather, hope for flexible Fed

Asian stocks will likely climb on Thursday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied to fresh records on upbeat corporate results, while the dollar eased a day before the U.S. Federal Reserve possibly sets a new course on inflation. SYDNEY: Asian shares touched two-year peaks on Thursday in the wake of Wall Street's record run as cheap cash drove up big-cap tech darlings, although Sino-U.S. tensions caused caution to creep in as the session progressed. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan turned flat after earlier reaching its highest since August 2018. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.4per cent from levels not seen since mid-February, and South Korea fell 0.8per cent as a jump in coronavirus cases ended four days of rises. Even S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2per cent, although t...
India announces $500 million connectivity project, cargo service to boost trade ties with Maldives
Asia

India announces $500 million connectivity project, cargo service to boost trade ties with Maldives

India has said that it will fund the implementation of the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) to revitalize the Maldivian economy through a $400 million Line of Credit (LOC) and $100 million grant linking its capital Male with Gulhifalhu Port and Thilafushi industrial zone.A new cargo ferry service will also be launched between the two countries, which will help India replace other countries to become the Maldives’ top trade partner. The measures were announced during a virtual meeting between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Maldives counterpart Abdulla Shahid.“Happy to announce the start of regular cargo ferry service between India & Maldives to boost trade and commerce. We are also starting an air travel bubble with Maldives to sustain and promote the dynamic peo...
Philippines reports 6,352 new COVID-19 cases, Southeast Asia’s biggest daily jump
Asia, World

Philippines reports 6,352 new COVID-19 cases, Southeast Asia’s biggest daily jump

MANILA: The Philippines reported 6,352 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday (Aug 4), marking the biggest daily jump in cases in Southeast Asia. Tuesday's figures represent the Philippines' fifth record rise in the past six days and takes the country's tally of cases to 112,593. COVID-19 deaths rose by 11 to 2,115. The Philippine capital and nearby provinces on Tuesday returned under strict lockdown for two weeks to arrest soaring cases since restrictions were relaxed in June. The government announced late on Sunday it was placing metro Manila and nearby provinces such as Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan under so-called "Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine" until Aug 18. Philippine police deployed road blocks on Tuesday to enforce a tough new lockdown on about 28 million people in...
Sericulture in J&K to get boost with new silk weaving factory
Asia, Market, USA

Sericulture in J&K to get boost with new silk weaving factory

In order to give sericulture in Jammu and Kashmir a boost, the government of India has installed new silk weaving and silk filatures factories at Bari Brahmana area of Samba district.Equipped with modern machinery and equipment, the new facilities have been established with project cost of Rs 16.80 crore and Rs 6.64 crore respectively in a record time of two years.The Principal Secretary of Industries and Commerce, Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Dwivedi said that with the establishment of these units, work ranging from the treatment of cocoons to the production of silk and designing of finished fabrics like sarees, everything can be done at one place from now onwards.The silk filatures and silk weaving factory has already produced 4,60,000 meters of silk fabric and it is estimated that in futu...
Article 370 abrogation impact: Skill development schemes in Kashmir valley empower women
Asia, USA

Article 370 abrogation impact: Skill development schemes in Kashmir valley empower women

Since the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, skill development schemes by the government of India have gained momentum in the valley, enabling thousands of youngsters to receive training under them and become independent.Women of Kashmir have especially been empowered and have become self-reliant with these government-backed initiatives.Ufia Jan, who is a programme manager at a skill development center for tailoring and stitching, said the central government schemes have proven to be instrumental in the overall growth of women in the Union Territory.“We have started this skill development center under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana scheme where youngsters from the economically backward sections are given skill training. This is an inclusive training programme and we p...
Asia’s largest tulip garden in Srinagar gets high-tech cold storage facility
Asia

Asia’s largest tulip garden in Srinagar gets high-tech cold storage facility

A new high-tech cold storage facility has been setup in Srinagar’s world-famous Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden for safekeeping of delicate tulip bulbs.Situated on the foothills of the Zabarwan Range with an overview of Dal Lake, the garden in India’s Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory is Asia’s largest tulip garden and was opened in 2007 with the aim to boost floriculture and tourism in Kashmir Valley.“We get several tourists every year and work very hard to take care of the flowers so that they are ready to bloom on the onset of the spring season,” said Nissar Ahmad, an employee at the garden.The new two-floor cold storage would increase the efficiency of producing and caring for the flowers, he added.Every March, a festival is organized to exhibit the tulips to tourists from across t...
Kashmiri student develops Covid -19 tracker to help residents of Valley
Asia

Kashmiri student develops Covid -19 tracker to help residents of Valley

In an effort to spread accurate information about coronavirus and how to contain it, a Kashmiri student has developed a web page (COVID-19 Kashmir Tracker) that provides information about COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).Haider Ali Punjabi, a Srinagar resident, developed the page (covidkashmir.org) with the help of his friends on the lines of covidindia.org and other informative websites on coronavirus."Barely minutes after the idea came up, we started working on the project. We decided to make a full-fledged website that will provide adequate information to the people. District-wise break up of COVID-19 cases, map, and the daily updates on coronavirus cases are the main features of the tracker," Ali said.Ali said he relies mostly on the information provided by the official so...
Pakistan’s Defence Housing Authority Bahawalpur, three business groups sign MoUs
Asia

Pakistan’s Defence Housing Authority Bahawalpur, three business groups sign MoUs

Pakistan’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Bahawalpur has signed MoUs with three renowned business groups in order to build premier and smart residencies for the people of Bahawalpur city.MoUs were signed with PACE Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd, for construction of modern shopping mall and affordable housing units in DHA Bahawalpur; Delta Centauri Real Estate Development, for establishment of theme park and signature villas; and SOLIS Energy Solutions, for provision of green and clean energy solution including smart metering.At the occasion, General Officer Commanding 35 Div, Major General Muhammad Ejaz Mirza said that the MoUs will add customer confidence and “will surely add further colors to the canvas of DHA Bahawalpur”.Welcoming the guests, Project Director DHA, Brig Muhammad Usman said that 21s...
Pakistan promoting anti-India propaganda to distract its citizens from mishandling of COVID-19, economy: Expert
Asia

Pakistan promoting anti-India propaganda to distract its citizens from mishandling of COVID-19, economy: Expert

Despite a significantly improved security situation and dip in terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year, Pakistan continues its propaganda and anti-Indian vitriol, according to The National Interest.Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, in an article explains how Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued a directive to the press for describing Kashmir, Pakistani journalists, risk their employment if they do not use their government's nomenclature regarding Kashmir and forcing them to wear black solidarity armbands. The journalists are forced to term India's actions in Kashmir as "demographic apartheid" and "military siege" instead of "lockdown." Distracting its people from mishandling of COVID-1...
J&K Lt Governor seeks Centre’s intervention in apple sale
Asia, USA

J&K Lt Governor seeks Centre’s intervention in apple sale

Jammu and Kashmir’s Lt Governor GC Murmu has taken it upon himself to highlight the issues faced by apple growers who haven't been able to sell their crop because of the coronavirus induced lockdown.In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Lt Governor Murmu has demanded an extension of the Market Intervention Scheme under which the government procures the produce."The breakout of COVID-19 has disrupted the market supply chain yet again and has created unique challenges for marketing apples. This has necessitated the extension of scheme for at least one more year. I request the Government of India to extend the market intervention scheme for apple of Jammu and Kashmir for 2020-21. An agreed implementation mechanism with NAFED is already in place," Murmu said in the lette...