Asia

Indian consumers and manufacturers getting sensitive to domination of Chinese goods in Indian market
Asia, China, Market

Indian consumers and manufacturers getting sensitive to domination of Chinese goods in Indian market

China’s emergence as a recent economic superpower is in no small part due to its massive production industry. The coastal factory towns produce an assortment of goods — with equally varying degrees of quality — on an enormous scale and with low cost, only for them to be shipped off to the rest of the world. Cheap labour —allegedly through labour rights violations as well as slave labour — and brazen theft of intellectual property have played a fairly large hand in cementing the Communist state as a principal hub for free market production. Experts had prophesied a subsequent political transformation from communism into a democracy with the liberation of China’s economy. Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has pioneered a sinister amalgamation of the ugliest aspects of Marx...
Iran reports highest ever day death toll from COVID-19, currency plunges
Asia, World

Iran reports highest ever day death toll from COVID-19, currency plunges

TEHRAN: Iran announced on Sunday (Oct 11) its highest single-day death toll from the coronavirus with 251 confirmed dead, the same day local media reported two senior officials had been infected and the nation's currency plunged to its lowest level ever. Health Ministry spokesperson Sima Sadat Lari said the total confirmed death toll now stands at 28,544, making Iran the hardest-hit country in the region. Iran had just recently recorded its highest daily death toll four days earlier with 239 new fatalities. A further 3,822 new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hour-period, raising recorded nationwide cases to 500,075. Nearly 4,500 patients are in critical condition. Among those recently infected is the head of the country’s atomic energy organization, the latest senior official ...
Restoration of secretariat building underway in J&K’s Srinagar
Asia

Restoration of secretariat building underway in J&K’s Srinagar

In the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the authorities have started the restoration process of an old stone secretariat building on the banks of river Jhelum in an attempt to preserve the rich heritage of the Valley.The area is well known for its age-old heritage infrastructures including mosques, temples, churches, shrines, bridges and other monuments and buildings.According to Mushtaq Beg, Deputy Director of Archives, Archeology and Museums, work is being supervised by experts and architects and the same materials that were originally used are being used.“We are using the same material that was used when it was originally built. The previous state authorities had completely changed the original look of the place. They had whitewashed over the Khatamband (decorative...
‘TehreekTaliban Pakistan’ poster asks Dir women to quit education
Asia

‘TehreekTaliban Pakistan’ poster asks Dir women to quit education

A poster purportedly pasted by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outside a women degree college in Samarbagh warned the female students to abandon education or face dire consequences.According to the principal of the Government Ghazi Umara Khan Degree College, the poster was allegedly pasted outside the institution’s main entrance on Friday night.The principal has also sent a letter to the director higher education department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, asking for security measures for safeguarding the lives of the female students.The poster threatened the female students with death if they did not stop coming to the college.The college management has also informed the Lower Dir administration and the police about the development.The poster has also irked the parents who demanded of the ...
J&K student’s podcast promotes Kashmiri language, Sufi poetry
Asia

J&K student’s podcast promotes Kashmiri language, Sufi poetry

A medical student from India’s Kashmir has become an inspiration to many and it has nothing to do with his field of work.Saadath Mohi-ud-din Bhat, from Anantnag district in South Kashmir, has started a podcast titled "Aao Unhe Yaad Karai," which aims at promoting the Kashmiri language and Sufi poetry."I am also writing a poetry book which will be published soon. The aim is to preserve our rich language and Sufi culture and draw the attention of people, especially youth, towards it," he said.Bhat said that the youth of Kashmir use the Kashmiri language less nowadays."There is no one who has any interest in our mother tongue. When we are shying away from our own language, protecting our culture seems to be difficult. There will be no traces of our own language and culture if this approach co...
Borrowers to get more time to repay loans as MAS extends financial relief measures
Asia, Singapore, World

Borrowers to get more time to repay loans as MAS extends financial relief measures

SINGAPORE: With many borrowers expected to continue to face financial issues amid a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is extending its support measures for various groups of borrowers, including allowing those with property loans to apply to temporarily reduce their monthly instalment payments. Those with renovation and student loans may also opt for a longer repayment period, while small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will get to partially defer principal payments for some loans and receive customised restructuring options. These were announced by the MAS on Monday (Oct 5) as the clock ticks down to the end of the relief measures on Dec 31 this year. Since April, companies and individuals hurt by the pandemic have been able to request to d...
Business as usual? Scant enforcement of Madrid’s new COVID-19 lockdown
Asia, World

Business as usual? Scant enforcement of Madrid’s new COVID-19 lockdown

MRID: Madrid residents were largely coming and going as normal on Monday (Oct 5) despite a prohibition on non-essential travel in the first European capital to return to a coronavirus lockdown due to resurgent infections, which rose above 800,000 nationally. Police said 300 officers were manning 60 checkpoints, but commuters poured into the Spanish capital as usual and few said they had noticed extra controls. With 850 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people, the Madrid area has Europe's highest rate, so 4.8 million people in the city and nine satellite towns came under new restrictions from Friday night. "I haven't seen any police controls. I don't quite understand this situation that they have created," said nutrition student Cristina Canete. Worried about further economic damage,...
Amid worsening ties, China expected to sanction Australian copper, sugar
Asia, China, Market, World

Amid worsening ties, China expected to sanction Australian copper, sugar

As relations between China and Australia continue to get worse on a range of issues, importers across Beijing are expected to brace for a round of sanctions on copper ore and copper concentrate as well as sugar this week.The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) has issued a notice to exporters claiming that it had found a pest in imported log timber from Queensland and has banned all log exports from the Australian state. It further claimed that it had found contamination in barley shipments from Australian grain exporter Emerald Grain as well.As per repots, bans on copper ore and copper concentrate, as well as sugar, are expected to be introduced this week.In September, China suspended barley imports from Australia’s largest grain exporter, CBH Group, after also detecting pes...
Trump vs Biden: Potential implications for investors
Asia, China, Market, Singapore, World

Trump vs Biden: Potential implications for investors

As the clock ticks down to the US presidential election, Money Mind looks into the potential impact of a Trump or Biden victory, and what this means for investors. SINGAPORE: As the clock ticks down to the US presidential election on Nov 3, the intensity of the contest between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden is rising. For investors, the anticipation of the outcome has led to some wild rides in the markets. A survey conducted by wealth management firm UBS in September found that investors favoured Mr Trump for economic direction and job growth. However, Mr Biden was their pick to manage the COVID-19 downturn, foreign policy, and healthcare. Over the past month, much has happened. From a first presidential debate that some have called disastrous...
PM Modi, Abhinandan posters come up in Pakistan MP Ayaz Sadiq’s constituency
Asia

PM Modi, Abhinandan posters come up in Pakistan MP Ayaz Sadiq’s constituency

Facing severe backlash over his remarks against Pakistan Army chief, posters featuring Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman came up in parts of Lahore.The posters, which dubbed him as “traitor”, went viral on social media after first being spotted in the constituency of the former National Assembly speaker.In some of the posters, Sadiq’s face was morphed to resemble Varthaman.This came days after Sadiq told the Parliament that Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was perspiring and his “legs were shaking” when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that India would have attacked “that night at 10 pm” if Pakistan did not release Abhinandan."I remember Shah Mahmood Qureshi ...