Market Archives - Page 40 of 46

‘Flipkart opens avenues for Nepali sellers as well as consumers’

12Sep

By Joe RodriguezNo Comments

Asia, Market, USA

‘Flipkart opens avenues for Nepali sellers as well as consumers’

Founder and CEO of Sastodeal, a leading e-commerce company in Nepal, feels that the partnership of her company with e-commerce giants Flipkart and Myntra of India has further strengthened friendship between the two nations.After signing the deal, Amun Thapa said the opportunity would be beneficial for consumers in both India and Nepal."Sastodeal's strategic partnership with Flipkart is a big step towards strengthening the Nepal-India relationship. We hope millions of Nepalese consumers and millions of Indian vendors benefit from this partnership," Thapa said.Under the partnership, cross-border e-trade opportunities for local Indian MSMEs will open up and Sastodeal will host over 5,000 product verticals from Flipkart marketplace sellers operating across the categories of babycare and kids, ...

It’s time for western universities to cut their ties to China

11Sep

By Brian ThompsonNo Comments

China, Market, USA

It’s time for western universities to cut their ties to China

Western universities now need to close their Confucius Institutes and end their academic cooperation with China. Following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, one of the ways China sought to rebuild its image abroad was by systematically forging partnerships with Western universities. At first, these partnerships mainly focused on research collaboration. Later, they grew to include the Confucius Institutes for language education and the establishment of Western universities’ branch campuses in China.At a time when China was undemocratic but liberalizing, such engagement seemed like a sensible strategy. There have always been uneasy moments in Western universities’ relationships with China, whether prompted by tensions over hosting the Dalai Lama or controversies over university self-censor...

The rise of new India as PM Modi fulfils his promises

9Sep

By Brian ThompsonNo Comments

Market

The rise of new India as PM Modi fulfils his promises

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on the country’s 74th Independence Day came with the credibility of six previous speeches in which all promises made by him have been kept. For example, in 2014, PM Modi promised a bank account for every Indian. Then, from 58% Indians in 2014, almost 400 million new accounts have opened now.A billion plus scale financial inclusion has since been used along with Aadhaar (biometric countrywide data base) to affect the largest and most successful Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) policy in the world.Now, during the recent coronavirus induced lockdown, while many developed countries struggled to give out some cash in the hands of the poor, India did it instantly within days of the lockdown utilizing the DBT regime.In the 2015 speech, Modi made the prom...

COVID-19 brings three-decade economic boom to a sudden halt in Vietnam

5Sep

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Market, Singapore, World

COVID-19 brings three-decade economic boom to a sudden halt in Vietnam

For the past three decades, Vietnam has known only good — or great — economic news. The nation’s consistent growth as an exporter, propelled by Communist leaders who began embracing market-oriented policies in the late 1980s, pushed many into the middle class. The coronavirus pandemic changed all that. With garment companies seeing orders slashed and other sectors hit with sudden export declines, Vietnam’s workers are enduring the downside of being tethered to the global economy. The economic slowdown in the U.S. and other markets Vietnam depends on for growth is being felt on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, as well as in villages and tourist centers. Le Thi Hoa, who sells pineapple and mango slices outside Ho Chi Minh City’s Ben Thanh Market in the heart of the commercial hub...

Commentary: Green offsets let polluting airlines off the hook

4Sep

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Market, USA, World

Commentary: Green offsets let polluting airlines off the hook

Sustainability targets for airlines need to be based on real emissions cuts at their source, says an observer. BIRMINGHAM, England: The coronavirus pandemic has grounded thousands of aircraft, contributing to the largest-ever annual fall in carbon dioxide emissions. At some point though, the planes will soar again and with them, global emissions. Most airlines in the UK have committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. From 2026, it will become mandatory for airlines worldwide to ensure that their annual emissions stay flat. But the UK aviation industry also plans to increase the number of passengers it serves by 70 per cent in the next three decades. To pull this off, airlines will be planning to fly planes at or near full passenger capacity and use cleaner burning fu...

‘Nothing to worry about’: Thailand seeks to ease fears of COVID-19 return

4Sep

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Market, World

‘Nothing to worry about’: Thailand seeks to ease fears of COVID-19 return

BANGKOK: Thailand sought to allay fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections on Thursday (Aug 20), after a woman tested positive having cleared quarantine nearly two months ago on returning from overseas. Thailand has gone 87 days without domestic transmission but news that a woman tested positive for COVID-19 in Bangkok on Tuesday, having returned from abroad on Jun 24, has triggered concern of a fresh outbreak in a country so far spared the level of contagion elsewhere. Authorities said the woman was unlikely to be contagious and may have caught the virus in the United Arab Emirates or her home province of Loei, bordering Laos. "She may have been infected in the past three months, probably in Dubai or Loei, but not Bangkok," Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesman for the governmen...

Fed officials expect that coronavirus will ‘weigh heavily’ on the economy, minutes show

3Sep

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Market, World

Fed officials expect that coronavirus will ‘weigh heavily’ on the economy, minutes show

Federal Open Market Committee members expressed concern at their latest meeting over the future of the economy, saying that the coronavirus likely would continue to stunt growth and potentially pose dangers to the financial system. At the July 28-29 session, the Federal Reserve's policymaking arm voted to keep short-term interest rates anchored near zero, citing an economy that was falling short of its pre-pandemic levels. Officials at the meeting "agreed that the ongoing public health crisis would weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term and was posing considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term," the meeting summary said. As Chairman Jerome Powell and Fed leaders have emphasized multiple times, the minutes noted a consensus on ...

A stress-free guide to credit cards: How to use them responsibly

3Sep

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Market, USA, World

A stress-free guide to credit cards: How to use them responsibly

There are a lot of perks that come with having a credit card, from the convenience of being able to pay for a purchase when you don't have cash to the chance to earn rewards on every dollar you spend. Having a credit card can also help you build your credit history, which is important if you want to one day apply for a mortgage or personal loan. While having a credit card can help you improve your credit score, it can also hurt it. It's essential to know how to use a credit card responsibly, spending within your means and paying off your balance in full and on time every month. Credit cards can come with high interest rates compared to other financial products like personal loans or student loans. And unlike installment loans, which have predictable monthly payments, you must keep track of...

What if they had a tech war and nobody cared?

3Sep

By Desk TeamNo Comments

China, Market, World

What if they had a tech war and nobody cared?

A pacifist meme from the Vietnam protest era asked what would happen if they gave a war and nobody came. The US is conducting a tech war, but equity markets don’t appear to care. Neither did the Chinese currency, which strengthened sharply overnight. Harsher-than-expected US sanctions against Chinese telecom manufacturers failed to ruffle A-Share and H-Share markets Tuesday, as the Shanghai Composite and the Hang Sheng Chinese Enterprises indices rose by 0.36% and 0.38%, respectively. One of Hong Kong’s best performers was the budget smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, which is likely to gain market share in China due to Huawei’s inability to source top-of-the-line smartphone chips. The new US sanctions not only block Huawei from fabricating its own chip designs at Taiwanese foundries that u...

Commentary: Singapore needs better public opinion polls to sharpen focus for national agenda

3Sep

By Desk TeamNo Comments

China, Market, Singapore, World

Commentary: Singapore needs better public opinion polls to sharpen focus for national agenda

In a world of rapid seismic changes, we would need regular, published polls on public sentiments regarding policy matters to understand emerging gaps, says SUSS’ Leong Chan-Hoong. SINGAPORE: A new Cabinet was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday (Jul 25), with key ministries shored up with new faces from this election that would bring to bear their experience in public engagement and from the private sector. The new Cabinet has their job cut out for them. Singapore is now in the throes of a worldwide economic recession. COVID-19 has disrupted our strategic advantage in aviation, tourism and as a regional business hub. Gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted by 0.3 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, while the second quarter saw a deeper dec...

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