USA

Article 370 abrogation impact: Skill development schemes in Kashmir valley empower women
28Aug mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
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...
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Saudi Arabia defers to renew pact to supply oil to Pakistan on deferred payments
26Aug mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
USA

Saudi Arabia defers to renew pact to supply oil to Pakistan on deferred payments

Saudi Arabia is yet to renew an agreement worth $3.2 billion with Pakistan that allows oil supplies on deferred payments after that pact expired two months back and decision about its renewal remains pending with Riyadh.According to media reports, the $3.2 billion Saudi oil facility was part of the $6.2-billion Saudi Arabian package announced in November 2018 to ease Pakistan’s external sector woes.“Pakistan has already prematurely returned $1 billion Saudi loan - four months ahead of its repayment period. Pakistan could also return $2 billion remaining Saudi cash loan, subject to availability of similar facility from China. The agreement over $3 billion cash support and $3.2 billion oil facility per annum had the provision of renewal for two more years…Saudi Arabia has not provided the oi...
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Timeline: Three years on, a look at the Rohingya crisis
26Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Timeline: Three years on, a look at the Rohingya crisis

DHAKA: This month marks the third anniversary of the fleeing of more than 730,000 Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine State to Bangladesh after a military-led crackdown in response to an attack by Muslim militants on Myanmar security posts. Here is a timeline of events in the crisis: Aug 25, 2017 - Muslim insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attack 30 police posts and an army base in the north of Rakhine State. Aug 26, 2017 - As fighting spreads between the army and ARSA, thousands of Rohingya flee to Bangladesh. Sep 2, 2017 - More than 2,600 houses are razed in Rohingya-majority areas in the week following the Aug 25 attack, the government says. Sep 11, 2017 - The UN human rights high commissioner calls the military operation “a textbook example of ethnic clean...
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Relief efforts should cushion economy in months ahead, White House report says
26Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, USA, World

Relief efforts should cushion economy in months ahead, White House report says

WASHINGTON: Increased transfer payments and expanded liquidity measures aimed at companies should help buffer U.S. households and businesses from the worst of the economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic in coming months, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a report on Thursday. Nonetheless, the economy would recover faster and with less scarring if agreement were reached on additional support, Tyler Goodspeed, the CEA's acting chair, told reporters in a briefing on the report. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are at an impasse over the size of another coronavirus aid package, with talks having broken down in the past week. "Very substantial headwinds remain," Goodspeed said. "What is going to be absolutely essential for continued economic recovery...
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‘We must fight’: Thailand’s youth take on the establishment
25Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

‘We must fight’: Thailand’s youth take on the establishment

BANGKOK: Leaderless, social media-savvy and inspired by Hong Kong's young activists, Thailand's budding pro-democracy movement is intent on overhauling the government, rewriting the constitution and even taking on a law that shields the monarchy. The kingdom has seen a decades-long spin-cycle of coups and violent street protests led by well-funded veterans for or against the establishment. But the new generation of demonstrators says its fight is very different, as they stage near-daily protests with crowds of up to several thousand angry young Thais. "I just want my rights," said 20-year-old Rawee, real name Nawiboon Chompoo, who helps fire up rallies with chants for reform and by burning pictures of the country's prime minister. "The government is unreliable and bad for the peopl...
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Brazil indigenous leader Aritana dead from COVID-19
25Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Brazil indigenous leader Aritana dead from COVID-19

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. GOIANIA, Brazil: Chief Aritana Yawalapiti, one of Brazil's most influential indigenous leaders who led the people of Upper Xingu in central Brazil and helped create an indigenous park there, died on Wednesday (Aug 5) from COVID-19, his family said in a statement. His death underscores the threat that Brazil's indigenous people are facing from the novel coronavirus pandemic that has spread to their vulnerable communities, infected thousands and killed hundreds. Aritana, 71, was rushed to a Goiânia hospital two weeks ago in a risky 9-hour drive from the western state of Mato Grosso, breathing with the aid of oxygen tanks so that he ...
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Facebook executive in India files police complaint after report on content practices
22Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Facebook executive in India files police complaint after report on content practices

NEW DELHI: A top Facebook executive in India has filed a police complaint in New Delhi saying she is receiving death threats after a media report said she and the U.S. social network company allegedly favoured Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party. Ankhi Das, Facebook's top public-policy executive in India, in her complaint to Delhi police, as reported by Indian media, said the threats followed a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that said she opposed applying Facebook's hate-speech rules to a politician from Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some other Hindu nationalist individuals and groups. Das said that after the WSJ report last week some individuals online had "intentionally vilified" her due to their political affiliations and were engaging in abuse. "I am extremel...
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J&K Lt Governor seeks Centre’s intervention in apple sale
21Aug mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
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...
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Trump administration finalizes oil drilling plan in Alaska wildlife refuge
21Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Trump administration finalizes oil drilling plan in Alaska wildlife refuge

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. The Trump administration on Monday finalized a plan to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, putting it on track to issue decades-long leases in the pristine wilderness area before a potential change in U.S. leadership. REUTERS: The Trump administration on Monday finalized a plan to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, putting it on track to issue decades-long leases in the pristine wilderness area before a potential change in U.S. leadership. The energy industry and Alaska Governor Michael Dunleavy said opening ANWR to drilling would create jobs and boost the state'...
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‘We are a battleground now’: In Southeast Asia, U.S.-China tensions flare on social media
19Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore, USA, World

‘We are a battleground now’: In Southeast Asia, U.S.-China tensions flare on social media

Tensions between the United States and China over the South China Sea have erupted into a war of words on social media, in what analysts see as a change in U.S. strategy amid a burgeoning superpower rivalry in Southeast Asia. After Washington last week hardened its position by explicitly rejecting Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea, U.S. embassies in the region produced an unprecedented flurry of op-eds and statements criticizing Beijing's actions. China's response was fiery, accusing Washington of "defaming China with untrue words so as to mislead the public" in the region. "We are a battleground now," Renato de Castro, an analyst with the Albert Del Rosario Institute for Strategic and International Relations in the Philippines, told Reuters by phone. "It will be a long gam...
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