Tag: Covid-19

Xi’s dream project ‘Belt Road Initiative’ in trouble amid China’s shrinking economy
15Mar By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia, Business, China, Singapore

Xi’s dream project ‘Belt Road Initiative’ in trouble amid China’s shrinking economy

Due to China’s dwindling economy, President Xi Jinping's dream of setting a new world order seems to have come to a halt after the Covid-19 slowed down the Belt Road Initiative (BRI), pushing it towards becoming financial inviable.According to media reports, Beijing has been forced to cut back on new loans and investments under the BRI due to covid-19 induced economic troubles.According to the Green Belt and Road Initiative Centre, a research organization, Chinese investment has reduced to USD 47 billion in 2020--a whopping slump of 54 per cent in just one year.Wang Xiaolong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's International Economic Affairs Department, said 20 per cent of the BRI projects were seriously affected while other 30-40 per cent witnessed adverse impact.China's ec
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Indian External Affairs Minister to visit Maldives this weekend
19Feb By Nectar GanNo Comments
Politics

Indian External Affairs Minister to visit Maldives this weekend

Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar is going to visit Maldives this Saturday to continue India’s high-level engagements with the island nation.Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had gone to the Maldives in November last year even during the time of COVID-19 pandemic.A meeting took place between the two Foreign Ministers, through video conferencing in August 2020 in which several key projects and initiatives were announced. Also, in April 2020, a telephone conversation took place between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.‘India First’ has been the underlying foreign policy approach of the Maldives government. President Solih, since he assumed office in November 2018, has taken concerted initiatives on this front. This is in congruen
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China building border walls with Vietnam, Myanmar to keep people out
26Jan By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Asia, China, Conflict

China building border walls with Vietnam, Myanmar to keep people out

In a move which could lead to conflicts, China has decided to reinforce border walls with its South-East Asian neighbours - Vietnam and Myanmar."It looks like a national program," South-East Asia expert and emeritus professor Carl Thayer of UNSW Canberra said.According to Chinese state media Xinhua, the project in Vietnam involves a 4.5-metre-high iron fence, topped with barbed wire, along the Beilun River. Built between 2012 and 2017, the $29 million project reportedly stretches 12 kilometres, and is there to curb the smuggling of goods, drugs and people.Meanwhile, media reports suggest that a 659-kilometre-long fence has been completed along China's 2,000-kilometre border with Myanmar in December, in between China's Yunnan province and Myanmar's northern Shan State.While Global Times has...
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J&K CS chairs maiden meet of UT Steering Committee on covid-19 vaccination
3Dec By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

J&K CS chairs maiden meet of UT Steering Committee on covid-19 vaccination

In the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam chaired the maiden meeting of the UT Steering Committee to monitor the roll-out of covid-19 vaccination.The Committee reviewed the arrangements being made to ensure hassle-free and time-bound delivery of covid-19 vaccines across the union territory.Administrative Secretaries of the departments of Health & Medical Education, Home, Social Welfare, Housing & Urban Development, Information, Transport, Rural Development, Tribal Affairs, besides Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM) and officers from the Army, CRPF and Northern Railways participated in the meeting, an official handout said.The meeting was informed that various covid-19 vaccines are currently in the third phase of cli...
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Thank PM for appreciating our efforts: J-K’s Dooru Municipal Committee Chairman
18Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Thank PM for appreciating our efforts: J-K’s Dooru Municipal Committee Chairman

On the unexpected mention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio programme, ‘Mann ki Baat’, the Municipal Committee Chairman of Dooru in Kashmir's Anantnag district expressed gratitude for appreciating his district’s work in containing coronavirus.Mohammed Iqbal Ahanger, Municipal Committee Chairman said that it was a joyous day for him. "It was totally unexpected that Prime Minister Modi would mention about our district and the contribution of my team. I am thankful to him for appreciating my work of sanitization and fumigation," Ahanger said."I am also thankful to my team for acknowledging my leadership and helping me with their efforts to bring out the best. I am glad that they followed the lead of their captain," he added.In the recent edition of 'Mann ki Baat', Prime Minister Mo
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[South East Asia] Farmers in South East Asia may lose their land dues to Covid-19
17Jun By Our NewsroomNo Comments
World

[South East Asia] Farmers in South East Asia may lose their land dues to Covid-19

Many farmers and indigenous people in South East Asia are on the verge of losing their lands due to the lockdowns that are imposed to contain the Covid-19 (coronavirus), according to land rights activists who are backing new technologies to help track the growing number of conflicts.With over 4.4 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and about 300,000 have died, farmer across the world are struggling to tend to their fields, and some indigenous people kept from forests because of restrictions on movement, making it easier for illegal loggers and companies to encroach their lands, analysts said."The pandemic has opened an opportunity for activities such as illegal logging and land grabs across Asia-Pacific because of less oversight and accountability,"...
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Number of Coronavirus patients increases in Singapore
15May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Singapore

Number of Coronavirus patients increases in Singapore

Singapore has seen the number of cases of the novel coronavirus increasing substantially --  about in April to 26,098 now-- and the vast majority are migrant workers, many from South and Southeast Asian countries like Bangladesh and India, who were infected in crowded dormitories.Significant workforce of the Singapore-- 1.4 million migrant workers-- live in the city state, mostly employed in construction, manual labor and housekeeping. Of these, about 200,000 live in 43 dormitories, according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.Every dorm room houses about 10 to 20 residents. They share toilet and shower facilities, eat in common areas, and sleep just feet away from each other. It's nearly impossible to conduct social distancing -- the consequences of which became clear in April when Sin
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