Market

Locals in Bangkok resist environmental dictatorship
30Sep By Brian Thompson1 Comment
Market

Locals in Bangkok resist environmental dictatorship

Picketing in front of the Government House, Anong Kuson told herself that this was just another test of “our determination to protect our forests and our home community”.Ms Anong, 34, and the mother of three from Ban Muang Takua, Phatthalung province started picketing along with some 20 residents who represented the Muang Takua community in Bangkok after the Phatthalung governor told them he had no power to stop the Irrigation Department's controversial dam project."I told myself never to feel discouraged, never to give up on our mission to stop the Muang Takua dam project. It will destroy our forests, waterways, our abundant nature. It will rob our children of life security and future. I will never let it happen."It has been decades since the protests began. After being shelved by strong ...
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China’s ally Pakistan secretly developing trade ties with Taiwan
29Sep By Michael SmithNo Comments
China, Market, USA

China’s ally Pakistan secretly developing trade ties with Taiwan

Pakistan, a close ally of China, is secretly developing trade ties with Taiwan, which showcases its duplicity.In a recent meeting, Sidrah Haque, trade and investment attache at the Embassy of Pakistan in Cairo met with Michael Yeh, the director of Taiwan Trade Centre in Cairo to discuss the trade ties.She tweeted about the meeting along with a picture with Michael Yeh, but later deleted it fearing condemnation by Beijing."Met Mr. Michael Yeh, a veteran commercial officer from Taiwan Trade Center. We spoke of Pakistan-Taiwan trade ties, our shared commercial experience in Cairo and major products of interest in the local market. Always feels good to connect with other trade wings and compare notes!” Sidrah Haque said in her tweet.China has no control over Taiwan but claims it as part of its...
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How China’s top-notch mass surveillance system threatens global freedoms
26Sep By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Market, USA, World

How China’s top-notch mass surveillance system threatens global freedoms

Going by the records of Beijing Public Safety Bureau, every step, every action is monitored by state-of-the-art surveillance cameras. Facial recognition algorithms filed away in a secret database could land you in legal trouble for something you did near your front door. A semi-political post made in a private chat could lead to the loss of your job.Yet it is only the beginning of the rise of technologically-advanced China and its dystopian dreams. It might be a deterrent to crime, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership says, but it also means a substantial loss of privacy and free expression."The Chinese Communist Party is committed to the production and use of technology that controls and surveils its population," Chairman Robin Cleveland and Vice Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew of...
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Srinagar bizman develops hands-free sanitizer dispensing stand
17Sep By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, Market

Srinagar bizman develops hands-free sanitizer dispensing stand

To tackle the spread of coronavirus, a young Kashmiri businessman has come up with the concept of a sanitiser stand which dispenses the liquid with the use of one's foot and the equipment also carries corporate advertisements.The Srinagar-based businessman, Harris Ahmad, developed this sanitiser stand after his previous business was hit by the impact of COVID-19. The fear of COVID-19 infection is minimised as one does not touch the bottle with one's hands."At the time of COVID-19 pandemic, there was heavy demand for anti-COVID-19 essential products. The entire country was under lockdown. Our corporate advertisement business was affected as markets were closed," said Ahmad.Ahmed said that as demand for sanitisers increased, he and his team decided to add value to their products. The sanitis...
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‘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, ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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‘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...
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