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PM leaves on Monday for visits to Japan Thailand
Prime minister Manmohan Singh leaves on Monday on a three-day visit to Japan to give a fresh impetus to strategic partnership and push for early conclusion of a bilateral agreement on civil nuclear cooperation. Singh will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on a wide spectrum of issues of mutual interest and discuss ways to bolster strategic and global partnership between the ...
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Japan PM heads to Burma on sales mission
Prime minister Shinzo Abe flies to Myanmar Friday bearing almost $1 billion in development aid and a plan for a nationwide electricity grid as Japan tries to grab the box seats in the country’s quickening development. Abe follows in the footsteps of other world leaders who have flocked to the former pariah state since it was welcomed back to the international community after a nominally ...
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Don’t rely much on central banks to revive growth Singapore FM
Relying excessively on central banks to bring real growth back is ';illusory'; as low interest rates would not help overcome the structural imbalances plaguing global economies, Singapore’s deputy prime minister and Finance minister Tarman Shanmugaratnam today said. ';It is the fiscal imbalances arising out of negative real interest rates and lack of investments in ...
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Philippines Court of Appeals issues writ against trials for Bt Brinjal
The Court of Appeals in Philippines issued a writ of Kalikasan (a constitutional provision for a citizen’s right to safe environment) recently, ordering the department of environment and natural resources (DENR) and other concerned government agencies in Philippines to stop field trials of Genetically Modified (GM) Bt Brinjal. The court took this decision keeping in mind the ...
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Philippines March imports fall for third straight month
The Philippines’ imports in March fell for a third straight month, with the pace of decline accelerating from February and raising concerns that growth may slow for the export-reliant economy as global demand for its high-tech shipments falter. Manila’s largest imports are inputs used by the semiconductor and electronics industry, also the biggest export sector and a major ...
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Accused aunt flies back to Thailand to deny charges of forcing niece…
A 17-year-old girl who was helped to leave South Korea after contacting a policeman on Facebook and complaining of forced prostitution will be brought in for further questioning after her aunt gave a different account of events, Pol Maj Gen Pol Maj Gen Chawalit Sawaengphuet said on Friday. Pol Maj Gen Chawalit, commander of the Anti-Human Trafficking Division, announced this at a press ...
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Bomb kills five rangers in Thailand’s restive south
Five paramilitary rangers were killed and one other wounded in an ambush when suspected rebels detonated a bomb buried in a road in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south, local police said Friday. The mid-morning attack was a grizzly reminder that rebels in the Muslim-majority deep south have yet to curb violence against Thai security forces — or civilians — despite ongoing ...
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Indonesia evinces interest in starting new ventures in Tamil Nadu
Indonesia today evinced interest in coming up with new ventures in Tamil Nadu, in a move to further strengthen bilateral trade relations between the two countries. Indonesia Ambassador Risali Wilmar Indrakesuma, heading a delegation, today expressed his country’s interest in starting new ventures in Tamil Nadu during a brief interaction with Governor K Rosaiah today, a Raj Bhavan release ...
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Indonesia’s central bank chief urges country’s banks to compete overseas
Indonesia’s new central bank governor has urged the country’s banks to be ready to compete internationally as authorities seek access to foreign markets. The new governor of Indonesia’s central bank, Agus Martowardojo, says Indonesian banks will have to meet international standards as they move into other markets in the region. Martowardojo says also wants to discuss ...
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Indonesia Continues to Disappoint on Religious Freedom
The United States Commission on Individual Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has again rated Indonesia as a Tier 2 country. The Tier 2 designation indicates that ';violations engaged in or tolerated by the government are particularly severe.'; It means that the country is on the threshold of joining Burma, China, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea as the world’s worst violators of ...
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Indonesia captures alleged mastermind of embassy bomb plot
Indonesian police have arrested the alleged mastermind of a failed plot to bomb the Burmese embassy and another man suspected of being the bombmaker, an official said Thursday. Sigit Indrajit was detained late Wednesday in Jakarta as he got off a boat that had arrived from Sumatra island, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told AFP, adding that he was ';the planner of the ...
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Exclusive Malaysia tycoon plans IPO of football club Cardiff City – sources
Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan is exploring an IPO of British soccer team Cardiff City for as early as this year, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in a deal that would follow the team’s recent promotion to the Premier League. The process is in its early stages, the people said, with details on the timing, size and listing venue subject to change. A listing would ...
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Crackdown Malaysia Detains Opposition Figures Raids Newspapers
The uproar over Malaysia’s disputed election shows few signs of abating after the government charged three outspoken opposition figures with sedition, an antiquated and much-maligned law primarily used to quell dissent. The crackdown comes amid accusations of vote rigging during the May 5 ballot that saw the incumbent National Front coalition – in power since independence from ...
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Tyranny cannot suppress opposition support Anwar tells Najib governme …
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim accused the Najib administration of tyranny today for its nationwide crackdown on opposition dissent but said the widespread arrests and court charges would not stop Malaysians from rising against the government. He reminded prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his newly-minted administration that the days of dictatorships like those of Russia’s Joseph ...
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Taiwan’s 1st H7N9 bird flu patient recovers
The first Taiwanese person to be infected with the H7N9 bird flu has recovered and left the hospital on Friday after 35 days of treatment, a spokesman for Taiwan University Hospital said on Friday. The 53-year-old Taiwanese man, who had briefly stayed in east China’s city of Suzhou, showed bird flu symptoms three days after returning to Taiwan via Shanghai on April 9. The ...
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Most Chinese satisfied with government H7N9 response survey
Most Chinese are satisfied with the way the government responded to the recent H7N9 bird flu outbreak, according to survey results released on Friday. More than 80 percent of those surveyed said the government issued information about the outbreak in a timely manner, as well as believe that the government is capable of containing the virus, according to a survey conducted by the National ...
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H7N9 virus can transmit via air-borne exposure among mammals research
The human-isolated avian influenza A (H7N9) virus can infect ferrets, the main mammal model for research into human influenza, and transmit from ferret-to-ferret via close contact and air-borne exposure, albeit the latter less efficiently, according to a report released on Friday by Hong Kong experts. Meanwhile the report by Hong Kong University (HKU) Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine said that ...
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Uniformed Aircraft Use Might Strengthen Asean Cooperation
Bandar Seri Begawan - The CN295 military transport aircraft landed at the Brunei International Airport yesterday as part of its tour around the six Asean countries namely the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia from May 22 to May ...
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More Indians have stopped believing in God Survey
Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism has found that the number of non religious people in India has risen. As against 87% saying they were religious in the same survey in 2005, the percentage has fallen to 81% in 2013. In other words, a drop by 6% in seven years. The survey also found a 1% dip in the number of people calling themselves as an atheist. In 2005, 4% people said they didn't ...
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Thousands finally finish Boston marathon
Nearly seven weeks after two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, about 2,000 people on Saturday ran the last 1.6 km - of the 42km race, crossing the finish ...
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New Qaida leaders add to Pakistans woes
NEW YORK: Committed Pakistani jihadists with ties to Afghan militants have replaced the slain top al-Qaida leaders killed by US drones in the country's restive tribal region, which analysts fear could plunge into "deeper chaos" after American troops leave neighbouring Afghanistan in 2014. "From multi-billion-dollar military aid to stealthy and secretive drone ...
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The two Asian giants have a challenging year ahead
The U.S. dollar now exceeds 100 yen, and the appreciation of other currencies has been even more pronounced. Korean producers are not happy that their direct competitor in the car and electronics markets has gained a 20% pricing advantage since last fall. Japan's stated goal of reaching a 2% inflation target is going to be a challenging one to reach. With lots of capacity in world ...
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ADS Securities brokers forex deal with Air Asia founder
The financial services firm ADS Securities has partnered with a company run by the Air Asia founder Tony Fernandes in a deal that will attract foreign currency flows from Asia to its Abu Dhabi trading platform. Malaysia's Tune Group - its portfolio includes the low-cost carrier Air Asia, the financial services firm Tune Money, Tune Insurance and the mobile company Tune Talk - will leverage ...
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UK task force to crack down on hate preachers
Theresa May said the government was taking a relook at creating new powers and laws needed to clamp down on religious leaders and organizations who promote extremist messages and target potential recruits in jails, schools and mosques. Thousands of people are potentially at risk of being radicalized in Britain, May said. The task force, to be chaired by the prime minister, will include senior ...
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Isa Award winner to use funds for establishing centre for social work from the southern Asian region
Manama, May 26 (BNA) -- Founder of the Malaysian Medical Relief Society (MERCY Malaysia), Dr Jemilah Mahmood, received the inaugural Isa Award for Service to Humanity at the hands of His Majesty the King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. In her acceptance speech on being conferred the award on her at the Isa Cultural Center, she said the amount of one million dollars would be used for "fulfilling ...
Asia Feature
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Asia's largest ever infastructure project
The Trans-Asian Railway has been faltering since it was first proposed in the 1960s by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (ESCAP). Throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s the project was hindered by political instability, the wars in Indochina, the reticence of China and a subsequent lack of finance in Asia for mega-projects of this kind.
Now, however, with China emerging as the number two most dominant economy in the world, the project to link two major continents (Asia and Europe) is finding its feet once more and the Chinese are looking into investment opportunities, with some aspects of the project, such as the several thousand kilometers that pass through Thailand, being slated for possible construction in 2013. Read more
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