Asia

Gandhi Peace Prize for Year 2020 conferred on Bangladeshi politician and leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Asia, Featured

Gandhi Peace Prize for Year 2020 conferred on Bangladeshi politician and leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 is being conferred on 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The award instituted by the Government of India was awarded to Mujibur Rahman in recognition of his "outstanding contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods", as per a GOI press release. The award carries an amount of Rs. 1 crore, a citation, a plaque andan exquisite traditional handicraft/ handloom item. The press release by the Ministry of Culture which announced the prize says, "The Gandhi Peace Prize recognizes the immense and unparalleled contribution of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in inspiring the liberation of Bangladesh, bringing stability to a nation born out of strife, laying the foundation for ...
Nearly 100 Hindu houses in Sunamganj, Bangladesh destroyed by followers of Hefazat-e-Islam in a dastardly attack
Asia, Featured

Nearly 100 Hindu houses in Sunamganj, Bangladesh destroyed by followers of Hefazat-e-Islam in a dastardly attack

Thousands of Hefazat-e-Islam supporters attacked a Hindu village in Shalla upazila of Sunamganj on Wednesday morning. The purported reason for the attack was a Facebook post by a Hindu man criticizing Hefazat-e-Islam leader General Mawlana Mufti Mamunul Haque. The pre-planned attack took place after Hefazat-e-Islam's Amir Allama Junaid Babunagari, Joint-Secretary General Mawlana Mufti Mamunul Haque and several other central leaders attended a conference at Derai upazila on Monday, where they announced that the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi would not be welcomed in Bangladesh and they will not allow him to inaugurate the statue of 'Bangabandhu' during his visit. Enraged by Mawlana Mamunul Haque's speech at the conference, a young Hindu man from Naogaon, Shalla upazila alleg...
Myanmar: Bank Accounts of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation frozen; Accused of illegally financing the civil disobedience movement
Asia, Featured, World

Myanmar: Bank Accounts of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation frozen; Accused of illegally financing the civil disobedience movement

Myanmar's military regime has seized bank accounts of billionaire George Soros’ funded Open Society Foundation (OSF) and arrest warrants have been issued for 11 OSF staff members, including its head and deputy head. The decision of the government was announced on MRTV. The regime has also said that it will take legal action against the foundation for violating restrictions placed on the activities of such organizations in the country. The OSF is accused of giving financial support to the civil disobedience movement against the military junta. The regime also said that the OSF failed to obtain approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM)’s Foreign Exchange Management Department for a deposit of US$5 million (7.04 billion kyats) with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development ...
Taiwan stares at drought as dams dry out; Chip production takes a hit
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Taiwan stares at drought as dams dry out; Chip production takes a hit

Upper catchment area of Zengwen Reservoir is almost completely dry. (CNA photo) Taiwan is facing it’s most severe water shortage in 56 years. Most of the dams in the catchment areas have dried up and are fast becoming arid. The government in order to address the severe water shortage has set up an emergency response center to salvage the situation. Last weekend President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan had no typhoons in 2020 which are crucial to refill the country’s reservoirs and other water reserves. She urged residents to conserve water and prepare for potential shortages in the months to come. As the dry spell continues, major reservoirs in central and southern regions of Taiwan are nearly bottoming out. On Monday, Economic Minister Wang Mei-hua said the ministry will continue to ...
Sri Lanka to ban burqa and prohibit unregistered Madrasa schools
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Sri Lanka to ban burqa and prohibit unregistered Madrasa schools

Sri Lanka is set to ban burqa in the country over security concerns. The move comes two years after the Colombo church bombings which killed 258 and injured hundreds. The island nation's government is also planning to prohibit unregistered Madrasa schools in view of the extremist teachings in such Islamic schools. The Minister of Public Security Retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara addressing a function in Kalutara said that he has signed a directive banning the wearing of the burqa in Sri Lanka a day ago. Noting that wearing burqa was a recent addition in Sri Lanka, he said that a group of religious extremists had introduced the tradition of wearing the burqa in the past and that Muslim women had never worn such a burqa before. He said the burqa is a symbol of religious extr...
Last nail in the coffin of Hong Kong’s democracy? China approves plan to veto the island nation’s election candidates who are not ‘patriots’!
Asia, Featured, World

Last nail in the coffin of Hong Kong’s democracy? China approves plan to veto the island nation’s election candidates who are not ‘patriots’!

China’s parliament has voted for sweeping changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system, including powers to veto candidates who are not 'patriots'Hong Kong’s influential Election Committee which is already stacked with Beijing loyalists, will be expanded to 1,500 representatives, up from 1,200A separate committee will also be set up to vet the political views of candidatesChina observers says that the new electoral arrangements will make sure that there is no chance for any pro-democracy figure to run in elections and get elected at all China’s parliament voted Thursday for sweeping changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system, including powers to veto candidates, as Beijing moves to ensure that only “patriots” run the city following huge pro-democracy rallies. During the last few years, Bei...
Tibet Climate Crisis – A call to action
Analysis, Asia, Featured, World

Tibet Climate Crisis – A call to action

Tibet is warming three times faster than the rest of the world and natural disasters such as droughts, landslides and floods are increasing in frequency.One of the key threats faced by Tibetans today is the eradication of their environmentIn recent years, China's exploitation of Tibet's natural resources has gathered pace significantly and Tibetans have no power to protect their own landFor China's government, Tibet's water is another resource to be exploited, for hydro-electric power, diversion to supply people elsewhere in ChinaLarge Scale mining, damming and deforestation are leading to the Tibetan glacier melting at a faster rateThe risks in Tibet is a global concern and requires decisive action from all countries to avoid a humanitarian crisis on unimaginable proportions in the c...
China’s work scheme planned to reduce Uighur population density in Xinjiang says study
Analysis, Asia, Featured, World

China’s work scheme planned to reduce Uighur population density in Xinjiang says study

A study by Nankai University of China shows that the government labour programmes in Xinjiang are mostly designed to reduce the population density of the Uighur ethnic minority group.The report provides new evidence from Chinese sources that show Xinjiang’s labor transfers to other regions or provinces in China meet the forced labor definition of the ILO.The report indicates that labor transfers are not just serving economic purposes, but are implemented with the intention to forcibly displace the ethnic minority populations from their heartlandsSuch labor transfers of the Uighurs are designed to intentionally reduce their population density, and tearing apart homogeneous communities.The Chinese government denies accusations of forced labour and labour transfers in Xinjiang, saying w...
The ‘Pineapple’ in China’s flesh – How the tropical fruit helped Taiwan fight economic bullying by its Communist neighbour
Analysis, Asia, Featured, World

The ‘Pineapple’ in China’s flesh – How the tropical fruit helped Taiwan fight economic bullying by its Communist neighbour

Taiwan's Ambassador to the US Bi-khim Hsiao tweets in support of the 'Freedom Pineapple' campaign China imposed a blanket ban on all imports of Taiwanese pineapples last week, alleging that “harmful organisms” had been found in the fruit.President Tsai condemned China for its "ambush-like, unilateral notice that it would ban imports of Taiwan pineapples", despite the fact that 99.79 percent of imported batches had passed inspection.  China's  move has been interpreted by observers in Taiwan as directed at the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is frequently critical of China.Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu launched the "Freedom Pineapple" campaign on Twitter. The aim of the online campaign was to secure orders for pineapple from farmers  Taiwanese farmers received...
Cybersecurity firm says China-linked RedEcho hacker group Targeted Indian Power Sector – What we know so far
Asia, Defence & Security, Featured, National

Cybersecurity firm says China-linked RedEcho hacker group Targeted Indian Power Sector – What we know so far

Study by Cybersecurity firm Recorded Future found that China-linked hacker Group RedEcho targeted at least “10 distinct power sector organisations” with malware known as ShadowPad last year resulting in power shutdowns and loss of power to Mumbai's metro network on 13 October 2020. The findings which were published on the firms website was reported by New York Times on Monday. The study report says that Chinese government-linked attackers possibly gained access to computer networks part of India’s power infrastructure. It also hints that based on technical clues, Indian power ministry officials were also on their radar. The study shows that as the standoff continued in Ladakh, Chinese malware was flowing into the control systems that manage electric supply across India, along ...