BEIJING — The governments of China and Cambodia have been asked to review their compensation packages after a rights group report revealed that Cambodia’s Indigenous and ethnic minority communities were undermined during the construction of a dam project completed by a Chinese electricity firm and bankrolled by Chinese and Cambodian governments. Titled ‘Underwater: Human Rights Impacts of a China Belt and Road Project in Cambodia,’ a report by Human Rights Watch has found that Chinese and Cambodian authorities had completely ignored ‘community concerns’ in the construction of the Lower Sesan II dam in Treng Province of northeastern Cambodia. The Lower Sesan II Dam is a…
Author: zenger.news
HONG KONG — Within Hong Kong’s biggest opposition, a bitter row has erupted after its vice-chairman, and former lawmaker Lee Wing-tat left the city for the United Kingdom last week. The party members are divided on whether to contest the coming Legislative Council elections after Beijing’s rules regarding this have been drastically rewritten. The tensions have intensified in the Democratic Party. The abrupt departure of the vice-chairman has further escalated the tensions. In an outward sign of the infighting, former Democratic Party lawmaker Andrew Wan Siu-kin — who is currently behind bars awaiting trial on national security charges — appeared to…
WASHINGTON — The United States, on Aug. 10, said that Beijing should participate in consultations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, underlining China’s rapidly building nuclear arsenal. Ned Price, State Department spokesperson, said the U.S. believes it is crucial that nuclear powers engage in nonproliferation dialogue directly to discuss reducing nuclear dangers and avoiding miscalculation. “We encourage Beijing to engage with us on practical measures to reduce the risks of destabilizing arms races and conflict,” Price said. “Our Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman recently engaged in a round of Strategic Stability Dialogue with the Russian Federation. And it’s important that nuclear powers – China, of course,…
NEW DELHI — Tuhin Kant Pandey, Secretary at the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, claims that the government plans to complete the privatization of Air India and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in 2021. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management deals with all matters relating to the management of Central Government investments in equity, including disinvestment of equity in Central Public Sector Undertakings. Regarding the Confederation of Indian Industry, Pandey said Shipping Corporation of India, Pawan Hans, and Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited have also received sufficient interest from bidders. “Shipping Corporation of India, Pawan Hans, and Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd are the companies where we got sufficient interest from…
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Ultra-processed foods have become a larger part of kids’ and teens’ diets, which may be associated with health risks, as per a new study from researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. The study’s findings named “Trends in Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods Among US Youths Aged 2-19, 1998-2018” were published in the journal “JAMA.” The calories that children and adolescents consumed from ultra-processed foods jumped from 61 percent to 67 percent of total caloric intake from 1999 to 2018. The study analyzed dietary intake from 33,795 children and adolescents nationwide. “Some whole-grain bread and dairy foods are…
DANTEWADA, India — The country’s first township dedicated to surrendered Naxals and the victims of Naxal violence is being constructed in central Indian state — Chhattisgarh’s — Dantewada district. The term Naxal comes from the village Naxalbari in the eastern Indian state, West Bengal, where an insurgency started in 1967. People who were engaged in the insurgency were called Naxals. “The township being built by the surrendered Naxals themselves,” said Abhishek Pallav, Superintendent of Police, Dantewada. It will have facilities like a skill development center to help the victims and the former Naxals be self-dependent. “Residents of the township will be given training in different fields…
NEW DELHI — In a big win for e-commerce giant Amazon, India’s Supreme Court, on Aug. 6, upheld the order of a Singapore-based Emergency Arbitrator in the Future Retail Limited and Reliance Retail merger. Reliance Retail is the retail arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. “The Emergency Arbitrator’s decision that restrained Future Retail Ltd from going ahead with its asset sale deal to Reliance Retail was enforceable in India,” said the apex court. Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC and Future Retail are in a legal fight over the latter’s INR 24,713 crore ($3.32 billion) merger deal with Reliance Retail. Amazon has a 49 percent stake in Future…
BEIJING — China’s three-child policy, which is being promoted by the Chinese Communist Party officials as a way to put an end to the trend of the aging population, will further “aggravate problems” for working women who are already suffering gender discrimination at workplaces since the one-child policy was abolished in 2015, a Canada-based think tank said. The policy was announced on May 31 at the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party meeting chaired by the party’s General Secretary Xi Jinping on Population aging. “Though the state-owned Chinese news agency, Xinhua, stated that this policy was meant to address the large decline in…
An extraordinary event transformed the Middle East on Aug. 13, 2020: Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a joint statement of intent to normalize diplomatic relations. Formalized at the White House in September, the historic Abraham Accords opened wide a door that seemed hopelessly shut between the two countries. Discreet business had been conducted between Israelis and Emiratis for years, and Israelis holding foreign passports had quietly entered Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But the Abraham Accords changed the game, with direct flights and direct phone calls linking businesspeople, government officials and ordinary citizens who’d long been curious about one…
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India – With tourist destinations reopening in the southern Indian state, Kerala, after a long haul, the State Tourism Department has rolled out a “bio-bubble” model for vacationers. Only Covid-vaccinated staff will handle tourists from the time they arrive at their destination. The model creates protective layers of mostly inoculated service providers who will receive and host tourists. “Bio-bubbles” are sanitized, safe and secure environments, and people within them who are likely to come into contact with tourists are vaccinated. “The protective ring of the bio-bubble will ensure that tourists landing in any airport in Kerala are met with…