• Politics

    [Asia Round-up] Asia accounts for two thirds of modern slavery

    The recently released Global Slavery Index conducted by Walk Free Foundation reveals that there are an estimated 29.8 million people enslaved worldwide. India, China, and Pakistan enslave the highest number of people while Mauritania has the highest prevalence. Out of 22 million people enslaved in the index’s top 10 countries,…

    Read More »
  • Politics

    Sri Lanka will never sell women to boost tourism

    Commercial sex would never be legalised and Sri Lanka would not sell its women for the sake of promoting tourism, the government says. According to rough estimates, there are about 40,000 sex workers in Sri Lanka. Among the campaigns conducted by the government is to increase awareness on abortions and…

    Read More »
  • Politics

    [Asia Round-up] Diapers form 12.14% of waste in Malaysia

    Adult and baby diapers now 12.14% of waste in Malaysia Diapers formed 12.14 per cent of the total waste disposed in Malaysia. This shows that Malaysia has an ageing population as more senior citizens are using diapers. This fact stressed the importance of using more environmental-friendly and cost-effective technology such…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    Headquaters of UN Green Climate Fund seated in Incheon, S. Korea

    The headquarters of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a new UN fund aimed at helping developing countries tackle climate change, is officially opened in South Korea on Wednesday. An opening ceremony was launched on Wednesday morning to celebrate the Green Climate Fund with its headquarters located in Songdo of Incheon…

    Read More »
  • West Asia

    Celebrations across UAE as Dubai wins right to host World Expo 2020

      Fireworks erupted in Dubai after the tiny Gulf emirate won the right to host the 2020 World Expo, becoming the first Middle Eastern city to organize the event in its more than 150-year history. Dubai bested competing bids from Izmir, Turkey; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Yekaterinburg, Russia, after three…

    Read More »
  • Politics

    UN, World Bank plan to mobilize financing for sustainable energy

    The United Nations and the World Bank on Wednesday announced a concerted effort by governments, international agencies, civil society and the private sector to scale up financing to provide sustainable energy for all, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for massive new investments in the face of a rising “global…

    Read More »
  • South Asia

    Bangladesh’s forex reserves go up

    While the per capita income of people in Bangladesh has increased substantially, the country’s foreign exchange reserve crossed the US $17 billion mark on October 22 for the first time in the country’s history. The officials of the country’s central bank Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) consider…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    Is North Korea a ‘communist state’ or a ‘market economy’?

    North Korea is often described as a ‘communist country’ by outsiders, and also officially describes itself as a ‘socialist country.’ But, what exactly is a ‘communist state,’ or (to use a less ideologically charged term) a ‘country of state socialism’? It is usually a country where all or most of…

    Read More »
  • South Asia

    Indo-Bangla power trading inaugurated

    With the inauguration of the Bangladesh-India Power Transmission Center at Bheramara in the South-Western region of Bangladesh, the regional cooperation among the South Asian countries entered into a new era. The center was formally opened on October 5 and started supplying electricity produced in India to Bangladesh. Through this center,…

    Read More »

  • Emergence of market economy in North Korea

    What can we learn from the dramatic transformation that North Korea has undergone in the last two decades? I am afraid that many of my readers might not like my conclusions, but for me, the last two decades are another confirmation that markets and trade are all too natural for…

    Read More »