Indian investigative agencies are struggling to capture suspected white-collar criminals who have evaded trial simply by leaving the country and not coming back. In 2020, the central government told Parliament that about 70 people accused of bank fraud or financial crimes had fled India since 2015 and were living abroad. According to a law enacted in 2018, they are “fugitive economic offenders”. Many of the alleged fraudsters seem to favour the Caribbean as a destination, the agencies found. Countries in this region are not among the 48 nations with whom India has an extradition treaty, which means the governments are…
Author: Asia News Network
Vietnam has set an annual target to reduce the rate of fatal occupational accidents by four per cent. This is one of the key goals of the National Programme on Occupational Safety and Health for 2021-2025. The national programme on occupational safety and health for 2021-2025 has been implemented nationwide for all occupations, prioritising jobs with a high risk of work accidents in small and medium enterprises, co-operatives and craft villages. The programme aims to improve working conditions, prevent occupational accidents and occupational diseases, ensure worker safety, and contribute to sustainable development. Vietnam will also focus on increasing the number…
Thailand has recorded its first case of Omicron XE, Public Health Commission vice-chairman Chalermchai Boonyaleephan said on Saturday. The case was recorded by the Centre for Medical Genomics, Ramathibodi Hospital. The first person found with Omicron XE has already recovered after developing mild symptoms, Chalermachai said in a Blockdit post. He forecast the new virus variant would now spread in Thailand. He added that it was necessary to monitor XE’s severity and resistance to vaccines, and also whether it would replace Omicron BA.2 as the dominant strain. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that XE is 10 per cent more…
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Laos) has provided more than $1.3 million to improve the management of aquatic resources through co-management conservation and promotion of climate-resilient livelihoods in the provinces of Savannakhet, Champasak and Saravan. The project will be implemented for five years and target 41 villages in eight districts. It will involve Phin, Songkhon and Thapangthong districts in Savannakhet province, Nakhonpheng and Khongxedon districts in Saravan province, and Khong, Soukhouma and Pathoumphon districts in Champasak province. Under an agreement between the Department of livestock and Fisheries and WWF-Laos, the two partners will work to improve and implement community…
Around this time two years ago, Indonesia’s entertainment industry was left helpless as the COVID-19 pandemic swallowed the country. Movie theaters and concert stages were devoid of their biggest income – the audience. The pandemic is by no means over, but the current health situation has progressed to the point where people feel a little safer being together again. And so, the Indonesian entertainment industry and audience have gleefully welcomed the return of offline gatherings this year. But no return has been so seemingly awaited as the 2022 Joyland Bali music festival. Postponed since 2020, the Jakarta-based festival finally had…
South Korea’s monthly exports recorded an all-time high in March on the back of robust performance in outbound shipments of semiconductors and petrochemicals, state data showed on April 1. But the nation saw its trade balance in the red, as imports also increased to a record high last month in the wake of a spike in international raw materials prices. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the country recorded $63.4 billion in exports for March, up 18.2 per cent from a year earlier. This marked the highest figure since the nation started compiling the relevant figures in…
Although Vietnam’s current Securities Law includes severe penalties, the number of stock price manipulation cases is increasing, causing great damage to the market and frustration for investors. According to Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) vice-chairman Nguyen Hoang Hai, the recent case of FLC Group’s chairman Trinh Van Quyet arrested for alleged stock manipulation is just one among numerous other violations in the stock market. “The key problem was that the current management and supervision of the market regulators, as well as the State Securities Commission [SSC], has not been effective enough,” Hai told Vietnam News Agency. Many countries around…
Russia has started military exercises involving more than 1,000 personnel near Japan’s Hokkaido on Japanese-claimed islands that are part of what Tokyo calls the “Northern Territories”, the Russian defence ministry announced on April 1. About 200 anti-tank missiles, along with self-propelled artillery and drones, are said to have been deployed on the islands of Kunashiri and Etorofu in the “Northern Territories”, which were occupied by Russia after World War II. On March 25, Russia had also announced the start of military exercises with more than 3,000 personnel in the area. Those exercises took place on Japanese-claimed islets in the “Northern…
Continuous scrutiny of the Philippines’ human rights situation should be done by the UN Human Rights Council after a joint program the country forged with the UN last year failed to stop ongoing human rights violations in the country. The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, a regional rights group founded in the Philippines in 1991, and civil society organization Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation, said the joint program “remains insufficient to address systematic and widespread human rights violations and ensure accountability”. “We welcome the joint program’s priorities to strengthen domestic accountability mechanisms and rights-based approach to counterterrorism.…
Covid-19 patients in Thailand who face the risk of developing severe symptoms are entitled to free treatment at any hospital under the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patents Plus (UCEP Plus) scheme, the Department of Medical services chief said on Friday. Somsak Ankasil said this regulation applies to the “608 group” or people who are 60 and above, those who suffer from any of the seven chronic conditions aged 12 and above, and women who are 12 weeks or more into their pregnancy. Under the UCEP Plus scheme, which has been in effect since March 1, Covid-19 patients who do not…