Blinken due in China seeking pressure but also stability

Tapping ON RUSSIA Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Biden administration’s opportunity to participate China contrasts starkly with its work to remove it. The United States has accused China of supplying Russia with industrial equipment and technology after first being relieved that Beijing had not originally providedContinue Reading

China to send fresh crew to Tiangong space station

JIUQUAN, Gansu: China will send a fresh crew to its Tiangong space station on Thursday ( Apr 25 ) evening, Beijing’s Manned Space Agency announced, the latest mission in a programme that aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030. The Shenzhou- 18 vision – crewed by three explorers–Continue Reading

Malaysia to pilot QR code passport clearance for factory bus passengers at Johor land checkpoints from June

Malaysia BAHRU:  Under a pilot program starting in June, Malaysians travelling to Singapore on stock cars will be able to clean immigration through QR code at both of Johor’s area checkpoints.  

The scheme, spearheaded by Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs, follows the successful response to the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority ( ICA )’s move to roll out a QR code initiative on Mar 19 for those travelling by car on its side of the land border.  

Singapore’s implementation has garnered good feedback from travellers and this has led to increased calling from Johorean vacationers and businesses for the Malaysia authorities to build a similar effort.  

When contacted on Tuesday night ( Apr 23 ), Johor’s Works, Transportation and Infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh told CNA that the pilot will apply to Malaysian citizens who travel to Singapore onboard “bas kilangs” or factory buses. He stressed that visitors with Singapore documents are not yet included in this pilot program.    

Mr Fazli said these visitors will be able to utilize QR code certification at both Bangunan Sultan Iskandar and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar, the immigration structures linked to the Johor-Singapore Causeway and Tuas Second Link both.  

“The pilot test initiative involves only Malaysians who pass through on board bas kilangs, ” said Mr Fazli.  

“These vacationers are still required to bring their visas because at this point the QR code techniques for both Malaysia and Singapore function differently and are not yet integrated, ” he added.

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CNA Explains: How a death sentence in Vietnam links to a massive anti-corruption drive

What’s been the consequences?

SCB, Vietnam’s largest by property, misled 83-year-old Ho Thi Le Hang into buying false ties under Lan’s Van Thinh Lil Holdings Group.  

One of an approximated 42,000 patients, Hang hopes to get up the US$ 500,000- all of her life benefits, raised from selling two plots of her ancestors ’ property- she parted with. While some relationship manufacturers have defaulted their loan obligations, the rest of the securities have been frozen.

After Lan’s arrest in October 2022, Vietnam’s key bank placed SCB under particular supervision to quit a run- that is, customers were withdrawing their money in fear of the business lender’s possible failure.

This year, it was reported that the central banks had pumped US$ 24 billion in specific debts as of the beginning of April, in a bid to stop SCB from collapsing. That’s similar to one-fourth of the region’s foreign exchange reserves.

However, officials have expressed concerns over how fundamental issues in Vietnam’s finance field have gone undetected.  

From 2012 to 2020 SCB passed, without dark colors, assessment checks by regional offices of major global firms including Ernst & Young, Deloitte and KPMG. But after Lan’s forgery was exposed, individual assessments showed more than US$ 18 billion in accumulated costs.

Her case has even highlighted the issue with “cross-ownership ” in Vietnam’s banking sector, where personal businesspeople- including real estate developers like Lan- even hold important positions at business banks, properly using them as individual ATMs.

” Financial institutions need to put an end to the practice of providing loans to specific companies, projects in its own ecosystem or backyard firms under the same group that would endanger the healthiness and safety of the bank,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said in December.

Vietnam has since amended laws to strengthen shareholder limits at banks. But experts say regulation alone is not enough in the absence of effective enforcement.

“There is no guarantee that it will be the last case … Violators have bypassed the laws easily, ” Dr Nguyen Tri Hieu, a banking insider, told CNA. “ I am not surprised at the fraud. But I am surprised at the magnitude of it. ” 

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Commentary: How can India hold elections when it’s too hot to vote?

There’s a more crafty purpose to pin the changing times, too.   Climate  seems to have quantifiable, if much-debated, results on voting behaviour.

In the UK, all but one of the 11  public elections  since 1979 have likewise happened in April, May or June, when officials appear to believe the flower warmth may inculcate individuals with a feeling of optimism that may benefit  incumbent. By the same token, waiting in line in furnace-like heat might not be the best approach to convince  wavering citizens the state has its priorities right.

MAKING VOTING EASIER FOR A BILLION Citizens

There are plenty of  changes that could be made around.   India has almost a billion authorized voters, but some measures to make the ballot process easier.

Postal and absentee ballot is only accessible to  people with disabilities ,  those over 85 ( raised this time around, from 80 in 2019 ), and certain essential services workers. Somebody else needs to turn up on the day or miss the opportunity.

About half a billion people who’ve migrated from different areas of the country experience barriers to voting in their home cities, an issue the land ’s Election Commission is just starting to handle.  

In-person pre-poll election may be a problem given the sheer size of the voting. There just aren’t enough surveys workers to work it in a state with a million ballot booths. However, postal ballots ought to be far more frequently used.  

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Thailand to hold first senate election since coup

BANGKOK :  The government announced on Tuesday ( Apr 23 ) that Thailand will hold a senate election in June, marking the first upper house election since a military coup a decade ago. Programs for the sophisticated, multi-round election, which do not require a total public vote, were approved byContinue Reading

Malaysia helicopter crash: 9 out of 10 victims were in their 20s, says defence minister

The Fennec helicopters are mostly used for education aviators, according to Mr. Ridzwan Rahmat, primary defense analyst at the military intelligence firm Janes, while the HOM helicopters are primarily used for maritime security and special forces implantation.

“ From the video, you can see that the Fennec’s main rotor hit the AW139 ( HOM) on the latter’s portside, ” he said.

This suggests that the Fennec was going sideways when it was about to make its move. ”

The fact that the two planes were never stationed in the same location and were only training together for the first day may have contributed to the complexity of rehearsing for a multi-aircraft aerial display.

Before the occasion, he noted,” Pilot cohesion and knowledge may not have developed as effectively as they should.”

According to Mr. Ridzwan, the crash on April 23 appears to be Malaysia’s worst defense accident so far in terms of fatalities based on open-source details he has reviewed.

According to Nama, this collision is the seventh in the last nine years to involve both civil and military helicopters.

A recovery journey for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency AW139 plane crashed into the water near Angsa Island off the coast of Kuala Selangor in March of this year. Four staff members, including the captain, survived after being rescued by anglers.

In November 2020, two G2CA planes, each with two people, collided mid-air after taking off from Subang aircraft as part of aircraft training.

One helicopter’s personnel made an emergency landing and survived, but the other crashed in Taman Melawati, killing both the ship’s passengers, including a former naval commander.

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