Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 288

Bangalore: How polarisation is dividing India's Silicon Valley

Last week one of India's richest women tweeted an unusual appeal to ruling politicians. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who heads Biocon, a leading biotechnology firm, urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Karnataka to "resolve the growing religious divide" in the southern state of 64 million people. Shah's enterprise is based in Karnataka's capital, Bangalore, India's booming info-tech hub.Her

Shanghai: Residents 'running out of food' in Covid lockdown

Some residents under lockdown in Shanghai say they are running out of food, amid the city's biggest-ever Covid outbreak. Residents are confined to their homes, banned from leaving for even essential reasons such as grocery shopping. Nearly 20,000 cases were reported on Thursday in China's biggest city - another near-record high. Officials have admitted the city is facing "difficulties" but say

Lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities pose a growing threat to the economy

China's unwavering commitment to stamping out Covid by locking down big cities such as Shanghai threatens to deal a hefty shock to its vast economy, place more strain on global supply chains and further fuel inflation.Shanghai — home to China's leading financial center and some of its largest sea and airports — has been under lockdown for 12 days, and there's no sign of it ending. Small

Shanghai Adjusts COVID-19 Policy Separating Children and Parents

Shanghai is allowing healthy family members of children infected with the coronavirus to stay together at the city’s centralized quarantine locations, relaxing a policy that previously separated minors from their families, local media reported Tuesday.The policy has been implemented at a “shelter hospital” — or fangcang — in the city’s Pudong New Area that can house nearly 15,000 patients with

Chinese stocks on Wall Street aren't in the clear yet

Investors are breathing a sigh of relief after regulators in Beijing extended an olive branch to the United States, indicating they could change their policies so that Chinese companies could avoid getting kicked off Wall Street. What's happening: Shares of tech giant Alibaba (BABA) in New York rallied almost 7% on Monday. E-commerce platforms Pinduoduo (PDD) and JD.com (JD) leaped 16% and 7%,

In Thailand, the war in Ukraine divides the generations

In March, as the devastating war in Ukraine raged, Russian diplomats in Bangkok sat down for a meeting with the leadership of Thailand’s military-owned TV station. They had met, a statement by TV Channel 5 said, to discuss ways to enhance “cooperation in exchanging news and information”. Russian officials were ready to support efforts to tackle fake news, and to verify information. A week later,

Watching a film about communism, I realised I had been lied to as a child in China

I was born in north-east China in a province that was particularly heavy-handed with party propaganda. I learned to march in formation before knowing how to write, and maybe even count. Every morning at school started with a flag ceremony and obligatory salutes to Mao Zedong. Textbooks were illustrated with watercolour Lenins and Stalins, drawn to look much more handsome than they actually were.

Shanghai Covid lockdown extended to entire city

Chinese authorities have extended their lockdown of Shanghai to cover all its 25 million people after a fresh surge in Covid cases. Initially, there had been separate measures for the eastern and western sides, but the whole city is now subject to indefinite restrictions. Shanghai is the largest single city to be locked down to date. The important financial hub has battled a new wave of

Ukraine: India strongly condemns Bucha civilian killings

India has "unequivocally condemned" killings in Ukraine's Bucha and supported calls for an independent investigation into the "deeply disturbing reports". Images of mass graves and bodies of civilians reportedly executed in the Kyiv suburb have shocked the world. India's condemnation at the UN meeting is the strongest statement it has made since Russia invaded Ukraine.Delhi has so far abstained

Sri Lanka president defies calls for his resignation

Sri Lanka's beleaguered president will not be resigning, his government's whip has told parliament. The declaration defies calls from the public and political opponents for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down amid the country's economic crisis. Crowds have protested for weeks over lengthy power cuts and shortages of gas, food and other basic goods. The public anger has prompted nearly all Cabinet