Zhang Chiahou's Blog
October 10, 2023
Woman dressed as Demon Nun pranks unsuspecting passersby in Delhi at night
Some content creators often dress up as different characters from films to surprise unsuspecting passersby and record their reactions. In a spine-tingling rendition of the trend, a woman in Delhi decided to roam around at night dressed as the terrifying character Demon Nun from the horror film Nun. Clad in a white and black outfit with realistic makeup that matched the Demon Nun’s look from the film, Instagram user Iza Setia managed to invoke both fright and fascination with her stunt. While some embraced the chilling thrill and even asked for pictures, others were clearly scared and hurriedly moved away from her.
The image shows a makeup artist dresses as the character Demon Nun. (Instagram/@izasetia_makeovers)“As they say GUTS!” Setia, who is a makeup artist by profession, wrote as she shared her video on Instagram. The video opens to show a man on a bike with a kid looking at Setia, sitting inside a car, and saying that her getup looks realistic. As the video progresses, another woman is heard letting out a shriek after resting her eyes on Setia.
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Also Read: Woman pretends to be Bhool Bhulaiyaa’s Manjulika to prank people, video receives mixed reactionsThe video also captures different reactions of people – from running away after seeing her to saying her costume is “very cool” to even posing with her for pictures. The video ends with a montage of clips that show people getting genuinely scared by seeing her and also laughing after realising how she just pranked them.
Source: Hindustan Times
October 9, 2023
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closes 0.84 pct higher
China-exposed European stocks rise after report of new stimulus
LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – China-exposed European stocks rose on Tuesday after Bloomberg reported China is looking to increase its budget deficit for 2023, part of a new round of stimulus to help the economy.
Miners Anglo American , Antofagasta (ANTO.L) and Glencore (GLEN.L), and financial services companies Standard Chartered (STAN.L), (2888.HK) and Prudential (PRU.L) all rose 3-5%.
Stephane Ekolo, global equity strategist at TFS Derivatives, said the news was “absolutely” driving price action in European assets.
“When China sneezes, the world catches a cold, so a new potential stimulus is seen as a positive catalyst,” Ekolo said.
Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Amanda Cooper
Source: Reuters
June 2, 2022
PM Modi wishes speedy recovery to Sonia Gandhi after she contracts Covid
Earlier in the day, party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said “She (Sonia Gandhi) has developed mild fever and some symptoms and has isolated herself and has been given requisite medical attention”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Published on Jun 02, 2022 05:19 PM IST
ByHT News Desk | Written by Kanishka Singharia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday wished a speedy recovery to Congress president Sonia Gandhi after she tested positive for Covid-19. “Wishing Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi Ji a speedy recovery from Covid-19,” PM Modi tweeted.
Earlier in the day, party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said “She (Sonia Gandhi) has developed mild fever and some symptoms and has isolated herself and has been given requisite medical attention”.
Later, Surjewala tweeted that Sonia Gandhi had been meeting leaders and activists over last week, some of whom were found positive for Covid. The other Congress leaders who have also tested positive includes general secretary (organisation), KC Venugopal.
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Read : What is National Herald case in which ED summoned Sonia Gandhi, Rahul
Surjewala clarified that the Congress president will still appear before the Central agency for questioning. “Congress President will appear before ED on 8th June, as informed by us earlier. We, at Indian National Congress, shall keep you posted about any future developments,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi, however, wrote to the ED to postpone the date to after June 5 as he is not in India.
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The mother-son duo was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case, which was closed by the central agency back in 2015. The National Herald case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian, which owns the National Herald newspaper.
Source: Hindustan Times.
Have China’s Pacific ambitions been thwarted?
Image caption,Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) and Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi MataafaChina’s Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi has been on a marathon tour across the Pacific Islands – his visit was a sign of Beijing’s willingness to close a sweeping trade and security deal with 10 countries in the region.
The ambitious deal – which covered a wide range of issues, from cybersecurity to a Chinese-funded police training academy and setting up more Chinese cultural links across the Pacific nations – was meant to tie the region much closer to Beijing.
But it was revealed this week that the deal had been shelved after many of the countries declined to sign, expressing concerns over certain aspects of the agreement.
Does this mean Beijing’s Pacific ambitions have been thwarted – at least for now?
A growing interestChina has long had its eye on the Pacific Islands, where it has been steadily growing its trade, aid, diplomatic and commercial activity since 2006. Between then and 2017, Beijing provided close to $1.5bn in foreign aid to the region through a mixture of grants and loans, according to the Lowy Institute.
Experts say various factors drive China’s interest.
“Historically, in times of conflict, the Pacific has been geographically significant because of the ability to control supply and access,” says Mihai Sora, an analyst at the Lowy Institute.
“Winning influence in the Pacific [also] means you have a region bloc that may be more sympathetic to your position on issues that are decided in international spaces, like UN votes.”
Mr Sora adds that China’s ambitions in the Pacific Islands are also part of a “long-term campaign to diminish international diplomatic support for Taiwan” – he points out that over the past few years, several Pacific nations have switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.
“And lastly, resources: China is the main customer for Pacific resources and these are important to China’s development. So securing better access to these resources is also a priority for China.”
But China’s Pacific interests have increasingly sparked concern in Australia, which has traditionally considered the Pacific to be its “backyard”.
Image caption,Australia sent its newly appointed Foreign Minister Penny Wong to the Pacific last weekIn recent years, Canberra has even ramped up aid to the region to curtail Chinese influence. In 2018, it launched the “Pacific Step-up” policy to re-engage with its “Pacific family”. It also started a multi-billion dollar infrastructure fund, widely seen as a counter to China’s loans and spends in the region.
But earlier this year, China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, a move that Australia’s Labor party called “the worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific” in 80 years.
Last week, Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong visited Fiji, coinciding with Mr Yi’s trip – a sign of growing competition between the two countries.
Then on Thursday Ms Wong travelled to Samoa, her second visit to the Pacific since being sworn in earlier last month, where she announced a new eight-year partnership that included Australia’s donation of a new maritime patrol boat.
The deal that could ‘change the regional order’The deal that was scuppered “had the potential to change the regional order,” said Mr Sora.
A leaked version of the draft agreement revealed Beijing significantly increasing its activities in the South Pacific – from more financial assistance to training police to creating a China-Pacific free trade zone.
What China wants from the PacificAustralia’s big gamble on the US over China“The proposed cooperation on regional policing suggests Beijing is interested in pursuing and creating regional security architecture. It’s unclear how it would align and complement the existing security architecture,” says Anna Powles, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University.
“The reference to cyber security [also] raises national security concerns,” she adds.
If the deal had been signed, Mr Sora says, it would have led to “cooperation that would start to really complicate the existing relations in the region… [especially those with] Australia and New Zealand.”
Some nations reacted angrily to the deal, with the President of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) saying the offer was “disingenuous” and would “ensure Chinese influence in government [and] economic control” of key industries.
“It is clear from the statements of Fiji, Samoa and Niue, as well as FSM and Palau, that there were strong concerns about the lack of consensus around the deal,” Dr Powles said.
“The outcome is a direct result of Pacific states deciding that the deal was off the table.”
Image caption,The Solomon Islands had previously confirmed it was drafting a security deal with ChinaDid Ms Wong’s timely trip to the Pacific – and her pitch to maintain Australia’s influence in the region – have any effect on the outcome of the deal?
“No. It was a result of Pacific collective action… [and is] a demonstration of Pacific sovereignty,” says Dr Tess Newton Cain of Griffith University.
Mr Sora agrees: “[It was] not so much a result of pressure from Australia or other countries, but perhaps evidence that in pushing this agreement, China did not provide sufficient opportunity for the region to consider and input its concerns.
“China sought to short-circuit regional discussions by presenting this package, and this appears to have failed.”
So what now?“It certainly signals that Chinese diplomatic efforts at the regional level have been unsuccessful but we can expect China to double down on its bilateral relationships now,” Dr Powles says.
Mr Sora agrees, adding that Mr Wang has “signed a number of bilateral agreements on this trip and will likely be seeking more as his trip progresses”.
After news of the deal being called off broke, China released a position paper stating that it was still “committed to deepening its strategic partnership” with Pacific nations.
The fact that China released this “so soon after the meeting indicates that working multilaterally is something they want to pursue and keep that conversation going”, Dr Newton Cain adds.
The paper lists an extensive set of proposals that China has for the region, including providing grants to various Pacific islands initiatives, and various forums to remain in constant communication – a clear sign that Beijing plans to push ahead with its Pacific ambitions.
“I think it’s a fair indication that China over-reached in what it was asking of Pacific countries,” Mr Sora says. “[But] China’s long-term ambitions to establish a security presence in the Pacific will remain.”
Additional reporting by the BBC’s Zubaidah Abdul Jalil
Source: The BBC.
June 1, 2022

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Published: 2:41pm, 1 Jun, 2022
Chinese military aircraft pictured during a 2016 drill. PLA jets made more than 30 sorties near Taiwan on Monday. Photo: Xinhua
The PLA Eastern Theatre Command said its combat-readiness patrols in air and sea territories near Taiwan this week were “necessary action” against “collusion” between Taiwan and the United States.
A statement by the Eastern Theatre Command issued on Wednesday accused the US of hypocrisy on the issue of Taiwan, with alleged support for advocates of Taiwan’s independence, a position it said was a betrayal of US alignment with the one-China policy.
Source: SCMP.
May 30, 2022
Setback for China as security and economic deal with Pacific islands falls through
Beijing has stepped up its diplomatic push in the remote region where regional power Australia and the US are elbowing to retain their influence
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi (left) and Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama address a press conference at the Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Suva, Fiji, on Monday. (AP)Updated on May 30, 2022 03:11 PM IST
BySutirtho Patranobis I Edited by Amit Chanda
BEIJING: China and a cluster of Pacific island countries failed to reach a consensus on an overarching security and economic deal on Monday in what appears to be a setback to Beijing’s expanding ambitions in the South Pacific region.
A meeting of Pacific foreign ministers and Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, in the Fijian capital, Suva, the first such meeting, failed to reach an agreement with Wang later telling his counterparts not to be “too anxious” about his country’s aims.
“China’s plan to sign a sweeping trade and security deal with ten Pacific Island countries was dealt a setback as some of them expressed concern about specific elements in the proposal,” Australia’s ABC News reported.
Beijing has stepped up its diplomatic push in the remote region where regional power Australia and the US are elbowing to retain their influence.
China has said its cooperation with the islands is not aimed at any third country.
In a written speech delivered at the meeting Wang hosted on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China will always be a good friend, brother and partner to Pacific Island nations no matter how the international situation changes.
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China, Xi said, will stay committed to equality of all countries “regardless of size” and remains guided by principles of sincerity and good faith in developing friendly ties with island countries.
At the meeting in Suva, foreign minister Wang, said five areas of cooperation were agreed on by the participating countries but further discussions were needed for more consensus.
The five areas he listed, according to Reuters, included economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, and new centres for agriculture and disaster, but did not include security.
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Ministers from Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Niue and Vanuatu besides Fiji took part in the meeting, many via video link.
“China will release its own position paper on our own positions and propositions and cooperation proposals with Pacific island countries, and going forward we will continue to have ongoing and in-depth discussions and consultations to shape more consensus on cooperation,” Wang said.
Wang is on an island-hopping of eight countries in the South Pacific in the backdrop of mounting international concerns about Beijing’s military and economic ambitions in the region.
Wang is visiting seven of the islands during his diplomatic trip including the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea in addition to Timor-Leste.
The prime ministers of three countries, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Federated States of Micronesia took part in Monday’s meeting via video link.
Source: Hindustan Times.
May 29, 2022
IIT-M creates algorithm to guard networks like air traffic control from attacks
IIT Madras, IoT study: The strategy proposed is an algorithm that builds spare capacity in a given network – like the spare wheel present in a car that can be changed in case of a flat tire.
(Representational) Passenger planes take off from Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City, Thursday, May 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)(AP)Updated on May 29, 2022 04:06 PM IST
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Madras have developed an algorithm to mitigate disruptions to critical networks like air traffic control and power distribution during a terror attack. The research – peer-reviewed and published in international journal ‘Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications’. Experts have noted that with IoT, or Internet of Things – devices that exchange data with other devices over the internet – becoming popular, it is critical to protect networks vital to national security.
“The terror attacks of September 11, 2001… targeting a single country resulted in the entire airline industry coming to a standstill. Such threats are a reminder that in today’s highly interconnected world, there is high risk of one adverse event leading to the disruption of the entire network.”
“Air and road traffic, power distribution and even social media platforms are all examples of highly connected networks and are, therefore, highly vulnerable to targeted attacks,” Karthik Raman, a core member of IIT-M’s Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, said.
“A variety of technological networks form the backbone of modern world infrastructure, and it is essential to build safeguards to protect these against both failures and targeted attacks.”
The strategy proposed is an algorithm that builds spare capacity in a given network. This means if one node (name given to an entity linked to others) is attacked, traffic of the affected node is routed through this spare capacity and the network can keep functioning.
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“It was found that the algorithm increased the robustness of these networks to targeted attacks,” Sai Saranga Das, a student and the lead author of the study, was quoted by PTI.
“The algorithm was also highly effective in increasing the robustness of ‘canonical scale-free networks,’ which are representative of many real-world networks when compared to existing strategies to mitigate targeted attacks on these networks,” he added.
With input from PTI
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ABOUT THE AUTHOr – HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times’ newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we’ve got you covered.…view detailSource: Hindustan Times
May 9, 2022
Ukraine war: Russia says it destroyed radar station built by US in Zolote town
The Russian defence ministry added it would consider NATO transport carrying weapons in Ukraine as targets meant to be destroyed, this on the 75th day of war.
Servicemen of the Ukrainian Military Forces gather after the fighting against Russian troops and Russia-backed separatists near Zolote village, Luhansk region.(AFP)Published on May 09, 2022 04:07 PM IST
ByHT News Desk | Written by Aryan Prakash
Russia on Monday said it destroyed a US-made counter-battery radar station near the Ukrainian town of Zolote, Reuters reported. The Russian defence ministry added it would consider NATO transport carrying weapons in Ukraine as targets meant to be destroyed, this on the 75th day of war.
The claim by Russia comes on a day when it marks the Victory Day, signifying the Soviet Union’s win over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Russian president Vladimir Putin presided over his military might at Moscow’s Red Square on the occasion.
“You are fighting for the fatherland, for the future, so that nobody forgets the lessons of World War II, so that there’s no place for executioners, persecutors and Nazis,” Putin said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky released a video on the occasion, saying Ukraine will have two Victory Days.
“We will never forget what our ancestors did in World War II. Where more than 8 million Ukrainians died. And every fifth Ukrainian didn’t return home. In total, the war claimed at least 50 million lives,” Zelenskyy said. “We don’t say we can repeat.'”
On Sunday, the Russian defence ministry had said its high-precision missiles had destroyed weapons and military equipment supplied to Ukrainian forces from the United States and unspecified Western countries at a railway station near the town of Soledar.
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The fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian forces has continued for the 75th day with no signs of peace. Denying reports of atrocities committed by forces in Ukraine, Moscow has accused Kyiv of stalling talks.
Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Monday that peace talks with Ukraine had not stopped and were being held remotely, according to the Interfax news agency.
Source: Hindustan Times.
Eyeing 3rd term, Xi Jinping shifts gear from ‘common prosperity’ to economy
ANI | May 9, 2022 3:01 pm
Chinese President Xi Jinping (Photo: IANS)
With Chinese President Xi Jinping eyeing a historic third term, the country, in a tactical move, has decided to temporarily suspend focusing on “common prosperity”, slapping penalties on tech behemoths and instead is scurrying to stabilizing the economy, which is under a lot of stress.
This comes as China’s economy is under a lot of strain due to oil and gas price hikes and disruption to the supply chain caused by the Ukraine conflict, and strict implementation of the zero-COVID policy.
In the run-up to the forthcoming 20th Party Congress, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is tactically moving away from its “common prosperity” policy as with the economic slowdown the country does not want to become a less attractive market for investors, as per reports.
As Xi prepares to get re-elected for a third five-year term later this year, he has attempted to portray China as more prosperous, influential, and stable under his rule.
The country’s officials who till a few months ago were ferociously advertising a new era of “Common Prosperity” slapping penalties on tech behemoths and wealthy celebrities have shifted their focus to keeping the economy stable and growing, for now.
The postponement is more of a tactical retreat than a complete abandonment of Xi’s plans, which the Chinese Communist Party continues to portray as a long-term goal.
It also serves political goals, such as bolstering public support for Xi’s leadership and promoting China’s centralized management system as superior to the West.
Beijing also sought to reassure stakeholders such as international investors that it was still open for business.
However, Beijing’s crackdown on the personal sector has continued to rattle traders both at home and abroad.
As China imposed strict lockdowns to combat COVID-19 outbreaks and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raised commodity costs, confidence in China’s economic system has waned.
In order to secure his third term, Xi would be looking to not rock the boat on the economy too much, lest he draws China into a financial cesspool given the volatile economic situation worldwide.
Source: The Statesman.
