Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
October 16, 2017
Russia’s dog-loving leader gets another puppy as gift
MOSCOW (AP) — Another summit, another dog. Russian President Vladimir
Putin has added a puppy to the litter of canine companions he’s received as gifts.
This one is a Central Asian Shepherd bestowed by the president of the ex-Soviet
nation
of
Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan
President
Gurbanguly
Berdymukhamedov presented Putin with the puppy as a birthday gift. Putin, an
avid dog lover, recently turned 65. Putin cuddled Verny, which is Russian for
“loyal,” and kissed the pup on the head during a meeting in the Russian Black
Sea resort of Sochi. Putin previously received a Bulgarian shepherd named
Buffy from Bulgaria’s premier in 2010 and an Akita named Yume from a
Japanese official in 2012. Konnie, a black Labrador of Putin’s who was famous
for terrifying German Chancellor Angela Merkel, died a few years ago. Putin
received Konnie as a gift from a Russian official in 1999. The Russian leader also
has been given horses and even a tiger.
S. Korean lawmaker says N. Korea hacked war plans
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean media are quoting a lawmaker as
saying that North Korean hackers may have stolen highly classified military
documents, including U.S.-South Korean wartime “decapitation strike” plans
against the North. Democratic Party representative Lee Cheol-hee cited
unidentified defense officials as saying the hackers stole the plans last year.
Neither Lee nor Defense Ministry officials responded to attempts to seek
comment. If confirmed, such a hack would be a major blow for South Korea at a
time when its relations with North Korea are at a low point. The South has taken
an increasingly aggressive stance toward the North’s belligerence amid back-
and-forth threats of war between North Korea and the U.S. Lee was quoted as
saying the plans included blueprints for attacks to eliminate North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un.
At party meeting, Kim Jong Un’s sister gets promotion
TOKYO (AP) — Kim Jong Un has promoted his younger sister to a new post
within North Korea’s ruling party. The promotion of Kim Yo Jong came at a
meeting of senior party members as North Korea marked the 20th anniversary
of Kim Jong Il’s acceptance of the title of general secretary of the ruling Worker’s
Party of Korea. Kim Yo Jong was made an alternate member of the decision-
making political bureau of the party’s central committee. The late Kim Jong Il,
North Korea’s “eternal general secretary,” is the father of Kim Jong Un and Kim
Yo Jong. Thousands of people, mostly students, packed Kim Il Sung Square in
Pyongyang to dance and watch fireworks to mark the anniversary. Earlier in the
day, North Korean state media announced that the country’s top leadership had
gathered the day before, headed by current leader Kim Jong Un. Kim repeated
Pyongyang’s defiance of the U.S. and its determination to push forward its
nuclear program, while bringing a “fresh upswing” in the country’s economy to
show its strength despite the international trade sanctions and isolation the
nuclear program has generated. Kim’s younger sister, believed to be either 28 or
30 years old, was elected as an alternate member of the political bureau of the
party’s central committee, according to a report by the Korean Central News
Agency. She is believed to be one of Kim Jong Un’s closest confidants. They were
born to the same mother, Ko Yong Hui.
China to allow some drugs based on foreign approvals
BEIJING (AP) — China’s government says it will allow use of some drugs and
medical devices based on approval by foreign regulators in a move that could
help ease access to its healthcare market. The step is one of a series announced
to improve access to medical treatments and streamline an approval process
that foreign suppliers complain is too slow and complex. The China Food and
Drug Administration said some drugs and medical devices that already are
approved for use abroad would be allowed in China with unspecified conditions
attached. The communist government is in the midst of a marathon effort to
expand access to healthcare for China’s 1.4 billion people. At the same time, it
faces pressure from trading partners to open its markets for medical technology.
NEW KUMARI. Nepal’s new living goddess, Trishna Shakya, age three, is carried by her father while leaving home to
go to a temple palace in Kathmandu, Nepal. Shakya has become the new living goddess, called Kumari, revered by both
Hindus and Buddhists in the Himalayan nation. She was carried in a religious ceremony to a temple palace in the heart
of the Nepalese capital, where she will live until just before puberty. (AP Photo/Bikram Rai)
Three-year-old girl becomes
Nepal’s new living goddess
By Binaj Gurubacharya
The Associated Press
ATHMANDU, Nepal — A three-year-
old girl has become Nepal’s new living
goddess, revered by both Hindus and
Buddhists in the Himalayan nation.
Trishna Shakya was carried in a religious
ceremony to a temple palace in the heart of the
Nepalese capital where she will live until just
before puberty.
She was among four finalists from the
Shakya clan for the position of living goddess,
called Kumari.
A panel of Hindu priests took days to select
her after checking her horoscope and
searching for physical imperfections. As a
goddess she should not have any physical
flaws.
“It is our tradition that after the living
goddess reaches age 12, we have to find a new
one and the search begins. We have to make
sure that the goddess is suitable to bring good
fortune for the country,” said Gautam Shakya,
a priest in the panel.
K
“We have found our new Kumari,” he said.
Hundreds of followers and devotees lined up
to get a glimpse of the girl, dressed in a red
dress and covered with flower garlands.
Before she left her house in Kathmandu,
people lined up to give her chocolates, eggs,
sweets, and fruits.
The head priest came in a car and took her to
the temple palace, where she was carried in
after visiting surrounding temples.
Her family said they were emotional that
their daughter was leaving but also proud.
“She is going to be the living goddess. She is
just not our daughter but the living goddess of
the whole country,” said Bijaya Ratna Shakya,
her father. “I am happy, but at the same time I
feel like crying.”
Soon after Trishna’s arrival at the temple
palace, her predecessor, 12-year-old Matina
Shakya, left from a rear entrance on a
palanquin carried by her family and sup-
porters.
The ceremony took place on the eighth day of
the two-week-long Dasain festival, the main
festival in Nepal.
China catching up to U.S. in foreign aid flow
BEIJING (AP) — China is close to matching
the United States as a source of official grants
and loans to developing countries, but much of
Beijing’s financing serves its own economic
interests and yields scant benefits for reci-
pients, a multinational group of researchers
has reported.
The research by AidData, a lab at the
College of William & Mary in Virginia, is the
most extensive effort yet to measure official
financing by China, which releases few details
of its aid flows. That has spurred concern
about Beijing’s intentions as it tries to expand
its global influence to match China’s status as
the world’s second-largest economy.
China gave or lent $354.4 billion in the 15
years ending in 2014 in Africa, Asia, and
elsewhere, compared with $394.6 billion for
the United States, according to AidData. It
released a database of Chinese financing,
assembled from thousands of sources of
information, and a study on its impact by
scholars from Harvard University, Germany’s
Continued on page 4
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Thais mark one year since king’s death
BANGKOK (AP) — Thais marked one year since the death of King Bhumibol
Adulyadej with formal ceremonies and acts of personal devotion. Formal
ceremonies to commemorate Bhumibol were organized at Bangkok’s Siriraj
Hospital, where he died, and at Government House and the ornate royal palace.
But many ordinary people showed their respects on the streets and at
neighborhood markets and temples, kneeling before orange-robed monks to
perform a Buddhist merit-making ritual. Many Thais were profoundly
saddened by Bhumibol’s death after a reign of 70 years. He was adored as a
symbol of stability in a nation frequently rocked by political turmoil.
Sands woos Japan with vision of top sports, concert venues
TOKYO (AP) — Casino and resorts operator Las Vegas Sands has deployed
David Beckham and other top sports, music, and entertainment figures in its
effort to woo Japan as it prepares to issue licenses for casinos. Japan’s large and
wealthy market is luring big-name casino operators who are sweetening bids
with promises of ultra-modern “integrated resorts.” Las Vegas Sands told re-
porters in Tokyo its plans include top-class concert and sports venues to lure
tourists and revive the country’s leisure industry. Japan’s parliament last year
approved a law on “integrated resorts” that is the first major hurdle in allowing
casinos to set up shop. Further enabling legislation is expected to take several
more years. Tokyo, Osaka, and Yokohama are among the hopeful licensees.
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 10/12
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
Fijian Dollar · · · ·
Hong Kong Dollar ·
Indian Rupee · · · ·
Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
Laos New Kip · · ·
Malaysian Ringgit ·
Nepal Rupee · · · ·
Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
Philippine Peso· · ·
Russian Ruble · · ·
Saudi Riyal· · · · ·
Singapore Dollar · ·
South Korean Won ·
Sri Lankan Rupee ·
Taiwan Dollar · · ·
Thai Baht · · · · ·
Vietnam Dong · · ·
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82.047
4033.4
6.5875
2.046
7.8067
65.088
13509
34162
112.2
8310.9
4.2153
104.14
105.05
3.2542
51.535
57.69
3.7503
1.3535
1132.4
153.73
30.173
33.099
22704