Asia & Pacific News Source-Xinhua

Politics

• Former Vietnamese minister gets disciplined
• India recalls 8 diplomats accused of spying in Pakistan
• Japan, Myanmar agree to cooperate on ethnic conflicts
• Philippines' Duterte meets with Muslim rebel leader
• Shanghai Cooperation Organization prime ministers meet in Bishkek
• Sri Lankan president says independent probe must be held over CB bond scam
• Calls mount to investigate scandal-hit S.Korean president

Business

• Singapore stocks end down 0.18 pct
• Thai stocks close down 0.37 pct
• UN to provide 1.22 bln USD fund to support Bangladesh development projects
• Singapore stocks close 0.18 pct lower
• China becomes Vietnam's second biggest catfish market
• Australia delivers strong trade performance
• New Zealand government welcomes top place in global prosperity index

Society

• Killing civilians in airstrikes triggers protest in northern Afghan Kunduz city
• Indonesian police prepare for terror threat ahead of massive protest
• Bangladesh's largest annual leather industry fair kicks off
• Air strikes claim 15 lives of civilians in Afghanistan northern Kunduz province
• Traders seek to import cement through border trade in Myanmar northernmost state
• Air strikes claim 15 lives of civilians in Afghanistan northern Kunduz province
• Cambodia has 74,000 people living with HIV/AIDS: official

Panorama

• Singapore International Robo Expo kicks off, aimed at boosting robotics solutions
• "Life-changing" Aussie cure for peanut allergies a step closer to release
• Australian researchers develop new mobile app for diabetes patients
• Int'l experimental theater festival to be held in Vietnam
• New Zealand looks to extend science, engineering research links with China
• Kim claims table tennis bronze for DPRK on Olympic debut
• Security drones may be used at Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia

New Zealand government welcomes top place in global prosperity index

WELLINGTON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government Thursday welcomed the country's top ranking in a London-based think-tank index of prosperity in 149 economies.

New Zealand rose to first in the 2016 Legatum Institute Global Prosperity Index, up from fourth place last year.

The index ranks 149 economies according to their performance across eight equally weighted categories and New Zealand ranked first in both economic quality and social capital, second in both business environment and governance, and third for personal freedom.

"This is great news following on from New Zealand's recent number one ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business report, and our rank of 13th in the Global Competitiveness Index, up three places from last year," Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said in a statement.

"The index cites New Zealand's ability to turn its wealth into prosperity, ranking us top in how much prosperity a country delivers given its wealth. The top performing countries in that category have open markets, high levels of personal freedom, and strong civil society," said Joyce.

"It also particularly notes our rapidly improving business environment, specifically greater labor market flexibility, better access to business finance, and the expansion of broadband infrastructure."

A statement from the Legatum Institute said New Zealand had ranked first in the index for six of the last 10 years.

"Bar a small prosperity drop as a result of the 2008 global financial crisis and the immediate impact of the Canterbury earthquakes, New Zealand's prosperity has been on an upward trend, particularly since 2012," it said.

"This rise has been driven by concerted efforts by policymakers, especially in economic and health policy. New Zealand's business environment performance has seen it rise nine ranks to second, and in health it has risen eight ranks to 12th."

ETEnergyworld.com

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Oil & Gas
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Coal
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•	Disinvestment in NMDC, CIL, MOIL, others takes revenue to Rs 21,401 cr in FY17
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•	Lanco alleges overpayment of $382 million for Australian mine
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•	Indonesia's Bumi plans to boost coal output in 2017 on improved prices

Power
•	Met all legal norms for Mundra UMPP: Tata Power
•	How a startup is favourably using carbon dioxide
•	Discoms crack down on e-ricks charging on stolen power
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•	Kerala reports transmission loss of 14.32 percent
•	Kerala trans-grid project to be implemented: Govt

Renewable
•	Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited commissions 10 MW solar plant
•	Solar city to add $ 500 million to Tesla's cash balance
•	UJAAS bags order to install Solar system at Andaman Airport
•	On the sunny side: Southeast Asian nations push into solar
•	GIPCL commisions 34 MW of wind energy in Kutch and Rajkot
•	Rays Power Infra commissions 5.75 MW Solar PV Project in Telangana
•	First Solar says panel price slide harming bookings

Reuters partners with Adobe to bring its renowned photo and video library to Adobe Stock

New York – Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news provider, today announced that it is partnering with Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) to bring Reuters video and photography to Adobe’s new editorial offerings for Adobe Stock. Adobe Stock is the industry’s first stock content service to be integrated directly into the content creation process and the tools creatives use every day. Available through Adobe Creative Cloud, creatives will be able to access Reuters editorial content, as well as over 60 million royalty-free commercial photos, videos, illustrations, graphics, 3D assets and templates in Adobe Stock.

The partnership will allow Adobe customers to view and license Reuters entire photo and video collection in Adobe Stock, including:

• Reuters photos covering news, sports and entertainment events with thousands of images added every day and over twelve million images in the archive
• Reuters video footage covering all major events across the globe, including the unique Reuters archive library of historical news footage featuring over a million news clips 

 “Our partnership with Adobe will allow us to deliver the quality of Reuters visual assets to a global creative audience, right in their workflow,” said Claudia Palmer, chief commercial officer, Reuters. “The strength and depth of Reuters visuals paired with Adobe’s universal creative platform will unite content search and licensing in an unparalleled user experience.”

“Editorial is a critical component of modern content creation and storytelling,” said Bryan Lamkin, executive vice president and general manager, Digital Media at Adobe. “We’re thrilled about our partnership with Reuters as we’re now able to offer powerful news, editorial and sports imagery and archival coverage to our customers, dramatically expanding the range of stock assets available directly in their Creative Cloud apps.”

The deep integration with Adobe Creative Cloud allows users from small businesses to enterprise to freelancers to search and license assets right inside their favorite apps, such as Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC, without interrupting the creative workflow. Artists can also sell their work to the world’s largest creative community through the new Adobe Stock contributor site launching at Adobe’s MAX conference.

The Reuters integration into Adobe Stock is expected in the first half of 2017.

Reuters

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations and directly to consumers at Reuters.comand via Reuters TV. Follow news about Reuters at @ReutersPR.

For more information on Reuters News Agency, visit: www.reuters.com/newsagency.

About Adobe

Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

China Starts Work on World's New Fastest Supercomputer

China has started developing a new record-breaking capacity supercomputer capable of performing one quadrillion operations per second (1 exaFLOPS).

© AFP 2016/ SUSANNE LINDHOLM China Developing New High-Speed Super Computer MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Under development at the National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology (NRCPC), the computer is set to exceed Sunway TaihuLight, the world's current fastest computer with a rating of 93 petaflops, by over 10 times, the Xinhua news agency reported. Sunway TaihuLight was unveiled by the NRCPC in June and is located at the National Supercomputer Center in Jiangsu. Built mostly using Chinese-developed technology, the computer exceeded the previous record holder, Tianhe-2, by almost three times. The new supercomputer is also being developed using Chinese technologies and will be installed at the National Supercomputing Center in Jinan. "It is a test for the effectiveness of China's independently developed technologies," Yang Meihong, the center's director, was quoted as saying by the news outlet. China leads in the global supercomputer sector with almost 170 supercomputers located in the country, according to the TOP500 project which ranks the 500 most powerful computing systems in the world. The United States follows close second while Japan is a distant third.

All 1,500 Child Refugees Leave French Calais Camp

All of the unaccompanied children were evacuated from the demolished Jungle migrant camp in the northern city of Calais Wednesday, local media reported, citing local authorities.

© AP PHOTO/ JEROME DELAY France Begins Evacuation of Minors From Calais Refugee Camp PARIS (Sputnik) – French authorities have evacuated all the minors to date, locating most of them at the refugee centers across the country and giving some 300 migrants a chance to reunite with their families in the United Kingdom, Franceinfo news outlet reported. Earlier in the day, French authorities began the evacuation of about 1,500 underage migrants from the Calais camp. The teenagers had not been provided with the opportunity to choose their destination, but they could choose fellow travelers and roommates for their new homes. On October 24, French authorities started to dismantle the Calais camp, beginning with the relocation of migrants to other facilities across the country with some minors due to be sent to the United Kingdom.  In total, more than 5,500 former residents of the camp have taken refuge in special accommodation centers across France.

India Replaces US as the World's Second Largest Smartphone Connections Market

While India has replaced the US in terms of its number of smartphone connections, it has to cover a huge distance to catch up with China.

© PHOTO: PIXABAY Cyber Alert: Cell Phones Banned From Indian Gov't Meetings Amid Concerns of Hacking New Delhi (Sputnik) — India has emerged as the second-biggest market globally in terms of smartphone connections, toppling the US and trailing only behind China. The total number of smartphone connections in India as of the end of June 2016 stood at 275 million, higher than 259 million connections in the US, according to Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA). However, even this number is dwarfed by the total size of China's mobile subscriber base. According to the report, China’s overall smartphone connections numbered 910 million at the end of June 2016, almost three times as many as in India. The GSMA, in its “India Mobile Economy 2016 report,” predicts that the number of smartphone subscribers is expected to increase to 670 million by 2020 due to reduced tariffs and the growing availability of affordable smartphones for consumers. Additionally, by 2020, almost half of all connections will run over mobile broadband networks. The report also predicts a significant jump in the 4G-connection base, to 280 million by 2020 from just 3 million as of the end of 2015. The entry of new telecom players like Reliance Jio and increased competition will help boost the numbers. The report says almost half of India’s one billion plus population is currently connected through a mobile service. The country had a unique user subscriber base of 616 million as of the end of June 2016, making it the second largest mobile market in the world. India is expected to add another 337 million new unique subscribers by 2020, increasing the penetration rate to 68% from its existing 47% as of the end of 2015. It will be on the back of the improved availability of affordable smartphones, lower tariffs and enhanced network coverage. In recent months, telecom operators such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and others have announced measures to expand their coverage across the length and breadth of the country. The telecom industry has attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth 18.38 billion USD between April 2000 and March 2016, according to the data released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The GSMA report highlighted that revenue generated from data services contributes just 17% at the end of 2015. This, however, will change with data traffic set to clock a compound annual growth rate of over 60% between 2015 and 2020. The rise in social media communication and networks are expected to fuel this growth.

Berlin Coughs Up Another €2.6bln to German States to Support Migrants

The German government has set aside another 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion) for German states struggling to pay for the refugees and migrants in their care, Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday.

© PHOTO: YOUTUBE/ SECURE AMERICA 'Welcome to the Islamic State of Germany': Video Stirs Tensions Over Migrant Crisis German states have successfully appealed to the federal government for more money to pay for the refugees and migrants in their care, Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday. The federal government has agreed to take responsibility for the cost of accommodating refugees, and since September 2015 Berlin has paid the German states 670 euros per refugee per month. The government had planned a 6.9 billion euro budget for the expense this year, but after a review, that figure has increased by 2.6 billion euros, to 9.5 billion euros ($10.6 billion). The Finance Ministry also stated that it is providing the states with another 1.16 billion to spend on refugees in 2017, bringing the planned expenditure to 6.88 billion euros ($7.66 billion). In May Germany's Spiegel magazine reported that the Finance Ministry expects its refugee bill to reach 93 billion euros ($103 billion) by 2020.  According to the report, 25.7 billion euros ($28.6 billion) will be needed to pay unemployment payments, rent subsidies and other benefits for recognized asylum applicants by the end of 2020. © AP PHOTO/ MICHAEL PROBST Refugee With 4 Wives and 23 Kids 'Receives €360,000 a Year' From German Authorities The figure also includes 5.7 billion euros which have been earmarked for language courses, and 4.6 billion for schemes to help refugees find work. The ministry expects 55 percent of recognized refugees to have a job after five years. The ministry's estimates were based on the arrival of 600,000 migrants in 2016, 400,000 in 2017 and 300,000 in each of the following years.  The German states estimated their annual refugee cost at 21 billion euros ($23.3 billion) this year, which is expected to have risen to 30 billion euros per year in 2020.

Ireland to Work on Ensuring Close UK-EU Trade Relation After Brexit

Prime Minister stated that Ireland intends to ensure that the Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union would result in maintaining trade relations between the two parties as close as possible since it would be beneficial for both sides.

© SPUTNIK/ ALEXEY FILIPPOV Testing to the Limit: Brexit May Overwhelm UK Legal Institutions MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Ireland intends to ensure that the Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union would result in maintaining trade relations between the two parties as close as possible since it would be beneficial for both sides, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Wednesday. "Our ultimate objective is to ensure that the upcoming negotiations lead to the closest possible trading relationship between the UK and the EU — something that would be of advantage to us all," Enda said in a statement. Enda added that he agreed with UK Prime Minister Theresa May on the importance of keeping the current border situation  on the Island after Brexit. "The retention of an open border is critical…. Neither I, nor the Prime Minister, desire to limit the freedom of people on both sides of the Irish sea to trade, live, work and travel freely across these islands. Therefore we have agreed that the benefits of the Common Travel Area be preserved," Enda said. Enda said that Brexit represents the biggest economic and political challenge facing Ireland for the last 50 years, and his government is working on introducing measures that would soften the impact of Brexit on the Irish economy and the peace process with Northern Ireland. On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union. According to the final results, 51.9 percent of voters, or 17.4 million people, decided to support Brexit, while about 16.1 million opposed it.

-- Amnesty International's Moscow office was sealed off by government authorities, employees of the activist group said.

At least 21 dead, 38 missing after boat capsizes off Indonesia

Indonesian rescuers remove the body of one of the people on board the boat that capsized, at Mata Ikan bay in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia, on November 2, 2016. Photo by M Urip/EPA

JAKARTA, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A speedboat capsized off the coast of Indonesia on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people with another 34 missing.

At least 38 of the 93 passengers survived the accident off Nongsa waters near Batam's island, The Jakarta Post reported.

The boat was carrying migrant workers and three crew members when it crashed into a reef after being hit by large waves and strong winds, Hardin Nafii with the Regional Disaster Management Agency of Indonesia's Riau province told CNN.

The boat departed at 3 a.m. from the southern Malaysian state of Johor and was heading to Batam.

"After two hours of sailing, the boat was struck by strong waves and heavy downpour," one of the survivors, Haryanto, 51, told The Jakarta Post.

A search and rescue team was sent to look for more survivors.

Riau Islands Police chief Brig. Gen. Sambudi Gusdian said he suspects the boat was overloaded and the trip was illegally organized.

Gallup poll: 2 in 3 Americans confident election will be fair

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the election as "rigged" against him. A new Gallup poll shows 2 in 3 Americans are at least somewhat confident the vote will be tabulated accurately. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI 

| License Photo

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- As Election Day approaches, 2 of every 3 Americans are at least somewhat confident the election will be administered fairly, according to a new survey.

A recent poll by Gallup found 66 percent of Americans were somewhat or very sure the election on Nov. 8 will be conducted fairly. The result is lower than some previous elections, but has gone up since August.

On balance, Democrats were significantly more confident the outcome of the election would be accurate than Republicans. Eighty-three percent of Democrats, compared with 56 percent of Republicans, were very or somewhat confident in the election's outcome.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the election outcome as "rigged" against him through a conspiracy of left-leaning media and a political establishment more comfortable with his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Gallup surveyed 1,011 adults from Oct. 25 to 26. The poll carries a margin of error of 6 percentage points.