Archive for ‘highest’

20/04/2020

China’s “new third board” helps SMEs raise fund amid epidemic

BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua) — China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the “new third board,” saw transactions exceed 26.4 billion yuan (3.67 billion U.S. dollars) so far this year.

From April 13 to 17, turnover on the board reached 1.8 billion yuan. As of Friday, the board had 8,718 listed firms.

Saidian, operator of Bestdo.com, a Chinese online sport service provider, recorded the highest weekly transaction on the board, raising 127 million yuan.

The exchange was launched in early 2013 to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges to serve small- and medium-sized enterprises.

It is seen as an easier financing channel for small businesses, with low costs and simple listing procedures.

Source: Xinhua

13/04/2020

Russian border becomes China’s frontline in fight against second virus wave

SUIFENHE, China (Reuters) – China’s northeastern border with Russia has become a frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic as new daily cases rose to the highest in nearly six weeks – with more than 90% involving people coming from abroad.

Having largely stamped out domestic transmission of the disease, China has been slowly easing curbs on movement as it tries to get its economy back on track, but there are fears that a rise in imported cases could spark a second wave of COVID-19.

A total of 108 new coronavirus cases were reported in mainland China on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier, marking the highest daily tally since March 5.

Imported cases accounted for a record 98. Half involved Chinese nationals returning from Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District, home to the city of Vladivostok, who re-entered China through border crossings in Heilongjiang province.

“Our little town here, we thought it was the safest place,” said a resident of the border city of Suifenhe, who only gave his surname as Zhu.

“Some Chinese citizens – they want to come back, but it’s not very sensible, what are you doing coming here for?”

The border is closed, except to Chinese nationals, and the land route through the city had become one of few options available for people trying to return home after Russia stopped flights to China except for those evacuating people.

Streets in Suifenhe were virtually empty on Sunday evening due to restrictions of movement and gatherings announced last week, when authorities took preventative measures similar to those imposed in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the pandemic ripping round the world first emerged late last year.

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China now stands at 82,160 as of Sunday, and at the peak of the first wave of the epidemic on Feb 12 there were over 15,000 new cases.

Though the number of daily infections across China has dropped sharply from that peak, China has seen the daily toll creep higher after hitting a trough on March 12 because of the rise in imported cases.

Chinese cities near the Russian frontier are tightening border controls and imposing stricter quarantines in response.

Suifenhe and Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, are now mandating 28 days of quarantine as well as nucleic acid and antibody tests for all arrivals from abroad.

In Shanghai, authorities found that 60 people who arrived on Aeroflot flight SU208 from Moscow on April 10 have the coronavirus, Zheng Jin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, told a press conference on Monday.

Residents in Suifenhe said a lot of people had left the city fearing contagion, but others put their trust in authorities’ containment measures.

“I don’t need to worry,” Zhao Wei, another Suifenhe resident, told Reuters. “If there’s a local transmission, I would, but there’s not a single one. They’re all from the border, but they’ve all been sent to quarantine.”

Source: Reuters

27/10/2019

India yoga: Inspirational teacher V Nanammal dies at 99

India’s oldest exponent and teacher of yoga, V Nanammal, has died at her home near Coimbatore, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

She was 99 and still teaching a hundred students a day until a few months ago.

Born into an agricultural family, she was taught yoga by her father.

She went on to master more than 50 postures or asanas, and trained more than a million students – hundreds of them now yoga instructors themselves around the world.

V Nanammal in Bangalore, 2017Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
Image caption V Nanammal (right) was known for her trademark pink sari

Known affectionately as “Yoga Grandma”, Nanammal received the Padma Shri – one of India’s highest civilian honours.

She became a popular figure on YouTube in her later years, still performing some of the most formidable yoga positions in her trademark pink sari.

Media caption The inspiration behind eight famous yoga poses

A week ago, she fell from her bed and had been unwell since then, family sources were quoted as saying by India’s PTI news agency.

Speaking to BBC News in 2017, Nanammal attributed her good health to her daily yoga routine.

“Health becomes your priority and everything is achievable,” she said.

Source: The BBC

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