The International Marathon 2005, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank, will be run over four legs in Asia and Africa at the end of this year and Vietnam will send four of its best athletes to participate. The event, also called the Greatest Race on Earth (GROE), is back this year after a smashing debut in 2003-04. This year, it will have a stronger and faster field, headed by elite runners from around the world - like Athens Paralympics gold medalist Kenya's Henry Wanyoike - and will be held in four major cities: Singapore, Mumbai in India, Hong Kong, and Nairobi in Kenya. … [Read more...] about Vietnamese to send team to grueling int’l relay marathon
Sending money to india
Africa, Asia lead ‘mobile money’ boom
Africa and Asia are leading a global boom in the use of "mobile money" as millions turn to their mobile phones instead of coughing up cash or handing over credit cards. In 2012, more than 30 million people were actively using mobiles to make payments, according to an industry study released Wednesday at the world's biggest mobile fair held from February 25-28 in Barcelona, Spain. The study by the mobile operators' industry association, GSMA, found there were more mobile money accounts than traditional bank accounts in Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda. In a single month, June 2012, more than 30 million people worldwide undertook 224.2 million transactions totalling $4.6 billion (3.5 billion euros), said the report, based on a worldwide survey. The pace of activity exceeded the 196.3 million transactions performed by PayPal customers on average each month in the third quarter of 2012, it said. Providers offered 150 mobile money services for people without banks, … [Read more...] about Africa, Asia lead ‘mobile money’ boom
Asia needs to wake up and smell fear in markets
Let's be blunt: Asia is pretty lame in the cooperation department. Sure, it has all these groups, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), that purport to bring the region together. ASEAN, along with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, is proving toothless as global markets effectively crash. It's heartening to see Southeast Asian officials and their counterparts from Japan, China and South Korea considering plans to rescue financial institutions facing liquidity problems or holding distressed assets. Should investors hold their collective breath for these modest steps to play out? … [Read more...] about Asia needs to wake up and smell fear in markets
How to keep children safe in the workplace and off the street
Your say (19-06-2009) How to keep children safe in the workplace and off the street Last week: Viet Nam News asked its readers about their opinions on child labour and on ways to prevent children from being abused in the workplace. Nguyen Tuyet May, Vietnamese, Ha Noi Most Vietnamese know the case of Nguyen Thi Binh, a 21-year-old girl who was violently abused by a couple selling noodles in Ha Noi's Thanh Xuan District. For 13 years, the poor girl was forced to work from 4am to 11pm without a salary. She was beaten severely and not allowed to talk to the customers. Eventually, the noodle shop owners were convicted of abusing a child for labour and using violence against that child. But what raised the most concern among the public was that nothing was done about it for 13 years. It wasn't until 2007, when a woman in Thuong Dinh Market reported the abuse, that something was finally done to help the child. … [Read more...] about How to keep children safe in the workplace and off the street
India’s street children bank on the future
Ram Singh, 17, earns just one dollar from the 100 cups of tea he makes every day outside Delhi railway station, but each evening, after packing up, he goes to the bank and deposits nearly half of it. Singh holds an account at a special bank, run for -- and mostly by -- Indian street children, that keeps what little money they have safe and seeks to instill the idea that savings, however meagre, are important. Just one among millions of street children who rely on menial jobs for survival, Singh is determined to make his work pay some sort of future dividend. "I'm smart, but that alone isn't enough to start a business. "I save money everyday, hoping to start something of my own. Someday soon," he said as he served glasses of India's ubiquitous, spicy milk tea in sweltering heat at a stall near the teeming train station. The Children's Development Khazana (treasure chest) opened its first office in New Delhi 2001 and has since spread across the country and overseas with 300 … [Read more...] about India’s street children bank on the future