The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), along with the commercial institutions in the country, has been actively testing its digital fiat currency, the Chinese electronic yuan (e-CNY), with almost 21 million people (personal wallets) having taken part in the tests as of June 2021.[i] Further,
At least 12 people, including nine Chinese citizens, were killed after a bus carrying construction workers plunged into a ravine following an explosion on July 14, 2021, when the workers were heading to the Dasu hydropower project located in the Upper Kohistan region situated between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).
China successfully landed its rover on Mars on May 14, 2021. After landing, it took 17 minutes to unfold the solar panels attached to this system and send a signal back to Earth. It may be noted that the current distance to Mars from the Earth is 320 million km, and it takes about 17/18 minutes for radio messages to reach Earth.
After a brief quiescence, Balochistan has once again gained international attention for extrajudicial killings and disappearance cases since the beginning of this year. In fact, in May 2020, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had sought Iranian assistance in tackling Baloch militants suspected to be operating from its soil. Gen.
While the entire world has been reeling under the COIVD-19 crisis since the beginning of this year, South Asia has witnessed a spike in border disputes, besides facing the rapid spread of the pandemic itself.