“Virtually currency-related business activities,” the People’s Bank of China said, warning it “seriously endangers the safety of people’s assets.”

China is one of the world’s largest crypto-currency markets. Fluctuations there often impact the global price of crypto-currencies. The price of Bitcoin fell by more than $2,000 in the wake of the Chinese announcement.

It is the latest in China’s national crackdown on what it sees as a volatile, speculative investment at best – and a way to launder money at worst.

Trading crypto-currency has officially been changed in China since 2019, but has continued online through foreign exchanges. However, there has been a significant crackdown this year.

In May, Chinese state intuitions warned buyers they would have no protection for continuing to trade Bitcoin and other currencies online, as government officials vowed to increase pressure o the industry.

In June, it told banks and payment platforms to stop facilitating transactions and issued bans on “mining” the currencies –  the trade of using powerful computers to make new coins.

Pakistan has been seeking an active hand in the situation which developed in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s Lightning-fast offensive won the militants control of the state machinery in the war-torn land. Amid widespread criticism for its ‘proxy war’ in Afghanistan, the Pakistan intelligence chief’s meeting with his counterparts in other countries now assumes special significance in light of the debilitating political and economic scenario in Kabul.

According to Pakistan news channel SAMAA TV, the participants of the rare meeting agreed that Afghanistan “should not be left alone” to deal with its problem. The development takes an interesting perspective for Afghanistan experts and political observers, many of who believe that it was, in fact, Islamabad which was behind the Taliban’s aggressive advance against the erstwhile Ashraf Ghani government’s forces in August. They also say Islamabad has been assisting the Taliban on all possible fronts, hoping to cut a piece of the pie in the new regime.

There will be eight medal events, plus two demonstrations games reflecting the popularity and growth of electronic sports in China and Asia.

Official Medal Events

*   Arena of Valor Asian Games Version

·        Dota 2

·        Dream Three Kingdoms 2

·        EA SPORTS FIFA branded soccer games

·        Hearthstone

·        League of Legends

·        PUBG Mobile Asian Games Version

·        Street Fighter V

Demonstration events

·         AESF Robot Masters-Powered by Migu

·        AESF VR Sports- Powered by Migu

Mr. Lokesh Suji, the Director of Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) lauding the announcement, has said that India will have strong chances of medal finishes in esports in 2022.

“For titles like Hearthstone; EA FIFA, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Street Fighter, we have very strong chances of winning Medals for India; Tirth Mehta who got bronze medal last time (2018), will be able to convert that bronze to a Gold this time,” he said.

“We will soon launch the “Road to Asian Games” program in line with AESF, to identify the best of the talent and train them for the main event at Hangzhou, China in September 2022.”

“It’s time for our Sports Ministry to recognize ESFI and our sport ‘esports’.”

“We are confident that we will increase our medals tally this time,” he added.

The announcement of the games titles was made on the first day of the two-day Chefs de Mission Seminar video conference for the 19^th Asian Games on Wednesday, September 8.

“Singapore and the broader ASEAN region are key markets for growth for expanding Chinese emerging corporate. A majority of these clients set up holding companies in Singapore for their ASEAN units,” Lin Hsiu-Yi, ASEAN and Singpore head at Citi commercial Bank told CNBC.

The new China desk is headed by Mona Zhang, a banker who previously focused on mid-sized companies at Citi commercial Bank’s office in China, the report added.

Citi Commercial Bank focuses on mid-sized companies with annual revenues of up $1 billion which are looking to expand overseas. Singapore’s charm as a business centre has grown in recent years as tensions between the US and China risen. Moreover, China’s recent crackdown on technology companies is expected to increase Singapore’s appeal.

Beijing has been firming its grip on internet platforms in recent months, citing the risk of abusing market power to stifle competition, misuse of consumers’ information and violation of consumer rights, in a reversal.

The country issued hefty fines to companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and social media company Tencent Holding as part of a widening crackdown and has vowed to draft new laws around technology innovation and monopolies.

Kangana has quite frequently used her social media to raise her voice. She recently misused her platforms to lash out. She was banished from Twitter for violating the platform’s Hateful Conduct policy and Abusive Behaviour policy. Since then, she has been extremely active on Instagram but predicted that she would soon be removed from there as well.

Via her Instagram stories Kangana shared,  “Last night I got an Instagram alert as someone tried to hack my account in China, the alert disappeared suddenly, and this morning all my stories about the Taliban have disappeared. My account was disabled. After calling Instagram people I could access it, but as I try to write I am getting logged out of my account again and again.”

She further added: “Took my sister’s phone to do this story as she has my account open on her phone as well. This is a very big international conspiracy… Unbelievable.”

After being cancelled from Twitter, Kangana mocked the platform for promoting freedom of speech. In an Instagram Story in May, she wrote, “Poor Twitter begging for the freedom of speech, Twitter the great, the unelected member of parliament, supreme justice of the world, keeper of the moral compass of humanity and what are their basic qualifications or credentials to ask or forcefully acquire this power? Who are they?”

The rule change is due to take effect from the end of the month, she said. The Chinese-ruled city has some of the toughest quarantine rules globally with residents mandated to stay for up to 21 days in hotels after arriving.

The move to reduce the quarantine duration comes as the government tries to incentivise more of its 7.5 million population to get COVID-19 vaccinations. So far only around 17% of residents have been fully vaccinated since the scheme started in February. For those arriving from countries deemed “very high risk” the quarantine period remains unchanged at 21 days.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan, speaking at the same press conference, said some social distancing measures including increasing capacity at restaurants and bars would be eased from June 24 for vaccinated residents.

Hong Kong authorities have over the past month piled pressure on businesses and financial institutions to encourage vaccinations and urged them to grant employees a day off for each jab.

Many corporates have unveiled incentives and rewards for vaccinations while some companies and private clubs have threatened to deny pay rises or lay off workers if staff do not get jabbed.

The former British colony has largely controlled the virus with around 11,800 infections and 210 deaths, with the majority of residents choosing to delay vaccinations. There remains a surplus of unused vaccines and some are about to expire, the government said.