Asia

Yang Huiyan was overtaken in Bloomberg Billionaires Index on July 29 by Savitri Jindal of India, who has a wealth of $11.3 billion owing to her conglomerate Jindal Group, which is active in industries such as metals and power generation. She also fell behind fellow Chinese mogul Fan Hongwei, whose fortune stems from the chemical… read-more

Thailand decriminalized marijuana growing and possession on June 9. Thailand is Asia's first country to legalize marijuana. Uruguay and Canada are the only nations that have legalized recreational marijuana on a national level so far. The government stated that it is solely pushing cannabis for medical purposes, warning people who want to smoke for pleasure can face a three-month prison sentence and a fine of 25,000 Thai baht.

CBI Special Director Praveen Sinha was elected as a delegate from Asia to the INTERPOL executive committee on November 25, according to sources. The Indian nominee won a tight poll in which contenders from China, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, and Jordan competed for two seats on the select panel. The elections took place in Istanbul at the 89th INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organisation) General Assembly, according to reports.… read-more

The US Navy said that a US nuclear submarine was damaged after colliding with an unknown object while operating underwater in Asia on October 7. Reportedly, it didn't cause any life-threatening incident, but approximately a dozen sailors were injured. Luckily, its ''nuclear propulsion plant and spaces weren't affected''. The submarine was travelling in the South China Sea to counter China's dominance in the region, media reports said.

Singapore on December 30 became the first Asian country to begin its vaccination programme with Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine. Over 30 staff at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases were among the first to receive the vaccine's shot. Moreover, the second dose of the vaccine will be administered on January 20. Reportedly, Singapore has signed to purchase other COVID vaccines, including those of Moderna and Sinovac, as well.