Jan292017

Press release: Presidential executive order on inbound migration to US

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Foreign Office statement on what the Presidential executive order on inbound migration to US means to British nationals and dual nationals.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has today held conversations with the US Government and as a result we can clarify that:

  • The Presidential executive order only applies to individuals travelling from one of the seven named countries.

  • If you are travelling to the US from anywhere other than one of those countries (for instance, the UK) the executive order does not apply to you and you will experience no extra checks regardless of your nationality or your place of birth.

  • If you are a UK national who happens to be travelling from one of those countries to the US, then the order does not apply to you – even if you were born in one of those countries.

  • If you are a dual citizen of one of those countries travelling to the US from OUTSIDE those countries then the order does not apply to you.

The only dual nationals who might have extra checks are those coming from one of the seven countries themselves – for example a UK-Libya dual national coming from Libya to the US.

The US has reaffirmed its strong commitment to the expeditious processing of all travellers from the United Kingdom.

Jan292017

Union Textiles Minister inaugurates 1st North East Investors’ Summit in Shillong

India
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Summit is an attempt to promote the rich textiles of NER: Union Textiles Minister

Textiles Minister calls for greater cooperation in handloom sector, to facilitate exponential growth across the entire region

Assam can promote Eri Silk as the ‘Peace Silk’ from the land of the Mahatma: Union Textiles Minister

Government of India to support sericulture in NER, with infusion of Rs. 820 crore: Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani

Master craftsmen from NER to teach at NIFTs across the country: Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani

Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani launches India Handmade Bazaar Portal; nearly 20 MoUs signed for collaboration in textile sector in NER

Jan292017

WeChat data reveals Chinese passion with monetary gift

East Asia
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Giving monetary gift through WeChat, China’s major instant messaging app, has become a popular holiday custom, with people born in the 1980’s being the most active group, according to latest data of WeChat.

On Friday alone, the eve of 2017 lunar new year, a record of some 14.2 billion electronic hongbaos, or red packets containing gift money, were given and received, according to WeChat, which is operated by Tencent.

Those who were born in the 1980s have sent and received the most red packets last year compared to those born in the 1990s and 1970s.

WeChat data also showed that men tend to give out more hongbaos than women. Geographically, people in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hunan lead in giving and receiving red packets.

It is a tradition of Chinese to give hongbao to friends and relatives during Spring Festival. Nowadays, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and other local festivals are also the peak times for red packets.

This year, new forms of red packets such as “face-to-face and AR red packets” were adopted. Lin Yuwen, a Beijing resident, said he distributed red packets totaling 1,200 yuan (175 U.S. dollars) on Friday, almost double the amount last year.

Analysts say the electronic red packets are used by Internet giants to expand their shares in the mobile payment market.