South & Central Asia

India is the largest country of South Asia and the seventh-largest country in the world by area. Because of the vastness of the country and variety of culture within different states, there is no national language in India. However, Hindi is the official language of the government and is spoken by the majority of people. English also has the status of official language in the country and is used extensively in higher education, business and education.

Contracting Parties agree not to participate in any activity that constitutes a threat to the political and economic stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of another Contracting Party. The 28th ASEAN Chiefs of Police Conference took place from 25 to 29 May and adopted resolutions addressing cooperation in preventing terrorism and arms smuggling. At the 13th ASEAN-ROK Summit, held during the 17th ASEAN Summit, the Chairman’s statement reaffirmed support for a complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It also encouraged both parties to implement the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005 and to resume the Six Party Talks and the implementation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. On 4 May, H.E. Mr. Pham Binh Minh, First Deputy-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, spoke on behalf of ASEAN at the 2010 NPT Review Conference in New York. In his statement, he noted that ASEAN continues to work with nuclear weapon states for the early signing of the SEANWFZ Protocol.

At the 39th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting from July, the ministers issued a joint communiqué in which they voiced their concern over recent developments in North Korea—including the test firing of its Taepodong-2 missiles on 5 July—that could affect peace and security in the region. They emphasized the need for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and called upon concerned parties to utilize the upcoming ASEAN Regional Forum as an opportunity to resume the Six-Party Talks towards a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue. Meetings of ASEAN members at various levels, including the fifth ASEAN ministerial conference in April, were held in 1972. In February 1973, the ASEAN nations held an extraordinary meeting of their foreign ministers in the wake of the Vietnam cease-fire.

This knowledge, therefore, becomes indispensable both to those who study Southeast Asia and its society as well as to the Southeast Asian themselves. A more generalized demand for knowledge on Southeast Asian societies relates to marketing and this trend must not be underrated with the recent expansion of the middle class in the region. As the markets and clients in Southeast Asia become more sophisticated the need for in-depth knowledge on sectors of the Southeast Asia societies has increased. This in turn has increased the demand for graduates who have followed courses related to Southeast Asian studies. It has been observed that the Japanese seem to be regular consumers of knowledge on Southeast Asia.

Most Widely Spoken Native Languages In Asia

Russia is the largest country in Asia, despite the fact that a full 25% of Russia's 17,098,250 square kilometers of territory is located in Europe . China comes in second in Asia, with a total area of approximately 9,600,010 km². Finally, the dividing lines between continents are sometimes ambiguous, especially at sea. The island country of Cyprus, for example, is considered by the United Nations to be part of Asia, but it is also a member of the European Union. Similarly, many islands of Oceania could arguably be considered part of Asia, Australia/Australasia, or even South America. Even land boundaries, such as the dividing line between Europe and Asia, have changed throughout history.

Asian Alliances And Trade Agreements

However, remittances have also been seen to increase costs and widen income distribution in origin areas as well. There have been several interventions by governments in the region to encourage nationals overseas to put their earnings in national banks and to invest in their home countries as well as to encourage the sending of remittances to the home country. On October 1, 1987, BT Marine became a subsidiary of British Telecom and in 1995 merged with Cable and Wireless Marine.

During the past 10 years, Asia has increased its forest cover by 30 million hectares to create forest plantations where trees can be intensively managed for higher-yield production. The timber industry estimates that Asia will produce roughly 45 percent of wood from forest plantations by 2020. These plantations will become increasingly important as natural forest resources continue to be depleted. The southwest zone is a dry, hot region that stretches from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia through Pakistan, Iran, and into the Arabian Peninsula.

The Increasing Importance Of The Reserve Bank Of India

A new in-depth ADB report examines the extent of disruptions triggered by COVID-19 crisis, highlights emerging growth opportunities, and recommends priority reforms that countries can adopt to better ensure an equitable and enduring recovery. Hints of what was to come appeared as far back as the aftermath of the Watergate Scandal at a congressional hearing in 1975 led by Senator Frank Church – one of the people marked for attention under the MINARET Project. The hearing revealed that the NSA, in collaboration with its UK-based counterpart GCHQ had intercepted communications from some outspoken anti-Vietnam war luminaries, including actress Jane Fonda. In fact, the Sedition Act of 1918 aimed to do precisely that; restrict free speech. It prohibited the use of “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the US government and its armed forces, and was repealed in 1920, only two years after its enactment, because of its incompatibility with the First Amendment.

The dam stands at 185 meters high and stretches for 2,335 meters across the Yangtze River. It supplies millions of homes, businesses, hospitals, and schools with safe, affordable electricity. Hyderabad has also invested extensively in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Biotechnology is the manipulation of living things to produce useful products, such as changing genetic material to create medicines.

The principal treatment of Asian historical and cultural development is contained in the articles on Asian countries, regions, and cities and in the articles Palestine, history of and Islamic world. Related topics are discussed in articles on religion (e.g., Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam) and arts and literature (e.g., Chinese literature, Japanese literature, Central Asian arts, Southeast Asian arts, and South Asian arts). The mountain systems of Central Asia not only have provided the continent’s great rivers with water from their melting snows but also have formed a forbidding natural barrier that has influenced the movement of peoples in the area. Migration across those barriers has been possible only through mountain passes.

As a conclusion, it could be said that Southeast Asian studies and what it constitutes is, first and foremost, a knowledge construct that represents only part of the region's social reality. In spite of this, it is the most important element, amongst the many, that gives Southeast Asia, the geo-physical region as well as its people and environment, its history, territory, and society. Because of the co-existence of different societal forms in the region, hence the unevenness of the tempo of social life in the region, the speed of social change thus also differs from one community to the other, from one area within the region to another.