Seoul, Dec 31 (IANS) South Korea will extend the waiver on visa processing fees for an additional six months for group tourists from six countries, including China, the finance chief said on Wednesday.Under the plan announced by Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, the fee exemption for C-3-2 visas, which was originally set to expire on Wednesday, will continue until the end of June next year, reports Yonhap news agency.The six countries covered by the extension are China, India, Vietnam, the Philipp…
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New Delhi, December 30 (IANS) With China’s ongoing wargames around Taiwan following the United States’ approval of its largest-ever arms sale to Taipei worth $11.1 billion, the future of this part of the Pacific has attracted global attention and concern. Calling Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan as serving “merely as a cash machine” for American arms dealers, China’s state-controlled People’s Daily media on Tuesday warned that it will offer “no protective shield for the island”. US in…
Kuala Lumpur, Dec 30 (IANS) Regional stability was strengthened through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) despite the challenges faced by the grouping in 2025, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The collective wisdom and sincerity of the grouping and its partners ensured that the ASEAN platform continues to serve to unite views and bridge gaps, Anwar said in a statement on Monday.”Malaysia assumed the responsibility of the ASEAN Chairmanship 2025 at a time when…
Seoul, Dec 30 (IANS) The number of foreign visitors to South Korea rose sharply in November, climbing 17.3 per cent from a year earlier as the country’s tourism sector continues to recover to pre-pandemic levels, official data showed on Tuesday.According to figures from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), about 1.6 million foreign tourists visited in November, up from 1.36 million a year ago and 9.6 percent higher than the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.China remained the lar…
Srinagar, Dec 27 (IANS) Tourists have arrived in appreciable numbers in the Kashmir Valley these days to welcome the New Year. Minimum temperature dropped notches below the freezing point in the Valley on Saturday as the Pahalgam hill station recorded minus 4.8 as the night’s lowest temperature.After many months, hotels in Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam are reporting full occupancy these days.Altaf Ahmad, general manager of a hotel in Gulmarg, told IANS, “We are completely sold out this time.”Th…
New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Ayush held a two-day key technical meeting to integrate traditional medicine into global health intervention standards, the Ministry said on Monday.The Technical Project Meeting on traditional medicine (TM), held from December 20-21 in the national capital, aimed to set an intervention code.The initiative was fundamentally driven by the landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Donor Agreement signed between th…