Siam Makro is joining forces with the Commerce and Agriculture ministries to purchase 200 tonnes of shrimp in an effort to help farmers affected by the new wave of Covid-19 infections, as well assure consumers that cooked shrimp is safe for consumption.
People have been wary about consuming shrimp after a new cluster of infections broke out in Samut Sakhon’s central shrimp market recently.
“The new Covid-19 wave has severely impacted shrimp farmers across the country. The last week of the year is supposed to be their opportunity to rack up sales, but the loss of confidence and concern have left them devastated. Therefore, Makro, in association with the Commerce and Agriculture and Cooperatives ministries, has started purchasing shrimp directly from farmers to help move their products in time for the ‘new normal’ New Year celebrations,” said Siriporn Dechsingha, Siam Makro’s chief corporate communications officer.
“This collaboration is an urgent initiative that will be carried out continuously to help shrimp farmers affected by Covid-19. Apart from buying an additional 200 tonnes of shrimp per week directly from farmers and promotions nationwide, Makro has also been certified by the Department of Fisheries to have hygienic, Covid-19-free inspection and storage processes, further boosting public confidence.”
The promotions kicked off with a celebration at Makro Nakhon-In, which was attended by Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sreeon, Department of Internal Trade director-general Wattanasak Sur-iam and Department of Fisheries director-general Mesak Pakdeekong.
The event featured booths selling cooked shrimp served up by members of shrimp farmer networks and the Thai Restaurant Association.
“In the ‘new normal’ festive season, when people will be celebrating by cooking at home, shrimp products from Thai farmers should see better reception, especially after government agencies and network members have joined hands to regain confidence in the safety of shrimp consumption. We are not just looking at short-term solutions but are also aiming for development towards sustainability, in line with our mission to stand by Thai farmers and become the leader of fresh food safety,” Siriporn said.
The shrimp is divided into three sizes, with the smallest going at Bt189 per kilo, medium at Bt199 per kg and large at Bt239 per kg. The promotion will continue until January 31.
2021 could be a huge year for space. Here’s what’s to come from NASA, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos.
Dec 31. 2020SpaceX founder Elon Musk celebrates after the historic first launch of astronauts aboard a SpaceX craft in May. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Jonathan Newton
By The Washington Post · Christian Davenport
We all know that 2020 was a no-good, horrible, fearful, tumultuous year that will be remembered for the coronavirus pandemic and the polarizing election. But for space enthusiasts, it was actually quite a good year, providing bits of promising news amid the bleak headlines of disease, economic hardship and protests.
SpaceX launched astronauts to the International Space Station twice. NASA launched a rover to Mars and snagged a sample from an asteroid 200 million miles away.
2021 has potential for even more good news. Here’s just some of what could happen in the new year.
Astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken on their way to their May flight to the International Space Station. SpaceX is expected to launch NASA astronauts to space twice in 2021. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Jonathan Newton
– SpaceX
After two successful flights carrying astronauts to the International Space Station, SpaceX is set to do it again this year. Crew-2, its second fully operational mission, is scheduled to launch a quartet of astronauts from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the spring. Then, in the fall, the company is set to launch Crew-3.
Not since the space shuttle has NASA had routine flights to the space station from U.S. soil. If all goes well, SpaceX will become the shuttle’s successor, filling a major gap in America’s spaceflight program in a coming-of-age moment for what was once a spunky start-up.
Late in the year, SpaceX also is planning to fly a mission for Axiom Space, a Houston-based company that has purchased a trip to the International Space Station for a crew of four. Michael López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut who now works for Axiom, would accompany three private citizens for the mission, among them Eytan Stibbe, an Israeli former fighter pilot. Axiom is expected to announce the other two tourists sometime in the future.
Flying humans on its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is only part of what’s on tap for SpaceX. The company continues to test its Starship spacecraft, a next-generation vehicle that looks like a flying grain silo but, Musk hopes, will one day fly people to Mars.
NASA hopes it will be successful. The space agency is investing $135 million in Starship as part of its attempt to return astronauts to the moon. Musk, whose timelines are usually wildly ambitious, has said he hopes the spacecraft will be able to achieve orbit in 2021.
The company is also pressing ahead with another outrageously difficult project – a plan to flood Earth orbit with thousands of satellites that would beam Internet signals to ground stations, connecting rural areas to broadband.
In 2020, SpaceX took some major strides toward that goal and has already launched more than 16 batches of the satellites, allowing it to begin a pilot program. More are scheduled to be hoisted in 2021, marking SpaceX’s transformation from a purely rocket company to an Internet service provider after being awarded $886 million from the Federal Communications Commission for the endeavor.
The Boeing factory at Kennedy Space Center. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Jonathan Newton
– Boeing
Boeing spent much of 2020 working to fix the software on its Starliner spacecraft, which ran into trouble as soon as it reached space during an uncrewed test flight at the end of 2019.
It’s now working to redo the test mission – no astronauts on board – at the end of March.
Given its past problems, Boeing’s upcoming test flight has to be successful. The company holds a contract from NASA to fly its astronauts to the space station. But before the space agency will allow its astronauts on Boeing’s spacecraft, the company has to prove it can fly safely on its own. Another failure will do more damage to a company reeling from a string of failures, including the two fatal crashes of its 737 Max airplane that killed 346 people.
Boeing is well aware of this, which is why it’s been proceeding so deliberately. The mission patch for the flight, known as Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) has a special touch – the image of a fingerprint.
“It represents those who are in the factory each day building the spacecraft as well as those who have had a hand in designing, testing, coding and training so we can get OFT-2 right,” the company said in a statement. “At a macro level, the thumbprint represents how deeply personal this mission is to Boeing, as human spaceflight has been and always will be a part of our company’s DNA.”
If all goes well, the company would move to the next step – flying a test mission with three NASA astronauts that could come by the end of the year.
– Artemis
The hallmark of the Trump administration’s space policy has been a return to the moon for the first time since the astronauts of Apollo 17 landed there in 1972. The White House directed NASA to speed up the timeline for a lunar landing to 2024, from 2028, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, a former member of Congress, lobbied his former colleagues hard for funding for the program, which has been dubbed Artemis.
Though Congress has approved $850 million for next year for the spacecraft that would land astronauts on the lunar surface, it’s well short of the $3.3 billion NASA said it needed to meet the 2024 deadline.
It’s not clear what the incoming Biden administration will do with the program. Most Democrats in the space community say new officials will keep the program but put it on a more realistic timeline.
The schedule will be driven by engineering and technology as much as politics, though. As of now, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is supposed to launch the Orion spacecraft without astronauts on board by the end of 2021, in what would be the first flight of the Artemis program. If all goes well, Orion would orbit the moon, testing its systems before coming home.
It’s not clear, though, that the rocket will be ready. For years, it has suffered delay after delay, with billions of dollars in cost overruns. Government watchdogs have criticized Boeing, the prime contractor, for poor performance and NASA for lax oversight.
When it does fly, the SLS is certain to be a sight. The rocket would be the most powerful ever, with four RS-25 engines used by the space shuttle and two side solid rocket motor boosters taller than the Statue of Liberty. NASA and Boeing say they are getting close to flying, but the rocket still needs to pass the final parts of the testing campaign known as the “green run,” which would culminate with the firing of its engines while clamped down to the launchpad.
But given the problems, past and present, it’s far from certain that 2021 will be the year it finally takes off.
– Richard Branson
He’s crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific in hot-air balloons, once almost dying off the coast of Ireland, another time crashing in the Canadian Arctic instead of Southern California, the intended destination. He broke the record for the fastest time crossing the Atlantic in a boat and once got stranded in Algeria during an attempt to circle the globe in a balloon.
In 2021, at age 70, Richard Branson may face his most daunting adventure yet: a trip to the edge of space in his suborbital spaceplane. It’s been his quest since he founded Virgin Galactic in 2004, and after delays and setbacks the company is tantalizingly close to flying paying passengers.
Its sporty spaceplane has made it to space twice, once with a pair of pilots, then again with an additional crew member. In December, the company aborted a test flight after its onboard computer that monitors the rocket engines lost connection.
Virgin Galactic now says it will repeat that test flight, then fly another, and then it will finally be Branson’s turn. If all goes well, Virgin Galactic would then turn its attention to flying the hundreds of people who have paid as much as $250,000 for a trip to space.
Branson has another venture that may reach a significant milestone in 2021. In January, Virgin Orbit, its rocket company, is planning another test flight of its LauncherOne rocket after a failed test a few months ago when the main engine shut down prematurely.
Like Virgin Galactic’s spaceship, the rocket is tethered to a mother ship, in this case a 747, that takes it to an altitude of some 40,000 feet. There, the rocket is released, fires its engine and zooms through the atmosphere.
VirginOrbit is one of a host of small rocket companies that could reach orbit in 2021. Relativity Space, which 3-D prints its rockets, is planning a launch, as is Astra, which nearly missed orbit from its launch site in Alaska. Rocket Lab, which launches out of New Zealand, is planning a flight from its pad on Wallops Island, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, as well.
– Jeff Bezos
Bezos was 5 years old when he watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon in what he has said was a “seminal moment” for him, touching off a lifelong passion for space. He has said Blue Origin, his space company, is “the most important work I’m doing.” 2021 could be a breakout year for the company, which was founded 20 years ago.
Blue Origin is planning its first flight with humans on board its New Shepard spacecraft in the coming year. Like Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, it’s designed to travel to the edge of space and back – not to orbit. But unlike Virgin, it has not yet opened up sales or announced ticket prices.
It also hopes to fly for the first time in 2021 its New Glenn rocket, a massive vehicle powered by seven BE-4 engines. Earlier this year, NASA announced that the rocket would be eligible to bid for launch contracts, a vote of confidence for the company.
The BE-4 would also power the new rocket being designed by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Vulcan Centaur, as it is called, is scheduled to fly toward the end of the year, Tory Bruno, ULA’s chief executive, told reporters recently.
That mission would be a historic one, carrying a robotic spacecraft manufactured by Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh company, to land on the moon as part of a NASA program. If successful, it would be the first spacecraft launched from U.S. soil to land on the moon since the Apollo era.
– Mars and beyond
On Feb. 18, NASA once again will try to pull off the daring feat of landing a spacecraft on Mars, when the Perseverance rover is set to touch down.
The rover would explore the Jezero crater near the Mars equator where a lake once existed. That is the ideal place to search for signs of ancient microbial life, scientists say. The rover will collect rocks and soil samples that would one day be returned to Earth.
NASA has also included a drone helicopter called Ingenuity on the mission, in a test of whether it can fly in the thin Martian atmosphere, 99 percent less dense than Earth’s.
“The Wright Brothers showed that powered flight in Earth’s atmosphere was possible, using an experimental aircraft,” said Håvard Grip, Ingenuity’s chief pilot at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “With Ingenuity, we’re trying to do the same for Mars.”
Finally, NASA’s James Webb telescope is scheduled to launch in October after years of struggles and cost overruns that pushed the program’s price tag to nearly $10 billion.
Once in space, the telescope would be able to look back in time to see the oldest light in the universe, the formation of galaxies and planets beyond our solar system.
“Webb is the world’s most complex space observatory and our top science priority, and we’ve worked hard to keep progress moving during the pandemic,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said this year.
Airline crew to undergo more frequent PCR tests and self-isolate after 2 SIA crew members down with Covid-19
Dec 31. 2020CAAS in consultation with MOH, will further tighten the measures for air crew of Singapore carriers with immediate effect. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
By Timothy Goh The Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE – Crew members of Singapore carriers will have to undergo stricter Covid-19 control measures with immediate effect following the news of a Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew member and an SIA pilot testing positive for the coronavirus.
Announcing this on Wednesday night (Dec 30), the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said it was tightening measures to ensure the safety and well-being of air crew and to safeguard public health in Singapore.
“Air crew face considerable risks in the course of their duties. They do so because it is critical for Singapore to maintain air connectivity. Many essential supplies, such as vaccines, can only be delivered by air. Singaporeans overseas and other essential travellers need to be able to travel to and from Singapore,” said CAAS in a statement.
The first case, a cabin crew member, tested positive on Dec 27. He had last flown to New York on SQ24 on Dec 12, and returned to Singapore on Dec 16 aboard SQ23.
He was asymptomatic at the time and was tested on Dec 23 and 25 under the testing protocol for Singapore carriers’ air crew when they return from overseas. Both tests were inconclusive but an additional test on Dec 27 returned positive.
CAAS said its preliminary investigation showed that the man had adhered to the mandated in-flight and layover measures, including wearing a mask, minimising contact with passengers and locals, and staying in his hotel room.
During the layover in New York, he interacted with the immigration officer and hotel check-in staff and collected his meal from a hotel staff who delivered it to his room.
All crew members and 16 passengers who were seated in the section of the aircraft cabin served by him have tested negative.
The second case, a pilot, tested positive on Dec 29. He had last flown to London on SQ322 on Dec 19 and returned to Singapore on Dec 22.
He was tested on Dec 23 and received a negative result on Dec 25. But on Dec 26, he developed a fever and went to a clinic for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on Dec 27, which returned positive on Dec 29.
CAAS said its preliminary investigation showed that the pilot had adhered to the same mandated in-flight and layover measures as the first case. He also had no contact with passengers on board the flight.
During the layover in London, he interacted with the immigration officer and hotel check-in staff and also collected his meal from a hotel staff who delivered it to his room.
CAAS said that after consulting with the Ministry of Health, it will now require air crew on layover to further minimise their contact with locals.
For example, food delivered through room service should be left outside the room at the door instead of being handed over.
Those who lay over in high-risk destinations will be required to undergo a PCR tests on arrival and on the third and seventh day following their return to Singapore.
Crew members will be required to self-isolate until they receive a negative result from their seventh-day PCR test.
In addition, crew travelling to and from South Africa will have to don full personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks, face shields, protective gowns and gloves.
Foreign investors pump over $28.5 billion into Vietnam in 2020
Dec 31. 2020Rolled steel being manufactured at the Japan-invested JFE Shoji Steel Hải Phòng Company in the northern port city of Hải Phòng. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam
By Viet Nam News/ANN
HÀ NỘI — Foreign direct investment (FDI) registered in Việt Nam hit US$28.53 billion in 2020, a year-on-year decline of 25 per cent due to the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report from the General Statistics Office (GSO) revealed.
About 2,523 new projects were licensed with capital totaling $14.6 billion, down 35 per cent in the number of projects and 12.5 per cent in registered capital.
Meanwhile, 1,140 operating projects were allowed to raise their investment capital by $6.4 billion, up 10.6 per cent year-on-year. Foreign businesses also invested $7.5 billion during the year through capital contributions and share purchases, representing a yearly reduction of 51.7 per cent.
From January to December, FDI disbursement also experienced a slight decline of 2 per cent to nearly $20 billion.
In 2020, foreign companies invested in 19 sectors in Việt Nam. Of which, processing and manufacturing lured the lion’s share of FDI with $13.6 billion, accounting for 47.7 per cent of the total capital. Power production and distribution came next with more than $5.1 billion or 18 per cent. Real estate and wholesale sectors were the runners-up with $4.2 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively.
However, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), said many foreign-invested enterprises in the country have gradually recovered and maintained business and production activities. More importantly, many others showed their strong interest in investing in Việt Nam.
Statistics from the MPI showed that nearly 300 international companies were seeking investment opportunities in Việt Nam or expanding their operations in the country. Of them, over 60 firms had made initial steps in investing or expanding presence in the Southeast Asian nation.
As of December 20, Việt Nam was home to 33,070 valid foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of $384 billion and 60.4 per cent of the sum ($231.86 billion) was disbursed.
South Korea was the country’s largest source of FDI with over $70.6 billion or 18.4 per cent of the total capital. Japan ranked second with $60.3 billion or 15.7 per cent, following by Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
According to the GSO, Vietnamese companies also poured $590 million into overseas projects in 2020, up 16 per cent compared to 2019. Of the sum, $318 million came from 119 new projects while the remainder of $272 million from 33 operational projects which registered to increase their investment capital. — VNS
[Japan] Even New Year’s traditions forced to adapt to pandemic
Dec 31. 2020A sales assistant shows a sample of an osechi set of traditional New Year’s delicacies at the Matsuya Ginza department store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, on Dec. 18. Almost all sets have been sold out. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)
By Ayaka Higuchi Yomiuri Shimbun/ANN
As with almost every aspect of life, people are adapting how they spend the year-end and New Year holidays to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While trips to hometowns or holiday destinations are out, the propensity to stay at home this year has sales of deluxe sets of New Year delicacies selling well.
And New Year’s cards are once again back in vogue as a means of sending well-wishes to friends and family who the senders won’t be seeing anytime soon.
■ Opting for luxury
Sho Koizumi, the sales manager for New Year’s “osechi” sets of delicacies at Matsuya Ginza department store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, couldn’t hide his surprise. “We get many inquiries, but we have nothing left to sell,” said Koizumi, 34. “It’s never been like this.”
The department store started taking preorders for 197 different types of osechi sets back in October. The reservations started flooding in immediately, at a rate three times more than average. By Dec. 24, almost everything was sold out.
Most notable were deluxe sets priced at ¥60,000, as well as individual boxes that make it unnecessary to share from a communal dish, and gift sets that can be sent anywhere in the country.
“In place of heading to their hometowns or taking a trip, I suppose there are many people who are opting for some luxury in their osechi sets,” Koizumi said.
■ Change of values
With many people putting off returning to their hometown, New Year’s cards are under the spotlight. Alpha Print Service Co., a printing company in Taito Ward, Tokyo, received 1.5 times more orders this year for printing New Year’s cards.
Designs and phrases related to the coronavirus are popular and were used for 70% of the orders. These include illustrations of Amabie, a yokai spirit, and Akabeko, the lucky cow of Fukushima Prefecture, both of which are traditionally believed to fend off disease.
“For those who unable go home even during the Bon holiday period [in summer], not sending New Year’s cards as well would be a shame,” said Tsutomu Miyashita, 50, the company’s president. “Since the virus has reduced chances for people to get together, people are rethinking the value of New Year’s cards.”
To reduce the risk of infection, more are looking into cashless “otoshidama,” the New Year’s money gift for children. A survey by Financial Academy, conducted in November on 300 men and women with children, found that 51% approved of giving otoshidama in a cashless form such as through smartphone payment, up from 38% from the previous year.
There are negative views of going cashless, such as that it deprives children of actually feeling the value of money, Shoko Fukuda, 38, who was in charge of the survey, suggests there are ways to make it work.
“Maybe coming up with some good ideas to get children to appreciate money, such as by adding a message to the otoshidama,” she said.
■ No late-night shrine visits
Moves to stagger the period for New Year visits to shrines and temples are spreading as well.
Meiji Jingu shrine in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, normally draws 3 million people over the first three days of January. This year, however, the shrine will bar worshipers from coming throughout the night to ring in the new year. It will close its gate at 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and reopen at 6 a.m. on New Year’s Day. The shrine has also called for visitors to consider delaying their visits and coming later in the month.
East Japan Railway Co. has announced it will not be running trains through the night on Dec. 31 and the early hours of Jan. 1 as before. The same goes for all the Tokyo Metro subway trains.
Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture has decided to extend sales of its New Year’s lucky charms, such as hamaya arrows and figurines based on the Chinese zodiac, through the end of March. Such sales usually end on the Lunar New Year’s day in February.
The Naritasan Shinshoji temple in Chiba Prefecture will provide live camera feeds from the main approach and two other locations starting Dec. 31 so that visitors can check online how crowded it is.
“While taking into consideration their sincere intentions of coming to worship, we want visitors to keep in mind to avoid crowding,” a temple official said.
Photos by Tatchadon Panyaphanitkul
SpaceX founder Elon Musk celebrates after the historic first launch of astronauts aboard a SpaceX craft in May. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Jonathan Newton
CAAS in consultation with MOH, will further tighten the measures for air crew of Singapore carriers with immediate effect. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
Rolled steel being manufactured at the Japan-invested JFE Shoji Steel Hải Phòng Company in the northern port city of Hải Phòng. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam
A sales assistant shows a sample of an osechi set of traditional New Year’s delicacies at the Matsuya Ginza department store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, on Dec. 18. Almost all sets have been sold out. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)
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