Its been a bad begining to the week for Asia. Following a slide on Wall Street on Friday when crude oil neared US$140, and the latest emplyment data showed a steep increase in U.S. unemployment, shares on most Asian bourses have fallen.

Fears that the United States may be heading for a recession were re-ignited after the Labour Department said Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May from 5.0 percent in April. It was the biggest monthly increase since February 1986 Forbes reported.

On Monday, South Korea’s KOSPI fell 23.35 points or 1.3 percent to close at 1,808.96, In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index finished down 308.06 points or 2.1 percent at 14,181.38, Singapore’s Straits Times index closed down 62.71 points or 2 percent at 3,084.02, and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) fell 17.59 points or 1.4 percent to 1,230.98, off a low of 1,223.45. The Taiwan weighted index closed down 1.8 percent at 8,587.96, while the Jakarta composite index closed up 7.84 points or 0.3 percent at 2,410.08, off a low of 2,352.60. India’s Sensex provisionally ended 444.14 points or 2.85 percent lower at 15,128.04.

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Telecom and broadband experts belive that WiMax, a telecommunications technology that provides wireless voice and data over long distances is the solution for connecting Asia’s developing countries to the information super highway. While service providers say they don’t have the capital to set up mobile and internet services in Asia’s far flung under developed areas, technology guru’s have faith in wiMax’s ability to reach everywhere.

Thats why WiMax holds a promising potential as an alternative technology to connect underserved rural areas that will never realistically receive fixed-line services. The sweet spot for WiMax is its ability to provide voice and data connectivity at speeds of up to 1Mbps in Asia’s emerging markets where such digital divide exists, reported Business wire.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific WiMax Opportunity, finds that the region - covering 17 Asia-Pacific countries can potentially boast of 43 million WiMax subscribers by end-2013, generating estimated revenues of close to US$11 billion, at a CAGR of 45 percent (2007-2013).

The emerging markets are expected to account for nearly 80 percent (or 34.4 million) of the total subscribers in 2013, collectively contributing 69 percent (or US$7.59 billion) to the region’s total WiMax revenues given their low-ARPU (average revenue per user) nature.

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The pharmaceutical business is tilting towards Asia. The region is being hailed as ‘the pharmaceutical hub’, and most multinational and domestic companies in the region believe it is inevitable that Asia will soon be leading the pharma market, reported pharmaceutical technology.

India, China and Singapore are expected to become leaders in the pharmaceutical sector. India and China have become major suppliers of APIs, with India also exporting high volumes of pharmaceutical dosage products. South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also creating strong pharmaceutical bases, although these markets are mainly dominated by MNCs.

More clinical trials are also being conducted in Asia and India has taken the lead in clinical trial outsourcing. Asia is now returning to GDP levels of the 19th century when it was at its highest (12%). According to Goldman Sachs, India is expected to become the world’s third largest economy by 2050.

Many MNCs are investing and building their businesses in China and India, and it is expected that total pharmaceutical sales in China (at current levels of approximately $14 billion [€9 billion]) will double to $28 billion (€18 billion) by 2010.

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Yesterday Pakistan became the first South Asian nation to adopt daylight - saving time, pushing clocks forward by one hour. The three-month experiment although aimed, as elsewhere, at cutting energy costs by taking advantage of long summer days, will create chronological confusion in Asia, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Consider this: Pakistan lies west of India and is usually half an hour (yes, half an hour) behind its political archrival. But by winding its clocks forward today, Pakistan is now half an hour ahead of India, whose time remains unchanged. The situation seems a little absurd, like California being ahead of Utah.

Or take India and its little neighbor Bangladesh. Imagine India as a friendly country with its arm slung over Bangladesh’s shoulder. The hand on the shoulder is India’s northeast corner, a sizable chunk of territory connected to the rest of India by a thin arm of land.

Now, a Bangladeshi who crosses his country’s western border finds himself in India, whose time is set to half an hour behind Bangladesh. So far, so good. But if he goes in the opposite direction, across the eastern frontier, he finds himself in India yet again, and still has to turn his watch back 30 minutes, even though the sun will rise earlier than it did when he was at home.

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Jet Airways finally publically announced their special introductory Mumbai-Shanghai fares on Friday. They will fly between the two commecial capitals for RMB 3680 (US$527) + tax only if you buy the ticket between 16th-31st May and fly between 15th June- 15th July.  The introductory ticket has a one month validity.

Not to be outdone, Air India, India’s little Maharaja, has reacted to its new competition. Air India promptly cut Mumbai-Shanghai fares to RMB 3230 (US$462) + tax. The offer is valid for a fortnight, from June 15th - 30th.

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In addition to competing for natural resources in Africa, India and China have now set their sights on mobile phone subscribers. Leading mobile companies in both China and India - China Mobile and  Bharti Airtel are fiercely trying to acquire Africa’s MTN Group Ltd, the continent’s biggest mobile-phone operator, China Knowledge reported.

China and India have often been compared as the rest of the world adjusts to the presence of new economic powers, but rarely have representatives of the two nations competed head to head on a deal. China’s government-controlled entities have invested and lent billions of dollars to African countries in recent years, while private companies in India have concentrated more on shopping outside the nation’s borders.

According to MTN’s statement to its shareholders, it has started to negotiate with Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile-phone carrier, on the acquisition. But analysts believed China Mobile as well as China Telecom will probably become the two strongest competitors against Bharti Airtel. “There are many phone operators in Africa,” Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile’s president told reporters in Hong Kong. The Beijing-based parent company of China Mobile Ltd. “hasn’t participated in the bidding” for MTN Group Ltd., Wang added, who didn’t say whether the Chinese company is interested in making an offer later, reported Bloomberg.

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The quest for natural gas has brought age old enemies India and Pakistan to seek an agreement, allowing a pipeline from Iran to bring energy to Pakistan and India.”I am very optimistic about the IPI (Iran, Pakistan, India) pipeline as it would go a along way in meeting India’s energy requirements in the long run,” Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora told The Hindu on Sunday. The US$7.4 billion , 2,700-km-long pipeline is scheduled to be completed by 2011 and would initially carry 600 million cubic metres of gas per day.

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If its not politicians and huge trade volumes that bond countries in Asia, its got to be films.

After 43 years of not a single Pakistani film being screened in India, Shoaib Mansoor directed “Khuda Kay Liye” (“In the Name of God”) was released to rave reviews in India. Its the first Pakistani film to have crossed the border since the India-Pakistan war in 1965, when Pakistani films were banned in India. 

The effect has been a cultural two-way mirror dividing the countries, with Pakistan able to observe India (or a gaudier Bollywood version of India), but with Indians unable to see beyond their own frontiers.

The film gives many Indians their first glimpse of Pakistan.  In a New York Times interview after the first screening of his film in India, Mansoor said “They had very surprising ideas about Pakistan. They asked: ‘Do you have taxis there?’ ‘Can women drive?’ ‘Are women allowed to go to university?’ Besides the initial shock of Pakistans development, the viewers were also amazed by the unexpected beauty of Pakistani houses 

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Indian football has just recieved a shot in the arm. After pouring in millions of dollars into European clubs and more recently into Chinese football clubs, Chelsea, one of the Premier League giants is playing center field with India.

“Our credentials are well known in the area of grassroots development and if we can find a way of working together in India as well, there is a real opportunity of making Vision India come true as partners,” Peter Kenyon, Chief Executive, Chelsea football Club told AFP.

India and China are two of seven pilot countries in the Vision Asia development project, along with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Oman, and Vietnam.

Under the Indian program, Chelsea could be involved in developmental projects in Manipur, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the AFC’s Vision India project has already been launched.

It is also likely to send instructors to India for coaching young footballers at the school level, and hold workshops for clubs on all aspects of the game, including dealing with the media and the commercial aspects.

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More than a century after Mahatma Gandhi went to South Africa, and a decade after China began to woo the rich continent for its natural resources, foreseeing the need for energy, India is following suit. The India-Africa Forum Summit, to be inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh will begin tomorrow.

The meet is being attended by Heads of States of 14 African nations, who have the mandate of the entire continent as they have been chosen by the 54-nation African Union itself, the Hindu reported.

During the two-day summit India is likely to announce technology transfers and duty cuts for certain imports from Africa and assistance in developmental projects while striving to tap the immense mineral resources in that continent.

An Action Plan for furthering cooperation in areas like environment, health, education, energy and mining will be issued at the Summit, which could form a precursor for broader India-Africa Summit.

The Summit is also expected to issue a Declaration that will address broader areas of cooperation and “common views” on regional and international issues, including fight against terrorism, climate change and WTO negotiations.

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