VIF Neighbourhood News Digest - November 14, 2022
Afghanistan
OIC Opens Mission in Kabul: Tolo News

The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) opened a mission in Kabul with a ceremony attended by senior officials of the Islamic Emirate and OIC representatives. Speaking at the ceremony, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, said the office would play an important role in the improvement of relations between Afghanistan and Islamic countries. Click here to read...

Islamic Emirate Denies Terrorist Groups’ Presence in Afghanistan: Tolo News

The Islamic Emirate once again denied the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan, saying that there is no evidence to show that there is any threat to the world from Afghan soil. Click here to read...

Bangladesh
Istanbul explosion: No Bangladeshis injured: Dhaka Tribune

No Bangladeshis were injured in the blast on Istiklal street in the tourist centre of Istanbul, Turkey. Six people were killed and 53 others were wounded on Sunday when an explosion rocked a busy pedestrian street in central Istanbul in an incident President Tayyip Erdogan called a bomb attack that "smells like terrorism", reports Reuters. Click here to read...

‘Bangladesh on track to achieve Vision 2041’: Dhaka Tribune

Charles Whiteley, ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh, recently sat for an exclusive interview with physician, author, and youth leader Dr Rakib Al Hasan to discuss Bangladesh's development over the past 50 years, what it must do to continue its progress, and the country's relationship with the EU. Click here to read...

Bhutan
US offers opportunities for Bhutanese students

Apart from popular destinations like Australia and Canada, Bhutanese students also apply to study, learn, and experience exchange programmes in the United States (US). Such opportunity, according to officials from the Embassy of the United States of America in New Delhi, is facilitated through the prioritisation of student visa appointments. This assurance comes after many Bhutanese complaints that it has become extremely difficult to get visa appointments in Delhi which many say has been filled until 2024. Click here to read...

Maldives
Maldives arrests 13 in crackdown on terror groups

A joint counter-terror operation is underway in the Maldives where the Maldives police and the defence forces have arrested 13 people. The operation was launched on Saturday. The Maldivian media has reported that nine people have been arrested from Addu City, two from capital Male and two from Guradhoo island. All the arrested people are Maldivian men. Click here to read...

Maldives inflation rose to 3.1 percent in September 2022

The rate of inflation, as measured by the annual percentage change in the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 3.1 percent in September 2022. Inflation rate rose from 2.6 percent in August 2022, reports Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA). Meanwhile, the monthly percentage change in the national CPI decelerated to 0.16 percent in September 2022, from 0.22 percent in the preceding month. Click here to read...

Myanmar
Myanmar’s junta slams opponents with prison sentences of up to 225 years

Myanmar’s military junta has imposed prison sentences of up to 225 years on nearly 20 of its political opponents since taking power in a coup early last year, sending a clear warning to anyone who might dare challenge its rule. Click here to read...

UN chief tells Myanmar junta to get democracy ‘back on track’

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday urged the Myanmar junta to immediately return to democracy, saying it was the only way to stop the “unending nightmare” engulfing the country. Myanmar has spiralled into bloody conflict since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi´s civilian government in February last year, with thousands killed. Click here to read...

Myanmar objects ASEAN’s review on 5PC and its engagement with the country’s ‘unlawful’ organisations

Myanmar categorically rejects and dissociates itself from the said-review on the Five Point Consensus (5PC) and the decision made by the nine ASEAN leaders at the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Friday. Click here to read...

Myanmar Junta Facing Major New Armed Threat in Far West

Renewed fighting in Myanmar’s far west between the military and a powerful rebel group is opening another deadly front in the country’s post-coup chaos, piling pressure on a junta still struggling to consolidate power. The military’s February 2021 coup and subsequent crackdown on peaceful protests set off a wave or armed resistance across Myanmar that has been stretching the junta’s forces thin. By some estimates they now hold effective control over less than half the country. Click here to read...

Nepal
Nepal and India agree to repair Koshi embankment at 35 locations

November 14, 2022
Nepal and India have agreed to conduct repair and maintenance works at three dozen locations of the Koshi embankment that got damaged in monsoon floods this year. After conducting a joint inspection of the embankment from Chatara down to the Nepal-India border, officials of the two countries concluded that the embankment should be repaired to prevent future disasters from floods. Click here to read...

China’s vice minister for culture Li Qun visits Nepal

China's Vice Minister for Culture and Tourism Li Qun, who has arrived in Nepal on a five-day trip, visited Durbar Square in Kathmandu where he inspected the heritage site jointly reconstructed by the two countries. The site was damaged during the 2015 earthquakes. Li, who is leading a delegation of Chinese officials, on Saturday visited Durbar Square in Kathmandu where he inspected the heritage site jointly reconstructed by Nepal and China. Click here to read...

Sri Lanka
Govt. in balancing act between social welfare and fiscal stability with Budget 2023: Daily Mirror

Ahead of today’s budget presentation, the government yesterday disclosed plans to prop up State expenditure by 29.2 percent to provide relief to the economically-battered population while moving towards fiscal stability and expecting a gradual economic recovery.
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya yesterday said that all preparations are made to present the 2023 budget with an expenditure of Rs.7.88 trillion. Click here to read...

SLT September profits down on higher costs; revenue at Mobitel declines: Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) saw its profits declining in the three months ended September 30, 2022 (3Q22) due to sharply rising costs stemming from a bevy of factors including the sharp fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar and the soaring inflation amid the decline in revenues at its mobile services subsidiary, Mobitel Private Limited. Click here to read...

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