VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: October 03, 2022

Afghanistan

Students in Herat, Bamyan Hold Protests, Demand Rights: Tolo News

Dozens of students in the western province of Herat and the central province of Bamyan held demonstrations in the wake of Friday's attack on the Kaaj educational center. Click here to read.. [2]

Twitter Storm: ‘#StopHazaraGenocide’ Twitter Campaign after Explosion in Kabul: The Khaama Press

Many social media users have started a campaign with the hashtag “#StopHazaraGenocide” in reaction to the deadly attack on the Kaaj education center’s students in the Hazara neighborhood of Kabul, the Afghan capital. Click here to read.. [3]

Bangladesh

Bagerhat UNO seizes boring dredger that destroys the environment: Dhaka Tribune

The Sharankhola upazila administration of Bagerhat has destroyed a boring dredger that is very harmful to the environment. Sand was being lifted from a government canal at Hogalpati village with the banned dredger, putting several nearby settlements and garden houses under threat. Click here to read.. [4]

PM Hasina leaves Washington DC for Dhaka: Dhaka Tribune

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left Washington DC en route to Dhaka wrapping up her 18-day official visit to the UK and the USA. A VVIP chartered flight carrying the premier and her entourage members took off from Washington DC around 6:30pm on Sunday local time (Bangladesh time 4:30am Monday). Click here to read.. [5]

Bhutan

Gagging the Bhutanese media - Kuensel Online

Even as Bhutan jumped to 33rd place in the global press freedom ranking this year from last year’s position of 65 among 180 countries, editors from media houses expressed their deep concerns over the recent stonewalling of information from government agencies and constitutional bodies. The same concern was conveyed to all the main agencies by the Media Council of Bhutan in writing based on the submission from the editors, the Journalists’ Association of Bhutan (JAB) and the media community over access to information. Click here to read.. [6]

Trans Bhutan Trail revives ancient trail - The Statesman

Trans Bhutan Trail (TBT), an ancient 403 kilometres trail that passes through Haa, Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Wangduephodrang, Trongsa, Bumthang, Mongar, and Trashigang was launched yesterday. The paths connecting western to eastern Bhutan that served as Zhunglam from the 15th century and that remained untrodden for 60 years are revived today. His Royal Highness Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck inaugurated it at Simtokha yesterday. Click here to read.. [7]

Maldives

India, Maldives ink $100-mn line of credit agreement - Tribune India

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who is on an official visit to the Maldives, on Sunday witnessed the exchange of a $100 million Line of Credit agreement and handing over of a speed launch to the Maldives Correctional Services, under Indian grant assistance. Kawtra called on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and assured him of the firm commitment to the growth of India-Maldives ties. Click here to read.. [8]

World Bank Supports Maldives to Improve Secondary Education - Modern Diplomacy

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $9 million project to improve the performance of the education system, schools, and teaching and learning outcomes at the secondary education level in Maldives. Maldives has achieved almost universal enrolment at early childhood, primary and lower secondary education levels, but low net enrolment and high gender disparity are the major challenges at the higher secondary level. Click here to read.. [9]

Myanmar

Myanmar Military Unable to Fight Without Air and Artillery Support - The Irrawaddy

The Myanmar military is going through the worst days in its history. The combat capability of individual battalions has declined substantially, the ratio of old to young soldiers is increasing and morale is declining. Military regime forces are barely able to fight now without artillery and air support. The military is also struggling to recruit both officer cadets and privates, forcing the junta to field firefighters, police and administrative employees as security personnel, as well as the pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia. Click here to read.. [10]

Junta Watch: Coup Leader Woos Tourists; TV Censorship Revived; and More - The Irrawaddy

Few normal people would want to spend their vacation in a volatile country routinely rocked by armed clashes and explosions. So when someone begins touting the potential of the tourism industry in such a place, it would be wise to take their claims with a grain of salt. Speaking at an event to mark World Tourism Day on Tuesday, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing claimed that the domestic travel and inbound tour industries are developing in Myanmar. The Russian and Japanese ambassadors and the heads of the diplomatic missions of a number of other countries including India attended the event. Click here to read.. [11]

Elon Musk Asked to Provide Satellite Internet for Myanmar Fight Against Junta - The Irrawaddy

Activists in Myanmar have asked SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk to provide uncensored internet across the country amid the junta’s shutdowns in anti-regime strongholds. Musk’s satellite internet firm, Starlink, began operating in Iran this week, amid protests that have caused more than 40 deaths, and it provides services in Ukraine after communications were disrupted by Russia’s invasion. According to Access Now, at least 54 of Myanmar’s 330 townships have internet blackouts, while the junta blocks access to websites and social media platforms, including Facebook, a primary channel for communication. In resistance strongholds, the junta has also cut mobile phone communications. Click here to read.. [12]

EU Failing to Sanction Myanmar Junta Arms Suppliers: Activist Group - The Irrawaddy

The European Union has not imposed sanctions on 30 companies arming Myanmar’s junta, according to rights group Justice for Myanmar (JFM). JFM identified 31 companies, including firms with links to Europe, that have procured weapons for the regime since the 2021 coup and only the Htoo Group of Companies is facing EU sanctions. Click here to read.. [13]

Nepal

Huge avalanche hits Nepal's Manaslu base camp on Sunday - Live Mint

A huge avalanche left dozens of tents destroyed after in Nepal's Manaslu Base Camp on Sunday. However, no casualty was reported. Within a week of an avalanche injuring dozens in Nepal, another huge avalanche struck Nepal's Manaslu Base Camp on Sunday, reported ANI. The news agency confirmed the incident by sharing a video recorded by Tashi Sherpa who was trying to climb the eighth-highest mountain in the world at 8,163 meters. Click here to read.. [14]

Can Nepal afford an ‘$8 billion’ rail line from Lhasa to Kathmandu - Kathmandu Post

On September 9, Zhang Jiadong, a professor at Fudan University in China said the proposed Nepal-China cross-border Lhasa-Shigatse-Kerung-Kathmandu railway could cost around $8 billion. The railway will be more than 500 kilometers long and the cost, even by Chinese standards, is not cheap, the professor said, citing a preliminary study. “This cost is only a preliminary estimate as a large-scale survey is yet to be done. Once the project construction begins, the cost could rise further,” Zhang wrote on the university’s website while discussing the railway project cost. Click here to read.. [15]

India urges Nepal to check entry of Chinese, Pak nationals through border - Siasat

India’s Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has requested Nepal to stop the entry of Pakistani and Chinese nationals into India through the Nepal-India border points. SSB Director General Sujoy Lal Thaosen, who is on a five-day visit to Nepal, made this request during his meeting with Raju Aryal, Inspector General of the Armed Police Force (APF), Nepal, according to Nepali media reports. The concerns were raised during the sixth Nepal-India meeting on border security, management, and coordination, which started on Tuesday. Click here to read.. [16]

Pakistan

Floodwaters in Sindh recede, food insecurity on the rise: Dawn

With floodwater levels in 18 out of 22 districts of Sindh receding 34 per cent and in some districts up to 78pc, a latest UN report says that the situation is expected to exacerbate food insecurity in the flood-hit provinces. Click here to read.. [17]

Cabinet green-lights action against Imran over audio: The News

In a major development, the federal cabinet Sunday formally approved legal action against the PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan over his recent audio leaks about the US cipher. Click here to read.. [18]

Sri Lanka

Many areas may receive 100mm of rain: Daily Mirror

Heavy rains exceeding 100 mm is expected in Sabaragamuwa Province and in Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts, the Department of Meteorology said today. They said heavy showers could be expected in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts. Click here to read.. [19]

‘India’s Sri Lanka funding and humanitarian aid example to the world’: Mint

Colombian ambassador to India Mariana Pacheco Montes said Sri Lanka is a learning experience for developing countries with respect to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. “You have to be very, very careful about where you put your eggs," she said in an interview. https://www.livemint.com/companies/people/indias-sri-lanka-funding-and-humanitarian-aid-example-to-the-world-11664733092287.html [20] " target="_blank">Click here to read..