VIF Neighbourhood News Digest - November 16, 2022

Afghanistan

Kabul: Unidentified Man Killed Pakistani Soldier at Spin Boldak Crossing: Tolo News

The US State Department said that Washington’s “commitment to the people of Afghanistan is enduring,” in a recently released statement. “We will continue to press for an orderly transition of power to an inclusive government with broad support, especially women and minorities,” the US State Department said. “We will use every diplomatic, economic, political, and assistance tool at our disposal to uphold the basic rights of all Afghans; support continued humanitarian access to the country; and ensure the Taliban honors its commitments.” Click here to read... [2]

Bangladesh

Bangladesh abstains from UN vote against Russia - Dhaka Tribune

Bangladesh has abstained at the UN General Assembly on a draft resolution calling for Russia to be held accountable for violations of international law through its invasion of Ukraine and requiring Moscow to pay reparations to Kyiv for damages, loss and injury resulting from the war. Click here to read... [3]

COP27: Bangladesh wants climate finance doubled by 2025 - The Daily Star

Bangladesh has demanded that developed countries double their collective provision of adaptation finance by 2025, as was agreed at COP26 in Glasgow last year, and provide support to vulnerable countries to implement the National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Click here to read... [4]

G7 ‘global shield’: Bangladesh among first to receive climate funding - The Daily Star

Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Ghana will be among the first recipients of funding from a G7 initiative to help countries affected by climate change, according to a programme announced Monday at the COP27 summit in Egypt. The "Global Shield" initiative, coordinated by G7 president Germany, aims to provide rapid access to insurance and disaster relief funding for climate-vulnerable countries following floods and droughts. Click here to read... [5]

First-ever hajj conference from Nov 17 - The Daily Star

The first-ever national level conference and fair on hajj and umrah management will be held in the capital from November 17. The three-day conference will be held at the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Center. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the conference virtually at 10:00am on Thursday. Click here to read... [6]

Bangabandhu Railway Bridge: Crossing the Jamuna in 5 minutes: Dhaka Tribune

Rail travel over the Jamuna River is set to become significantly faster with the expected completion of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge in 2024. Due to the risky condition of the existing Jamuna Bridge, trains currently need half an hour to trundle across the river. Furthermore, broad-gauge trains are not allowed to operate on the bridge in order to ensure safety. On the other hand, the Bangabandhu Railway Bridge will allow trains to travel across the river at over 100kmph, cutting down the river-crossing time to around five minutes. The bridge will also allow broad-gauge trains to cross. Click here to read... [7]

Bhutan

SoEs should let private sector grow: NA’s Economic and Finance Committee – Kuensel online

The National Assembly’s Economic and Finance Committee (EFC) recommended that state-owned enterprises (SoE) refrain from venturing into businesses that offer better prospects and opportunities to the private sector. The chairperson of the committee and MP for Gangzur-Minjey, Kinga Penjor, said that most of the SoEs operate in commercial sectors such as manufacturing, energy, natural resources, financial, communication, aviation, trading, and real estate sectors. Click here to read... [8]

Maldives

Maldives arrests 14 for alleged Islamic State-tied bomb plot - The Hindu

Police in Maldives have arrested 14 people allegedly working with foreign Islamic extremists to carry out a bombing in the tiny archipelago state, police said. The suspects had been working with the Islamic State group and apparently planning an attack with the intent of killing many people, Uswath Ahmed, the nation's counterterrorism head, told reporters Monday night. He did not elaborate. Click here to read... [9]

Myanmar

Ground Report: Myanmar Refugees in Mizoram Camps Are a Picture of Resilience - The Wire

On September 19, military helicopters attacked a school and village in Myanmar, killing at least 13 people, including seven children. Six days earlier, India’s National Investigation Agency announced it had seized explosives and cash in Mizoram that were meant for the Chin National Front (CNF), a constituent group of the democratic resistance to Myanmar’s military coup in February 2021. Click here to read... [10]

Myanmar, climate and economy on agenda for U.S. VP Harris in Asia - Kalki Media

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will discuss Myanmar, regional security, economic ties and the climate crisis during a trip to Asia that starts this week, according to a senior administration official. Harris is expected to meet with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Saturday in Bangkok and on Monday she will sit down with Philippines leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the U.S. official said on Tuesday. Click here to read... [11]

India Should Exercise Caution Over Myanmar Timber Imports - The Irrawaddy

The confusion over Myanmar timber exports to India was laid to rest last month when the central government in New Delhi informed the Indian border state of Mizoram that timber was not on the restricted list of commodities from Myanmar. New Delhi’s directive was in response to a letter written by Mizoram governor Hari Babu Khambhampati seeking clarification on the issue of timber imports, following a petition by an association of wood-based industries in the state pushing for the removal of timber from the restricted list of commodities. Click here to read... [12]

Malaysia Says No to Myanmar Junta’s Poll Plan - The Irrawaddy

Malaysia announced on Monday it will not support the Myanmar junta’s planned election next year, becoming the first among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to reject the polls. Myanmar’s military staged a coup in February last year after the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government won a second term with a landslide election victory. The military accused the NLD of serious election fraud – a claim that was debunked by international observers. Click here to read... [13]

Nepal

Nepal, China seal a deal for utilisation of Rs15 billion in Chinese grant – The Kathmandu Post

Nepal and China on Tuesday signed an agreement for the utilisation of Rs15 billion (800 million RMB) in Chinese grants for various projects selected by the Nepali side. Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, Nepali ambassador to China, and Luo Zhaohui, chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), signed the agreement on the behalf of their respective governments, in Beijing. CIDCA is China’s external aid and development agency that has already made a foray in Nepal with different developmental activities. Click here to read... [14]

Elections fail to perk up the economy – The Kathmandu Post

Polling day is less than a week away, and the high-pitch campaigning has reached a crescendo; but the same fervour is not being seen in the economy as the expected election bonanza has failed to materialise. Domestic airlines are flying half-empty planes, retailers are reporting low demand for meat, restaurant owners say only a few diners are walking in through the doors, and beverage dealers say alcohol consumption has dropped to an all-time low. Click here to read... [15]

In Kathmandu, leaders compete to be ‘different’, make & break ties, as Nepal voters ‘seek change’ – The Print

Communist leader and former Prime Minister K. P. Oli, 70, released a rap song at the Lord of the Drinks (LOD) nightclub in the heart of Kathmandu’s tourist paradise Thamel in the past weekend, in a bid to connect with the youth. Outgoing Prime Minister, and Nepali Congress leader, Sher Bahadur Deuba’s wife Arzu Rana Deuba, disarmingly told a podcaster Monday — who asked her if she wanted to be PM — that she had taught assertiveness training to young women and yes, someday (she would), but that Nepal’s patriarchal society was likely not ready for a woman PM. Click here to read... [16]

Pakistan

Govt seeks IMF waivers amid flood-driven slippages: Dawn

Pakistan’s formal talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the 9th quarterly review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) have been delayed further amid authorities’ request for a series of waivers on performance criteria owing to flood losses and the Fund’s push for sticking to committed tax-to-GDP ratio of at least 11pc.Click here to read... [17]

Sri Lanka

Budget allocated Rs.852 bn for social welfare - State Minister - Daily News

Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told Parliament yesterday that social welfare has not been forgotten in this year’s Budget and the government has allocated Rs. 852 billion out of the total state expenditure through this Budget. Click here to read... [18]

China’s top global ambassador says Sri Lanka is ready to take off - Daily News

President Xi Jinping’s top-most international roaming ambassador said Sri Lanka’s infrastructure facilities, human resources and other required facilities are in place and the country is all set to take off. President of the Chinese Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Ambassador Lin Songtiyan said now what is needed to attract foreign investments is to enact necessary legal reforms. Click here to read... [19]

UNP to take action against its LG member for holding protest in front of Chinese Embassy - Daily Mirror

UNP is to take action against its local government member Sashi Hettiarachchi who held a protest in front of Chinese Embassy asking China to restructure Sri Lanka’s debt to that country, Party General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara said yesterday. Click here to read... [20]