VIF Neighbourhood News Digest - November 23, 2022

Afghanistan

Exhibit Held in Kabul to Display Domestic Products: Tolo News

The Ministry of Industry and Mines (MoIC) said that efforts are underway in support of the private sector and that such exhibitions will be held outside the country to promote markets for Afghan products. “We are hoping for a day that such exhibitions will be held in Arabic countries like the UAE, and other countries like China and Central Asia as well as neighboring countries,” said Nooruddin Azizi, acting Minister of the MoIC. Click here to read... [2]

Afghan Families Sell Belongings to Make Ends Meet: The Khaama Press

According to Martin Schuepp, Director of Operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an average Afghan family can only afford 82% of basic food commodities, expressing concerns over the economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. Click here to read... [3]

DABS Says Uzbekistan Technical Issues Caused Rolling Blackout in Afghanistan: The Khaama Press

During a press conference on Monday, November 21, Engineer Safiullah Ahmadzai, Chief Operating Officer of DABS, stated that the cause for the shortage of electricity and subsequent power outages is due to a technical difficulty in Uzbekistan’s gas system. Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh

BNP’s Dec 10 Dhaka rally: Cops, AL to be on high alert – The Daily Star

Law enforcers have taken all-out measures, including keeping Dhaka city BNP leaders and activists under close watch, to pre-empt "potential subversive activities" centering on the BNP's Dhaka rally on December 10. Click here to read... [5]

Dhaka should focus more on Indo-Pacific’ – The Daily Star

The Indo-Pacific region has become a focus for the world powers. Dealing with them has become challenging for many countries. How should Bangladesh handle such a situation? Ali Riaz, a distinguished professor at the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, yesterday shared his views with The Daily Star's Porimol Palma…Bangladesh, and South Asia as a whole, always looked at West Asia and Central Asia, which were the gateways to the world. It is no longer the case now. The whole economy has shifted towards the Indo-Pacific. Also, the geopolitical importance of the region has increased manyfold because of the rise of China. Click here to read... [6]

Military diplomacy: A vital tool to mend Myanmar-Bangladesh ties – Dhaka Tribune

The military cooperation between Myanmar and Bangladesh has a lot of promise. There are several areas where the two countries may engage and work together, with the most essential being the improvement of relations. In a fresh turn of events, a three-person delegation from the Myanmar army met with the Bangladesh army in Dhaka. The two sides talked about promoting regional security and stability as well as the prompt repatriation of the Rohingyas. The Myanmar Army was reminded by the Bangladesh Army to exercise caution when undertaking any operations in the border regions. Click here to read... [7]

Bhutan

ISRO to launch satellite developed by Bhutan - The Tribune

The ISRO is gearing up to launch the next PSLV mission from the spaceport at Sriharikota on November 26, which will carry a Oceansat-3 satellite and eight nano-satellites, including one developed by Bhutan scientists. India had, in September last year, signed an agreement with Bhutan for the joint development of the satellite, which was initiated following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Thimphu in 2019. Click here to read... [8]

Buddhist confederation, monastic body hosting delegation of Bhutanese monks from Nov 22 to 30 – The Print

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 22 (ANI): The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) in coordination with the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan is hosting a 24-member delegation of Bhutanese monks who are visiting India from November 22 to 30, said officials.During this tour, the monks are scheduled to visit various religious and Buddhist heritage sites in India including Nagarjuna Konda, Buddhavanam, Amravati, National Museum, and Sankissa, among others. Click here to read... [9]

Maldives

Discussions held on expanding Maldives-Sri Lanka relations in investment, trade - Raajje

The discussions were held between Vice President Faisal Naseem and High Commissioner of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Maldives, Adam Maznavee Jaufer Sadiq. They discussed the exchange of technical and professional expertise between Maldives and Sri Lanka. Discussions have been held on ways to further expand relations in investment and trade, between the governments of Maldives and Sri Lanka. Click here to read... [10]

India retains lead as top tourism market of Maldives this year - NewsOnAir

India has retained its lead as the top tourism market of Maldives this year. Close to two lakh Indian tourists visited Maldives in 2022 so far. The Indian mission in Maldives in a tweet said that India has been the biggest contributer to tourism in Maldives since 2020. The High Commission of India in Male also congratulated Maldives on securing World’s leading destination title for 2022 at the world travel awards earlier this month. Click here to read... [11]

Myanmar

Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Denies Latest Corruption Charges in Court Appearance - The Irrawaddy

Myanmar’s ousted leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi denied further corruption charges when she testified on Tuesday in a junta-controlled court, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been a prisoner since the military toppled her government in February 2021, ending the Southeast Asian nation’s brief period of democracy. Click here to read... [12]

NUG Suggests How ASEAN Can Get Meaningful Changes From Myanmar Junta - The Irrawaddy

Myanmar’s military regime released 402 political prisoners last week as part of its amnesty for nearly 6,000 inmates. The move was hastily embraced by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) special envoy for Myanmar, who said the release was a sign of good will and an important gesture suggesting that the ruling junta is ready to change, despite the fact that Myanmar has been in turmoil since last year’s coup. Click here to read... [13]

Siem Reap ADMM Retreat in full swing without Myanmar - Khmertimeskh

The ASEAN defence ministers, except Myanmar, discussed the rapid changes in global security environment as they convened for the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Retreat (ADMM Retreat) in Siem Reap yesterday. Besides the ADMM Retreat, held under the theme ‘Solidary for Harmonised Security’, Cambodia is also hosting the 9th ADMM-Plus, the ASEAN-US Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting and the ASEAN-India Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting from November 21-23. Click here to read... [14]

Nepal

Vote count update: NC wins 12 seats; RSP 4 and UML 3 – Khabarhub

In the initial vote count of the election held on Sunday, Nepali Congress (NC) has taken the lead followed by CPN-UML so far. Till now, NC has won in 12 constituencies and the UML in three constituencies. As of now, NC is leading in 45 constituencies followed by UML, which is leading in 43 constituencies. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which has already won four seats, is leading in five constituencies. Likewise, the Unified Socialist Party led by Madhav Kumar Nepal has won one seat and is leading in five constituencies. Click here to read... [15]

Poor transfer of Congress votes weighing down coalition partners – The Kathmandu Post

Congress voters seemed reluctant to back other coalition candidates. But they voted for the UML in some places. Preliminary results of the federal and provincial polls held on Sunday suggest the votes of Nepali Congress have not been transferred to other coalition partners. This had been long feared. The transfer from Nepali Congress to CPN (Maoist Centre) was thought to be particularly hard; Congress leaders were among the main Maoist targets during the decade-long bloody insurgency. Nonetheless, an electoral alliance was forged between the Congress, the Maoist Centre, the CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Rastriya Janamorcha. Click here to read... [16]

After ballot paper mix-up, calls grow for shift to electronic voting – The Kathmandu Post

In Ilam constituency 1, some 100 ballot papers of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections for the House of Representatives were found dropped into the boxes meant for FPTP votes for the provincial assembly. Similar thing happened at a polling centre in Rukum East. In the press meet after the conclusion of the voting on Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya had said they had received several complaints of ballot paper mixup. Following such complaints, the commission decided to count the votes under all four categories—FPTP and proportional representation of both the lower house and provincial assemblies—simultaneously. Click here to read... [17]

Pakistan

PM Office receives summary for top military appointments: Dawn

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Wednesday morning that it has received the summary from the Ministry of Defence with a “panel of names” for the appointment of the new chief of army staff (COAS) and the chairman joint chief of staff committee (CJCSC). Click here to read... [18]

Govt shares revised budget framework with IMF: The Express Tribune

Despite the worst flood in the country‘s history and hundreds of billions of rupees in unbudgeted subsidies, Pakistan has initially projected only Rs990 billion fiscal slippages in this financial year, hardly showing a negative impact of Rs55 billion on its revenues. Click here to read... [19]

Row over sugar export further delays crushing: The Express Tribune

In what appears to be a deliberate move, the sugar mills in Punjab have refused to start the sugarcane crushing season from November 25, as a deadlock between the government and mills over permission to export the sweetener persists. Click here to read... [20]

Sri Lanka

Second Reading of Budget 2023 passed with majority of 37 – The Island

The second reading of Budget 2023 was passed with a majority of 37 votes in Parliament yesterday. The vote taken at 6 pm received 121 votes in favour and 84 votes against. The SJB, JVP, SLFP and SLPP dissidents voted against the Budget. Click here to read... [21]

P627 Patrol Vessel commissioned as Vijayabahu – Daily News

The Offshore Patrol Vessel P627 the most recent addition to the Sri Lanka Navy fleet received from the United States (U.S.) Coast Guard was commissioned as Vijayabahu under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (22). The commissioning ceremony was held at the Colombo Port. The Vessel P627 began her home-bound journey from the Port of Seattle on September 3, 2022 and arrived in Colombo on November 2 after about 10,656 nautical miles (19,734 km) of sea passage. The President as Chief Guest was accorded a Guard of Honour by the Sri Lanka Navy. The President boarded the, SLNS Vijayabahu Vessel accompanied by Navy Commander Vice Admieal Nishantha Ulugetenna and unveiled the ship’s name board. Click here to read... [22]

China Spy Ship Row: Sri Lanka FM Ali Sabry says New Delhi's sensitivities will be kept in mind - WION

In the backdrop of the visit of Chinese spy ship, Sri Lankan foreign minister Ali Sabry has said that Indian "Indian sensitivities will be kept in mind" so that it doesn't lead to any "unpleasantries" for both the countries. Remember Chinese spy ship or as Beijing has been terming it research vessel research vessel Yuan Wang 5 had visited the Sri Lankan port of hambantota raising concern for New Delhi. Speaking exclusively with our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal from Colombo, FM Sabry said, "everyone who will be entitled will be known in advance, we will have a known procedure in place so that no one is surprised, so therefore it is important we also have the freedom of navigation in the Indian ocean." Click here to read... [23]