At least four Islamic State [IS] Khorasan commanders "wanted" in India have been shot down by unknown gunmen in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area of Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan. The four wanted IS-K commanders, from the Islamic State's [ISIS] Central Asian province who were killed have been identified as—Syed Noor Shalobar, Syed Khalid Raza, Ejaz Ahmed Ahangar alias Abu Usman al-Kashmiri and Bashir Ahmed Peer alias Imtiaz Alam. "Khorasan" refers to Asia's region covering parts of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Click here to read... [2]
A total of 147 Afghan refugees imprisoned in Pakistan for not obtaining residency, were freed and allowed to return to Afghanistan on Sunday, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported. According to Khaama Press, children and women are among those who have been released, and a prisoner's body has also been transferred, according to local officials for refugees in Kandahar. Click here to read... [3]
In a fresh blow to the women in Afghanistan, couple of days ahead of International Women’s Day, reports by AFP, suggest that the Taliban regime is forcing women to go back to their abusive husbands. They are being forced to return to their husbands they had divorced. The AFP talked about an Afghani woman, Marwa, a domestic abuse victim. She was one of a small number of women who, under the previous US-backed government, were granted legal separation in Afghanistan. Click here to read... [4]
Universities in the cold areas of the country started classes on Monday with the absence of female students. In December of last year, the Ministry of Higher Education announced that the female students are suspended from going to universities until further notice. “Based on the leadership of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate on Hout 15 (1402 solar yar/ March 6), the lessons began in all universities. Click here to read... [5]
Suhrawardy Udyan, or what was known as Ramna Race Course back in the day, is closely linked with Bangladesh's history. It was where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, with a sense of passion, a vigour for democracy, and an anticipation for change, made the most iconic declaration of his life on March 7, 1971, and subsequently etched his name in the history books unlike any before or after him. He showed his political guile, moved people with his captivating voice, and in a matter of 19 minutes, went from being the leader of the Awami League to the country's greatest national asset. Click here to read... [6]
At least 11 rogue armed groups, including Myanmar's Arakan Salvation Army (Arsa), are active in the refugee camps. They are allegedly engaged in drug trading, kidnapping, infighting, extortion and rapes, according to a report by the Ministry of Defence. The report was placed at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence on February 15. Click here to read... [7]
Bhutan sought partners who want to collaborate and invest in the country once it graduates the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group at the summit of the LDC in Doha last week. The fifth United Nations conference on the LDC was preceded by the summit of the LDC, on March 4. The heads of government and the heads of delegation of the LDCs exchanged their views on how they can collectively address shared challenges and come up with meaningful solutions. Click here to read... [8]
Zhemgang dzongkhag administration is preparing development plans to promote community-based ecotourism for the upcoming 13th Five-Year Plan. While the dzongkhag has rich culture and biodiversity, issues with accessibility and other infrastructure prevented it from realising its full potential mainly community-based ecotourism business for both international and local tourists. Click here to read... [9]
“It is our lifeline. But for this solar-powered fence, the life and livelihood of over 10000 people living across eleven villages in our area would have been perennially in peril as it was before this 18-kilometre-long fencing came into being,” says Bhim Bahadur Chetri overlooking, across the fence, the now-barren bed of Bornadi River that flows down from Bhutan hills to rejuvenate land and life in Nagrijuli area in Assam’s Baksa district. Click here to read... [10]
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) subregional initiative, which was endorsed way back in 1997 to strengthen the region’s pursuit of trade and economic integration, has still a long way to go. The subregion houses more than one-fifth of the world’s total population. Countries in the subregion share a common heritage, history, and linguistic, cultural and social ties. The subregion has immense potential for economic growth and significant untapped economic potential for intra-regional trade. Click here to read... [11]
The political situation in the Maldives has been tumultuous from 2008 to 2022, with power shifting back and forth among various players within the Maldivian Democratic Party. Recently, the former President Nasheed has come to realise that even his closest childhood friend and current President, Ibrahim Solih, is out to get him. Solih government's arrested Nasheed's brother in an attempt to silence him from being critical of his presidency, but Nasheed has stood firm. Click here to read... [12]
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has reaffirmed the unwavering support of the Maldives to the State of Palestine in their quest to achieve their legitimate right to self-determination. The Maldivian President on Sunday, met with the Palestinian President on the sidelines of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Speaking at the meeting, President Solih reaffirmed the strong support and unwavering commitment of the government and the people of the Maldives to the people and the government of the State of Palestine in their quest to achieve their legitimate right to self-determination. Click here to read... [13]
“Hope is rare now in Myanmar,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Volker Türk said, calling for robust support for its citizens under fire. “The disregard and contempt for human life and human rights that are continuously demonstrated by the military, constitute an outrage to the conscience of humanity,” he said. The latest report, covering the period between 1 February 2022 to 23 January this year, details a number of incidents in which thousands were detained, hundreds of houses were burned, and dozens of people, including children, were killed by shelling and military raids. Click here to read... [14]
Junta troops lost an average of more than one soldier per day in clashes with resistance forces in Kayah State in February, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF). In February, a total of 45 regime soldiers were killed and 16 wounded in 35 clashes with resistance forces including KNDF across Kayah State and neighboring townships in southern Shan State. Click here to read... [15]
Human rights campaigner Igor Blazevic asks security analyst Anthony Davis about the state of the civil and armed opposition to the junta, and the condition of the Myanmar military after two years of trying to contain the armed uprising. Click here to read... [16]
On February 27, the Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli-led Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) withdrew its support for the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government. The CPN-UML ministers resigned en masse, bringing down the curtain on the seven-party coalition government that was formed in Nepal barely two months ago. To start with, this was a coalition of strange bedfellows, with parties with opposing agendas and ideologies coming together. Their lust for power was their common agenda. Click here to read... [17]
Nepal's ruling CPN (Maoist Center) on Sunday objected to the Supreme Court's order to its administration to register writ petitions against Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" for claiming responsibility for 5,000 deaths during the decade-long insurgency in the country. In a press statement, party's General Secretary Dev Gurung said that the order passed by the joint bench of justices Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Hari Prasad Phuyal on Friday has drawn serious attention of the CPN (Maoist Center). Click here to read... [18]
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal didn’t have enough time to listen to the private sector representatives in a consultative meeting on the country’s economy on Sunday. Dahal himself had organised the meeting at the finance ministry as he has also been looking after the finance portfolio following the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel last week. Click here to read... [19]
A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Monday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s plea for suspending the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him in the Toshakhana case. After a dramatic Sunday when the police could not find the former Pakistan PM at his home while his opponents alleged that he had fled to a neighbour’s house, Khan contended that a private complaint against him did not merit an arrest warrant. Click here to read... [20]
The private ARY TV news channel was taken off air on Monday for broadcasting Imran Khan’s speeches a day earlier. The move came hours after Pakistan’s media regulator banned broadcasts of the ousted prime minister’s speeches. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Sunday night banned satellite television channels from broadcasting live and recorded speeches of the 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician after Islamabad police failed to arrest him. Click here to read... [21]
Pakistan will be required to give an assurance that its balance of payments deficit is fully financed for the remaining period of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the lender's resident representative said. The external financing is one of the last in a string of prior actions the lender wants Islamabad to complete before it clears funding stalled since late last year, Esther Perez Ruiz told Reuters in an e-mailed response on Monday. Click here to read... [22]
A suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle rammed into a police truck in Pakistan’s restive southwest, killing at least nine policemen and wounding seven, officials said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place on a bridge in the district of Sibi in Baluchistan province, but Baluch separatists and local militants have been blamed for previous such attacks. Click here to read... [23]
Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) president Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday severely criticised the judiciary for its decisions regarding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and called for postponement of the elections owing to the prevailing economic crisis and fragile security situation in the country. “Today we are asked that it is a Constitution’s requirement to hold elections [in Punjab and KP] within 90 days, but the same Supreme Court had given Gen Pervez Musharraf three years’ time to hold polls,” said the Maulana at a news conference. Click here to read... [24]
Sri Lanka has received fresh financial assurances from China on debt re-structuring on the parameters required by the International Monetary Fund, sources with knowledge of the matter said. China earlier sent a letter to Sri Lanka saying they are giving a moratorium till the end of the year but did not mention the parameters of an IMF debt sustainability analysis. Click here to read... [25]
Sri Lanka's election commission on Monday said that the new date for the cash-strapped country's local election will be announced after receiving a guarantee from the Treasury on the funds required to hold it. The local body polls scheduled for March 9 were postponed due to a plethora of reasons linked to the country's current economic crisis. Click here to read... [26]
Sri Lanka has reiterated to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) its position that it rejects the Resolution 51/1 which was passed by the Council last year. Addressing the 52nd Regular Session of the UNHRC last Friday, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, Himalee Arunatilaka said a “series of unhelpful resolutions” had been adopted by the HRC, the latest being Resolution 51/1, without Sri Lanka’s consent as the country concerned. Click here to read... [27]
Some propose legalising marijuana production to ease Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. Yet, any move to legalise marijuana cultivation in Sri Lanka will have to overcome a long history of prohibition, social stigma and criminalisationClick here to read... [28]
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Links:
[1] https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/07/vif-neighbourhood-news-digest
[2] https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/4-is-khorasan-commanders-wanted-in-india-eliminated-in-shootouts-in-pak-and-afghanistan-articleshow.html
[3] https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/2370286-pakistan-releases-147-imprisoned-afghan-refugees
[4] https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/taliban-govt-annuls-divorces-forces-women-to-return-to-abusive-husbands-123030601183_1.html
[5] https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-182371
[6] https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/the-fiery-call-freedom-3264796
[7] https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2023/03/06/how-rohingya-camps-are-turning-into-crime-zones
[8] https://kuenselonline.com/bhutan-looks-beyond-ldc-graduation/
[9] https://kuenselonline.com/will-13th-plan-realise-zhemgangs-ecotourism-dream/
[10] https://nenow.in/environment/lifeline-in-human-elephant-conflict-hotspot-in-assams-nagrijuli-along-india-bhutan-border.html
[11] https://www.eastmojo.com/national/2023/03/06/need-for-political-consensus-to-strengthen-connectivity-among-bbin-countries/
[12] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230306-is-the-maldives-an-example-of-asian-democracy-in-the-current-world-challenges/
[13] https://raajje.mv/131811
[14] https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134247
[15] https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-losing-more-than-one-soldier-per-day-kayah-resistance.html
[16] https://www.irrawaddy.com/in-person/interview/assessing-possible-military-developments-in-myanmar-this-year.html
[17] https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/nepals-new-pm-dahal-switches-partners/
[18] https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/communist-party-of-nepal-objects-to-supreme-court-order-to-register-case-against-prime-minister-pushpa-kamal-dahal-prachanda/cid/1920559
[19] https://kathmandupost.com/national/2023/03/07/political-instability-funds-crunch-cripple-capital-spending
[20] https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/more-trouble-for-imran-court-junks-his-plea-on-arrest-warrant-485878
[21] https://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-govt-takes-ary-news-off-air-for-airing-imran-khans-speech-12251182.html
[22] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pakistan-has-to-give-assurances-on-financing-bop-deficit-imf/articleshow/98443577.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[23] https://www.timesnownews.com/world/9-cops-killed-as-suicide-bomber-rams-into-police-van-in-southwest-pakistan-article-98446305
[24] https://www.dawn.com/news/1740663
[25] https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-gets-fresh-china-assurances-to-wrap-up-imf-deal-114189/
[26] https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/sri-lanka-to-hold-election-after-getting-treasury-s-guarantee-on-funds-123030600491_1.html
[27] http://www.colombopage.com/archive_23A/Mar06_1678087019CH.php
[28] https://www.himalmag.com/sri-lanka-cannabis-legalisation-criminalisation-economy/
[29] http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?title=Neighborhood News Digest – 07 March 2023&desc=&images=&u=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/07/vif-neighbourhood-news-digest
[30] http://twitter.com/share?text=Neighborhood News Digest – 07 March 2023&url=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/07/vif-neighbourhood-news-digest&via=Azure Power
[31] whatsapp://send?text=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/07/vif-neighbourhood-news-digest
[32] https://www.vifindia.org/author/Aarushi-Gupta/20220811
[33] https://www.vifindia.org/author/Anil-Kumar-20221110