Neighborhood News Digest – 27 June 2023

Afghanistan

A knowledge-based approach to tackling Afghanistan’s drug abuse crisis – UN News

Afghanistan, one of the world’s largest producers of heroin and methamphetamine – most of it smuggled abroad – is home to nearly 4 million drugs users, or close to 10 per cent of the total population according to the UN. The worsening crisis has left most of the country’s drug treatment and rehabilitation centers struggling to cope.Click here to read… [2]

Afghan supreme leader says women 'saved from oppression' by Taliban – The Hindu

Afghanistan's supreme leader said Sunday the country's women were being saved from "traditional oppressions" by the adoption of Islamic governance and their status as "free and dignified human beings" restored. In a statement marking this week's Eid al-Adha holiday, Hibatullah Akhundzada – who rarely appears in public and rules by decree from the Taliban's birthplace in Kandahar – said steps had been taken to provide women with a "comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia".Click here to read… [3]

230 Afghan migrant families return to Afghanistan from Pakistan – The Print

A total of 230 Afghan migrant families from Pakistan returned to Afghanistan on Sunday through the Torkham crossing in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported citing Taliban-led Afghan Ministry of Refugees. The ministry said that each family received drinking water, biscuits, and the return fare and expenditure from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office, Khaama Press reported.Click here to read… [4]

Afghanistan: Private companies start extracting marble from mine in Baghlan – The Print

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has signed a five-year contract with two companies to extract marble from a mine in the Khwaja Zaid Valley of the Doshi district of Baghlan province, Khaama Press reported. The Department of Mines representative stated that this mine has two blocks, and the firms will pay the government 900 Afghanis each tonne. According to the governor of Baghlan, the extraction of this mine will assist the local population by enhancing infrastructure and generating employment.Click here to read… [5]

Bangladesh

Adani Power starts supplying power to Bangladesh from its Jharkhand plant - Economic Times

Adani Power Ltd (APL) has started exporting power to Bangladesh from its 1,600 MW ultra-supercritical power project in Jharkhand. In a regulator filing on Monday, the company said Unit 2 of 800 MW capacity of its 2x800 MW ultra-supercritical power project of its wholly-owned subsidiary Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd (APJL) has achieved commercial operations at 24:00 hrs Bangladesh standard time on June 25 following successful completion of reliability run tests.Click here to read… [6]

Western policymakers enter into cash-for-influence deals with a radical Islamic party in Bangladesh - Organiser

For almost two decades, Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has been perceived as a “notorious” and “widely feared” individual, who has been “notorious for flagrantly and frequently demanding bribes in connection with Government procurement actions and appointments to political office”, while is also is seen as a “symbol of kleptocratic Government and violent politics in Bangladesh.”Click here to read… [7]

Bhutan

Monsoon brings erratic power supply – Kuensel

As the monsoon arrived this month, bringing heavy rain and landslides, many places across the country reported frequent cases of erratic power supply. In a week, Bhutan Power Corporation (BPC) reported 20 cases of power outages in different parts of the country, and this has become challenging for the office.Click here to read… [8]

Maldives

Oman Air begins flights to the Maldives - Avas

Oman Air, the national airline of Oman, has launched flights to the Maldives. Flights from Muscat, Oman, to Velana International Airport started on Saturday. The flights are scheduled to be held four days a week. The ticket price for flights between Oman and the Maldives is US$385.Click here to read… [9]

Pres. applauds Maldives' outstanding performance at Special Olympics World Games - Raajje

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has congratulated the national team on their outstanding performance in the Special Olympics World Games. Taking to Twitter on Sunday, President Solih congratulated the two athletes who bagged gold, the athlete who won bronze as well as the other athletes representing Maldives in the competition.Click here to read… [10]

Myanmar

Myanmar admits failure to stop drug trade surge - Manila Times

Televised torchings also took place elsewhere in the Southeast Asian country, with a total of $446 million of narcotics going up in smoke, junta officials said. But in a rare admission, the head of Myanmar's Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control said its efforts to crush the multibillion-dollar trade were having no impact. "Even though countless drug abusers, producers, traffickers and cartels were arrested and prosecuted, the production and trafficking of drugs have not declined at all," Soe Htut told the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.Click here to read… [11]

Pro-government ethnic militias in east Myanmar shift loyalty to join fighters against military rule - Kyma

Members of resistance groups in Myanmar say units of an ethnic militia in eastern Kayah state that is nominally part of the military have switched sides, allying themselves with the country’s pro-democracy movement, and have carried out attacks in recent weeks on army outposts and a police station. The two Border Guard Forces units in Kayah are believed to be the first military-affiliated militia units to change sides since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.Click here to read… [12]

Former NLD Economist: New US Sanctions Will Disrupt Myanmar Junta Funding - The Irrawaddy

The United States on June 21 leveled sanctions against Myanmar’s Ministry of Defense and two banks used by the junta to purchase arms and other goods in foreign currencies, according to the US Treasury Department. The sanctions hit the Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB), which receive and transmit foreign currencies for state-owned enterprises and private companies in their transactions with overseas markets.Click here to read… [13]

Nepal

Nepal anti-graft agency takes Oli’s 104-kg gold offering for purity check – The Indian Express

Months before the country’s general elections, K P Oli, the Communist Party of Nepal’s (UML) chairperson and “a self-declared atheist”, did an unusual but populist act in February 2021 — offering 104 kg gold at Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath temple. The move was regarded as an apparent bid to appease the Hindu community of Nepal. The gold was used to create a jalari (an ornamental encircling) for the Linga at the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.Click here to read… [14]

A Three-Way Power Deal With India, Bangladesh, And Nepal As Partners Could Happen Soon – Swarajya

A three-way power trade deal is set to reshape the energy landscape in South Asia, enabling Bangladesh to import hydroelectricity from Nepal through India's grid, as reported by Nikkei Asia. Officials from Bangladesh's Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources have confirmed, as per the original report, that the proposed pact is expected to be signed in the next month.Click here to read… [15]

Nepali Gurkhas are joining Wagner: The lure of the private military companies – The Economic Times

Nepali Gurkhas have reportedly joined Wagner Group, Russia's private military company, after an easing of rules allowed easier access to Russian citizenship with a year of military service. The end to recruitment in the Indian Army and the lure of higher pay also contributed to the Nepali youth heading to Russia. Wagner, which is seen as more efficient than the Russian army, recruits from the Russian military, jailed convicts, and foreign nationals.Click here to read… [16]

Pakistan

Pak Army sacks 3 officers including Lt. Gen. for failing to protect military installations during May 9 violence –The Hindu

Pakistan Army on June 26 announced that three officers including a Lieutenant-General were sacked and action was taken against three major generals and seven brigadiers for failing to protect key military installations during the May 9 violence following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.Click here to read… [17]

'PM Modi took just 10 minutes to decide': Rajnath Singh's veiled warning to Pakistan on terrorism – Hindustan Times

Rajnath Singh said cash-strapped Pakistan would achieve nothing by "parroting Kashmir" and should instead put its house in order. India is getting more powerful and can hit terror networks on this side of the border as well as across it if the need arises, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday, asserting that the world has understood the meaning of zero tolerance for terrorism through the country's actions.Click here to read… [18]

India Summons Pakistani diplomat over attacks on Sikh community members - Mint

India on Monday summoned a senior diplomat of the Pakistan High Commission and lodged a strong protest over the recent incidents of attacks on Sikh community members in that country, sources said. Four incidents have taken place between April and June 2023 and India has taken serious note of these incidents.Click here to read… [19]

'Salaried-class, leave Pakistan ASAP': Netizens slam PM Shehbaz Sharif over hike in taxes in revised budget –Business Today

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar have come under fire from the public for introducing a host of new taxes in its revised budget to secure a much-needed bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The revised budget, which was passed on Sunday, aims for an additional Rs 215 billion in tax revenue and a cut in spending by Rs 85 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.Click here to read… [20]

Pakistan cenbank raises key policy rate by 100 bps to 22% - The Economic Times

Pakistan's central bank raised its key rate by 100 basis points to 22% in an emergency meeting on Monday, it said in a statement. The meeting came a day after the country passed a revised annual budget in hopes of securing a last gasp bailout from an International Monetary Fund programme that expires on June 30.Click here to read… [21]

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka to restructure domestic debt amid challenges - The Hindu

Sri Lanka will shut down its banks and financial sector for five days beginning Thursday, ahead of an extraordinary weekend debate in Parliament on the government’s plan to restructure its domestic debt. The move comes a year after Sri Lanka decided to suspend servicing its foreign debt, to combat a devastating economic meltdown — the country’s worst since Independence. The government subsequently entered an agreement with the International Monetary Fund and secured a nearly $3 billion-dollar package from it, while agreeing to restructure both its foreign and domestic debt that the Fund estimated at about $41 billion and $42 billon respectively, as of March 2023.Click here to read… [22]

Meet the Ambassador: Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India in conversation with The Print - The Print

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda interacted with journalists at ThePrint’s newsroom on 22 June and discussed a host of issues, including the recent crisis in the island nation and India’s crucial aid to its neighbour.Click here to read… [23]

China-Sri Lanka Ties: Sri Lankan MP: Benefits have been reciprocal - CGTN

Sri Lanka's foreign minister, as well as 12 other MPs who are members of the Sri Lanka-China Friendship Association are in China for a visit. Wang Mengjie caught up with delegation leader Namal Rajapaksa in Beijing to find out his country's aspirations for fostering friendship with China.Click here to read… [24]