Neighborhood News Digest – 29 June 2023

Afghanistan

Taliban supreme leader Akhundzada orders to free 2,178 prisoners For Eid-al Adha – Devdiscourse

According to the Supreme Court, the Supreme leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada released orders to free 2,178 prisoners ahead of Eid-al-Adha, Khaama Press reported. The statement said that at least 489 other prisoners were given reduced sentences for Eid.Click here to read… [2]

UN: deaths by IEDs and drug trafficking have skyrocketed in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan – Jurist

The UN released two reports Tuesday, citing increases in deaths by improvised explosive devices (IED) and rising rates of drug trafficking in Afghanistan. The first report, released by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), shows a steep increase in deaths by IEDs in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over in 2021.Click here to read… [3]

Bangladesh

Adani Power commences supply to Bangladesh from 1,600MW plant in Jharkhand's Godda – The Telegraph Online

Adani Power has started exporting power to Bangladesh from its 1,600MW plant in Jharkhand's Godda. Adani Power Jharkhand Limited (APJL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Power Limited, has achieved commercial operations date (COD) of its second unit of 2x800 MW Godda ultra-supercritical thermal power plant, Adani Power said in a statement on Tuesday.Click here to read… [4]

Traders seek World Bank aid to fix Tripura-Bangladesh trade barriers – East Mojo

The India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Tripura Industries have urged the World Bank to get rid of the trade barriers hindering growth of the trans-border movement of goods with Bangladesh through Tripura. A total of 44 trade articles that have great demand in the local markets of both countries are not allowed to be traded through Tripura, said Sujit Roy, General Secretary of India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, Tripura Chapter.Click here to read… [5]

Bhutan

China building nearly 400 border villages along LAC, no man’s land with Bhutan – India Narrative

China, which has adopted an aggressive strategy against India on the borders, is building nearly 400 villages around the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India. It is building similar villages in the no man’s land at the Bhutanese border also. Experts at a conference, China’s Tibet Policy Under Xi Jinping, organised by the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS) said that Chinese border villages pose a security and a cultural threat to India.Click here to read… [6]

Maldives

Police track down bag of Maldives national after complaint on safety island – The Hindu

The safety island put up by the city police across the city to help people in distress came in handy for a Maldives-based photographer who got back his lost bag containing passport, laptop, camera equipment, cash, and other valuables on Monday.Click here to read… [7]

Myanmar

Two Myanmar nationals held with heroin worth Rs 1.33 crore – The Print

Two Myanmar nationals were arrested here with heroin worth Rs. 1.33 crore, the Assam Rifles said in a statement. Acting on a tip-off, personnel of the Assam Rifles in collaboration with the anti-narcotics squad of Mizoram’s excise and narcotics department conducted an operation at Thuampui area here on Monday and seized 191 grams of heroin from the two peddlers, the statement said.Click here to read… [8]

Military Coup Has Inflicted ‘Permanent’ Damage on Myanmar, World Bank Says – The Diplomat

Myanmar’s economy has been “permanently scarred” by the military coup in February 2021, and the conflict and economic distortions that have since resulted, the World Bank said in a new report. In the latest issue of its semi-annual Myanmar Economic Monitor, released yesterday, the World Bank predicted that the country is far from recouping the 18 percent contraction that the World Bank reported following the coup. At the current pace, it is unlikely to reach its pre-coup and pre-COVID-19 levels until 2027 or 2028.Click here to read… [9]

Nepal

Nepal’s Supreme Court orders to register same-sex marriage – Hindustan Times

In the order, the apex court has also asked the opponents to furnish a written reply on the issue within 15 days. Nepal’s Supreme Court on Wednesday issued an interim order to the government to temporarily register same-sex marriage, a notice by the apex court said. A single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued the order to the government to make necessary arrangements for registering the marriage of sexual and gender minority couples if they demand so, the directive said.Click here to read… [10]

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma in Nepal, likely to meet Prachanda – EastMojo

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who landed in Nepal on Tuesday on a private visit, is likely to meet Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda‘, according to media reports. Jack Ma arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday, according to sources at the Immigration Department.Click here to read… [11]

House endorses annual budget for fiscal 2023-24 by a majority – The Kathmandu Post

The House of Representatives has endorsed the annual budget for fiscal 2023-24 by a majority on Wednesday. The motion to endorse the appropriation bill tabled by Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat was passed through a vote division as demanded by the main opposition party CPN-UML.Click here to read… [12]

Pakistan

Imran Khan is toast, believe experts as Pakistan Army tries 102 people in military courts | 5 points – India Today

The Pakistan Army has started a crackdown over the violent May 9 protests, targeting military installations after ex-PM Imran Khan's arrest. DG ISPR said three army officers had been sacked and 102 people were being tried in military courts. Relatives of former military officers were being probed and experts see a "big arrest coming soon".Click here to read… [13]

IMF says aiming to ‘quickly’ reach agreement with Pakistan on financial support – Dawn

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday night that it aimed to “quickly” reach an agreement with Pakistan on financial support from the global lender as Islamabad had taken “decisive measures” to align its policies with the economic reforms sought by the institution.Click here to read… [14]

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka cabinet grants approval for domestic debt restructuring – source – The Print

Sri Lanka’s cabinet approved a domestic debt restructuring programme at a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a source at the president’s office told Reuters. Pledging to put its mammoth debt burden on a sustainable track, Sri Lanka locked down a $2.9 billion bailout from the IMF in March, which has helped it recover from the country’s worst financial crisis in more than seven decades.Click here to read… [15]

Sri Lanka scraps proposal to export monkeys to China – The Hindu

Sri Lanka has scrapped plans to export 100,000 endangered toque macaque monkeys to China, the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka, one of the 30 petitioners who went to court against the proposal, said on Monday. The island nation, facing its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, was considering a proposal by a Chinese private company to capture and export wild toque macaques to zoos in China.Click here to read… [16]