Neighborhood News Digest – 31 August 2023

Afghanistan

Iran Delegation Meets With Health Ministry in Kabul – Tolo News

The Ministry of Public Health said that in a meeting in Kabul between Qalandar Ebad, the head of the ministry, and an Iranian delegation, there was a discussion about increasing the capacity of Afghan gynecologists. “Iran cooperates with us in the field of improving capacity, and also in the field of disease control in Afghanistan. Health centers that are arranged or will be arranged by Iran have been discussed in the financing section," said Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, a spokesman for the ministry. Click here to read... [2]

Iran President Says Islamic Emirate Allowing Experts to Check Water Levels – Tolo News

Amid tensions between Kabul and Tehran over the Helmand River's water supply, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iranian specialists are looking into the water supply of Sistan and Baluchistan from Afghanistan. Speaking at a press conference, Raisi note that his country has good relations with all its neighbors and is bound by the Helmand River Water Treaty. Click here to read... [3]

Bangladesh

176 world leaders and Nobel laureates urge Bangladesh to halt legal cases against Peace Prize winner - Washington Post

More than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates have urged Bangladesh’s prime minister to suspend legal proceedings against Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the use of microcredit to help impoverished people. Click here to read... [4]

Thousands protest against “enforced disappearance” in Bangladesh – the world GeoTv News - GeoTVNews

Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Bangladesh on Wednesday, demanding information about hundreds of people they say were kidnapped by security forces during the nearly 15-year rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Opposition supporters from the Bangladesh National Party and its allies joined families of the missing to celebrate the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances, many wearing black masks. Click here to read... [5]

Bhutan

External debt servicing rises – Kuensel

In the last four years, the country’s external debt repayment burden has continued to rise and is projected to increase further in this 2023-24 fiscal year. The finance ministry, however, maintains that it is within the threshold limit. As the country’s external debt grew from Nu 213.38 billion in fiscal year 2019-2020 to Nu 244.19 billion in fiscal year 2022-23, external debt service ratio has also increased. Click here to read... [6]

ADB approves $30m loan to improve Bhutan’s TVET system – Devdiscourse

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $30 million loan to improve Bhutan’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system and enhance the skills and employability of its youth. Click here to read... [7]

Maldives

Sri Lanka -Maldives Business Council holds 15th Annual General Meeting - FT_LK

The 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Sri Lanka - Maldives Business Council (SLMLBC), The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held on Thursday, 17 August 2023, at Courtyard by Marriott, Colombo. The High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Ali Faiz graced the event as the chief guest, with Ceylon Tours Managing Director Suren Ediriweera attending as a guest speaker for the evening. Click here to read... [8]

Maldives Tourism is key sponsor for ITB China 2023 - Travel Mode

Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation will have a dedicated stand at next month’s trade show. Maldives Tourism will curate various activations, including a raffle. MMPRC is sponsoring the ITB China Customized and Themed Networking Lunch. Click here to read... [9]

Myanmar

Why Thailand Should Mediate the Crisis in Myanmar - The Diplomat

Could Thailand, as the ASEAN member most geographically proximate and historically connected to Myanmar, have a greater role to play? It is clear that Thailand is uniquely positioned in several distinctive ways, which has two clear implications. The first is that Thailand has an obvious stake in bringing about peace in Myanmar, beyond the obvious moral and humanitarian imperatives. The second is that among ASEAN’s member states, Thailand is best-placed to play a critical role as a mediator between the Tatmadaw, the NUG, the Myanmar public, and other opposition forces. Click here to read... [10]

Dollar crunch prompts new rule, remittance service for Myanmar workers - Thai World

One of Myanmar’s leading private banks has launched a digital money remittance service for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, coinciding with a new official requirement for them to remit at least 25% of their income back home. The remittance service, by Kanbawza (KBZ) Bank, is being provided in partnership with Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank in the face of an intensifying dollar crunch in Myanmar. The two banks have combined their respective digital wallet services; KBZ’s Kpay and Kasikorn’s KPlus, to facilitate remittances from Thailand. Click here to read... [11]

Nepal

Nepal Continues to Spend Big on Buying Electricity From India – The Wire

Nepal continues to spend more in buying electricity from India than earning through its export, even as the country aims to become a net exporter. As domestic production declines sharply in the dry season requiring power supply from the southern neighbour, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been forced to spend big on buying power. Click here to read... [12]

Why Nepal’s Supreme Court is wrong on child marriages and rape – AlJazeera

In a recently released judgement, the Supreme Court of Nepal held that an adult man who had married a minor female and engaged in sexual intercourse was not guilty of rape or kidnapping, but only of child marriage. The top court overturned a high court verdict that had imposed an 11-year jail term on the man. Instead, the Supreme Court reduced his prison term to six months with a fine of 10,000 Nepali rupees ($75). Click here to read... [13]

Pakistan

PKR slides to 304 to USD in interbank – Dawn

The Pakistani rupee continued its downward march on Wednesday, sliding Rs1.4 against the US dollar in the interbank market. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data, the dollar closed at Rs304.45. In the open market, however, the dollar was trading much higher at Rs319.5, according to the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan. Click here to read... [14]

Finance minister says economic situation ‘worse than anticipated’, no fiscal space available for subsidies – Dawn

As the country continues to brave rising inflation, interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar on Wednesday warned that Pakistan’s economic situation was “worse than anticipated” and the government did not have “fiscal space” to provide subsidies. Her remarks, made during a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance today, asserted that the interim set-up had “inherited” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, hence, it was “non-negotiable”. Click here to read... [15]

Cipher case | Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan's judicial remand extended till September 13 – The Hindu

A special court on Wednesday (August 30) extended till September 13 the judicial remand of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets. Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who arrived at Attock jail in Punjab to conduct the hearing, issued the decision in the case of the missing cipher, a classified state document that Mr. Khan had waved during a political rally ahead of his ouster from office last year. Click here to read... [16]

India appoints first woman charge d'affaires at Indian High Commission in Pakistan – The New Indian Express

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has appointed Geetika Srivastava, as the first woman charge d'affaires at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. Women diplomats have been posted to Pakistan earlier, but not at the highest level. It is also considered a tough posting since Islamabad was declared a “non-family” posting for Indian diplomats some years ago. That usually limits women officers from taking up the assignment in Pakistan. Click here to read... [17]

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan mob holds 3 journalists captive for 5 hours - CPJ

Sri Lankan authorities must investigate the recent harassment of freelance Tamil journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan, Valasingham Krishnakumar, and Antony Christopher Christiraj and hold the perpetrators responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Click here to read... [18]

Chinese man arrested in Sri Lanka for involvement in illegal pyramid scam - India Blooms

A Chinese national, who was involved in an international-level pyramid scheme posing as an investor, has been arrested in the Sri Lankan city of Colombo. He was arrested during a joint operation conducted by the Colombo South Division Criminal Investigation Unit and the Borella Police. Click here to read... [19]