Neighborhood News Digest – 28 September 2023

Afghanistan

UN to declare gender apartheid as mental health of Afghan women worsens – Business Standard

The UN's most powerful body must support governments seeking to legally declare the intensifying crackdown by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on women and girls gender apartheid, the head of the UN agency promoting gender equality said Tuesday.Click here to read… [2]

Taliban seek economic support and recognition from India ahead of Kazan meeting under Moscow format – The Hindu

Ahead of the Moscow format discussion at Kazan in Russia, the Taliban have called upon India to help in the economic recovery of Afghanistan. The discussion scheduled to be held on September 29 is significant from the regional point of view as this is the first such meeting after China increased engagement with the Taliban and sent a new Ambassador to Kabul earlier this month.Click here to read… [3]

Pakistan greenlights plan to deport over 1 million Afghans – Wion

Pakistan shares a border with Afghanistan but it is largely porous with no impediment to movement of people between the two sides. The terror elements from Afghanistan have often crossed the border into Pakistan and maintained their presence in regions which have, over the years, come to be known as terrorist havens.Click here to read… [4]

Bangladesh

US, UK, Bangladesh leading source countries for India's foreign tourist arrivals in 2022 - TBS News

Bangladesh was one of the top three source countries along with the US and UK for foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India in 2022, the Indian Ministry of Tourism said in a statement on the occasion of World Tourism Day on Wednesday (27 September). India received 6.19 million foreign tourist arrivals during 2022 as compared to 1.52 million in 2021, it said.Click here to read… [5]

HRW Says European Firms Ditching Toxic Ships on Bangladesh Beaches VOANews

European maritime companies are ditching their old ships for scrap on Bangladesh beaches in dangerous and polluting conditions that have killed workers pulling them apart, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.Click here to read… [6]

Bhutan

HRH Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck accepts the Olympic Council award for Bhutan – The Bhutan Live

His Royal Highness Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck, on behalf of the Bhutan Olympic Committee, accepted an award by the Olympic Council of Asia for Bhutan’s steadfast contributions towards the growth of the Olympic Movement in Asia. The award was presented in Hangzhou, China during the 110-year celebration of the Olympic Council of Asia. According to the Bhutan Olympic Committee, His Royal Highness also interacted with the athletes and coaches at the Asian Games.Click here to read… [7]

Maldives

India-China power play dominates Maldives run-off vote - CNA

Maldives votes in a presidential run-off on Saturday (Sep 30) that could drastically rebalance its relations with India and China, two regional giants competing for influence in the geopolitical hotspot. The atoll nation of nearly 1,200 coral islets is a prestige tourism hotspot and favourite beach holiday destination for the world's rich and famous.Click here to read… [8]

Geopolitics dominates Maldives election - Kathmandu Post

Maldives saw the first round of the presidential election on September 9 in which 282,000 people voted. Out of the eight presidential candidates, none received the mandatory 50 percent of the votes to be declared elected. So a runoff election has been scheduled for September 30 between the two top contenders—Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the incumbent president from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), and his rival, mayor of Malé, Mohamed Muizzu from the People's National Congress (PNC).Click here to read… [9]

Myanmar

NGO: 1,000 Malaysians forced to work for scams in Myanmar by human trafficking syndicates - Malay mail

About 1,000 Malaysian citizens have allegedly been forced to work as ‘call operators’ for frauds and scams run by international human trafficking syndicates that operate in Myanmar, the Malaysian International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) revealed.Click here to read… [10]

Mizoram refuses to collect biometric data of Myanmar refugees citing rights violation - India Today

The Mizoram government on September 27 has refused to collect biometric data from Myanmar refugees residing in the state. Mizoram government said that it would amount to violation of rights. The move to collect biometric data of more than 30,000 Myanmar nationals living in Mizoram since February 2021 was met with strong opposition from the state government. The refugees sought shelter in Mizoram following a military coup in Myanmar.Click here to read… [11]

UN Human Rights Chief Demands Urgent Action to End ‘Unspeakable Tragedy’ in Myanmar - The Diplomat

Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has done what every world leader has so far failed to do: He has called for radical action to end “an unspeakable tragedy” unfolding in Myanmar.Click here to read… [12]

Nepal

Nepal's new challenge is growing involvement of foreign nationals in crime – Firstpost

Over the past few years, Kathmandu has been witnessing a surge in the arrest of foreign nationals in the country. Most of these arrests have been due to their indulgence in criminal activities on the Nepalese soil. The Himalayan nation has a total of 35 border crossings with India, while it shares two border points with China. Immigration in Nepal is governed by the Immigration Act (1992), Immigration Rules (1994) and Immigration Procedures (2008) covering the scope, privileges and obligations associated with immigration.Click here to read… [13]

Building Nepal-China power line will take time – The Kathmandu Post

There is a long way to go before the construction of the proposed Nepal-China cross-border transmission line begins, even though the two countries have agreed to build one through Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point, a senior official of the Nepal Electricity Authority said.Click here to read… [14]

Pakistan

Pakistan's ISI plotted Nijjar's killing to strain India-Canada ties: Sources – India Today

Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) orchestrated the killing of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada to strain the ties between India and Canada, sources have revealed. Sources also said ISI had hired criminals to kill Nijjar and had been pressuring him to fully support gangsters who arrived in Canada in the past two years.Click here to read… [15]

Nine killed in explosion as children play with rocket shell in Pakistan's Sindh – The Telegraph

At least nine people, including five children, of the same family were killed on Wednesday when a rocket launcher’s shell exploded at a house when the kids were playing with the ammunition in Pakistan's Sindh province, police said.Click here to read… [16]

Pakistan PM admits military influence in politics, says it will continue unless civic delivery institutions strengthened – Firstpost

Pakistan caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has admitted that the country’s military will continue its hold in politics unless civic delivery institutions are strengthened in the coup-prone country. In a recent interview with the news channel TRT World, a Turkish public broadcaster, Kakar spoke about the Pakistani military’s major role in politics and underscored the inevitable role of the army in the country’s politics.Click here to read… [17]

Pakistan receives first shipment of LPG from Russia – Deccan Herald

Pakistan has received the first shipment of liquified petroleum gas from Russia, marking the cash-strapped nation's second major Russian energy purchase. The shipment of 100,000 metric tonnes of LPG was delivered by Russia to Pakistan through Iran's Sarakhs Special Economic Zone, the Russian embassy in Islamabad said on Tuesday.Click here to read… [18]

Sri Lanka

RS MP wants UNHRC member states to act against Sri Lanka for war crimes - Daiji World

PMK president and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss has called for the member states of United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to implement the high commissioners' call for justice against the Sri Lankan government for the mass atrocity crimes against the Tamil population.Click here to read… [19]

IMF seeks more talks with Sri Lanka on review of bailout program - Financial Express

The International Monetary Fund said discussions are continuing with Sri Lanka on whether it’s meeting targets under a $3 billion bailout program, a necessary step before further funds can flow to the nation. An IMF team completed its visit to Sri Lanka as part of its first review of the funding pact, saying “significant progress on important reforms” had been made.Click here to read… [20]