Neighborhood News Digest- 19 March 2024

Afghanistan

8 People Killed, Including Children, in Pakistan’s Airstrikes-Tolo News

At least 8 people including women and children were killed in Pakistan's airstrikes on Khost and Paktia provinces in the early hours on Monday. Pakistani media reported that the strikes in Khost and Paktika targeted some Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants including Abdullah Shah. But soon after the attack, TTP commander Abdullah Shah in a video clip denied being attacked despite Pakistani media claims of his death in last night's airstrikes in Paktika's Barmal District. Click here to read... [2]

Islamic Emirate Fires on Pakistan in Response to Airstrikes in East-Tolo News

In response to the Pakistani military's air strikes in the early morning on Monday on the Barmal district of Paktika and the Spera district of Khost, the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Emirate has issued a statement saying that they have responded to these attacks and targeted Pakistani military centers with heavy weapons. Click here to read... [3]

Pakistan Govt initiates second phase of Afghan migrants expulsion-The Khama Press

The Ministry of Interior of Pakistan has instructed the Punjab provincial government to initiate the second phase of the expulsion of Afghan citizens starting from April 15th. According to reports from Pakistan’s international media, in this phase, holders of “Afghan Citizenship Cards” will be deported from the country. Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh

PM calls upon UNDP to raise more funds for Rohingya – Dhaka Tribune

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 18 urged the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to make an effort to raise a larger international funds for the support of the Rohingya people. She made the call at a meeting with the visiting UNDP goodwill ambassador and Crown Princess of Sweden Victoria at a city hotel here. Click here to read... [5]

PM Hasina: Will not allow anyone to take Bangladesh back to darkness – Dhaka Tribune

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said BNP and its allies want the restoration of the caretaker government system not for the election, but to push the country back to darkness. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the ruling Awami League, was addressing a discussion marking the 104th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at its Dhaka District unit office in Tejgaon. Click here to read... [6]

Bhutan

Bhutan welcomes Indian teachers to enhance STEM learning-India Today

In a bid to enhance educational ties between India and Bhutan, the two nations have joined hands to elevate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in Bhutan through the contribution of Indian teachers. Click here to read... [7]

Why the exodus from Bhutan of young people and qualified workers is a worry for India-Scroll

Mass migration from the Himalayan country is likely to challenge India’s advantages in through decades of people-to-people relations. Click here to read... [8]

Maldives

Govt claims Kuwait Fund withdrew assistance for hospital project – Adhadhu

The Kuwait Fund has withdrawn funding for the construction of a 30-bed hospital in Shaviyani Milandhoo and some other hospital projects, Health Minister Dr. Abdulla Khaleel has said. Replying to a question by Milandhoo MP Ali Riza, Khaleel said the hospital project in Milandhoo was halted after the Kuwait Fund stopped funding. The project was launched by the former government. Click here to read... [9]

National Cyber Security Agency established – The Edition

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has on March 18 officially established the National Cyber Security Agency. This Agency will be run under the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology. A statement issued by the President's Office stated that the mandate of the Agency is to act as a focal point for all matter relating to the cyber security of residents and the State itself at the national level. Click here to read... [10]

Myanmar

MoI, Indian govt ink pact for Sarsobeikman building project-GNLM

The Ministry of Information’s Printing and Publishing Department and the Indian government signed an agreement yesterday at Lotte Hotel Yangon for the construction of Sarsobeikman, a literary centre. The Union Minister underscored that the proposed building aims to celebrate accomplished Myanmar writers and literature itself. Click here to read... [11]

UN secretary-general alarmed by reports of Myanmar airstrikes-Firstpost

According to a U.N. official, military bombings in Myanmar, including one on Monday in Minbya Township, have left several civilians dead or injured. This alarms UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Click here to read... [12]

Nepal

Amid Nepal’s continuing political turmoil, confidence vote win for PM Prachanda, the task for India – Indian Express

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won a vote of confidence in the 275-member lower house of Parliament last week, securing the support of 157 of the 268 MPs who were present. The trust vote, the third won by Prachanda in a little over a year, took place after the Prime Minister broke his party’s alliance with the Nepali Congress led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, and forged a new alliance with K P Sharma Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). Click here to read... [13]

Nepali lawmakers bat for both SAARC and BIMSTEC – The Kathmandu Post

Lawmakers from across political parties on Monday voiced concerns over the stalled SAARC process and urged the government to take diplomatic initiative to revive it. The SAARC summit has not been held since 2014. Following a terrorist attack on an Indian military base in 2016, India was the first country to pull out from the scheduled 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan. Later, other SAARC countries followed the Indian decision, throwing the entire SAARC process in jeopardy. Click here to read... [14]

Pakistan

Pakistan, IMF extend talks to conclude SBA review-Dawn

With an apparent understanding reached during the final review of the $3 billion Standby Arrange¬ment, the visiting staff mission of the Interna¬tional Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani authorities agreed on Monday to extend talks overnight to conclude the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP). Click here to read... [15]

Pakistan targets TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan-The Express Tribune

Accusing certain elements in the Taliban government for patronising the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates, Pakistan carried out what it termed "intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations" in the border regions inside Afghanistan on Monday, in a significant escalation in tensions between the two neighbours. Click here to read... [16]

Senate polls' second phase kicks off-The Express Tribune

The second phase of the Senate elections has kicked off nationwide, with returning officers initiating the process of scrutinising the candidates' credentials. Commencing today, the scrutiny of nomination papers will span across today and tomorrow (Wednesday), ensuring a thorough assessment of candidates vying for Senate seats. Click here to read... [17]

Sri Lanka

It is crucial to resume talks with Tamil Nadu counterparts, say northern Sri Lankan fishing community leaders – The Hindu

Amid recent arrests of Indian fishermen along Sri Lanka’s coastline — on charges of illegal fishing — representatives of the island’s northern fishing community urged the two governments to help fishermen from both sides resume talks at the earliest, in order to find a solution to the festering problem in the Palk Strait. Click here to read... [18]

Cash-strapped Govt. to cough up additional Rs.11Bn if general election declared – Daily Mirror

The cash-strapped government will have to cough up another Rs.11 billion in case a snap parliamentary election is declared ahead of the Presidential Election which is anyway due in terms of the Constitution during the last quarter of this year. This will be in addition to over Rs.10 billion already allocated to the Election Commission in the 2024 budget for the conduct of the Presidential Election. Click here to read... [19]