VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: 20th July, 2018

PAKISTAN

Ahmadis not to take part in election: Dawn

July 20, 2018

The Ahmadiya Community has dissociated itself from the upcoming general elections due to ‘discriminatory treatment’. In a press statement, a community spokesman said though the elections would be held under a joint electoral system, there was, however, a separate voters’ list for the Ahmadis. “Currently there is one voters list that includes all religious groups, including Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Zoroastrians and Sikhs, whereas in the case of Ahmadis, a separate voters list is being prepared. This discriminatory treatment on the basis of religion is a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise the Ahmadis of Pakistan from the electoral process and denying them their right to vote.” He said such a behaviour went against the vision of the founding father of the country Muhammad Ali Jinnah and contravened both the Constitution and the very purpose of the joint electoral system.Click here to read... [2]

AFGHANISTAN

Dostum To Return Home From Turkey Next Week: Tolo News

July 20, 2018

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, the First Vice President, who is exile in Turkey will return home next week, sources close to Dostum told TOLOnews on Friday. One source said the first vice president will return next week on Sunday. However, the exact date has not been confirmed by multiple sources. The sources said Gen. Dostum will resume his office after returning to the country. This comes after a government delegation’s two-week visit from Turkey where they held negotiations with Dostum on his return to the country. The minister of Labor Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled, Faizullah Zaki, was leading the government negotiations team for the second week while the delegation was led by the Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish during the first week of the talks in Turkey. Click here to read... [3]

NEPAL

Nepal seeks India nod to switch $750m credit line: Kathmandu post

July 20, 2018

The government seeks India’s consent to switch part of $750 million Line of Credit (LoC) granted to reconstruct earthquake-damaged buildings to other infrastructure projects. Reconstruction project is unlikely to use the entire amount of LoC, therefore, the move to switch part of the grant to other projects, the government reasons. Nepal made this request at the Nepal-India Line of Credit (LoC) Review Meeting held in Kathmandu last week.

Finance Ministry’s International Economic Co-operation Co-ordination Division (IECCD) Chief Shreekrishna Nepal led the Nepali panel while External Affairs Ministry’s Development Partnership Administration Joint Secretary Prashant Agrawal led the Indian panel.Click here to read... [4]

BANGLADESH

Bangladesh’s Hindu population rising: Sushma Swaraj tells Rajya Sabha: The Print

Countering perception that the population of Hindus in Bangladesh was declining, the government today quoted official records of that country to state that it has instead risen by two per cent in 2017. Responding to questions in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also said the government has from time to time raised the issue of the plight of minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries at the bilateral level and made efforts to take them to a logical conclusion. She urged members to pass the Citizenship Act amendment bill, pending in the Upper House, to help resolve issues pertaining to atrocities and attacks on minorities, including those in Pakistan. About the demographic changes in Bangladesh, as per statistics of the Bangladesh Bureau, in 2011 there were 8.4 per cent Hindus in the country, which has risen to 10.7 per cent in 2017.Click here to read... [5]

CHINA

Chinese president arrives in Abu Dhabi for state visit to UAE: People’s Daily

July 20, 2018

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here on Thursday for a state visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the first by a Chinese head of state in 29 years to the Arab state. Xi's plane was escorted by the UAE fighter jets when it entered the country's air space. Upon their arrival, Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were warmly received by the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They were also presented with flowers by some local children.Click here to read... [6]

First shipment of gas from Yamal LNG project arrives in China: People’s Daily

July 20, 2018

The maiden voyage to China of the Vladimir Rusanov, a 172,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier, was commemorated by a ceremony attended by Nur Bekri, the director of the National Energy Administration of China, and Alexander Novak, Russia's minister of energy. The LNG carrier traveled to China via a 10,700-kilometer-long northern sea route, which is about 13,400 kilometers shorter than the traditional eastern shipping route via the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca. The new route could cut more than 20 days from the voyage, according to thepaper.cn.Click here to read... [7]

Trade war fallout to lead agenda as Xi Jinping gathers elite for strategy session at Beidaihe, the Communist Party’s Camp David-style retreat: South China Morning Post

July 20, 2018

Chinese President Xi Jinping might try to forge consensus and handle political fallout from the US trade war when the Communist Party elite gather at the seaside resort of Beidaihe for their annual Camp David-style summer retreat, party watchers said.https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2156044/chinas-trade-war-fallout-tipped-be-talk-beidaihe" target="">Click here to read...

Workshop for NPC members concludes: China Daily

July 19, 2018

A three-day workshop for deputies of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) concluded in Beijing Thursday. A total of 280 deputies from 19 election units across China attended the workshop and had an in-depth study of the spirit of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress. Topics covered in the workshop also included improving the system of institutions through which the people run the country, the constitutional system, and the public finance system, among others.Click here to read... [8]