VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: September 7, 2020

PAKISTAN

Centre, Sindh spar over contribution to Karachi package: DAWN

The consensus showed by city’s stakeholders on the ambitious Rs1.1 trillion Karachi Transformation Plan is eroding much faster than feared, as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led federal government on Sunday took strong exception to Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks that the Sindh government would bear the major cost of the package. Click here to read... [2]

AFGHANISTAN

Taliban Appoints New Chief Negotiator on Eve of Talks: TOLO News

The Taliban leadership has appointed Mawlawi Abdul Hakim, the chief justice of the group, as head of their 21-member negotiating team in Qatar, making the former chief negotiator Abbas Stanekzai his deputy. Sources close to the Taliban said that most of the fatwas (rulings) of the group, particularly on war, are issued by Mawlawi Abdul Hakim and that he will attend the negotiating table with full authority. Click here to read... [3]

BANGLADESH

Consumers place faith in cashless transactions: Dhaka Tribune

Payment on buying products and services through mobile financial services, a means for cashless transactions, reached a record Tk1,134 crore in July as people went for contactless transactions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, in July merchant payment through mobile financial services stood at Tk1,134 crore, the highest ever, up by 39.8%, compared to Tk811.46 crore in June this year. Click here to read... [4]

NEPAL

With a sharp quarterly slump, last fiscal year growth headed for a massive decline: The Kathmandu Post

Nepal saw a massive growth slump in the third quarter of the last fiscal year 2019-20–to 0.8 percent–due largely to negative growths in at least five sectors, according to estimates of the Central Bureau of Statistics made official on Sunday. Economists say less than one percent growth observed in the third quarter in the last fiscal year could mean a further devastating impact on the economy in the fourth quarter [mid-April to mid-July] when the country was entirely under the lockdown. Click here to read... [5]

SRI LANKA

Experts arrive to join efforts to salvage burning tanker off Sri Lanka: Daily Mirror

A team of British experts had arrived at the Mattala Airport on a special flight this morning to investigate the incident of the New Diamond ship which caught fire in the East Coast of Sri Lanka. Navy spokesman Indika de Silva said that a team of 10 British and Dutch experts including rescue operation experts, disaster assessors and a legal adviser to arrive in Sri Lanka today to investigate the oil tanker and make necessary recommendations on how to proceed. Click here to read... [6]