VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: January 06, 2022

Afghanistan

UN Collects $1.5B to Avert Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan: Tolo News

UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday that a harsh winter in Afghanistan is aggravating already severe conditions that are challenging millions of Afghans across the country.Click here to read... [2]

It is time for world to recognize Taliban: Deputy FM: The Khaama Press

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanekzai said that they have completed all preconditions for recognition and now is the time for the International Community to come forward and recognize the IEA.Click here to read... [3]

International community must coordinate humanitarian aids with Taliban: spokesperson: The Khaama Press

A spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of has said that the UN and International Community must distribute their humanitarian assistance in coordination with the Taliban.Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh

LIFE INSURANCE business LIFELESS for long- Daily Star

Bangladesh's listed insurers' life funds, or portfolios into which policyholder's life assurance premiums are paid and claims are paid out of, have remained nearly the same in amount since 2015.Click here to read... [5]

Fifth-phase up polls: 10 lives lost to violence- Daily Star

At least 10 people were killed in the fifth phase of the union parishad polls yesterday as the voting was marred by violence in several districts.Click here to read... [6]

Accidents on Waterways: From calamities to collisions- Dhaka Tribune

According to research published in the Journal of International Maritime Safety, Environmental Affairs, and Shipping in 2021, collisions accounted for 61.72% of all waterway accidents from 2008 to 2019. These accidents accounted for 53% of fatalities and 46.5% of casualties on waterways.Click here to read... [7]

Korea resumes taking BD workers- Asian Age

Some 92 Bangladeshi workers left for South Korea from Dhaka on Wednesday by chartered flights operated by a Korean air company.Click here to read... [8]

Bhutan

Flexible arrival and departure times in civil service- Bhutan Times

RCSC says it decentralized human resource functions and heads of the respective agencies will be held accountable.Click here to read... [9]

SSD’s grievances solved; government contravenes its own rules- Kuensel

Amid controversies surrounding surface collection and river bed materials (RBM) dredging for export in Samtse, the Cabinet has issued a clarification to streamline the renewal of clearance for ongoing activities.Click here to read... [10]

Maldives

Maldives reports over 200 new Covid-19 cases, recoveries drop - Raajje

According to the latest figures publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 242 new Covid-19 cases and 96 additional recoveries were reported between 6pm Sunday and 6pm Monday.Click here to read... [11]

Battleground Maldives: The Key To Indo-Chinese Strategic Control Over The Indian Ocean - Outlook India

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has begun the New Year with a visit to five littoral states in the Indian Ocean, including India’s neighbours the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Both India and China are competing for influence in the Indian Ocean, and the Foreign Minister’s visit is aimed at ramping up Beijing’s security and economic stakes in the region.Click here to read... [12]

Maldives hits out at Ex-President's 'India Out' campaign- Economic Times

The government in the Maldives and several key political figures in the Indian Ocean Region country have hit back against former President Abdulla Yameen’s “India out” campaign, allegedly promoted by China.Click here to read... [13]

Myanmar

Indian rebel outfits regrouping in Myanmar again - The Sangai Express

Separatist rebel outfits from India’s frontier region of the North East are regrouping in Myanmar more than two years after their camps and training facilities were dismantled in an operation lasting several months.Click here to read... [14]

Karen forces capture seven junta soldiers near Lay Kay Kaw - Myanmar Now

Two days after the military council’s December 28 announcement that they had seized control of areas surrounding Lay Kay Kaw town in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township, forces belonging to the Karen National Union (KNU) managed to capture seven junta personnel. Click here to read... [15]

CDF attacks military base on Matupi-Paletwa road - Myanmar Now

The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) says it carried out an attack on a military base on the road between Chin State’s Matupi and Paletwa townships on Monday. The attack on the Theboi base, where around 60 junta troops are stationed, began at around 7:30am and led to a full day of fighting, a spokesperson for the group said.Click here to read... [16]

More Magway villagers fall victim to marauding regime forces - Myanmar Now

Regime forces and members of the pro-military Pyu Saw Htee group murdered at least two villagers in Magway Region last week, according to local sources.Click here to read... [17]

AA’s deputy C-in-C invites intellectuals, technicians to serve Arakan State - BNI Online

Brigadier-General Nyo Twan Awng, deputy commander-in-chief of the Arakan Army (AA), has invited intellectuals and professionals to serve Arakan State as the state’s mechanisms need more qualified personnel. He uploaded a New Year’s wish in the Arakanese language, titled “New Year Wish; ULA’s Alarm Bell Sounds”, on January 1 via the social network Telegram.Click here to read... [18]

Nepal

Shekhar Koirala asks Nepali Congress president criteria for CWC nomination- Himalayan

Unhappy with the recent nominations made by Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba in the central working committee, Shekhar Koirala held a meeting of leaders of his faction and discussed how they could prevent Deuba from making arbitrary decisions and nominations in party bodies.Click here to read... [19]

Amid virus spread threat, provinces step up preparations- TKP

As infections rise in neighbouring India, bordering regions need extra attention, health officials say.Click here to read... [20]

Despite current calm, standoff in Supreme Court portends larger complications- TKP

Constitutional Bench is unable to sit, Judicial Council is ineffective and Judicial Service Commission hasn’t met, delaying judges’ appointments, promotions and transfers.Click here to read... [21]

Industry and commerce in disarray due to headless ministry- TKP

The Deuba administration has not appointed a new industry minister since the previous incumbent left office last May.Click here to read... [22]

Pakistan

Alarm as positivity rate doubles in a week: Dawn

With the national positivity rate climbing to 1.8 per cent, Pakistan on Wednesday reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases since Oct 14.Click here to read... [23]

Editorial- Report on PTI funds: Dawn

The fact that the panel struggled to get details of PTI’s foreign accounts and its funds abroad is troubling, given that the PTI has campaigned on the pledge of ‘clean’ and ‘transparent’ governancClick here to read... [24]

Pakistan set to resume UK, EU flight operations after ICAO clearance: The Express Tribune

In June 2020, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, while addressing the National Assembly after a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash, revealed that 262 pilots in Pakistan, roughly 30 percent of civilian pilots, “did not take the exam themselves”, rather they paid someone to take it on their behalf.Click here to read... [25]

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka court releases 13 Indian fishermen: The Hindu

A Sri Lankan court in the northern Mannar district on Wednesday ordered the release of 13 Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu who were in custody following arrest on charges of illegal fishing.Click here to read... [26]

Sri Lankan lawmaker calls on China’s Xi Jinping to stop its ‘economic invasion’: WION

A Sri Lankan parliamentarian has shot off a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping to stop its economic invasion of the island nation, putting its future in jeopardy.Click here to read... [27]