VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: January 24, 2022

Afghanistan

Ministry Says Schools to Open for All in Spring: Tolo News

Two days after Thomas West’s remarks on girls’ education, officials at the Ministry of Education (MoE) said it will reopen schools for all age groups, both girls and boys, at the beginning of new solar year (March 21). Click here to read... [2]

Taliban, US to discuss establishment of inclusive government: The Khaama Press

State Department of the United States has announced that special representative Thomas West will discuss the establishment of an all-inclusive government in Afghanistan with the 15-member delegation of the Taliban visiting Norway. Click here to read... [3]

Bangladesh

Bangladesh reports increasing COVID cases amid omicron spread - Sawah Press

Bangladesh has continued to register an increasing number of COVID-19 cases as nearly 11,000 new infections were reported on Sunday. The South Asian country of 165 million population registered 10,906 more coronavirus cases and 14 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh’s success story is a lesson in poverty reduction. Here’s why - The Print

Since its founding in 1971, Bangladesh has emerged from overwhelming poverty to be proclaimed by The World Bank in 2020 as ‘a model for poverty reduction’. It achieved the highest cumulative GDP growth globally from 2010 to 2020 and is now on course to become a developed country by 2041. The Bangladesh paradox has been researched well, and the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in this progress is well documented. What is not researched enough is why their approach has been so successful. Click here to read... [5]

Bhutan

China expands construction along disputed Bhutan border - YouTube

According to satellite images, Chinese-built villages and settlements along the Himalayan border have stretched into Bhutan's disputed territory, the small country between China and India. Like the India-China border, China's 477-kilometer border with Bhutan remains undefined. Analysts say that the latest construction move by Beijing is intended to facilitate it in its territorial dispute with India. Click here to read... [6]

”Living with virus” not an option for Bhutan: PM - Kuensel Online

While some nations around the planet make subtle arrangements to “live with the virus”, living with the virus is not an option for Bhutan, according to PM Dr Lotay Tshering. Click here to read... [7]

Maldives

The Maldives is being swallowed by the sea. Can it adapt? - National Geographic

“My most peaceful moments are on the water,” Thoiba Saeedh, an anthropologist, said just before a motorboat took us skimming across the glassy Indian Ocean towards the tiny island of Felidhoo in the Maldives. Click here to read... [8]

Maldives establishes diplomatic relations with Burundi - Raajje

The Joint Communiqué formalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries was signed by Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations Thilmeeza Hussain on behalf of the Maldivian government, whereas Permanent Representative of the Republic of Burundi to the United Nations, Zéphyrin Maniratanga signed on behalf of the government of Burundi. Click here to read... [9]

Myanmar

Ethnic Organizations Call For Myanmar Military No Fly Zone and Civilian Safe

Areas - The Irrawaddy

Three of Myanmar’s oldest ethnic political organizations have urged the United Nations (UN), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community to declare a military no fly zone, and to internationally guarantee the protection of civilian safe zones due to the junta’s increased use of indiscriminate airstrikes on civilian targets. Click here to read... [10]

Myanmar’s ‘Army’ of Overseas Workers Join Fight Against Junta - The Irrawaddy

Like her, there are tens of thousands of Myanmar migrants across Thailand who voluntarily contribute to Myanmar’s democracy movement, known locally as the Spring Revolution against the junta. Every month they typically donate 200-1,500 baht from their salaries, which vary from 6,000 to 10,000 baht. Click here to read... [11]

Myanmar military arrests more journalists in media crackdown-editor - Reuters

Myanmar's military has arrested three people working for the independent news portal Dawei Watch, an editor at the publication said on Thursday, the latest detentions under a media crackdown that has occurred since last year's coup. Click here to read... [12]

What is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard doing in Myanmar? - Asia Times

Iranian planes landing in Myanmar have raised speculation of secretive military-to-military cooperation, including possible sensitive Iranian weapons sales amid rising international calls to impose an arms embargo on the rights-abusing junta. Click here to read... [13]

Nearly 160 Myanmar Regime Troops Killed in First Half of January: KNU - The Irrawaddy

Nearly 160 Myanmar junta soldiers were killed and another 102 were injured in fighting between the Myanmar military and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) during the first two weeks of January. The KNLA is the armed wing of the country’s oldest revolutionary group, the Karen National Union (KNU). Click here to read... [14]

Arakan Army, not military junta, run the show in Myanmar’s Rakhine state - RFA

An armed ethnic group in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine has wrested administrative and judicial control from the country’s military junta, which has been in power for almost one year, residents of the state told RFA. Click here to read... [15]

U.N Rights Envoy Calls for Halt to Attacks on Myanmar Town - OWP

The special envoy called for international support to ensure the protection of civilians,  the free movement towards safety, and accessibility of humanitarian aid. Regional violence has exacerbated the refugee crisis and displaced civilians caught in the crossfire. Click here to read... [16]

An outlawed group resurfaces, raising new fears of clashes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state - RFA

Residents of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state say they are concerned over possible armed clashes in Maungdaw township along the country’s border with Bangladesh amid a recent uptick in activity in the area by the outlawed Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). Click here to read... [17]

Nepal

Omicron drives surging Covid-19 cases in Nepal: Health authority - DajjiWorld

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is now driving daily cases to surge in Nepal, accounting for 88 per cent of the samples tested recently, the country's Ministry of Health and Population has said. Click here to read... [18]

Rising inflation, COVID-19 make people more vulnerable in Nepal - Macau Business

Radha Tamang, a 60-year-old woman living in a squatter settlement on the bank of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu of Nepal, had an easier life two years ago when her son had a job at a trekking agency with a decent income. Click here to read... [19]

Nepal’s trade deficit widens to Rs 880 billion despite two-fold growth in export in first half of current FY - My Republica

The records with the Department of Customs show that the widening trade deficit was due to the hefty rise in imports in the review period. During mid-July and mid-January, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 999.34 billion, 51.13 percent more than that of the last year. Click here to read... [20]

Pandemic can derail progress made in child nutrition, UNICEF warns - Kathmandu Post

Nepal has made significant progress in reducing child stunting and scaling up nutrition services during the Millennium Development Goals era (2002 -2016), according to UNICEF-Nepal. Click here to read... [21]

Pakistan

Dread the day when I’ll be back on streets, warns PM Imran: Dawn

Expressing confidence that people would never take to the streets against him, especially on the call of the ‘tainted’ opposition, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday warned his opponents that if he was forced out of office, he would become even more dangerous for them.

Click here to read... [22]

After invoking UN norm, PM Imran clarifies call for Afghan help: Dawn

Prime Minister Imran Khan revisited his call to help Afghanistan under the international doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), inviting the international community to fulfil its obligation to the Afghan people by providing humanitarian assistance to the country.

Click here to read... [23]

Islamabad, Moscow in talks for maiden Putin visit: The Express Tribune

The visit of the Russian president was being discussed by the two sides for the last two years but could not materialise because of a variety of reasons including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Click here to read... [24]

Sri Lanka

India claws back ground lost to China in Sri Lanka: Deccan Herald

No “third party” should interfere in the “friendly relations” between Beijing and Colombo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during his visit to the island nation earlier this month.

Click here to read... [25]

Saving Sri Lanka: Can India’s Line-Of-Credit Help The Island’s Sinking Economy Reeling Under China’s Debt?: EurAsian Times

The pandemic aggravated the economic crisis that was already brewing since 2019. While the island nation reached out to two of its most trusted partners, only one came to its rescue.

Click here to read... [26]