Afghanistan
Updates, four marines and 13 civilians killed in twin blasts at Kabul airport: The Khaama Press
Two bomb blasts killed four US marines, 13 civilians, and wounded over 70 more at Abbey gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday, August 26.The blasts occurred from inside a crowd of Afghans close to the Abbey gate area who were trying to leave the country, said the US Pentagon's press secretary John Kirby.
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Massoud, Taliban Agree to Not Fight Until Next Round of Talks: Tolo News
Supporters of Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the resistance front against the Taliban, and Taliban representatives held their first meeting on Wednesday afternoon in the center of Parwan province to seek an alternative to fighting.
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Situation in Afghanistan 'Difficult', 'Alarming': Putin: Tolo News
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Naturally, we will not interfere in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs; neither will our armed forces be drawn into this all-against-all conflict.
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Karzai, Abdullah house-arrested by Taliban in Kabul: The Khamma Press
Former President Hamid Karzai and head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah are house-arrested by the Taliban and are not allowed to go out.Sources also said that the two are only allowed to meet people at their respective residences.
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Taliban Asked Turkey for Support to Run Kabul Airport: Tolo News
The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run Kabul airport after the departure of foreign forces, two Turkish officials told Reuters. The Taliban also insist that Ankara's military also withdraw fully by the end-August deadline.
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Bangladesh
Bangladesh setting up 7 new land ports with Northeast India- Dhaka tribune
Bangladesh is working to set up good land connectivity with the North-East India. Already Bangladesh has five land ports with Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam of India. Click here to read...
Dhaka Metro Rail: Rolling out in the open on Sunday- Daily Star
The authorities are all set to conduct a test run of a metro train on the main tracks on Sunday, touching a new milestone in the country's first ever metro rail project. Click here to read...
Army chief returns from Turkey visit- Daily Star
Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed returned to Dhaka yesterday from his official visit to Turkey. During his visit, the army chief met Turkey's President of Defense Industries Ismail Demer. Click here to read...
Vaccine sharing: Dhaka wants EU to be more generous- The Independent
The European Union (EU) should be more generous in sharing Covid-19 vaccines with others who need them badly, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Thursday. Click here to read...
Universities can resume classes from Oct 15 after vaccinating teachers, students: UGC chairman- The Independent
All universities can resume in-person classes from October 15 only after vaccinating all their students and teachers. The decision comes following a virtual meeting of the technical committee with the education ministry and the primary and mass education ministry. Click here to read...
Kazi Nazrul’s 45th death anniversary today- New Age
The 45th death anniversary of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, known as the rebel poet, will be observed today. Click here to read...
PM renews vow to foil aim behind Bangabandhu killing- The Bangladesh Today
Reiterating that Khondaker Mostaq and Ziaur Rahman were the masterminds behind the conspiracy of killing Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that she would never let their objectives be successful. Click here to read...
Bhutan
(Editorial) Gap in education system?- Kensel
In these challenging times when we are redrawing the picture and shape of the Bhutanese education system, our investment in the system has been falling far too short. Click here to read...
Local businesses hopeful of better days- Kensel
Small businesses, who were affected the most by the lockdown, most also say are burdened with shop rents. Others have not paid the rent and are making for the lost time now. Click here to read...
(Op-Ed) How PTA Helps Bhutan and Bangladesh Fulfil Expectations of Their People- Eurasia Review
This is the first PTA Bangladesh has signed with any country in the world. The PTA aims to establish a preferential trading arrangement, explore all appropriate measures to facilitate and promote bilateral trade. Click here to read...
Maldives
Explained: What the signing of the $500m India-Maldives mega-infra project means - Indian Express
A year after India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, visited the Maldives and, during a meeting with his counterpart Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, announced the signing of a $500-million infrastructure project, the Maldives government officially signed an agreement with Mumbai-based company AFCONS, for the construction of the Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP).This infrastructure project, the largest-ever by India in the Maldives, involves the construction of a 6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link that will connect the Maldives capital Malé with the neighbouring islands of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi.
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Japan provides 110M Yen grant aid to Maldives under 'Human Resource Development Scholarships - Raajje
Japan has provided a grant of approximately USD 998,000 (110 Million Japanese Yen) to the Maldives, under the Japanese Project for Human Resource Development (JDS). Minister of Higher Education Dr. Ibrahim Hassan and Resident Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mitsuyoshi Kawasaki signed the agreement at the ceremony held at the Ministry of Higher Education on Thursday. Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Higher Education, Embassy of Japan and JICA attended the ceremony.
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Myanmar
India has to find a way to deal with Afghanistan and Myanmar - Livemint
On 15 August, as India was celebrating its 75th Independence Day, the Taliban completed its de facto takeover of Afghanistan by marching into Kabul and forcing the president of the internationally recognised government, Ashraf Ghani, to flee the country. Six months ago, on the other side of India, in a not-so-different fashion, the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) drove into Naypyitaw and arrested President Win Myint and state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi before declaring a state of emergency and taking charge of the country. Both were coups by unelected entities, accomplished by the barrel of the gun.
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Mizoram: Security forces recover arms and ammunition from Lawngtlai near India-Myanmar border - Northeast Now
In a major successful operation against anti-national activities, Assam Rifles on Thursday recovered huge cache of arms, ammunition and other war-like stores in Mizoram’s southernmost Lawngtlai district near the Indo-Myanmar border, an Assam Rifles officer said. The officer said that the arms, ammunition and war-like stores were recovered from a forest near Hmawngbu village about 3 km north of the Indo-Myanmar border.
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Singapore Says ‘Lines of Communication’ Open With Myanmar Junta—but to Say What? - The Irrawaddy
Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, foreign minister of Singapore, acknowledged that the city state is the largest foreign investor in Myanmar, but noted that the bulk of those investments were made when the National League for Democracy (NLD) was in charge, according to Reuters. Balakrishnan also stressed that investments from Singapore came about due to economic opportunity, not political pressure. “I am making the larger point that there will be investment flows when there is political stability. Now in the current situation, investment flows, I am sure, have dried up.”
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CT law dismissals disappoint - BNI Online
Family members and lawyers say that the dismissal of those charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law in Arakan State has not been significant. The Arakan State military council has said it will withdraw the remaining cases filed under the Counter-Terrorism Law, but is awaiting the approval of the Central Committee for Counter-Terrorism.
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Nepal
Govt Preparing to Replace the Budget of FY 2021/22- Rising Nepal
The government has started preparations for the Replacement Bill to replace the budget for the current fiscal year 2020/21 announced through ordinance by the previous KP Sharma Oli-led government. Click here to read...
Nepal-India border talks, supposed to be held every year, in limbo since 2019- Khabar Online
Nepal-India border management talks have not taken place since 2019 although they were supposed to happen every year. Click here to read...
Nepal reports 2052 cases, 26 deaths; recovery rate at 93.5 %- The Himalaya
Nepal's coronavirus caseload reached 754,915 on Thursday with 2,052 more people testing positive for the infection in the past 24 hours. Click here to read...
CPN-Unified Socialist to follow norms of democracy- The Himalaya
The newly formed party - CPN-Unified Socialist - has set a goal to move forward on the path of socialism by protecting the norms and values of people's multi-party democracy. Click here to read...
Nepal receives 130,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from UK
The British embassy in Kathmandu said on Thursday that 130,000 plus doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were handed over to Nepal, as part of the United Kingdom’s direct bilateral support. Click here to read...
Bhim Acharya replaces Sherdhan Rai as Province 1 chief minister
A day after the split in the CPN-UML, the party on Thursday changed the chief minister in Province 1. Party Secretary Bhim Acharya has been appointed the new chief minister in place of Sherdhan Rai. Click here to read...
Nepal needs weather stations in the Himalaya- Nepali Times
The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has installed only 12 weather and precipitation monitoring stations above 3,000m, out of 282 such stations across the country. These numbers are insufficient given Nepal’s topography and the rapidly changing global climate. Click here to read...
Sri Lanka
Adani, JKH to start work on WCT at Colombo Port in December - Daily FT
India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will commence construction of West Container Terminal (WCT) at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port in December, according to a report in Ship Technology. APSEZ will invest more than $ 675.68 million, what is said to be its second international project after Myanmar. In March, the company obtained a letter of intent from the Sri Lankan Government for the construction of the 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) capacity terminal. Officials told Business Line that the concession agreement for the 35-year build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract is scheduled to be signed in November.
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COVID death toll crosses 8,000; SL records over 200 deaths in a single day - Ceylon Today
A total of 209 COVID-19 related deaths were confirmed for yesterday (25), making it the highest number of deaths recorded in a single day, so far. This is the first time Sri Lanka's daily COVID death count exceeded the 200 mark. With this, Sri Lanka's COVID-19 death toll currently stands at 8,157.
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Japan gifts masks - The Island
On the initiative by Sri Lankan Ambassador to Japan, Sanjiwa Gunasekera, two leading Japanese companies donated a consignment of 100,000 surgical masks to Sri Lanka. These surgical masks were handed over to the Ambassador by Agekawa, Chairman of Devent, and Mr. Goto, Chief Executive Officer of A Holdings.
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Australia to support SL's post-COVID economic recovery - Ceylon Today
Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Amanda Jewell has launched two partnerships under the Australian Government’s Business Partnerships Platform (BPP) to support COVID-19 economic recovery in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka’s economy has been one of the hardest hit from the COVID-19 pandemic in the South Asian region. Small businesses, informal workers and women have been disproportionately impacted by the economic downturn in Sri Lanka,” Deputy High Commissioner Jewell said. “The private sector will play an important role in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery from COVID-19 as a vital contributor of productivity and participation, which in turn creates economic growth".
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Talks with UAE, Iran on procuring petroleum for SL on long-term credit facility - Adaderana
Sri Lanka is currently looking to procure crude oil and petroleum products from Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a long-term credit facility. Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila has met with the diplomatic heads of the respective countries to Sri Lanka on Monday (Aug. 23). Accordingly, Ambassador of Iran Hashem Ashjazadeh and Acting Head of the Embassy of the UAE Saif Alanofy have held separate discussions with the minister to discuss the matter.
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Pakistan
Pakistan remains on UK red list for travel: Dawn
Despite weeks of lobbying by the Pakistan High Commission and British Pakistani MPs, the UK government’s travel review on Thursday showed no change for the country, which continues to remain on the red list.
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In meeting with Iranian president, FM Qureshi emphasises continued consultations on Afghan future: Dawn
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday, emphasised that continued consultations by Afghanistan's neighbours on the situation in the war-torn country were the "way forward".
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Making efforts to help Afghanistan achieve peace, COAS tells MI6 chief: The Express Tribune
Chief of the UK Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Richard Moore called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and discussed matters of mutual interests particularly evolving situation in Afghanistan, military said in a statement issued late Thursday.
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SBP reserves fall $47m to $17.58b: The Express Tribune
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank declined 0.3% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. On August 20, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $17,578.9 million, down $47 million compared with $17,625.9 million on August 13.
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PPP, PML-N, JI lambast PTI’s three-year performance: The News
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have strongly criticised three-year performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday.
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‘Afghan instability means more terrorism, refugees for Pakistan’: The News
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said, “Afghan instability could lead to more terrorism, refugees and economic hardship for Pakistan," in a phone interview with The Washington Post columnist, Josh Rogin, whose opinion piece appeared in the newspaper on Thursday under the headline: Pakistan wants to be treated like an ally, not a scapegoat
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Pakistan, Russia to finish PGSP on time: The Express Tribune
Pakistan and Russia on Thursday agreed to follow the timelines laid down to successfully implement the Pakistan Gas Stream Pipeline project. According to a statement, the scheme has made a significant headway at the conclusion of first technical session parleys between the two sides.
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