VIF Neighbourhood News Digest - October 27, 2022

Afghanistan

380M Banknotes of Afghan Currency to Arrive Within 1 Month: Mehrabi: Tolo News

A member of the Afghanistan Trust Fund, Shah Mohammad Mehrabi, said that the Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW) is due to deliver new Afghani banknotes to Afghanistan within one month. Click here to read... [2]

Bangladesh

Revival of graft cases: BNP leaders say it’s a tactic to derail anti-govt movement: Dhaka Tribune

While the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has recently been gearing up its anti-government movement defying all sorts of obstacles, party leaders say the government is reviving some pending cases against the leaders and activists with a motive to derail the movement. Click here to read... [3]

Bhutan

Cyclone Sitrang will have minimal impact on Bhutan - Kuensel Online

Bhutanese farmers, especially those about to harvest their paddy, need not worry about cyclonic storm “Sitrang” (Si-Trang) as of yesterday. According to the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM), a low-pressure system was developed in the Southeastern Bay of Bengal on October 21. Yesterday, the system intensified and is likely to continue to move north-northeastwards and intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm. Click here to read... [4]

Labour ministry to pilot childcare service for children below 12 years - Kuensel Online

The labour ministry will pilot childcare service for children below 12 years to help reverse the country’s declining birth rate trend as an affirmative policy measure, Labour Secretary Dasho Tashi Wangmo said. “Bhutan had the highest birth rate at around 20,000 annually in the 1990s. Now the country’s fertility rate has dropped to 1.8 births per woman,” she said. The fertility rate remains below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman, according to the population projection report (2017-2047). By 2047, elderly population, 65 years and above, is projected to increase from 6 percent to 13 percent. Click here to read... [5]

Maldives

Discussions held on growing Maldives-Pakistan partnership in trade, tourism - Raajje

Discussions have been held on growing the partnership between the governments of Maldives and Pakistan in the areas of trade and tourism. This was done during a farewell call paid by High Commissioner of Pakistan, Vice Admiral (R) Ather Mukthar on Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid on Wednesday. During the call at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Maldivian foreign minister congratulated High Commissioner Mukhtar for the successful completion of his term and expressed deepest appreciation for his dedication and commitment towards strengthening the bilateral ties between the two countries. Click here to read... [6]

Motion to probe Maldives stand switch over Chagos dispute - Edition

Following the stand shift by Maldives government regarding Chagos Islands dispute, an urgent motion has been filed by Dhangethi MP Mohamed Nazim to probe change of foreign policies.

After Mauritius filed at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) regarding the continental shelf issue, Maldives maintained its stance asserting Mauritius had no claim in the case. The reason it showed, was that the Chagos Islands fell under British Marine Protected Area, and was part of its colony. Click here to read... [7]

Myanmar

ASEAN Ministers Hold Emergency Myanmar Meeting - Human Rights Watch

Southeast Asian foreign ministers are meeting today in Jakarta, Indonesia, to discuss the most pressing crisis facing the region: Myanmar. Last April, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a “five-point consensus” in response to the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, an ASEAN member. Since then, Myanmar junta chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing has defied each point while overseeing crimes against humanity and war crimes by security forces. Just this week, a junta airstrike unlawfully killed at least 60 people at a music concert in Kachin State. Click here to read... [8]

Myanmar military air strikes on ethnic rebel group kill at least 50: Report - WIONews

In Myanmar, at least 50 people were killed and dozens were injured in air strikes during a concert held by an ethnic minority group in conflict with ruling military on Monday (October 24). As per reports, the attack was carried out by three jets. The strikes reportedly took place in the northern state of Kachin. The military has yet to confirm it yet. Local media reported that the strikes killed civilians, prominent local singers and officers of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Click here to read... [9]

UN rights chief appeals for a halt in forced returns to Myanmar - UN News

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the forced returns of refugees and migrants to Myanmar, in light of the ongoing situation in the country. The High Commissioner’s appeal comes after Malaysia deported more than 100 Myanmar nationals on 6 October. Among them were two people who had sought protection through the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, while others had serious protection concerns. Click here to read... [10]

Nepal

Bangladesh to purchase 50 MW of electricity from Nepal - Khabar Hub

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina apprised about it during a courtesy meeting with the Ambassador of Nepal to Bangladesh, Ghanshyam Bhandari, on Tuesday. Bangladesh has already announced that it will purchase a total of 9,000 megawatts of electricity by 2040. It has committed to take 500 megawatts of electricity from the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project to be built by the Indian company Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR). Click here to read... [11]

Nepal’s tryst with democracy- The Hitavada

NEPAL is going to polls on November 20 this year for the second time in its latest tryst with democracy. The first round of general elections took place in 2017 after the country got a brand new constitution in 2015. What makes the Nepal elections an interesting political development in the land-locked country a little shy of 30 million people and $33 billion worth of GDP is the aspirations of the people from the new political system after living under a monarchy for the greater part of its modern history. Click here to read... [12]

Pakistan

Islamabad braces for another PTI’s long march: Dawn

A day after former prime minister Imran Khan announced his much-awaited march on Islamabad which will commence from Lahore on Friday, the capital administration has stepped up preparations to counter the protest and multiple arrest teams have been formed to deal with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) protesters. Click here to read... [13]

Sri Lanka

President appoints committee to ensure availability of essential items: Daily Mirror

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a high-powered committee, led by the secretary to president, to monitor the possible disruptions in the supply of essential goods and to make swift actions to rectify such disruptions. According to Cabinet Spokesperson and Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Bandula Gunawardane, the Cabinet of Ministers this week approved the establishment of this committee. Click here to read... [14]