Neighbourhood News Digest – 03 March 2023

Afghanistan

Ned Price: Islamic Emirate Has Not Fulfilled Doha Agreement – Tolo News

The spokesman for the US State Department once again accused the Islamic Emirate of violating the Doha agreement. Ned Price in a press conference said that Islamic Emirate has not “fulfilled the Doha Agreement” in terms of engaging in political dialogue, fighting terrorist groups and respecting human rights. Click here to read... [2]

Six TTP Members Killed in Afghanistan’s Khost IED Blast – The Khaama Press

At least six members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) including a prominent commander were killed and 15 others injured in a blast that took place in Afghanistan’s Khost province on Thursday. Sources reported that six TTP militants were killed and 15 others injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Khost province. The identities of the slain commanders were revealed to be Abdul Manan, Alam Khan Mudakhel, Kajir, and three others unidentified. Click here to read... [3]

Bangladesh

Dhaka calls on G20 to take corrective actions to reverse global warming – Dhaka Tribune

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has urged the G20 countries to take corrective actions to reverse the trend of global warming and advocate for fulfilling the global commitments of financing and technology transfer to fight climate change. Click here to read... [4]

Dhaka, Delhi discussing de-dollarisation – Daily Star

Bangladesh and India are in talks about doing away with the dollar as the official currency for payments between the two countries -- a development that would bring down the cost of trade as well as the conversion rate losses for businesses and ordinary people. The talks took place on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru on February 24-25. Click here to read... [5]

‘Have so far identified 33 militants’ – Daily Star

Rapid Action Battalion claimed to have seized a video from a member of newly-formed militant outfit Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya in Chattogram on Wednesday. During a briefing at Rab's media centre in the capital's Karwan Bazar, the law-enforcement agency disclosed the 7-minute video, purportedly created by the militant organisation. The video also contains speeches of Jama'atul Ansar ameer Anisur Rahman alias Mahmud, and chief of dawah (invitation) wing Abdullah Maimun. Khandaker Al Moin, Rab's director of legal and media wing, said, "we have so far identified 33 militants from this one and another video..." Click here to read... [6]

Bhutan

Govt. foregoes Nu 3.31B as fiscal incentives - Kuensel

The government had foregone estimated tax revenue of Nu 3.31 billion (B) in 2021 with the implementation of the fiscal incentives measures, according to the National Revenue report 2021-22. In 2020, the tax foregone was estimated at Nu 5.01B. The fiscal incentives are government policy tools and the Fiscal Incentives (FI) 2017 was formulated to stimulate private sector growth, generate employment opportunities and entice foreign investments in Bhutan. Click here to read... [7]

Bhutan reports outbreak of African swine fever in pigs, villages near India affected - Mint

An outbreak of African swine fever in pigs is reported from a Bhutanese village near the border with India. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) on Thursday cited Bhutan health authorities and informed that the outbreak killed 6 pigs in a herd of 58 in a village in the Dagana district. Click here to read... [8]

Inflation drops to 4.33 percent in January - Kuensel

Going by the trends of the country’s domestic inflation rate, which measures the price of consumer goods and services in the country, it is cooling down. As of January this year, the year-on-year consumer price index was recorded at 4.33 percent compared to the same month last year. Recording a drop to 30 months low, the rate is lower than the Royal Monetary Authority’s (RMA) upper threshold of 6 percent. Click here to read... [9]

Maldives

UNICEF Regional Director to South Asia calls on State Minister Khaleel - Raajje

UNICEF Regional Director to South Asia, George Laryea-Adjei has paid a courtesy call on the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Khaleel. The meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. During the meeting, State Minister Khaleel and the Regional Director discussed the role of UNICEF in the Maldives, in areas on child protection, maternal and child heath, immunization, nutrition, pre and primary education and social inclusion. Further, both parties identified the progress in the implementation of the UNICEF Country Programme Document which supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF 2022-2026) and the Government’s Strategic Action Plan 2019–2023 with the vision of transforming Maldives into an equitable, prosperous, inclusive and connected island nation. Click here to read... [10]

Myanmar

Malaysia’s Anwar says ASEAN must be tougher in bid to resolve Myanmar crisis – The Print

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said during a visit to the Philippines that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must prove it is “relevant” in helping to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. In a pre-recorded interview with Philippine news channel ANC aired on Friday, Anwar said that ASEAN, which is leading diplomatic efforts to bring peace, needed to be more assertive and noted that his country was shouldering 200,000 displaced people from Myanmar. “We can’t see this as a purely internal issue, so I have appealed to friends in ASEAN to say, look we have to be tougher,” Anwar said. “If necessary engage with the armed forces of this country because sometimes the military junta do not understand the civilian narrative.” Click here to read... [11]

Only Civilian Govt Can Deliver Stability, Myanmar’s NUG Tells China - Irrawaddy

Myanmar National Unity Government (NUG) Acting President Duwa Lashi La told China that only the NUG can guarantee the country’s stability and foreign investment. The remark followed Chinese special envoy Deng Xijun’s visit to the China-Myanmar border, where he met with seven of Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). The acting president said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that he heard about the visit of the special envoy and his meetings with northern EAOs through the news media. Click here to read... [12]

13 Crony Parties Keen to Contest Myanmar Junta’s Proposed Election - Irrawaddy

Late last month, Myanmar’s military regime enacted the new Political Parties Registration Law requiring parties to re-register with the junta-appointed Union Election Commission within two months or face dissolution. So far, 13 out of over 90 political parties have re-registered with the junta’s election body. Five of the parties are running nationally and the eight others in their regions and states, according to the junta-appointed UEC. The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), Democratic Party (Myanmar), and United Democratic Party have also re-registered under new names. Click here to read... [13]

Nepal

CPN (Unified Socialist) decides to vote for NC’s Poudel in presidential election – The Kathmandu Post

The CPN (Unified Socialist) has decided to give the party’s support to Nepali Congress’ presidential candidate Ram Chandra Paudel in the upcoming presidential election. The decision was taken during the party’s central committee meeting on Wednesday. Click here to read... [14]

Poll code defers Dahal’s confidence vote- The Kathmandu Post

With the presidential election only nine days away and the parties in the newly revived coalition focused on the poll, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal could delay the vote of confidence in Parliament. Government spokesperson Rekha Sharma said Dahal will seek a vote of confidence and reshuffle his Cabinet only after the presidential polls. Click here to read... [15]

Pakistan

Govt swallows last bitter pills to keep IMF sweet – Dawn

With unprecedented policy doses within 24 hours, Pakistan on Thursday completed all the prior actions needed for staff-level agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avert sovereign default and secure long-delayed $1.2bn disbursement. Sources told Dawn that policy actions stood completed after the exchange rate was allowed to move freely with a massive Rs25 per dollar depreciation in two days, an unusual 300-basis-point surge in State Bank’s policy, and the government’s announcement of continuing with an almost 10pc increase in power rates on a permanent basis through a special surcharge. Click here to read... [16]

No backchannel talks with India, says Pakistan’s Foreign Office - India Today

Pakistan said on Thursday that no backchannel talks were being held between Islamabad and New Delhi. "At this stage, there is no backchannel between Pakistan and India," Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly media briefing here while responding to a question. India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such an engagement. Click here to read... [17]

Pakistan: Inflation hits highest level on record – The Print

Monthly inflation, measured by a basket of products called the Consumer Price Index (CPI), jumped to 31.6 per cent in February year-on-year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Last month, prices rose at the fastest pace ever in the country’s history, according to available data, with food, beverage and transport costs driving inflation to a point where analysts fear “families will have to make choices and sacrifices,” reported the Dawn. Click here to read... [18]

Pakistan Risks $18 Billion Fine For Delaying Completion Of Iran Gas Pipeline: Report – BQ Prime

Pakistan could face a whopping $18 billion as a penalty for not completing the gas pipeline project with Iran in the time frame stipulated in the agreement. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, which met with its chairman Noor Alam Khan in the chair on Wednesday, deliberated on the non-utilisation of Rs 332 billion ($4 billion) in gas infrastructure development cess, which was collected for developing three mega gas projects, including the building of a pipeline to import gas from Iran. Click here to read... [19]

Sri Lanka

Election Commission, Other Commissions to get new members this month? – Daily Mirror

The Constitutional Council (CC) is planning to finalize the appointments of members to the independent commissions including the Election Commission before the end of this month, a top source said. The CC, a parliamentary body headed by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane, called for applications to select nominees to the commissions in keeping with the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. The source said the applications are sorted out for the selection of candidates at the moment. “New commission members are to be appointed within the course of this month,” the source said on condition of anonymity. Click here to read... [20]

The aftermath of Sri Lanka’s economic crash – The Hindu

As the island nation eagerly awaits a provisional IMF package to chart its path to economic stability, it is currently witnessing a new wave of protests, mainly by workers and professionals, as people’s economic hardships increase. The government also faces criticism over the recent postponement of local body electionsClick here to read... [21]

Russia Ready to Bring Nuclear Power to Sri Lanka - Power

Government officials in Sri Lanka said they will work with Russia to bring nuclear power to the country as part of its effort to increase the supply of electricity for the island nation. Professor S.R.D. Rosa, chairman of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board, told local media the country is looking at offshore and onshore installation of small modular reactors, or floating nuclear installations, that would have generation capacity of 100 MW per unit. Click here to read... [22]

The Real Cause of Sri Lanka’s Debt Trap – The Diplomat

The root causes of the country’s debt problem have been attributed to various factors, including corruption and nepotism, alleged predatory lending from China (the so-called “Chinese debt trap”), and a structural balance of payments deficit. These debates aside, it is increasingly clear that the immediate cause for Sri Lanka’s collapse is the structure of the country’s debt itself – specifically, its deep and growing exposure to international sovereign bonds (ISBs) issued at high interest rates. Click here to read... [23]