Neighborhood News Digest – 10 March 2023

Afghanistan

Afghanistan blast: Taliban governor killed in his office – BBC

The Taliban governor of Afghanistan's northern Balkh province has been killed in a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. Mohammad Dawood Muzammil was killed in his office in the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, on Thursday. He is the most senior Taliban official to be killed since the militants returned to power in 2021. Violence has since decreased sharply, but pro-Taliban figures have been targeted by IS. Click here to read... [2]

Ambassador Calls on Japan to Lead Aid Effort for Afghanistan – Nippon

Dr. Shaida Abdali was appointed Afghan ambassador to Tokyo in May 2021. In August that year, however, Kabul was captured by the Taliban, who went on to establish an interim government in the following month. While there is no diplomatic recognition between the Japanese government and the Taliban, Japan continues to recognize Abdali as the representative of Afghanistan. However, the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo no longer receives funds from the Afghan government. Click here to read... [3]

Bangladesh

Modi, Hasina to launch pipeline to export diesel to Bangladesh – Times of India

PM Modi and Sheikh Hasina will virtually inaugurate the cross-border India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline, through which India will export diesel to the neighbouring country on March 18, Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen announced on Thursday. Click here to read... [4]

US announces USD 26 million in humanitarian aid to Bangladesh, Myanmar – The Print

The US State Department has announced nearly USD 26 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, for those people in Burma affected by ongoing violence, and for communities hosting refugees from Burma. With this new funding, the US’ total assistance for those affected by the Rakhine State and Rohingya crisis has reached nearly USD 2.1 billion since August 2017, when over 7,40,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to safety in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, according to a press statement issued by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, during the launch of the 2023 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in Bangladesh. Click here to read... [5]

Bhutan

"Honour And Pride": Bhutan No Longer Among World's Poorest Countries – NDTV

There will be jubilation in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan this year when it quits the club of the world's poorest countries, while others still have a mountain to climb.
The tiny state, famed for its Gross National Happiness index, will on December 13 become only the seventh nation to graduate from the band of Least Developed Countries set up by the United Nations in 1971. "We are taking it with a lot of honour and pride, we are not nervous," Bhutan's Prime Minister Lotay Tshering told AFP at the LDC summit that finished in Doha on Thursday. Click here to read... [6]

Why Bhutan failed its hydropower goal, and what this shows about the geopolitics of energy – The Third Pole

Fifteen years ago, Bhutan announced that by 2020 it would be able to produce an additional 10,000 megawatts of electricity from hydropower. So far, the country is able to generate less than a quarter of this target: total installed capacity is 2,326 MW, up from 1,480 MW in 2008. Of the four hydropower plants under the 10,000 MW scheme, only one, Mangdechhu, has been completed and is operational. The other three are running years behind schedule and will cost more than a billion US dollars more than originally expected, with only one expected to start operating in the foreseeable future. Click here to read... [7]

Maldives

Maldives govt to consider pleas of thoni operators for waiving pilotage, tug charges – The New Indian Express

Special attention will be paid to the demands of 'Thoothukudi thoni vessel' owners, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Maldives Ports Limited Janab Shahid Ali, during a trade promotion meeting held in Thoothukudi. A delegation from the Republic of Maldives visited the city and held discussions with the Thoni vessel operators with a view to improving the trade relations between the Thoothukudi old port and the Male ports. Traditional trading vessels known as 'thonis' are being operated from the Thoothukudi old harbour (Zone B port), and they supply essentials and consumer goods for the people of Maldives. Click here to read... [8]

Myanmar

Smuggled note exposes violence against women in Myanmar jail - lawyers, activists - Reuters

An undated secret note exposes brutal violence on women inside Mandalay's Obo prison, that left scores of female prisoners injured, according to six activists and lawyers, in early February 2023, in this handout obtained by Reuters on March 8, 2023. Anti-junta forces coordination committee. Click here to read... [9]

War-Torn Myanmar Plans to Hold Elections. Will They Matter? – Council on Foreign Relations

While the military controls some territory, most of the country is outside of central government authority. Its opponents—long-established ethnic armed organizations and newer forces that emerged after the coup—have made major gains. Now, the junta says it is planning elections this year, probably hoping to use them to create a veneer of legitimacy. But given the almost surely stage-managed nature of these elections—and whether they can happen at all amid such violence—any vote will prove a challenging task. Click here to read... [10]

Nepal

Nepal elects Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress as new President - The Hindu

Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress was on March 9 elected as the third President of Nepal. Mr. Poudel, a common candidate of eight-party alliance that included Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Center), received the vote of 214 lawmakers of Parliament and 352 Provincial Assembly members. Click here to read... [11]

Nepal bill says murder is not serious rights violation – The Kathmandu Post

The government on Thursday brought a bill to amend the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Act retaining most of the “controversial provisions” from the previous bill that couldn’t get through the parliament last year. Click here to read... [12]

Pakistan

Pakistan's Chief Justice to skip SCO meeting in India due to 'unavoidable commitments' – India Today

Pakistan will not be participating in the meeting of chief justices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), scheduled to be held in New Delhi from March 10 to 12, 2023. In a statement, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, "As one of the active members of the SCO, Pakistan regularly participates in all SCO activities and constructively contributes to their outcomes." Click here to read... [13]

Pakistan: Lahore police books ex-Pak PM Imran Khan on charges of murder, terrorism – The Economic Times

The police in Lahore on Thursday booked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and 400 others on the charges of murder and terrorism during their clash with police personnel during the party's rally that left one activist dead and scores injured. This is the 80th case against ousted prime minister Khan registered by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government during its 11 months of rule. Click here to read... [14]

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka to announce debt restructuring strategy in April - cenbank chief - Reuters

Sri Lanka aims to announce a debt-restructuring strategy in April and step up talks with commercial creditors ahead of an International Monetary Fund review of a bailout package in six months, the nation's central bank governor told Reuters. Click here to read... [15]

Sri Lanka adopts first national action plan on women, peace and security – Business Standard

Battered by a series of crisis over the year, including war, Covid-19 pandemic and economic calamity, Sri Lanka adopted its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), for the period 2023-2027 with the support of the government of Japan and UN Women. Click here to read... [16]