Neighborhood News Digest – 12 April 2023

Afghanistan

United Nations to review presence in Afghanistan following Taliban banning women from working with UN Mission – The Hindu

The United Nations said, on April 11, it is reviewing its presence in Afghanistan after the Taliban barred Afghan women from working for the world organization — a veiled suggestion the U.N. could move to suspend its mission and operations in the embattled country. Last week, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers took a step further in restrictive measures they have imposed on women and said that Afghan women employed with the U.N. mission could no longer report for work. They did not further comment on the ban. Click here to read... [2]

Taliban ban restaurant with gardens for families, women in Afghanistan’s Herat province – The Tribune

The Taliban have banned families and women from restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Afghanistan’s northwestern Herat province, an official said on Monday. The moves followed complaints from religious scholars and members of the public about mixing of genders in such places, he said. Click here to read... [3]

Prominent Anti-Taliban Commander Killed in Afghanistan’s Parwan – The Khaama Press

According to Afghanistan Defense Ministry, Taliban forces killed Akmal Ameer, a prominent anti-Taliban commander, along with his eight comrades in the Parwan province of Afghanistan. The Defense Ministry said that during an operation in the Northern Province of Afghanistan, Parwan killed Akmal Ameer with his eight comrades on Tuesday. Click here to read... [4]

Bangladesh

Japan proposes industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to India - Reuters

Japan has proposed developing an industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to the landlocked northeastern states of India, and to Nepal and Bhutan beyond by developing a port and transport in the region, officials said on Tuesday. It comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to India last month in which he touted the idea of a new industrial hub for the Bay of Bengal and northeast India that could bolster development in the impoverished region of 300 million people. Click here to read... [5]

Sheikh Hasina accuses US of seeking regime change in Bangladesh - Scroll

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday accused the United States of seeking a regime change in the country, bdnews24 reported. “They are trying to eliminate democracy and introduce a government that will not have a democratic existence,” Hasina said in Parliament. “It’ll be an undemocratic action.” Click here to read... [6]

Indian envoy highlights deep bonds of friendship, cooperation with Bangladesh – Dhaka Tribune

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma on Tuesday underlined the deep bonds of friendship and cooperation between Bangladesh and India; and reaffirmed commitment to further enrich the special and multifaceted ties, which are rooted in the shared sacrifices of 1971. Click here to read... [7]

Bhutan

Governments work on reducing hassles for commuters on Indian Highways – Kuensel

Bhutanese drivers could expect better travelling experience on Indian highways once the measures to eliminate exploitation on toll fees materialise. Foreign minister, Dr Tandi Dorji said that Bhutanese drivers traveling through India should buy a fast track card, a card to pay the toll fees along the highway. He said, to be able to avail fast-track service, one should have a bank account with an Indian bank or should buy the cards from authorized sellers in Jaigaon. Click here to read... [8]

Buddhist artists from Bhutan to pay homage to 21 avatar of goddess Tara – The Indian Express

A new exhibition featuring around 80 Thangka paintings made by Buddhist artists from Bhutan will pay homage to the 21 avatar of female deity Tara and different facets of Buddhism. Goddess Tara, a tantric meditation deity, believed to originate as a form of goddess Durga, is worshipped both in Buddhism and in Shaktism as one of the ten Mahavidyas. Click here to read... [9]

China carries out massive construction activities near Doklam – Northeast Now

The Indian Army have reportedly expressed serious concern over massive construction by China in the Amo Chu river valley in Bhutan, India Today reported. Amo Chu is close to the strategic Doklam plateau, from where India’s Siliguri corridor is in direct line of sight of China’s PLA (People’s Liberation Army). The area is not too far from the India-China-Bhutan Doklam tri-junction, the site of an intense military stand-off between India and China in 2017 over the construction of a road by Beijing. Click here to read... [10]

Pakistan

‘Irresponsible’ — Pakistan condemns India’s decision to hold G20 meetings in Kashmir – The Print

Pakistan on Tuesday condemned India’s decision to hold Group of 20 meetings in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir next month, calling the move “irresponsible”. Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by the two nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought two of their three wars over control of the region. India currently holds the rotating year-long presidency of the G20 and is set to host a leaders’ summit in New Delhi in early September. Click here to read... [11]

PoK ‘PM’ Sardar Tanveer Ilyas disqualified by court for contempt – The Indian Express

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s “Prime Minister” Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was on Tuesday disqualified by a full court bench of the region’s High Court from being a member of the legislative assembly for contempt of court, in a major setback to former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Click here to read... [12]

Pakistan election panel seeks change in law guiding its powers – AlJazeera

Pakistan’s election panel is seeking a legislative amendment to remove the president’s role in deciding the dates for general polls amid a continuing political crisis in the country. Sikandar Sultan Raja, the head of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), on Monday sent a five-page letter to the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, requesting the amendment to the law guiding the panel’s powers. Click here to read... [13]

Sri Lanka

A year after crisis, Sri Lanka allows 3 foreign oil companies to sell fuel - Wion

A year after crisis-hit Sri Lankans stood in long queues outside fuel stations, foreign oil companies will be able to sell fuel in the island nation at a lower rate than what the state-owned oil firm sells at. The Sri Lankan cabinet on March 27 decided to grant licenses to foreign oil companies to sell oil in the domestic retail market. Three companies -- China's Sinopec, United Petroleum of Australia, and RM Parks of the United States in a collaboration with Shell -- will soon start operating in the country. Click here to read... [14]

China pushes Sri Lanka to sign FTA in guise of debt restructuring – The Print

Negotiations for a possible FTA between China and Sri Lanka were launched in 2014 in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa when both sides continued to have several rounds of talks, Daily Mirror reported. China had “awarded” Sri Lanka with a delayed response to its request for debt restructuring and now appears to pressure Sri Lanka into signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) under the guise of helping to restructure debt repayments. Click here to read... [15]

Sri Lanka's local body polls postponed indefinitely due to lack of funds – The Hindu

Sri Lanka's election body on April 11 said the local body polls scheduled to be held on April 25 have now been postponed indefinitely due to an acute shortage of funds. The Election Commission made the announcement a day after its officials held meetings with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and members of major political parties. The Election Commission’s director general Saman Sri Ratnayake said that the next date for holding elections would be announced only after the Treasury confirms the disbursal of funds. Click here to read... [16]