Neighborhood News Digest- 07 January 2025

Afghanistan

Efforts to Send Skilled Workers Abroad Intensify: Ministry-Tolo News

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs announced serious efforts to send skilled Afghan workers to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. The leader of the Islamic Emirate has instructed the acceleration of the process of sending skilled workers to these countries. Click here to read… [2]

Iran warns Taliban it will use all means to secure water rights from Afghanistan-The Khaama Press

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, stated that Tehran will use all available tools to secure its water rights from shared and border rivers with Afghanistan. He emphasized that the issue has been a priority for the Islamic Republic since Afghanistan began constructing dams. Click here to read… [3]

China pledges to build shelter for Afghan returnees-The Khaama Press

Zhao Xing, China’s ambassador to Kabul, has announced that Beijing is ready to assist in resettling Afghan returnees as the displacement crisis worsens and millions of refugees return from neighboring countries. On Sunday, January 5, Zhao Xing expressed China’s readiness to aid Afghan returnees during a meeting with Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Administrative Deputy of the Taliban’s Prime Minister’s Office. Click here to read… [4]

Bangladesh

‘If chanting Joy Bangla is a crime, then hang me’ – The Daily Star

ASM Abdur Rob, president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, yesterday at a programme said if chanting "Joy Bangla" is considered a crime, he should be hanged. Rob, who first hoisted the red-green flag of Bangladesh on March 2, 1971, made these remarks during a discussion organised by the Serajul Alam Khan Research Centre on the occasion of Serajul Alam Khan's 84th birth anniversary. Click here to read… [5]

Economy slows to 1.81% in volatile first quarter – The Daily Star

The Bangladesh economy saw its lowest quarterly growth in three-and-a-half years in the first quarter of the fiscal year on the back of political upheaval and severe flood in August. Between July and September, the GDP growth was 1.81 percent, the lowest since the second quarter of fiscal 2020-21, when the world was in the throes of the global coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Click here to read… [6]

Bangladesh bureaucracy faces fresh friction amid reforms -Dhaka Tribune

The government’s administrative machinery appears mired in perpetual turmoil, with challenges and disputes surfacing regularly. These issues, spanning the corridors of the Bangladesh Secretariat and all the way to the grassroots field administration, have pushed the system toward stagnation. Click here to read… [7]

July uprising directorate will be set up by next month: Nahid – Prothom Alo

Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Adviser Md Nahid Islam has said a new directorate dedicated to the July uprising will be set up under the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs by the next month. Nahid said that the directorate will focus on providing assistance to the families of martyrs, rehabilitating the injured and addressing all related matters. Click here to read… [8]

Bhutan

Domestic electricity consumption surpasses exports-Kuensel

In a major shift in the country’s energy dynamics, Bhutan’s domestic electricity consumption surpassed exports for the first time in 2023. According to the Environmental Accounts Statistics 2024, this marks a departure from the past decade, during which exports traditionally outpaced domestic use. The change is linked to declining hydropower production and an increasing reliance on imported electricity. Click here to read… [9]

Weighing out pros and cons of school voucher system-Kuensel

As public schools in urban areas face pressure from increasing student admission driven by migration patterns and exacerbated by high teacher attrition each year, could a school voucher system be another option for the country? The current challenges have pushed education experts and a number of National Council members to discuss the introduction of a voucher system as a potential solution. Click here to read… [10]

Maldives

Maldives Defence Minister’s Visit to India: A Crucial Moment for Bilateral Security and Regional Stability – Financial Express

The upcoming visit of Maldives Defence Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon to India on January 7-8, 2025, is a significant milestone in the evolving relationship between the two nations. This visit, the first by a Maldivian Defence Minister since the government of President Mohamed Muizzu took office in November 2023, comes in the wake of political tensions surrounding the presence of Indian military personnel in the Maldives. While Muizzu’s administration initially campaigned on a promise to remove foreign troops from the country, the visit signals a shift toward recalibrating the Maldives’ security ties with India. Click here to read… [11]

2024 set to become most indebted year in Maldives’ history: Ameer – Raajje

After taking office with promises to reduce expenses and run the state without borrowing, 2024 has become the most indebted year in the history of the island nation, warns former Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer. Ameer noted that as of 26 December 2024, the budget deficit reached MVR 14.8 billion, and it is estimated that this figure would have risen to MVR 15 billion by the end of the year. The former minister stressed that this is an even larger deficit than observed in 2020, when the country faced an unprecedented economic and health crisis, with revenue dropping by 65 percent. Click here to read… [12]

Myanmar

Myanmar Junta Boss Warns Resistance as Regime Loses Ground Nationwide – The Irrawaddy

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, whose military is now bracing for resistance attacks in Ayeyarwady and Magwe regions after losing large swaths of territory in ethnic states, has declared his regime “will not yield to demands from the gun” made by groups fighting for democracy or autonomy. The junta boss issued the warning during his Independence Day address on Saturday, telling resistance groups to give up their armed struggle. Despite the bold warning, his regime ceded three townships and the Western Command headquarters in Rakhine State last month, as the ethnic Arakan Army took control of 14 of the 17 townships in the westernmost state. The regime has also lost almost the entire northern Shan State to ethnic forces. Click here to read… [13]

DPM MoPF Union Minister receives Chinese Ambassador – The Global New Light of Myanmar

Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Planning and Finance U Win Shein received Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Ms Ma Jia in Nay Pyi Yaw January 6, 2024. They cordially discussed matters pertaining to further consolidation of the bilateral cooperation, development projects conducted with Chinese loans, training for human resource development conducted by China and further mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries based on Pauk-Phaw relations. Click here to read… [14]

Movement of people across Mizoram-Myanmar border regulated following Centre's directive: Official – The Hindu

“Security has been beefed up along the 510-km long Mizoram-Myanmar border and movement of people living within 10 km on either side of the unfenced International Border has been regulated following the directive of the Centre,” an official said. The official said residents of both countries living within 10 km on either side of the border now require border pass to visit each other. “The border pass valid for a stay of up to seven days is being issued to both Myanmarese and Indian citizens visiting each other countries on production of documents verifying that they live within the territorial limit of 10 km on either side of the International Border,” he said on Saturday (January 4, 2025.) Click here to read… [15]

Pakistan

SBP buys record $9 billion to stabilise reserves-The Express Tribune

Pakistan's central bank purchased a record over $9 billion from the local market in the past year to stabilise foreign exchange reserves a staggering amount that has helped the country remain afloat despite low inflows of foreign loans. During the calendar year 2024, the central bank purchased over $9 billion, said Jameel Ahmad, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, while speaking to The Express Tribune after a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. Of the $9 billion, over $4.5 billion was bought between July and December 2024, said the governor. Click here to read… [16]

PPP decides to openly oppose government policies-The Express Tribune

Tensions between Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have escalated further, with PPP deciding to openly criticise the government's policies, Express News reported. Sources revealed that PPP leadership has authorised its leaders to publicly criticise the government's decisions and directed them to challenge its policies, especially in federal and provincial governments. Click here to read… [17]

Govt expresses reservations, surprise over PTI’s new demands-Dawn

The government on Sunday expressed concerns about new demands made by PTI leader Asad Qaiser, namely the inclusion of an establishment representative in the ongoing negotiations, as well as the party’s reluctance to present a formal charter of demands. Click here to read… [18]

Sri Lanka

Rohingya people rescued in SL victims of human trafficking: Minister – Daily Mirror

The Public Security Ministry believes that over 100 Rohingya rescued while adrift on a fishing trawler are victims of a human trafficking scandal, bound for another destination. Sri Lanka Navy rescued 102 people, including 25 children, and they were taken to Sri Lanka’s eastern port of Trincomalee. Click here to read… [19]

India pledges unconditional support for Sri Lanka’s sports development – Daily Mirror

India has pledged to provide unconditional support for the development of sports in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports said. This commitment was made during a meeting held today between Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sunil Kumara Gamage. Click here to read… [20]