VIF Neighbourhood News Digest: 10th December, 2018

PAKISTAN

Rs1bn donated by overseas Pakistanis for dams since July: Dawn

December 10, 2018

Overseas Pakistanis have so far contributed around Rs1 billion while local individuals as well as institutions have donated Rs7.47bn to the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams fund, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Within a span of five months, a total of Rs8.46bn was deposited in The Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund, the SBP data showed. Click here to read.. [2]

NEPAL

Global bids re-invited for Tribhuvan International Airport expansion project: Kathmandu Post

December 10, 2018

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Saturday re-invited global bids for soil filling works and construction of international parking bays on the northern side of the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, two years after the project was halted. The final submission deadline for the tenders is January 22, 2019. This is the most important construction project at TIA in terms of duration and cost. The fourth package of the works include supplying 2.1 million cubic metres of soil to fill the ravine on the northern side of the runway where nine new parking bays will be constructed, according to the TIA Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project. Click here to read.. [3]

BANGLADESH

Bangladesh elections: Campaigning underway amid opposition arrests: The New Indian Express

December 10, 2018

There is no opposition candidate for prime minister, hundreds of people have been arrested and incumbent premier Sheikh Hasina stands accused of ignoring democratic checks on her power, but Bangladesh began campaigning Monday for a year-end election. More than 100 million people are registered to vote on December 30 for either Hasina's Awami League and its allies, or a beleaguered opposition that says it is being hobbled by police. On the eve of the campaign launch, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which hopes to deny Hasina a record fourth term, said nearly 2,000 of its supporters had been arrested. Click here to read.. [4]

CHINA

US envoy summoned over detention of Huawei’s executive: China Daily

December 10, 2018

Vice-Foreign Minister Le Yucheng urgently summoned United States Ambassador to China Terry Branstad on Sunday over the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Meng, chief financial officer of Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear for cellphones and internet companies, and also the daughter of Huawei's founder, was arrested in Canada while transferring in Vancouver for a flight to Mexico on Dec 1. Click here to read.. [5]

Weakening price growth signals mild inflation: China Daily

December 10, 2018

China's consumer price index, a primary barometer of inflation, rose by 2.2 percent year-on-year in November, down from 2.5 percent in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday. China's producer price index, which measures factory-gate prices, was up 2.7 percent year-on-year last month, with the increase narrowing for the fifth consecutive month. Click here to read.. [6]