VIF Neighborhood News Digest: April 3, 2020

PAKISTAN

SAARC backs Pakistan proposal for health ministers’ video conference: Dawn
April 3, 2020

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) secretary general Esala Ruwan Weerakoon on Thursday backed Pakistan’s proposal for a video conference of the health ministers of the eight-member regional bloc on the Covid-19 pandemic. The SAARC secretary general appreciated Pakistan’s proposal of health ministers’ video conference, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement on the telephonic conversation between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Mr Weerakoon. Click here to read.... [1]
https://www.dawn.com/news/1546001/saarc-backs-pakistan-proposal-for-health-ministers-video-conference [2]

AFGHANISTAN

World Bank Approves $100M in Aid for Afghanistan: TOLO
April 3, 2020

The World Bank has approved a $100.4 million grant for the fight against COVID-19 in Afghanistan, according to a statement by the organization. The fund is part of the Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project of the World Bank to help Afghanistan take effective action to respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 and strengthen its public health preparedness, the statement said. By Thursday, 273 positive cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Afghanistan. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in the country is six, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Click here to read.... [3]

BANGLADESH

PM issues 31 directives to curb coronavirus: Dhaka Tribune
April 3, 2020

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued 31 directives to curb coronavirus in Bangladesh. “The Prime Minister has given the 31-point directive amid the coronavirus situation in the country,” said PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim on Thursday night. As per the directives, steps have to be taken for coronavirus treatment and implementing awareness programs. There is no need for hiding anything if coronavirus symptoms surface and one needs to consult doctors, reports UNB. Click here to read.... [4]

MYANMAR

Purity and Danger, on Yangon’s streets: Myanmar Times
April 3, 2020

Mary Douglas’ 1966 book Purity and Danger illustrates how human societies make sense of the world by classifying things as “dirty” and “pure”. Dirt is not just soil on the ground or mud on our shoes, she argued. What we think of as “dirt” changes according to our culture, and over time. For example, in some Western households it might be acceptable to wear shoes inside the house, whereas Asian housewives will shudder at the thought of not leaving your boots outside the door. Likewise, spitting on the street is tolerated in some countries, but elsewhere “hoiking a loogie” is considered gross and “dirty”. Click here to read.... [5]

NEPAL

Temporary quarantine facility built on no man’s land to keep more than a hundred Nepalis caught at Indo-Nepal border in Nepalgunj: The Kathmandu Post
April 3, 2020

More than 180 Nepalis, who were on their way to Nepal through Nepalgunj from various Indian cities, have been kept in a temporary quarantine facility set up in the no man’s land area in Nepalgunj Thursday onwards. Officials of both the countries reached the decision to facilitate the Nepali nationals in the border itself since the stranded Nepalis refused to move from the area and stay at a quarantine facility in India. “We have been through a lot in the last few days,” said Raju Sunar, on his way back to Surkhet from India. “We didn’t want to move from the border and go back to India. I’d rather stay here than in a foreign country in these difficult times.” Click here to read.... [6]

Bhutan

Businessman waives off rent worth Nu 2.6M: Kuenselonline
April 3, 2020

About 121 tenants renting space for business and residence in the SD PLAZA in Thimphu need not have to pay their rent for the months of March and April. Proprietor, Sonam Dukpa, popularly known as Goop Sonam Dukpa, a Samdrup Jongkhar based business man, waived off the rents through a letter on March 31 stating that the rent has been waived off because of the impact on business from the Covid-19 pandemic. Sonam Dukpa also contributed Nu 1million (M) to His Majesty’s kidu fund for Covid-19 and Nu 0.5M to the Covid-19 Respond Fund managed by the finance ministry. Click here to read.... [7]

Sri Lanka

Plans in place to import medicinal drugs from India for six months: Daily Mirror
April 3, 2020

The government yesterday allayed fears about the possible shortage of pharmaceuticals in the country saying that the arrangements had been made to import them from India for the next six months, informed sources said. Director General of Health Services Dr Anil Jasinghe briefed the party leaders yesterday about this situation. Click here to read.... [8]

CHINA

Coronavirus: Chinese police hunt close contacts of silent carriers in locked down Jia County in Henan province: South China Morning Post
April 3, 2020

Authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan are pursuing the close contacts of three “silent carriers” of the coronavirus after they put a county under lockdown again to contain the pathogen’s spread. Click here to read.... [9]

China responds to claims of "substandard" masks purchased from China: Xinhuanet
April 3, 2020

It is irresponsible for some media to hype up the so-called quality problems of Chinese anti-epidemic products before making clear the facts, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday. Hua Chunying said at a press briefing that she hopes such reports were not published out of ulterior motives because such actions are not conducive to international anti-epidemic cooperationClick here to read.... [10]

China pressing the reset button for Tokyo Games: China Daily
April 3, 2020

China's sports officials and athletes are embracing the Olympics' one-year delay with a positive mindset, despite the many challenges the postponement presents. With the Tokyo Games now rescheduled for July 23-Aug 8 next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, China's sports governing bodies have voiced cautious support for the decision as they begin to evaluate the postponement's impact on the country's sporting landscape. Click here to read.... [11]