Tag Archives: Switzerland

Neighborhood News Digest – 09 February 2023

Afghanistan
Regional Security Officials Meet in Moscow, Discuss Afghanistan – Tolo News

The fifth multilateral meeting of security envoys was held on Wednesday in Moscow, during which they discussed the situation in Afghanistan and in the region. The Russian News Agency TASS reported that the Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said that Washington intends to continue its geopolitical experiments, including in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Click here to read…

India to always stand by Afghans, says Ajit Doval at Moscow meeting – The Tribune

“India is and will remain an important stakeholder in Afghanistan. We have always stood by people of Afghanistan and will always support collective efforts to help Afghan people build a prosperous and vibrant nation once again,” said Doval while participating in the 5th Multilateral Meeting of Secretaries of Security Councils/ National Security Advisers on Afghanistan in Moscow on Wednesday. Click here to read…

Afghanistan: Taliban ‘desperate’ for resumption of flights to India – Firstpost

With the global community yet to recognise the current regime in Kabul, the Afghan Taliban is reportedly desperate for flights to resume between India and Afghanistan. According to a Hindustan Times report, the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan are optimistic that India will agree to resume direct flights between New Delhi and Kandahar. Click here to read…

Taliban Tighten Currency Controls After Dollar Smuggling Report – Bloomberg

The Taliban imposed fresh restrictions on people carrying foreign currency out of Afghanistan via a rare directive from the prime minister’s office after a report that millions of dollars were being smuggled in each day from Pakistan, shoring up its battered economy. Click here to read…

Bangladesh
Awami League wants to see no unopposed MPs in next parliament – Dhaka Tribune

Awami League President and Prime Minister President Sheikh Hasina has called upon party lawmakers to take massive preparations for a participatory and representative election, regardless of whether the opposition BNP and its allies participate in it. Click here to read…

Fakhrul, Abbas get permanent bail – Daily Star

The High Court yesterday granted permanent bail to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and standing committee member Mirza Abbas in a case filed over last year’s December 7 clash between police and BNP men in Nayapaltan. The HC bench of Justice Md Salim and Justice Md Riaz Uddin Khan delivered the verdict holding the final hearing on a bail petition filed by them. Click here to read…

IMF Loans and the Post-Truth Politics in Bangladesh – Geopolitics

Finally, on Jan 30, 2023, Bangladesh successfully secured loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For the last seven months since July 2022, intense negotiations took place which also became a political scoop for Bangladesh’s political parties. Oppositions and pressure groups resorted to mass persuasion using rhetoric and ‘charlatan’ predictions and analysis to decrease citizens’ confidence in the incumbent government. For a while, they were successful in creating skepticism about whether Bangladesh would get the loans or not. Such skepticism also induced unnecessary alarm, stress, confusion, and uncertainty, and created friction in the country. Looking back at that rhetoric, and half-cooked predictions, it seems there is a ‘post-truth’ politics at play in Bangladesh regarding the IMF loan. Click here to read…

Who killed democracy in Bangladesh? – Daily Star

The minister (Obaidul Quader) has cited the “peaceful atmosphere” that prevailed during the polling on February 1. Indeed, it was very peaceful. When fewer than 20 percent of voters turn up to vote, it is bound to be peaceful. When the opposition voters are told not to bother to come to the polling stations, it is bound to be “peaceful.” When an opposition candidate goes into hiding, unable to withstand the pressure on him, peace is bound to follow. The recent by-polls represent the state of democracy in our country fairly accurately. The near-empty polling booths, if nothing, displays a lack of trust; in fact, it demonstrates people’s apathy towards elections and voting. Most voters feel it is an exercise in futility under the present circumstances, the results a forgone conclusion. Click here to read…

Bhutan
Agriculture sector contributes the least to the economy – Kuensel

Agriculture sector employs nearly half of the country’s workforce. However, it is the least productive sector in the country. According to the Royal Monetary Authority’s (RMA) recent annual report, the agriculture sector employed 158,511 persons, equivalent to 49.2 percent of the total labour force in 2021. Click here to read…

India: EAM S. Jaishankar meets National Assembly Speaker of Bhutan Wangchuk Namgyel – Georgia Online

The External Affairs Minister of India, S Jaishankar, met with the Bhutanese National Assembly Speaker, Wangchuk Namgyel, in Delhi. The officials, at the meeting, discussed ways to strengthen the economic cooperation and concerns of the youth of both nations. The Indian official met with the 13-member delegation of Namgyel while praising the kind of relations the two nations bear with each other. Click here to read…

Five from Bhutan among IRS officers training in Bengaluru – Times of India

The 74th IRS batch has 43 officers in addition to five Bhutan-origin civil servants who shared their experience of learning in India. They said the IRS syllabus offered them a chance at knowledge enhancement. They got to learn about land, sea and air trade, unlike in their land-locked country. Click here to read…

3.5 million tourists will be welcomed annually by 2028 – Pres. Solih – Raajje

The President made the statement in his Presidential Address on Monday. In his address, President Solih described the past three years as the most challenging years the Maldivian economy has faced. As such, he noted that the Covid-19 pandemic brought a complete halt to the Maldivian economy. The President stated that the administration can show results based on mathematical results on the work done and what remains to be done. He said that data demonstrate how well the Maldivian economy is doing. Click here to read…

Myanmar
Manipur governor calls for combating anti-social activities from Myanmar – North East Now

Inspecting the Indo-Myanmar border at Kasom Khullen sub-divisional headquarters in Kamjong district of Manipur, governor La Ganesan, on Wednesday, called for combating the issues of illegal migration, smuggling of drugs, weapons, sneaking insurgents, etc that are being perpetrated from neighboring countries into Indian territory. Click here to read…

Chevron exits Myanmar upstream sector – Upstream Online

US supermajor Chevron has agreed to sell its significant stake in the producing Yadana gas field offshore Myanmar to Canada’s MTI Energy, prompting Justice for Myanmar to call for Canadian and UK sanctions on state-owned Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Chevon confirmed to Upstream it has agreed to sell its 41.1% stake in the Yadana gas project to Et Martem Holdings, a subsidiary of MTI Energy. Click here to read…

Anti-junta forces retreat after holding strategic river village for several days – Myanmar Now

Resistance forces in northern Sagaing Region’s Homalin Township withdrew on Saturday from a strategically important village that they captured and held for several days last week, according to sources. Shwe Pyi Aye Myothit, located on the eastern bank of the Chindwin River some 30km southwest of the town of Homalin, fell to an alliance of anti-junta groups on February 1. It remained under their control for the next three days, despite multiple counterattacks from the military and its militia allies. Click here to read…

Nepal
How Nepal Regenerated Its Forests – Earth Observatory

Today, community forests occupy nearly 2.3 million hectares—about a third of Nepal’s forest cover—and are managed by over 22,000 community forest groups comprising 3 million households. A 2016 United Nations report on the state of forests around the world found that three countries with the most annual gain in tree cover between 2010 and 2015 were the Philippines (with an annual growth rate of 3.3 percent), Chile (1.8 percent), and Lao PDR (0.9 percent). Within community forests of Kābhrepalāñchok and Sindhupālchok, forest growth between 2010 and 2015 was 1.84 percent. Click here to read…

Nepal opens high-level dialogue with defence minister’s visit to India – India Narrative

In a bid to further deepen bilateral defense cooperation between the two countries, Nepal’s Defence Minister Hari Prasad Upreti will be paying an official visit to India next week, officials said here on Tuesday. Upreti is visiting New Delhi from February 13 to 17 at the official invitation of his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. This is the maiden foreign visit of the defence minister after he assumed the office on January 17. Upreti’s visit will mark the first high-level exchange between Nepal and India after the Prachanda government took office following elections. Click here to read…

Key Ally Quits Government in Nepal – The Diplomat

On February 6, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) decided to quit the coalition government led by Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Center (CPN-MC) supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The party lasted barely a month in the government. Click here to read…

Pakistan
Pakistan Navy invites 110 countries for ‘Exercise Aman’; only 7 bother to send ships – Times Now

Exercise Aman, for the Pakistan Navy, is a prestigious moment. It is its biggest exercise and though it’s to begin on February 10, of the 110 countries invited, only seven have bothered to send ships or submarines. The four-day biannual exercise appears to be another sign of Pakistan’s increasing isolation and participation appears to be going down. This year only seven countries have sent ships– the United States of America, China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Italy, and Japan. Click here to read…

Turkey insults Pakistan, refuses to host PM Shehbaz Sharif – Firstpost

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif announced his visit to Ankara to show solidarity with Turkey. He did not think that the country which is currently facing a natural disaster, resources should not be spent on VIP visits. In such a situation, Turkey itself refused to host Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif. Click here to read…

12 TTP militants killed in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – The Hindu

Pakistan’s security forces gunned down 12 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants on February 8 in the country’s restive northwest, police said, as the government stepped up its offensive against outlawed groups following a spike in terror attacks. Click here to read…

Pakistan at beginning of worst economic crisis since country’s formation: Report – Economic Times

Pakistan is currently at the beginning of the worst economic crisis since the country’s formation in 1947, Geo-politik reported. According to Geo-politik, Pakistan has taken fourteen loans from the IMF thus far, but ironically none of them has ever been completed. This, therefore, raises serious questions about the capacity and capability of the Pakistan state to get out of this dead-end. Click here to read…

Sri Lanka
“I will respect the country” – Daily News

President Ranil Wickremesinghe delivering the Government’s Policy Statement yesterday requested everyone not to be prisoners of the past, but think about the future. “Let’s unite consensually and move forward democratically to support the recovery of the nation from the current crisisClick here to read…

Swiss government provides funds through UNICEF to support services for children In Sri Lanka – Colombo Page

The Government of Switzerland has contributed Swiss Francs (CHF) 500,000 (approximately Rs. 199 million) through UNICEF to meet the urgent needs of children impacted by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. With this funding, UNICEF will procure essential medical supplies, including medicines for treatment of illnesses and complications among children and women. In education, the funds will help children in disadvantaged schools continue learning and support catch-up classes to recover learning loss, including by providing transport allowance to teachers and daily snacks to students. Click here to read…

Japanese State Minister of Foreign affairs visits Port of Colombo – Daily News

Japanese State Minister of Foreign Affairs TAKEI Shunsuke visited the Port of Colombo learn about the ongoing developments in the Port of Colombo. During the visit the Japanese State Minister of Foreign Affairs also met the Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) – Keith D. Bernard and other higher officials at the main control tower of the Port. The Chairman of SLPA explained to the Japanese State Minister of Foreign Affairs of the progress of the developments of the East Container Terminal (ECT), the West Container Terminal and the North Port Development Project. Click here to read…

China: Daily Scan, May 30, 2022

State Council appoints, removes officials: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

The State Council, China’s cabinet, announced the appointment and removal of officials Friday. The State Council appointed Qi Yanjun vice minister of public security, Zhao Fengtao deputy head of China International Development Cooperation Agency, and Bi Baogui deputy head of China Meteorological Administration (CMA). Click here to read…

China releases medium-, long-term plan to develop philosophy, social sciences: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

China has released a medium- and long-term action plan to promote the high-quality development of philosophy and social sciences in the country’s higher education system. Targeting 2035, the plan aims to build an independent knowledge system to better answer questions regarding China, the world, the people and the era, said the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Ministry of Education, which jointly released the plan. Click here to read…

Profits of Chinese SOEs drop amid coronavirus resurgences: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

The combined profits of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) declined in the January-April period owing to a high comparison base in the same period last year and sporadic resurgences of COVID-19, official data showed Friday. a href=”https://english.news.cn/20220527/5f5c62671df049a2a82af61fb627a905/c.html” target=”_blank”>Click here to read…

Foreign-funded banks support Shanghai’s enterprises amid epidemic: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

Amid the latest resurgence of COVID-19, foreign-funded banks in Shanghai have provided various financial services to enterprises and helped them raise capital and hedge risks. Considering the impact of COVID-19 on the automobile industry, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (China) engaged in five asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions to raise capital for companies in the auto industry, underwriting 400 million yuan (about 59 million U.S. dollars) and buying 600 million yuan of ABS in April, said Chen Shile, head of the capital market department of the bank. Click here to read…

Chinese ambassador warns ‘malicious confrontation’ after US announces ‘invest, align, compete’ strategy, analysts says decoupling attempt to fail: Global Times
May 27, 2022

The US’ threefold strategy of “invest, align, compete” to tackle the so-called long-term China challenge, an economic coercion devised by Washington to contain the development of the world’s second-largest economy based upon its hegemonic mindset, is doomed to fail as the approach is contradictory in substance and countries won’t buy into its decoupling attempt to set up a China-free supply chain, Chinese observers and officials saidClick here to read…

China punishes local officials for falsifying economic data: Reuters
May 27, 2022

China has punished a number of local officials with demotions or dismissal for falsifying economic data, the country’s statistics bureau said on Friday, as part of an effort to curb data fraud as the economy falters. Click here to read…

Meeting held to review CPC regulations on political consultation: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday to review the regulations of the CPC on political consultation work. Click here to read…

China, Solomon Islands reach eight-point consensus: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

China and the Solomon Islands reached a series of important consensuses after friendly, in-depth and productive communication on deepening bilateral mutually-beneficial cooperation, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday. Click here to read…

BRICS countries vow to further strengthen education cooperation: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

A declaration has been signed by ministers of education from BRICS countries on the priorities and direction of future cooperation in the education sector. At the 9th meeting of BRICS Ministers of Education held via video link, Chinese Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng called for joint efforts to build a BRICS education partnership that is closer, more pragmatic and of higher quality, thus contributing to global education reform and development. Click here to read…

UN peacekeeping chief praises China’s support: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Thursday praised China’s support for the UN peacekeeping operations. “China is one of our main supporters, really both in terms of the financial contributions, also in terms of the contributions in the field with more than 2,000 peacekeepers,” the UN peacekeeping chief told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York. Click here to read…

Profits of Chinese SOEs drop amid coronavirus resurgences: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

The combined profits of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) declined in the January-April period owing to a high comparison base in the same period last year and sporadic resurgences of COVID-19, official data showed Friday. Click here to read…

Foreign-funded banks support Shanghai’s enterprises amid epidemic: Xinhuanet
May 27, 2022

Amid the latest resurgence of COVID-19, foreign-funded banks in Shanghai have provided various financial services to enterprises and helped them raise capital and hedge risks. Considering the impact of COVID-19 on the automobile industry, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (China) engaged in five asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions to raise capital for companies in the auto industry, underwriting 400 million yuan (about 59 million U.S. dollars) and buying 600 million yuan of ABS in April, said Chen Shile, head of the capital market department of the bank. Click here to read…

U.S. urged to give up its obsession with containing China: Xinhuanet
May 28, 2022

The key for the China-U.S. relationship to walk out of the predicament is for the U.S. side to abandon its mania for zero-sum games, give up its obsession with encircling and containing China and stop undermining China-U.S. relations, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday. Click here to read…

U.S. extends tariff exclusions on Chinese COVID-19 medical products: Reuters
May 28, 2022

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Friday said it extended tariff exclusions on Chinese-made medical products needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic for another six months, to Nov. 30. Click here to read…

Germany denies VW China investment guarantees over human rights concerns: Reuters
May 28, 2022

Germany’s Economy Ministry has refused to provide carmaker Volkswagen with guarantees to cover new investments in China because of concerns over human rights violations in the Xinjiang region, Der Spiegel reported on Friday. Click here to read…

High-tech to help metaverse unspool: China Daily
May 28, 2022

Big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies are expected to play a vital role in building the metaverse, one of the hottest buzzwords for the next phase of the internet, experts said at an industry event. Such technologies are set to promote the integration of tangible and virtual worlds, they said. Click here to read…

Let it rip’ approach to COVID-19 definitely not science-based: People’s Daily
May 28, 2022

The “let it rip” approach to COVID-19 by some Western countries will create long-term and sustained negative impacts on social and economic operations. Despite an upsurge in Omicron cases, the United States and some European countries have lifted COVID-19 restrictionsClick here to read…

Xi calls for advancing study of Chinese civilization: Xinhuanet
May 29, 2022

On Friday afternoon, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, presided over the 39th group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to further a national research project on tracing the origins of Chinese civilization. Click here to read…

Chinese vice premier stresses summer agricultural production: Xinhuanet
May 29, 2022

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua has urged unremitting efforts to ensure a bumper summer harvest and good autumn sowing so as to achieve the whole-year goal of grain production. Click here to read…

China punishes 11,351 officials in April for violating frugality rules: Xinhuanet
May 29, 2022

China punished 11,351 people in April for violating the country’s eight-point code on improving Party and government conduct, the top anti-graft body said on its website Sunday. The punished were involved in 7,441 cases, said the monthly statement by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission. Click here to read…

Chinese mainland reports 54 new local confirmed COVID-19 cases: Xinhuanet
May 29, 2022

The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported 54 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 29 were in Shanghai and 14 in Beijing, the National Health Commission said Sunday. Click here to read…

UN human rights chief wraps up China visit after wide interactions with all sectors: Global Times
May 29, 2022

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has wrapped up her six-day visit in China, including its Xinjiang region, but her statement that showcased her team’s wide interactions with people from different sectors in China and progress in facilitating future exchanges between Beijing and Geneva seemed to have disappointed the US. Meanwhile, anti-China forces attempting to use the visit to nail the allegation of “genocide” on China are now trying to deny Bachelet’s visit and attacking China for “manipulating” her trip for propaganda. Click here to read…

Beijing, Shanghai walk out of shadow of Omicron: Global Times
May 29, 2022

Beijing and Shanghai, China’s two megacities, are gradually walking out of the shadow of Omicron outbreaks, providing valuable experiences for the country in carrying out the dynamic zero-COVID strategy that once again proves to be the most effective approach in containing the highly contagious virus at the minimum costs to the economy and people’s life. Click here to read…

Shanghai, Beijing manifest China’s dynamic epidemic clearing mandate: Global Times
May 29, 2022

Thanks to the strict enforcement of prevention and control protocols, the coronavirus epidemic in Shanghai and Beijing, two megacities in China, has finally abated, with epidemiologists and health officials from both cities feeling upbeat, announcing over the weekend that they are on the cusp of winning another arduous battle against the virus. Click here to read…

China-Switzerland trade talks stall over rights issues, Swiss newspapers report: Reuters
May 29, 2022

Efforts by Switzerland to refresh its free trade agreement with China have stalled as Bern takes a more critical view of Beijing’s human rights record, Swiss newspapers reported on Sunday. Click here to read…

Chinese mainland reports 20 new local confirmed COVID-19 cases, 8 in Beijing: Xinhuanet
May 30, 2022

The Chinese mainland Sunday reported 20 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, including eight in Beijing, and six each in Tianjin and Shanghai, according to the National Health Commission’s report Monday. Click here to read…

Mega data project bolsters China’s digital infrastructure: Quishi
May 30, 2022

As China rides the digitalization wave and seeks to tap into the full potential of the big data industry, a megaproject addressing the soaring demand for computing power is taking shape. In February, China started work on the project to build an integrated national big data system involving the establishment of eight national computing hubs and 10 national data center clusters. Click here to read…

Shanghai enacts post-lockdown action plan: China Daily
May 30, 2022

Shanghai released a 50-measure action plan on Sunday to fully assist domestic and foreign enterprises in recovering from challenges brought by the wave of COVID-19 infections over the past few months and to rehabilitate Shanghai’s economic vitality. Click here to read…

Some in Beijing back to work, Shanghai inches closer to ending COVID lockdown: Reuters
May 30, 2022

Streets in Beijing were busier on Monday as residents in two districts were allowed to return to work, while Shanghai inched closer towards lifting its two-month old COVID-19 lockdown from Wednesday, as the number of infections across China dropped. Click here to read…

Chinese police investigate commercial Covid test labs over alleged fraud: South China Morning Post
May 30, 2022

Police in the Chinese capital are investigating three Covid-19 mass testing laboratories, accusing them of improper testing leading to inaccurate results. Police said on Sunday that eight people from the Beijing Zhongtong Lanbo Medical Testing Laboratory were detained over allegations that the company tried to cut costs and time by mixing too many samples in one test despite knowing it would lead to inaccurate results. Click here to read…

Two mega-kilowatt pumped storage power plants start operation in Greater Bay Area: Global Times
May 30, 2022

Two mega-kilowatt pumped storage power plants in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) officially started power generation on May 28, marking the power grid capacity in the GBA leading the world with the largest installed pumped storage, the strongest grid adjustment capacity, and the highest proportion of clean energy consumption among international bay areas, Chinese media cnr.cn reported on Monday. Click here to read…

Psychological services in demand: China Daily
May 30, 2022

The rumors were quickly denied by the municipal government at a news conference that afternoon, with the authorities saying that daily supplies would not be affected and there was no need for panic buying. These rumors have been dispelled, but as several cities grapple with a new wave of COVID-19 infections caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, concern for people’s mental health during the pandemic has again become an important issue that different sides of society are working hard to address. Click here to read…

Shanghai enacts post-lockdown action plan: China Daily
May 30, 2022

Shanghai released a 50-measure action plan on Sunday to fully assist domestic and foreign enterprises in recovering from challenges brought by the wave of COVID-19 infections over the past few months and to rehabilitate Shanghai’s economic vitality. Click here to read…