Afghanistan
Over 200 Afghan Media Outlets Shut Down in Past Year: Journalist Federation: Tolo News
The Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media expressed concerns over the situation of media in Afghanistan and said that over 200 media outlets have ceased operations and 7,000 media workers have lost their jobs in the past year. Officials of the group noted that they had made suggestions to the international community and the Islamic Emirate about the protection of media workers, but the problem has not been solved. Click here to read…
Hanafi Calls U.S. Drone Strike Violation of Doha Agreement: The Khaama Press
Abdul Salam Hanafi, the second Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate, said the United States drone strike in Kabul violates both national sovereignty and the Doha Agreement, according to sources. On Monday night, President Biden administration announced an American drone strike killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri at an urban safe house in Afghanistan. Click here to read…
Taliban Settles Multi-Million Dollar Unpaid Debt to Uzbekistan for Electricity: The Khaama Press
The Energy Ministry of Uzbekistan announced on Monday that Afghanistan has paid off its debt to Uzbekistan for the supply of electricity for the year 2021. Afghanistan has fully paid for the supply of energy in 2021 and is now making payments for the supply of electricity in 2022, according to the Uzbek Energy Ministry. Click here to read…
Drowning in Debt; Afghanistan Owes $28 Million to Tajikistan: The Khaama Press
Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) of Afghanistan owes Tajikistan $28 million for electricity, said Mohammad Omar Asuzada, the head of the national electricity company of Tajikistan, Barqi Tojik. In a press conference on August 1, the Tajik energy official stated that transferring money from the DABS company to Barqi Tojik became challenging after the banks responsible for purchasing electricity came under sanctions. Click here to read…
Bhutan
Mishra emphasizes on strengthening relationship between Arunachal and Bhutan – Arunachal Times
Governor B D Mishra has emphasized on strengthening the age-old relationships between Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan. “Both Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan have strong traditional cultural links and there are great similarities in their social and cultural heritage,” Governor said when Consul General of Bhutan, Royal Bhutanese Consulate General, Guwahati, Jigme Thinyle Namgyal called on him at Raj Bhavan here Wednesday. Click here to read…
Plan to secure tigers of the rivers – Kuensel Online
Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora), also known as Tigers of the Rivers, is an endangered fish species found in rivers of Southern and Eastern Bhutan. The fish is locally called sernya. Today, the fish faces threats from developmental activities, climate change and illegal fishing, among others. Click here to read…
Bangladesh
Foreign secretary: No discussion on new loan during Chinese FM’s visit: Dhaka Tribune
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has said taking a new loan from China will not be a part of their agenda during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s upcoming Bangladesh visit. “This time, the issue of taking loan afresh isn’t there at least,” he said on Wednesday when a reporter wanted to know whether Bangladesh is going to take a loan from China again. Click here to read…
Businesses for using multiple currencies: The Daily Star
Bangladesh should cut its over-reliance on the US dollar and increase the use of other currencies such as the Chinese renminbi (RMB) in international trade to ease pressure in the foreign currency market, businesses saidClick here to read…
Editorial: Petrobangla’s dangerous dependency on gas imports: The Daily Star
Who gave Petrobangla the permission to spend Tk 2,000 crore from the Gas Development Fund (GDF) to import liquefied natural gas (LNG)? Certainly not the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), even though Petrobangla is legally bound to ask the commission before spending from the fund, which was set up in 2009 for gas exploration. While officials are fully aware that this fund is not for gas import, the money, apparently, was taken as a loan for emergency circumstances with the approval of the Finance Division. Click here to read…
Maldives
Maldives President Concludes India Visit – Foreign Brief
The President of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih concludes a visit to India today. During the four-day official trip, Solih met with an Indian business delegation and held diplomatic talks with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders discussed a number of issues around security and political cooperation. Click here to read…
President attends the India-Maldives Business Forum in Mumbai – Raajje
The India-Maldives Business Forum hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), brought together prominent business leaders from the Maldives and India to discuss promoting economic links between the two countries. Click here to read…
India to supply Landing Assault Craft, 24 Utility Vehicles to bolster Maldives’ maritime security – News On Air
Taking the time-tested India-Maldives defence & security partnership to a notch higher, India has announced the supply of a second Landing Assault Craft (LCA) and a replacement ship for earlier provided CGS Huravee to bolster the maritime apparatus of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). Click here to read…
Myanmar
Scandinavian governments condemn executions in Myanmar – ScandAsia
Scandinavia stands united in its condemnation of the recent executions in Myanmar. On July 26, the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in Myanmar all published strong language opposing the recent executions of four pro-democracy and opposition leaders in that country. This stands in line with the broader opposition to the use of the death penalty by the European Union. Click here to read…
Asean Five-Point Consensus achieves little in Myanmar: Hun Sen – Asia News Network
Prime Minister Hun Sen said the current situation in Myanmar is seemingly worse than it was before the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus (5PC) was reached in April last year, with the ongoing crisis exacerbated by the recent execution of four opposition activists. Click here to read…
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov visits Myanmar, backs junta’s efforts to ‘stabilise’ country – NE Now
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday for meetings with the country’s junta leaders. Russia backs the Myanmar junta’s efforts to ‘stabilise’ the crisis-wracked country, foreign minister Lavrov said during talks with Myanmar junta leadersClick here to read…
Friends of Japanese journalist demand his release in Myanmar – ABC News
Friends of Toru Kubota, a Japanese journalist detained in military-ruled Myanmar while covering a protest, called for his immediate release Wednesday and an online petition has collected more than 41,000 signatures. Click here to read…
Two students killed, three others injured as the carrying boat was shot at in Paletwa – Narinjara
A boat carrying a number of students was shot at in Nama Da creek of upper Kaladan river at around 2 pm on Tuesday, killing two students and injuring three others. The wounded, including two students and one school employee, were sent to Paletwa hospital in the evening hours. Click here to read…
Nepal
India set for Agnipath, worry in Nepal over Gorkha recruits – Indian Express
On his first visit to Nepal as Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi told Nepal Parliament that there was no war India had fought in which Nepali blood had not been sacrificed. Praising the contribution and bravery of Gorkha soldiers in Indian Army, Modi said, “I salute the bravehearts who laid their lives for India.” Click here to read…
China using lending scam to destabilise India: Nepal police – Mid Day
A Chinese national, who has emerged as the brain behind the loan app racket and is wanted by the Mumbai and Odisha police, was in Nepal on July 25. Liu Yi escaped from the country after the police busted an illegal call centre in Rupandehi district for extorting money from Indian borrowers. Sources in Nepal police said they are worried about the recent trend of illegal activities targeting Indians being run from their soil. Click here to read…
116 Villages along Nepal border are now ‘Muslim majority’, madrasas and mosques mushrooming everywhere: Report – OpIndia
Intelligence agencies have recommended increasing the range of Border Security Forces (BSF) to 100 KM, owning to the unexpected demographic change in the border areas. As per reports, the Muslim population in border areas has increased by approx 32 per cent, significantly above the national average. Click here to read…
China says it appreciates Nepal’s longstanding commitment to ‘one China’ policy – In.Investing
Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi said on Wednesday that his country highly appreciates Nepal’s longstanding commitment to the “one China” principle and resolute opposition to “Taiwan’s Independence”. Click here to read…
Pakistan
NAB won’t be able to probe graft cases below Rs500m: Dawn
The National Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday that aims to further clip the wings of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) by proposing that all corruption cases involving an amount below Rs500 million would not come in its purview. Click here to read…
PTI files reference with Supreme Judicial Council, seeks removal of CEC: Dawn
A day after the announcement of the verdict by the Election Commission of Pakistan in the prohibited funding case, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf moved a reference before the Supreme Judicial Council against Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Wednesday. Click here to read…
Pakistan spends $1b for rebuilding of war-hit Afghanistan: The Express Tribune
Pakistan has contributed $1 billion to support the reconstruction of war-ravaged Afghanistan by building hospitals, schools and roads to manifest its commitment for a prosperous Afghanistan and falsify the impression of using the country as its proxy state. Click here to read…
Rupee gains significant ground against USD, trades at Rs228.50 in interbank: The Express Tribune
The Pakistani rupee made its first major recovery of around Rs10 to reach a one-week high of Rs228.50 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. Click here to read…
China rolls over $2bn loan for a year: The News
China has rolled over $2 billion loan in safe deposits for cash-strapped Pakistan’s economy amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves, The News has learnt. Click here to read…
Downpour in July shatters 61-year record in Pakistan: PMD: The News
With 181% above average rainfall, July 2022 happened to be an excessive-rain month with 177.6mm of rain against its normal of 63.1mm making it the wettest July since 1961, said the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Wednesday. Click here to read…
Sri Lanka
BASL calls IGP to immediately probe recent shooting incidents and dead bodies found on Galle Face beach: Daily Mirror
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has requested Inspector General of Police C.D. Wickramaratne to immediately conduct a fully-fledged investigation into the spate of shooting incidents and the dead bodies found on the Galle Face beach, the sources said yesterday. The BASL reportedly drew the attention of the IGP regarding the recent shooting incidents which have been reported from various parts of the country over several days, resulting in the deaths of several individuals. Click here to read…
Sri Lanka president thanks India for timely assistance: Times of India
As he called for an all party government to deal with the economic crisis Sri Lanka is facing, President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday thanked PM Modi for providing the island nation “a breath of life” by lending timely economic assistance. “I wish to specially mention the assistance provided by India, our closest neighbour, in our efforts of economic revitalisation,” he said. Click here to read…
Govt. formed by Ranil-Rajapaksa camp not an all-party arrangement – JVP: The Island
Declaring that President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his maiden policy statement delivered in Parliament yesterday, hadn’t said anything new or offered any hope for the country, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that an administration formed by Ranil-Rajapaksa camp couldn’t be considered an All-Party Government under any circumstances. Click here to read…