Tag: South Asia

Kathmandu (TIP): Seven persons were killed in separate incidents of landslides that were triggered by incessant rain in the western part of Nepal in the last 24 hours, police said on August 20.
Four members of a family were buried alive in the Bajhang district as a landslide swept a house in the Bungal municipality-10 on Sunday night, according to the police.
Those killed included 50-year-old Kali Dhami, her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren aged six and three, said the police. Meanwhile, six members of the family managed to escape nature’s fury.
In another incident, a landslide buried a temporary shelter in Majha gaon of the Nalgad municipality-2 in Jajarkot district on Monday, killing three members of a family.
According to the police, the family had been living in the temporary shelter after their house had collapsed in the earthquake last year. More than 1,800 people have lost their lives in a decade, owing to the monsoon’s fury in the Himalayan nation. (PTI)

Colombo (TIP): The Sri Lankan government has announced visa-free access to citizens from 35 countries, including India, the UK and the US to the island nation for six months, media reports said on August 21. The Cabinet made the decision which will be in effect from October 1, 2024, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported quoting Adviser to the Ministry of Tourism, Harin Fernando.
The policy is for six months, Fernando said. Countries on the list include India, the UK, China, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Australia, Denmark, Poland, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Nepal, Indonesia, Russia, and Thailand.
Other countries include Malaysia, Japan, France, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Israel, Belarus, Iran, Sweden, South Korea, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and New Zealand.
Earlier, controversy surrounded increased fees for on-arrival visas in Sri Lanka, which were being handled by a foreign company.
Visitors from India, China, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia received tourist visas free of charge to Sri Lanka. (PTI)

NEW DELHI (TIP): The ouster of Bangladesh’s autocratic premier sparked celebrations in Dhaka this week but alarm in neighbouring India, which backed Sheikh Hasina to counter rival China and quash Islamist alternatives, analysts say.
It has created a diplomatic dilemma for the regional powerhouse.
Hasina, 76, quit as prime minister in the face of a student-led uprising on Monday and fled by helicopter to longtime ally New Delhi.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to offer his “best wishes” after Bangladesh’s newly sworn-in interim leader Muhammad Yunus took power on August 8, saying New Delhi was “committed” to working with Dhaka.
But China was also swift to welcome Dhaka’s new authorities, saying it “attaches importance to the development” of relations. With Hasina’s rivals in control in Dhaka, India’s support for the old government has come back to bite.
“From the point of view of Bangladeshis, India has been on the wrong side for a couple of years now,” said International Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean.
“The Indian government absolutely did not want to see a change in Dhaka, and had made that very clear for years that they didn’t see any alternative to Hasina and the Awami League.”
Bangladesh is almost entirely encircled by India, with a deeply intertwined history long before they were partitioned out of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. But while India’s 1.4 billion population and dominating economy overshadows Bangladesh — with a population of 170 million — Hasina also courted China. (AFP)

RAMANATHAPURAM (TIP): The Sri Lankan Navy seized four country boats and arrested as many as 33 Indian fishermen hailing from the Pamban region for alleged violation of the IMBL here on August 8. According to official sources, the arrested fishermen were escorted to Thalai Mannar and will be handed over to Puthalam fisheries officials for further proceedings.
Speaking to TNIE, Rayappan, a leader of country boat fishermen association in Pamban, condemned the Lankan Navy’s act and added, “We had raised these issues with the external affairs minister the other day, and were assured of proper action. However, now, our fishermen have been arrested by Sri Lanka again. Immediate action must be taken to ensure their release.”

Gujranwala (TIP): A 65-year-old woman, Razia Bibi suffering from a hernia, committed suicide after using her treatment money to pay an unexpected electricity bill, ARY News reported. She had carefully set aside funds for her treatment, but the sudden bill left her with no other option, leading to a tragic sequence of events. She had diligently saved money for her hernia operation. However, when faced with an unexpected electricity bill of Pakistani currency (PKR) 10,000, she had no choice but to use her medical savings to settle the payment, as per ARY News.
Following this, the son of Razia Bibi stated that his mother had gone out to buy medicine but was deeply distressed over the financial setback, overcome by despair, she jumped into a nearby drain, as per the police officials. “I met traders and industrialists here in the past week and they lamented, ‘we are at our limits and cannot run our factories anymore,’” Rehman said, as reported by Dawn. He highlighted the broader economic impact, pointing out that the closure of a single factory results in thousands of people losing their jobs. (ANI)

Kathmandu (TIP): Captain Manish Raj Shakya, the lone survivor of a deadly plane crash in Nepal that killed 18 people, was saved after the aircraft’s cockpit was sheared off by a freight container seconds before the rest of the aircraft went up in flames, a report said on August 1.
Airport Security Office Ram Dutt Joshi said: “We rescued Shakya from inside the container.” Doctors said the pilot was “free from danger” and can speak. He can also consume liquid food.
Meanwhile, Nepalese authorities on Thursday recovered the black box of the aircraft that crashed here a day before and handed it over to a probe team formed to inquire into the tragic accident that killed 18 persons, including a child. (PTI)

Dhaka (TIP) : The mobile Internet connection was restored in Bangladesh on July 28, 10 days after it was restricted by authorities across the country to stop the spread of fake news on social media amidst the deadly nationwide violence over reforms in the quota system in government jobs. Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak announced that 5GB Internet will be given for free to all users for three days after the connection is restored, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. (PTI)

Dhaka (TIP): Bangladesh on August 2 banned the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir under anti-terrorism law following nationwide unrest over the quota system for government jobs, accusing the fundamentalist party of instigating protests that left at least 150 people dead. A notification issued by the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed the ban on the Islamist party, a key ally of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The ban on Jamaat, Chhatra Shibir and other associated groups came through an executive order under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
“They (Jamaat-Shibir and BNP) just used the students as their shield,” PM Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday when Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro called on her at her here. (PTI)

Peshawar (TIP) : At least 30 people were killed and 145 others injured in armed clashes between two tribes fighting over a piece of land in Pakistan’s restive tribal district in northwest, officials said on July 28.
Officials said that heavy clashes started five days ago in Boshera village in Upper Kurram district, which has witnessed deadly conflicts among tribes and religious groups as well as sectarian clashes and militant attacks in the past. Police said the tribal clashes left 30 people dead and 145 others injured in the last five days in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, bordering Afghanistan. Officials with the help of tribal elders, military leadership, police and district administration have brokered a truce between Shia and Sunni tribes in Boshera, Malikhel and Dandar areas a short while ago, police said.
However, firing is still continuing in some other parts of the district. An official said efforts were being made to reach a ceasefire in the remaining areas too.
Clashes broke out between the two tribes over a land dispute four days ago. The clashes spread to other areas such as Peewar, Tangi, Balishkhel and Khaar Kalay. (PTI)

KABUL (TIP): At least 35 people were killed and 230 injured on July 17 after heavy rain in eastern Afghanistan, a local official said. “On Monday evening, rain caused by thunderstorms killed 35 people and injured 230 others in Jalalabad and certain districts of Nangarhar” province, Quraishi Badloon, head of the department of information and culture, told AFP. The casualties were caused by heavy storms and rains that collapsed trees, walls and roofs of people’s houses, Badloon said. “There is a possibility that casualties might rise,” he went on, adding that the wounded as well as victims’ bodies were brought to Nangarhar regional hospital and Fatima-tul-Zahra hospital. Images shared by Badloon’s department showed medical personnel wearing white and blue uniforms giving treatment to the wounded.
“We share the grief of the families of the victims,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban government.
“The relevant institutions of the Islamic Emirate have been directed to go to the affected areas as soon as possible,” Mujahid wrote on X, adding they would provide shelter, food and medicine to displaced families.
The tragedy comes after flash floods killed hundreds of people in Afghanistan in May and swamped agricultural lands in the country, where 80 percent of the population depends on farming to survive. Among the poorest countries in the world, Afghanistan is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change. (AFP)

ISLAMABAD (TIP): Heavy rains in eastern Afghanistan have killed at least 40 people and injured nearly 350 others, Taliban officials said July 17. Among the dead in Monday’s storm were five members of the same family when the roof of their house collapsed in Surkh Rod district, according to provincial spokesperson Sediqullah Quraishi.Four other family members were injured.
Sharafat Zaman Amar, a spokesperson for the Public Health Ministry, said the 347 injured people had been brought for treatment to the regional hospital in Nangarhar from Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, and nearby districts.
About 400 houses and 60 electricity poles were destroyed across Nangarhar, Quraishi said.Power was cut in many areas and there were limited communications in Jalalabad city, he said. The damage was still being assessed.
Abdul Wali, 43, said much of the damage occurred within an hour. “The winds were so strong that they blew everything into the air. That was followed by heavy rain,” he said. His 4-year-old daughter received minor injuries, he said. Aid organizations rushed supplies and mobile teams. (TIP)

DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh students vowed on July 18 to continue nationwide protests against civil service hiring rules, rebuffing an olive branch from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who pledged justice for seven killed in the demonstrations.
Hasina’s government has ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely and stepped up efforts to contain weeks of rallies demanding equal access to public sector jobs.
Riot police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds while protesters and students allied to the premier’s ruling Awami League have battled on the streets with bricks and bamboo rods.
Hasina condemned the “murder” of protesters in a televised address to the nation and vowed that those responsible will be punished regardless of their political affiliation.
But Students Against Discrimination, the main group behind this month’s rallies, said her words were insincere and urged supporters to press on.
“It did not reflect the murders and mayhem carried out by her party activists,” Asif Mahmud, one of the coordinators of the protests, told AFP.
The group called on Bangladeshis to observe a nationwide shutdown on July 18, by keeping shops closed and staying at home ahead of fresh protests planned for later in the day.
The call was widely observed in the capital Dhaka, with barely any vehicles seen on the city’s usually traffic-choked roads.
Dhaka residents reported widespread mobile internet outages on Thursday, two days after internet providers cut off access to Facebook — the protest campaign’s key organising tool.
Police on July 18 announced the death of a seventh protester the previous evening, conceding that police weaponry had killed the 18-year-old.
“He was hit by rubber bullets,” police inspector Bacchu Mia told AFP. “He was brought to the hospital but died before he was admitted.”
More than 500 others were injured in clashes around the country on Wednesday, while six people were killed on Tuesday. Hasina’s speech did not assign responsibility for the deaths, but descriptions from hospital authorities and students given to AFP earlier suggest at least some of the victims died when police used supposedly non-lethal weapons on demonstrations.
Rights group Amnesty International said video evidence from clashes this week showed that Bangladeshi security forces had used unlawful force. (AFP)

DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh’s top court on July 10 temporarily suspended quotas for coveted government jobs after thousands of students staged nationwide protests against what they call a discriminatory system, lawyers said.
The quota system reserves more than half of well-paid and massively over-subscribed civil service posts, totalling hundreds of thousands of government jobs, for specific groups including children of liberation heroes.
Students launched protests earlier this month, demanding a merit-based system, with demonstrations on Wednesday blocking highways and railway lines.
“Our only demand is that the government abolish the quota system,” said student protest leader Rasel Ahmed, from Chittagong University.
“We will not return to classrooms until our demand is met,” Ahmed told AFP.
The quota system was abolished in 2018 after weeks of protests, but reinstated in June by Dhaka’s High Court, sparking fury from students.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended that order for a month, said lawyer Shah Monjurul Hoque, who represents two students seeking to end the quota system. (AP)

COLUMBO (TIP): The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved a move to amend the Constitution giving clarity to terms of both the president and Parliament, restricting it to five years only, the government announced on July 10. The dispute about the president’s term arose as the independent election commission was preparing to announce the poll date for the next presidential election. The terms for both posts are already five years as per the 19th Amendment since 2015. However, the problem was over Article 83, which said the term could be extended to six from five with a referendum. A petitioner approached the Supreme Court asking it to define if the terms were five or six years.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court rejected the petition which sought a ruling on the seeming ambiguity between 30(2) and 83 in the Constitution, which means, it will be five years only. The amendment to be introduced now seeks to resolve the issue arising from Article 83 (b) that reads, ???extend the term of office of the president or the duration of parliament as the case may be? to over five years from the present six.
The election commission chief RMAL Ratnayake, who held preliminary arrangements with the police and the government printer, on Tuesday said that the date for the presidential polls could be announced by the end of the month.
The Commission had previously announced that the election would be held between September 16 and October 17.