DHAKA, 22 October 2022, (TON): The Bangladesh Embassy in Poland has asked Bangladeshi nationals including students to inform them about their situation in Ukraine in light of the ongoing Russian invasion.
A notice was issued by the Bangladesh Embassy in Poland, saying “Expatriate Bangladeshis currently staying in Ukraine are requested to contact the Bangladesh Embassy in Poland as soon as possible.”
Around 20 Bangladeshi families are living in Kyiv.
A day before, the Indian embassy in Ukraine asked their nationals to leave Ukraine at the earliest chance given a fresh wave of hostilities, reports Hindustan times.

DHAKA, 22 October 2022, (TON): To highlight the development policy of Bangladesh and the crisis management capacity of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the International Affairs Sub-committee of the ruling party Awami League arranged a meeting.
The meeting, followed by a dinner party, was held at a hotel in Dhaka, with ambassadors of different countries as guests.
The title of the program was "The Mind Behind the Miracle.”
International Affairs Secretary of Awami League Shammi Ahmed gave the welcome speech and former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman delivered the keynote speech.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said "the World Bank now says that Bangladesh is an inspiration to the whole world in poverty alleviation."

DHAKA, 22 October 2022, (TON): To highlight the development policy of Bangladesh and the crisis management capacity of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the International Affairs Sub-committee of the ruling party Awami League arranged a meeting.
The meeting, followed by a dinner party, was held at a hotel in Dhaka, with ambassadors of different countries as guests.
The title of the program was "The Mind Behind the Miracle.”
International Affairs Secretary of Awami League Shammi Ahmed gave the welcome speech and former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman delivered the keynote speech.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said "the World Bank now says that Bangladesh is an inspiration to the whole world in poverty alleviation."

NEW DELHI, 22 October 2022, (TON): a defence official said "Indian Army helicopter, carrying army personnel, crashed at Migging in West Siang district of north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh."
There is no official word on how many personnel were on board and what happened to them, reports our New Delhi correspondent quoting the official.
The official added he incident took place at 10.43 am."
The crash site is not accessible by road and a rescue team has been sent there.

DHAKA, 22 October 2022, (TON): Bangladesh has requested the United Nations Department of Global Communications to play a strong role in raising awareness about Myanmar's brutal crimes against Rohingya.
Kazi Nabil, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted Bangladesh’s position at the United Nations Conference Room 4.
Speaking on the Rohingya issue, he said "I request the United Nations DGC to play a strong role in raising awareness about the brutal crimes committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar.
He also spoke about Bangladesh's position concerning several issues, including ethnic language preservation and digitization.

DHAKA, 22 October 2022, (TON): A team of the International Monetary Fund is expected to visit Dhaka from October 26 to November 9 to start discussions with the Bangladesh authorities on economic and financial reforms and policies.
Reads a statement issued by the IMF "the objective is to make progress towards a staff-level agreement on a prospective Extended Credit Facility/Extended Fund Facility programme and access under the newly created Resilience and Sustainability Facility in the coming months."
The RSF aims to provide affordable, long-term financing to help build resilience against

DHAKA, 22 October 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate 50 industrial units, projects and facilities in Economic Zones marking the 50 years of the country's independence.
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority Executive Chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun said "the PM will virtually inaugurate 50 industrial units, projects and facilities in the EZs across the country and the BEZA will hold the event at eight venues."
he added "these include commercial operations of four factories at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar Nin Chattogram and eight factories in different privately-run Economic Zones."

By S. Sultan

Recently, Nepal has witnessed several evolving achievements. During the recent official visit by Nepali Foreign Minister on August 9, China announced an approximately USD $117 million grant and several infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, India has granted Nepal access to its western seaports in Gujrat for transit trade, which carries significant political and economic weight in Nepal.
As a landlocked country between two regional countries and one of the largest beneficiaries of U.S. development aid in the region, Nepal has become a key area of interest for regional and international powers. However, Kathmandu has been carefully balancing all external players within its ‘non-aligned’ approach, concentrating on national developmental requirements. With elections scheduled for November 2022, Nepal’s methodology will likely continue regardless of a change in government.
Mentioned as a Least Developed Country (LDC) by the United Nations, refining infrastructure is a key national goal for Nepal to attain economic affluence. Nepal has been leveraging its geopolitical and economic interests to pursue a promising financing mechanism for its grant projects and faster implementation from China and India, especially after ratification the U.S. Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC).
In February 2022, Nepal endorsed the USD $500 million MCC-Nepal Compact five years after officially accepting the aid, despite large-scale protests in Kathmandu and from China against US’ “coercive diplomacy” in Nepal. However, Nepal’s Parliament ratified the MCC on its own terms with a 12-point announcement that the agreement is a developmental compact and not a military or security alliance. After the endorsement of the MCC, Nepal has also been more cautious in dealing its relationships with adjacent countries, both geopolitically and geo-economically.
Due to the geo-strategic significance of Nepal, both New Delhi and Washington desire to maximize their developmental projects in Nepal to have a sway in the internal affairs of Nepal to cope with the growing influence of China in the Indio-specific region. Although, Nepal has signed development agreements but has been cautious of military or security partnerships. For instance, in May 2022, Nepal signed a five-year bilateral assistance agreement with USAID for USD $659 million. However, in June 2022, protests in Kathmandu and misgivings from China led to the termination of the signing of the State Partnership Program (SPP) between the Nepal Army and the US National Guard.
With China, Kathmandu has also managed to secure more grant projects to fulfill its development needs, despite rising protests and reports on its infringement into Nepal’s territory. During the mutual visits of the Chinese Foreign Minister to Kathmandu in March 2022 and the Nepal Foreign Minister's visit to China in August 2022, Kathmandu got grants of RMB 600 million (approx. USD $87.6 million) and RMB 800 million (around USD $117 million), individually, for financial and procedural cooperation. In addition to this, the Chinese foreign minister also decided to execution of infrastructure projects, including the construction of the second phase of the Kathmandu ring road along with a cross-border electricity line.
China’s announcements of grants to Nepal come against the backdrop of increasing Indian and U.S. interferences and interests in Nepal. Though China has managed its image in the region, there are still some hurdles in their mutual relations between china and Nepal. As China has not opened imperative trade routes for Nepal such as the Rasuwa-Keyrung and Tatopani- Jangmu ports for two-way trade in spite of Kathmandu's repeated requests. Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which Nepal signed in 2017, still many projects have not started yet.
Equally, America and India are trying to influence Nepal, both economically and diplomatically for their own interests which seems not possible due to the presence of ambitious china. Despite scaling up interests in Nepal, both India and the United States have not been able to counter China’s increasing presence and investments in Nepal. For the U.S., timely completion of the MCC and USAID projects in Nepal is a foremost challenge.
Moreover, its support for inclusive governance, regulations, and policies in Nepal must remain transparent to avoid political backlash. As Kathmandu has already made it clear that it would not like to be a part of any geopolitical or security alliance that affects its developmental interests and can also jeopardize regional peace. The upcoming elections in the country are also a litmus test and contest between pro-china and American-led India. The result of the elections would be decisive in this regard.

MANILA, 21 October 2022, (TON): President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed that the Philippines had scrapped its deal with Russia for 16 military heavy-lift helicopters and said "his administration has secured alternative supply from the US."
The agreement to buy 16 Mi-17 helicopters was signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte last year.
Before the end of his term in June, Duterte canceled the contract over concerns of possible Western sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Philippine Department of National Defense announced in August it was formalizing termination of the deal, which had been worth about 12.7 billion pesos ($215 million).

BRUSSELS, 21 October 2022, (TON): European Union leaders struggled to find immediate practical solutions at their summit called to grapple with the energy crisis fueled by the war in Ukraine and maintain a united front in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin coercion.
After lengthy talks in Brussels dragged well into the night, the 27 EU leaders could not bridge divisions between some of the biggest member states and failed to impose a gas price cap to counter Russia’s strategy to choke off gas supplies to the bloc at will.
They agreed, however, to keep working to find a compromise on a list of measures based on proposals unveiled earlier this week by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which were discussed in depth and tweaked at the summit.