NEW DELHI, 06 December 2022, (TON):  Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an all-party meeting that India's G-20 presidency is a unique opportunity to showcase the country's strengths to the entire world.

Asserting that the country's presidency of the G-20, a grouping of world's 20 major economies, belongs to the entire nation, PM Modi said there is a global curiosity and attraction towards India today that further increases the occasion's potential, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

He emphasised the importance of teamwork and sought cooperation of all leaders in the organisation of various G-20 events.

DHAKA, 06 December 2022, (TON): A four day International Fleet Review (IFR)-2022 with participation of navies and maritime organisations from 28 countries including Bangladesh kicks off at Inani here.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to formally inaugurate the IFR and review the fleet as the chief guest, according to Bangladesh Navy website.

Bangladesh Navy is organizing the IFR on the occasion of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of Independence of the country.

The IFR-2022 will serve as an ideal platform for world navies to showcase their prowess, naval diplomacy, goodwill and cooperation in the international arena.

DHAKA, 06 December 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has moved to allay concerns over the economy, saying the situation in Bangladesh is still stable despite the struggles faced by many developed countries in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war and the coronavirus pandemic.

Hasina said "I know that there are some issues that are getting a lot of coverage. Many people may be misled by that. But I will say that there is nothing to be confused about.”

"Bangladesh's misfortune is that not everyone is pleased when the country makes economic progress in a peaceful environment. That is the reality."

DHAKA, 06 December 2022, (TON): Bangladesh Bank has opened short-term liquidity support to the Islamic banks that have been hit by withdrawal pressure amid a barrage of reports on suspicious lending.  

To aid liquidity management and deepen the financial system will be the objective of the Islamic Banks Liquidity Facility, the central bank said in guidelines issued on the new facility.

Islamic banks with investment in the government’s sukuk, a Shariah-compliant debt instrument, will be eligible to avail the facility for 14 days, according to the guidelines.

By S. Habib
The Bangladesh–Myanmar border is the international border between both countries stretches to 271km. About 210 km of the border is fenced however; rest of the border was planned to be fenced off by Myanmar as announced in 2017.
The both neighbouring countries had a generally frigid relationship as a result of the presence of over 270,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh often served as a major irritation. The civil society and political class of Bangladesh often uttered commonality for Burma's pro-democracy struggle. However, relations between the two nations have nose-dived exponentially as a result of Rohingya genocide which has resulted in the influx of over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees from Rakhine State in Myanmar, to the Bangladesh.
Cross-border and other security threats have grown more complicated over the past few years, and difficulties are piling up quickly. Threats including international organized crime, human trafficking, terrorism, and drug trafficking are too great for any state to handle on its own. It is essential to increase cooperation on both a regional and global scale. According to official records and media reports, in the last two months, few Rohingya have been killed and nearly one dozen others, including some Bangladeshi nationals, injured by mortars firing across the border.
Bangladesh is also dealing with the situation patiently and carefully considering the sensitivity of the border area. Bangladesh hardly wants any clash in its borderlands as it may have a wide range of adverse impacts upon it such as unstable borderland, new tensions bordering districts, a new refugee crisis from Rakhine, and hindering its peaceful development. In this regard, flag meetings of both countries are often held and they agreed to start joint patrolling of border and to stop illegal infiltration of Myanmar citizens and prevention of drug trafficking. Mutual communication between the border security forces of the two friendly states was emphasized to create an environment of trust and confidence. The Myanmar’s Border Guard Police  (BGP) was called upon to keep a watchful eye to ensure that no bullets are fired inside Bangladesh in the future as a byproduct of Myanmar's internal conflict and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and BGP will not accept separatists' activities on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
Bangladesh is always emphasizing for adherence to the Border Agreement-1980, and reiterated the national concern about the early repatriation of Displaced Myanmar Nationals from Rakhine temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh and solicited appropriate endeavor from Myanmar side. Myanmar also urged to enhance bilateral cooperation in combating illicit drugs and psychotropic substances and to prevent illegal border crossing. 
Both sides agreed to organize the coordination/flag meeting at battalion commander level once in every two months, region commandeer level twice a year, and senior level meetings between BGB and BGP twice a year. Further, Both sides agreed to maintain the border norms and practices and to share information with each other about any incident of firing/shooting/explosion/ movement of security forces at the border including early information of any flying of drones/aircrafts/helicopters to avoid misunderstanding and untoward situation and share information regarding the existence of miscreants/terrorist groups if noticed on either side of the bordering areas.
It has also been provisionally decided to hold the senior level 9th Border Conference between BGB and BGP at Dhaka, Bangladesh in May or June, 2023 based on a mutually agreed and convenient schedule.
BGP pledged to uphold a peaceful stance on the border in order to prevent the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar from being impacted by the civil war in Myanmar. Such a meeting demonstrates that all parties have a culture of open communication, mutual trust, and confidence that will serve to clear the road for the repatriation of the Rohingya.
Now United Nations, USA and other peace loving entities can play an important role in pressurizing and guiding both countries to stop foul-play to ensure stability on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Myanmar’s Union should also deal her alleged militant groups. The Armed conflicts in almost all states and the resistance of the People’s Democratic Force (PDF) are bringing further turmoil to the country. The ongoing conflict in Rakhine between the Junta and Arakan Army is a part of this turmoil also. Moreover, the Rakhine state is a very sensitive region as it is the home of the Rohingya. A new wave of refugees and violations of human rights can bring further instability to the region. The tension on Bangladesh- Myanmar border is a symptom of it. So, International peace loving bodies should be more active in ending the conflict in Rakhine and it should pressurize Myanmar to end its provocative actions on Bangladesh border for greater regional stability. All stake holders are to be brought to table talk to get all issues be resolved in peaceful manner rather than militant action.

By Ali Hassan
Sri Lanka's geo-strategic location and its importance is highlighted by the fact that it is virtually situated in the centre of Asia and most importantly the sea lanes between the Far East and the African and Arab worlds. This location gives the island a central position midway on the ancient maritime trade route between West and East Asia. Ships passing from Yangon and Calcutta going west to the Suez or the Cape or those sailing from Bombay or the Gulf and eastward to Singapore still use Sri Lanka's excellent harbours in Colombo and Trincomalee.
Moreover, the island nation occupies an important place in the critical sea lines of communication from where much of the trade and naval activity in the Indian Ocean can be monitored and controlled. Furthermore, Trincomalee is the base which has the capacity to serve as a major naval base in the region. As an extra regional naval force could well dominate the sea routes in the area so this naval base including those of India mainly become the cause to disrupt Indian oceanic shipping. However, if we talk about geography of the region, therefore, it has played a primary role in its security, as it occupies one of the most exposed and central positions of any country in the world.
Basically the concept of strategic unity of India and Sri Lanka emerged when British realized the strategic importance of the island nation, Sri Lanka. Whereby, the presence of India came to be regarded as a prerequisite to the defense and security of Sri Lanka. Britain, the major sea power of this period considered the Trincomalee harbor facing the Bay of Bengal in the island's east coast to be of strategic importance and considered it to become an important bastion in the British defense network. Sri Lanka and India were both part of the British Empire. However, Sri Lanka was not part of British India and was a separate crown colony. In this sense the two countries were both separate in terms of the British policy declaration and implementation. This geo-strategic significance of Sri Lanka was again highlighted during the last phase of the Second World War when Japanese bombs hit Colombo, Trincomalee and Madras. All this brought out clearly the vulnerabilities of the Indian coasts and thus Indian planners subsequently responded to these threats by giving out various proposals. They spelt out how since the sixteenth century, the future of India had been determined primarily by the oceans. As part of mechanisms to meet the threats arising from the ocean, proposals pleading for common defense links between Burma, Sri Lanka and India came up. The outcome which was mainly to create fears, were not about a threat from Sri Lanka, but that if anybody with inimical interests towards India gained a foothold in the island nation, then the security of both the states were under threat.
However, in Sri Lanka these views were being highlighted that Indians were looked upon as an expression of expansionism so that it was looked upon as a threat against which necessary measures had to be taken. Thus it is observed that a Defense Pact with United Kingdom was signed on November 11, 1947.
By the dawn of independence two aspects came out clearly for India. The realization that Sri Lankan coasts are vulnerable and secondly the close proximity of India and Sri Lanka being what it is, the island nation was bound to be part of India's coastal and naval defense. However, still Sri Lankans coasts are under the influence of Indian naval forces which is another maritime security challenge for the Sri Lanka.
Moreover, in contemporary era, the recent visit of Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to attend the 8th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting in March in Colombo, India and Sri Lanka signed several agreements including a defense-related pact to expand maritime security. The government of India entered into this maritime security agreement with Sri Lanka to secure its strategic interests in the Southern Indian Ocean region amidst China’s increased activity. This effort will strengthen India’s interests, especially around the Trincomalee harbor, an approach considered a farsighted move by foreign policy experts.

KYIV, 05 December 2022, (TON): The head of US intelligence says fighting in Russia’s war in Ukraine is running at a reduced tempo and suggests Ukrainian forces could have brighter prospects in coming months.

Avril Haines alluded to past allegations by some that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisers could be shielding him from bad news for Russia about war developments, and said he “is becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces in Russia.”

US director of national intelligence said “but it’s still not clear to us that he has a full picture of at this stage of just how challenged they are.”

LONDON, 05 December 2022, (TON): Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has said “the UK should prevent Albanian migrants from seeking asylum in Britain.”

Sky News reported that Jenrick, who assumed the ministerial role on Oct. 25 as part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet, said that Albanians should be excluded from the right to claim asylum.

He added that Britain should tighten its policy toward the Balkan country because it is a demonstrably safe place, describing the numbers of Albanians arriving in the UK as unsustainable.

DHAKA, 05 December 2022, (TON): A World Bank report launched recommended immediate actions, including improving public health services and response mechanisms, improving air pollution data monitoring systems to reduce air pollution impacts on health.

The report titled Breathing Heavy: New Evidence on Air Pollution and Health in Bangladesh assessed the impacts of outdoor air pollution on physical and mental health in Dhaka and Sylhet.

The report said “exposure to high level of air pollution significantly raises the risks of breathing difficulties, cough, lower respiratory tract infections, as well as depression and other health conditions.”

MANILA, 05 December 2022, (TON): The Philippine government said “it is going to work closely with Saudi Arabia in developing the tourism industry in both countries.”

More than 9,400 Saudi tourists have visited the Southeast Asian country since it reopened to fully vaccinated international travelers in February.

Before the pandemic, Saudi Arabia was the top Middle Eastern source of arrivals, according to data from the Philippine Department of Tourism.