GAZA, 25 August 2022, (TON): The Palestinian Authority urged Palestinians not to take advantage of concessions promised by Israel that would allow them to travel through Ramon aiport in southern Israel, saying they should have their own airport.

Israel’s Airports Authority this month said “Palestinians from the occupied West Bank would be offered special flights from Ramon, near the Red Sea resort city of Eilat, to destinations in Turkey.”

The move followed pressure from the United States to ease some of the strict travel restrictions which prevent Palestinians from using Israeli airports including Ben Gurion, Israel’s main international hub without special permission.

Palestinians traveling abroad frequently do so through neighboring Jordan but there are often long delays at the border crossing.

MANAMA, 25 August 2022, (TON): Bahrain’s Information and eGovernment Authority hosted a meeting with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority and the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretariat General, reported the Bahrain News Agency.

During the meeting, the trio followed up on the GCC Smart Card technical team’s directives and discussed information technology cooperation.

Bahrain’s team was led by the iGA’s Vice CEO Dr. Zakareya Al-Khajah, while Saudi Arabia’s team was led by Brig. Hamad bin Ali Al-Harbi, director of public security.

The meeting was held as part of the GCC’s efforts to promote technical integration among Gulf countries.

WASHINGTON, 25 August 2022, (TON): The Pentagon said “US military airstrikes in eastern Syria were a message to Iran and Tehran-backed militias that targeted American troops this month and several other times over the past year.”

Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters that the US airstrikes overnight on facilities used by militias backed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard demonstrated “the United States will not hesitate to defend itself against Iranian and Iran-backed aggression when it occurs.”

He said “the US decision to launch the strikes was based on both the nature of the militia attacks on Aug. 15 at the Al-Tanf Garrison, where US troops are based in the south, and the fact that, based on recovered drone parts, “we believe we have Iran dead to rights on attribution.”

BANGKOK, 25 August 2022, (TON): Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha after accepting a petition from an opposition party seeking his ousting on the grounds that he has held office for his full, legally mandated term.

The petition filed to Parliament last week by the main opposition Pheu Thai party argued that Prayuth’s time spent as head of a military junta, after he staged a coup when he was army chief in 2014, should count toward his constitutionally stipulated eight-year term.

Though Prayuth could be restored to his position when the court rules on the petition, the surprise suspension threw Thai politics into confusion.

LONDON, 25 August 2022, (TON): The UK enhanced its relationship with our third largest Gulf trading partner, announcing two significant agreements to boost trade and investment.

UK trade minister Ranil Jayawardena met Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani in London to agree the new partnerships at the third UK-Qatar Joint Economic and Trade Committee.

It comes after the launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council in June.

An agreement with the GCC is an opportunity to grow an overall trade relationship worth £32.4 billion in 2020, breaking down barriers to trade and supporting jobs across the whole of the UK.

TEHRAN, 25 August 2022, (TON): Iran will not allow inspections beyond what is in a 2015 nuclear deal, the country’s nuclear chief said “as the United States prepares to respond to a proposal to revive Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.”

Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said “we are committed to inspections in the framework of the nuclear deal that are linked to nuclear restrictions which we have accepted in the past… Not one word more, not one word less.”

A senior US official said “Iran has dropped some of its main demands on resurrecting the deal to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program, including its insistence that international inspectors close some probes of its atomic program, bringing the possibility of an agreement closer.”

Washington aims to respond soon to a draft agreement proposed by the European Union that would bring back the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that former President Donald Trump abandoned and current President Joe Biden has sought to revive.

Women Rights in Sri Lanka

By Muzhgan Feraji

Genaerally speaking, with an exception of a small propotion, women in Sri Lanka are usually responsible for cooking, raising children, and taking care of household etc. Though women are making tantamount strides, women are up against a long history of instability and patriarchal rule. According to the U.N. Gender Inequality Index, Sri Lanka ranks 74th among 187 countries.

Women in Sri Lanka still lack representation in government and access to employment opportunities while suffering from cultural preconceptions of female roles. In the 1960 election, Sirima Bandaranaike after the assassination of his husband is known as the first women Prime Minister of the world. Critics used to say: women cannot run politics but she proved othewise.

Sri Lanka ranks one of the lowest country in representation of women in South Asia. Women have very little representation in the government as their share in the parliament have never been more than 6%. Leading to huge increases in educational gender equality, in 1946, only 43.8% of women were literate.

In 2001, 90% of the female population was literate in comparison to 93% of the male population. But many employment opportunities are reserved for male candidates due to a history of gender ideologies. Sri Lanka, in 1945 created educational opportunities for women. many women have experienced relegation as “supplementary earners” despite their education or others have consigned them to focus on household work because of views.

Sir Lankan culture plays a significant role in determining the career of women. However, in the recent times, women are encouraged to work at home. The textile industry, tea and sending labor abroad among Sir Lanka’s foreign exchange programs, and women play a major role.

Although government as well as NGOs have taken steps to ensure the safety of Sir Lanka women, there are still 40 reports of sexual violence against women every month.

Sri Lankan women who work abroad suffers a lot. There is no support program from the government and related institutions for these women and their families and sometimes the daughter of the family are sexually abused by others due to long absence of the mother.

Throughout Sir Lanka’s history women have played a greater role specially when it comes to politics and previous armed conflicts, however, gender inequality is still a prevalent issue in Sir Lanka.

Many women in Sir Lanka are subject to domestic violence but all the complaint offices are dominated by men, which slows down the handing of women’s complaint.

Women’s lives in Sir Lanka are influenced by patriarchal laws but women in Sir Lanka never lost hope for better life . Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst socio-economic crisis since independence, and it have negative effect for the life of women and reproduction. Sri Lanka’s judicial system is dysfunctional and police investigation are sometimes inconclusive.

In 2022, the progress achieved in the field of women, including the access of pregnant women to health equipment is remarkable, 99% of births will be performed by doctors and nurses. There is a hope that the future of Sri Lankan women is bright and in the years to come, thre would be further improvement.

By TON Nepal

As the federal government of Nepal is ending in four months with the elections declared for November 20. Seven years since constitution declaration local governments await federal education Act. The constitution permits local governments to make laws, but the statute also speaks such laws will be void if they deny the federal law. The authority over school education has been the most discussed subject between the federal and local governments.

While the local governments have been saying they have constitutional authority to manage education up to grade 12. However, the federal government is hesitant to give the authority. Schedule 8 of the constitution gives local governments the clear authority of basic and secondary education while schedule 9 puts education under the simultaneous right of the federal, provincial and local governments.

The constitution lists out the authorities in broad terms which are described openly by the Acts and rules. They are also the precondition for the application of the constitution. However, around seven years since the promulgation of the constitution and five years since last parliamentary elections, the government is yet to permit a bill to enforce a federal education act.

However, over a year since the federal minister of education took charge, the education ministry is yet to finalize the bill. As the current education minster is the fifth education minister since the enforcement of the Constitution of Nepal and third since the last general elections.

Although every minister in the past has made similar claims. No minister, however, has fulfilled their claim to have the Act in place. The officials at the Education Ministry say they have already prepared a draft of the federal education bill is stuck at the Finance Ministry and urged the Finance Ministry to give the clear the bills.

The local representatives say they have completed their term without getting to exercise their constitutional authority in lack of the law. Even though the first term of local governments since the enforcement of the constitution is already finish. There is no certainty on when the Act would be framed. The recent local level elections were held on May 13. Allowing the local governments to oversee the school education was one of the most important aspects of federalism. However, it doesn’t seem like the Act will be promulgated anytime soon.

Local government representatives say with the federal and provincial assembly elections set to be held later this year, they are not hopeful that the present House will pass the law on November 20. In this scenario, it will not be possible to promulgate the Act from the ongoing parliamentary session if the bill is not passed soon.

The constitution permits local governments to make laws. However, the constitution also says such laws will be void to the extent they contradict the federal law. On many occasions in the past, the federal government has issued circulars to local governments ordering them not to make laws until the associated federal Acts are formulated. A writ petition challenging the circular at the Supreme Court in this respect. The court has not scheduled the final hearing for this petition.

Lack of lawful clearness has left the entire education sector in messes. The Act is a must to bring school education on pathway. Absence of a constitutional time limit for promulgation of laws like the one related to the fundamental rights is also reason for the delay.

The constitution made it compulsory to have laws linked to fundamental rights in place within three years since its enforcement. It also said the current Acts that deny the constitution must be reviewed within a year since the first meeting of the federal parliament.

The government prepared the laws within the constitutional deadline. However, there is no such constitutional deadline for the enforcement of federal laws, following governments have become careless in discharging their duties. The hesitancy in enforcing laws like the Federal Education Act is one of the reasons why the federalism hasn’t been fully implemented yet in Nepal.

DHAKA, 25 August 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be announced as the first global ambassador for diabetes at the World Diabetic Federation Congress to be held in Portugal in December.

International Diabetic Federation President Prof Akhtar Hossain informed the prime minister when he called on her at her official residence Ganobhaban.

He handed over an invitation letter to the prime minister to attend the congress.

Sheikh Hasina thanked the governing body of the World Diabetes Federation for unanimously handing her the title.

DHAKA, 25 August 2022, (TON): Former Indian foreign secretary and G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla said “Bangladesh is a remarkable story in terms of growth and development.”

He highlighted the achievements and accomplishments made by the two countries over the last decade and shed light on future cooperation between the two countries as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to visit New Delhi September at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Former foreign secretary Shahidul Haque said "Bangladesh's relations with India are very special and eternal."

He added that Modi and Sheikha Hasina share an excellent relationship.

Haque also said "I have no doubt that forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India will yield very positive results."