DHAKA, 25 October 2022, (TON): Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque today said Bangladesh will not face any food crisis or famine if it doesn’t face any major natural disaster.

He said “the country’s farmlands are abundant with crops. The state of Aman production is good, the country will get golden harvest. Besides, enough food remains stored. So, if any massive disaster does not lash the country, there will be no food crisis or famine in Bangladesh.”

He added “any other country in the world can face food scarcity and famine but Bangladesh will not face it. At this moment, there is no outcry for food in the country and it won’t face such situation in the coming days too.”

Razzaque, also Awami League presidium member, was addressing as the chief guest the triennial council of Tangail Sadar Upazil unit of AL at Poura Udyan in the town.

Bangladesh: Measures underway to ensure energy security

DHAKA, 25 October 2022, (TON): The government has been working to overcome the ongoing energy shortage through taking some measures to ensure energy security in the country.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told media “with collective efforts, we have already taken some effective measures to face the prevailing challenges in power sector, we are hopeful about gaining better outcomes.”

He said “the government has been working on how it can supply gas to the industrial sector as per its demand.”

He added “we always give priority to the industrial sector.”

KABUL, 25 October 2022, (TON): October 24 marks United Nations Day and the Islamic Emirate urged the United Nations to treat all countries including Afghanistan fairly.

Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Islamic Emirate, said that the United Nations should provide the basis for an official interaction between the Islamic Emirate with the world, saying it must hand over Afghanistan’s seat to the Islamic Emirate.

Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Islamic Emirate said “the United Nations must use its prestige in a healthy and effective way, it should not come under the influence of powers (powerful countries), and should act fairly with countries.”

The United Nations was founded in 1945 after World War II.

DHAKA, 25 October 2022, (TON): The family members of late US Senator Edward M Kennedy, who was a staunch advocate for Bangladesh's Liberation War as opposed to the Nixon administration, will be visiting Bangladesh from October 29-November 5.

The visit, a part of the yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of US-Bangladesh relations, comes days after two US Congressmen introduced a resolution calling to recognise the genocide against the Bangalees in 1971.

Kennedy's son Edward M Kennedy Jr, a former member of Connecticut State Senate, and five his family members, will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

They will also visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, Liberation War Museum and visit the historic banyan tree planted by Kennedy in Dhaka University.

DHAKA, 25 October 2022, (TON): The road transport and bridges ministry signed a contract with a Japanese consultant company to supervise the construction of the first-ever underground mass rapid transit line in the capital to reduce traffic congestion and save journey times.

Officials said “one part of the 31.241 kilometres long MRT line-1, between the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and the Dhaka [Kamalapur] railway station, would be underground.”

The road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, the ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh Ito Naoki and Japan International Cooperation Agency Bangladesh office chief representative Ichiguchi Tomohide joined the contract signing ceremony held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

DHAKA, 25 October 2022, (TON): The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman has expressed the hope that the Dhaka-New York direct flights would resume soon.

He aired his hope when the US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas paid a courtesy call at his office.

During the meeting, the launch of air communication between the two countries, especially the Dhaka-New York flight, was discussed.

The CAAB chairman sought the US ambassador’s intervention and cooperation to implement category 1 of the Federal Aviation Authority.

By Ali Hassan

Cultural diversity and its management d has become a focus of attention because of its universal existence in terms of race, religion, language, cultural differences etc. In most of the world's nation states, Nepal is also included in such states particularly after the restoration of democracy in 1990. There has been a growing academic as well as public debate to redefine the role of the state and the nature of governance to accommodate its diverse social, cultural, ethnic, language, and racial groups on an equal footing. Nepalese culture represents a fusion of Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Mongolian influences, the result of a long history of migration, conquest, and trade.

Nepal is a plural society which laces one basic dilemma. On the one hand, all members of the liberal democracy are in principle if not in practice entitled to the same rights and opportunities. On the other hand, they also have the right to be different and after 1990, the rights of minorities (especially of Janajatis and Dalits) to maintain and promote their cultural distinctiveness and to be visible in the public spheres, including the mass media, school curricula, and so on, are increasingly insisted on. A crucial challenge for plural societies therefore consists of allowing cultural differences to persist without violating common and societal defined rights. In other words, the challenge consists of finding a viable compromise, for the state as well as the citizens (representing power and agency respectively), between equal rights and the right to be different. If we take a dynamic and positive view of ethnic, religious, and cultural and other forms of diversity as an invitation for people to interact, to celebrate and to learn from difference rather than a passive acceptance of the fact that diversity simply exist.

Hindutva ideology which is not only confined to India but it has also severely affected the preservation and celebration of other major religions practiced in Nepal. Until 2007, when Nepal was finally declared a secular state, followers of non-Hindu religions were not even recognized with national holidays for their major festivals. Local elites from various Indigenous Nationalities (called Janajatis in Nepal) were incentivized, with the promise of political relevance, to convert to Hinduism. Reportedly, many Thakali and Gurung lineages, two very prominent Janajati communities in Nepal, switched their primary allegiance from Tibetan Buddhism to Hinduism due to such incentives.

The rulers in Nepal foregrounded these incentives with an active ploy to eradicate Indigenous languages and make Nepali the dominant lingua franca. In a country where only 44 percent speak Nepali as their first language, even today, state-sanctioned eradication of Indigenous languages gradually eroded the unique culture and religious practices of these communities. One of the starkest examples can be observed in Magars, one of the biggest Janajati communities in Nepal. While Magars represent 7.1 percent of the population, their Indigenous language is spoken only by a meager 3 percent. Losing one’s native language leads to a gradual decay of the collective memory of one’s unique history and religious culture. Throughout the last three centuries, many Janajati communities lost their language, culture, and religion to a state increasingly hostile to any deviance from the specific blend of Nepali-speaking, upper-caste Hindu traditions.

The harms of Hindutva have not been limited to the non-Hindu population of Nepal. One of the most notorious ways in which it subjugates Hindu populations is via the caste system which has been used as a central tool of division and oppression in many Hindu kingdoms in South Asia for the last 3500 years. Nepal has been no exception. The most detrimental effects of the caste system have been experienced by Dalits—communities denigrated to the bottom of the caste hierarchy. The ancient Hindu tradition of caste-based marginalization has continued under the direct supervision of every ruler since the founding of Nepal. Dalits have been denied both the necessary land to survive and their deserved social respect in Nepali society since its inception.

Hindu fundamentalist groups often use Muslims as the soft target since the time of monarchy in order to settle the religious agenda. Hindu mobs set mosques and Muslim properties on fire following the demolition of Babri mosque on 6 December 1992. The unilateral attacks were perpetrated by Hindu fanatic groups affiliated to organizations in India. Nepal shares 1800 kilometers porous border with India.  Communal tensions in India often spill over to Nepali side causing the damage and hardships to Muslim minorities.

On 2nd September 2004 during the direct rule of King Gyanendra thousands of Hindus attacked mosques, Muslim-owned businesses and homes across Nepal to avenge the killing of 12 Nepalese workers by terrorists in Iraq. Two men were shot dead by the police. The intensity of unilateral attack against Muslim was so severe that government had to impose an indefinite curfew on the capital and in the other affected areas to restore order.

Similarly when Nepal was being declared secular, one mosque in Sarochia, Biratnagar in eastern Nepal was bombed on 29th March 2008 killing two people on the spot. Several others were injured in the explosion.

 In Novermber 2016 on the occasion of Prophet Muhammad's birthday a Muslim rally was attacked by a Hindu mob in Matehia, Bankey district in Western Nepal in which two Muslims were killed on the spot. District court released all the accused against ordinary bail. In addition to this, in a decade seven prominent Muslims have been killed Hindu vigilantes.

 Muslims Christians and Dalits are facing self imposed ban on certain food habits. They cannot use beef in their kitchen for the fear of lynching and police action. As mentioned above cow slaughter is a punishable crime in Nepal.

To enhance the socio-economic status of Dalits, Women, Madhesi, Indigenous communities, government introduced Reservation Act in 2007 and accordingly these groups avail 38 per cent seats under reservation quota in civil services, army, police and health sector. That is indeed a positive move. But Muslims have been deliberately kept out of such reservation arrangements.

Nepal remained a cultural mosaic forming a unique kind of multi ethnic and caste society thorough out its history. The increasing self-consciousness and growing sense of political, cultural and economic marginalization among minorities clearly demonstrate the inadequacy of the conventional paradigm of ethic and cultural accommodation aimed at creating monolithic and homogenous Nepali national identity. Thus, managing of diversity and difference for the purpose of nation building is indeed a tremendous challenging job for all.     

By Nasria Naffin

According to the most prominent opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), the proposed 20th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution is the first step toward establishing a dictatorship.

The opposition party, which is led by Sajith Premadasa, has extended an invitation to all progressive forces in the country, urging them to put aside their ideological differences and work together in order to defend the 19th amendment in the constitution.

The SJB issued a statement in which it asserted that it would unconditionally partner with any party or group that wishes to safeguard and further strengthen the 19th amendment, which will soon be replaced by the 20th amendment. This statement was issued in response to a question that was posed by the SJB.

The cabinet of ministers of Sri Lanka gave their approval to a contentious draft of the 20th constitutional amendment. This amendment will repeal many of the provisions of the 19th constitutional amendment, which had reduced some of the executive president’s powers. These powers will, in effect, be restored, and in some cases they will even be strengthened further, if the legislation is passed in parliament and becomes law.

The 19th day of July, 2021 The new government of Sri Lanka, which took office in August of 2020, wasted no time in passing a constitutional amendment within the first two months of its tenure. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, as it was ultimately ratified, has as its primary feature the consolidation of powers within the Executive Office of the President.

As a result, several of the democratic reforms that were introduced by the 19th Amendment have been weakened. A variety of parties, including constituent members of the government, as well as several challenges in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka voiced their opposition to the proposed amendment. As a direct result of this opposition, several amendments were proposed to the original Bill, and in October of 2020, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified.

Shortly after the publication of the Bill, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued an initial analysis of the changes that would be brought about by the Twenty-first Amendment. In this analysis, the CCR stated that the Bill “rolls back democratic reforms introduced by the Nineteenth Amendment in 2015 and are a return to unfettered executive power institutionalized by the Eighteenth Amendment introduced in 2010.”

The 1978 executive presidential system, hated by Sri Lankan workers and the poor, has suppressed democratic and social rights. The Rajapakse government misrepresents the 20th amendment as necessary for economic growth. President Rajapakse and the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) took power by exploiting popular opposition to the austerity measures of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The SLPP promised big business “strong and stable” rule while feigning social progress.

Rajapakse is rapidly instituting autocracy. At the Haldummulla meeting on the 25th of September, he warned state officials, “Take my orders as circulars; no written circulars are necessary. I am the executive president of this country. What is beyond me?”

Rajapakse militarized his administration after taking power last November, appointing retired and in-service generals to key state positions, including retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne as defense secretary.

The media reports that some government members have criticized the 20th amendment. The Sinhala-extremist National Freedom Front and Pure National Heritage Party, which contested the last general election with the SLPP, are concerned.

Racist groups argue that the 20th amendment could allow Tamil diaspora members to run for office. They also oppose removing the auditor general’s oversight of state-owned companies and undermining the president’s emergency act power without gazette notifications.

These “critics” sat with the prime minister when he met with media editors, showing their support for the government. None opposed the president’s dictatorship.

In the Supreme Court, SJB, UNP, TNA, and other lawyers have raised concerns. These include concentrating power in one branch, reducing the auditor-powers, general’s and allowing dual-citizenship holders to hold senior government positions.

These parties have supported the repressive executive presidential system for decades, despite their rhetoric about democratic rights. The UNP introduced autocratic presidentialism.

They also never opposed President Rajapakse’s government militarization. All attended the prime minister’s all-party meetings in March and April, supporting the president’s military response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The JVP wants a broad coalition to defeat the 20th amendment. This is a bourgeois alliance to turn opposition into peaceful protests.

The ruling Bar Association of Sri Lanka fears a mass uprising from the reactionary amendment. “If the public do not have access to remedy a grievance against the unlawful exercise of powers by an all-powerful President the only remedy will be to take arms against the State,” it stated.

The rise of dictatorships shows that the fight for basic democratic rights is tied to the political struggle to abolish capitalism.

By S. Sultan

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will resolve whether to eradicate Pakistan from its grey list when its full session takes place in Paris on October 20-21. Among other issues on the agenda, the FATF will inspect the valuation of an on-site team that visited Pakistan in September to confirm the actions taken by the country to fulfill the plan of action. In September, a 15-member FATF team silently visited Pakistan, a concluding phase earlier the country’s departure from the grey list. The results of the team would be deliberated and revised in the next meeting of the FATF in its imminent plenary session.
The optimistic consequence of the onsite team’s conclusions would allow Pakistan to lastly come clean over shortages in the system to control money laundering and terror-supporting. It was confirmed that the FATF team, which was given a state guest-level protocol, remained in the country from August 29 to September 2. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) permitted an exceptional grant of Rs7 million for the FATF Secretariat to deliver the FATF team housing, food, and travel.
The visit was kept under a veil of secrecy. However, the FATF delegation held meetings with the relevant authorities and confirmed the steps Pakistan had taken to achieve the conditions of international financial overseer on money laundering and terror funding. The FATF, in June, had implied Pakistan’s exclusion from the grey list after it determined that Pakistan complied with the 34-point plan of action and arranged to send its team for the confirmation of those steps.
Pakistan was placed on the grey list by the FATF in June 2018 for the lack of its system to control money laundering and terror funding. It was first given a 27-point action plan and later another 7-point plan to comply with the FATF’s values. The major hesitant block was the trial of certain UNSC-designated individuals alleged of terror funding. Earlier in the June plenary FATF meeting in Berlin, the Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced the deputy chief of LeT’s international operation in a terror financing case, somewhat that convinced the FATF members to admit Pakistan’s improvement.
It is being anticipated by Pakistani that the FATF team would give a constructive valuation of the country’s development. Officials, however, warned that the neighboring country might still use its influence to drag Pakistan’s case. The United States is believed to have played a key role in safeguarding the onsite visit for Pakistan as it conveyed satisfaction with the country’s actions to curb terror financing, particularly in indicting certain individuals.
The exodus from the FATF grey list will reinstate Pakistan’s appearance and give assurance to foreign investors for doing projects in the country. The grey-listing makes it hard for countries to do monetary dealings and raises the cost of doing trade. Pakistan is probable to be detached from the grey list will help give stimulus to its struggling economy.
Pakistan has been listed among the top 10 countries implementing the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) standards, a move which improves the country’s chances to get rid of the anti-money laundering watchdog’s grey list. The FATF meeting will be held from October 17 to 21. There is a robust likelihood that Pakistan would come out of FATF’s grey list on October 21 as it had satisfied all the FATF conditions.
The FATF team visited Pakistan in the last week of August. The anti-terror financing watchdog’s technical team had returned pleased with Islamabad’s actions after meeting all the relevant authorities. The FATF review team aimed to gauge the political will to implement the anti-money laundering and anti-terror laws.
Pakistan was placed on the grey list by FATF in June 2018 for shortages in its system to curb money laundering and terror funding. It was first given a 27-point action plan and later another 7-point plan to fulfill the FATF’s standards.

By Ali Hassan

Tourism is one of the mainstays of Nepalese economy. It is also a major source of foreign exchange and revenue possessing as 8 out of 10 highest mountains of the world, and it is a hotspot destination for mountaineers, rock climbers and people seeking adventures. The Hindu, Buddhist and other cultural heritage sites of Nepal and around the year fair weather are also strong attractions. Nepal is the country of the Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world. Mountaineering and other types of adventure tourism and ecotourism are important attractions for visitors. Nepal is also the Birthplace of Gautama Buddha-Lumbini. There are other important religious pilgrimage sites throughout the country for the followers of various sects and religions. According to statistics from Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 598,204 foreign tourists entered the country via aerial route in 2012. The government of Nepal declared 2011 to be Nepal Tourism Year, and hoped to attract one million foreign tourists to the country during that year. The tourist industry is seen as a way to alleviate poverty and achieve greater social equity in the country. It is unsurpassed that the sheer diversity Nepal boasts, from steamy jungle and Terai to the icy peaks of the world’s highest mountains means that the range of activities on offer. Trekking, mountaineering, rafting in spectacular scenery are just three things Nepal is famous for. Activities as diverse as Elephant Polo and a micro-light flight through the Himalayas show that in Nepal, the only boundary is your imagination. With 15 National & Wildlife Parks (two are UNESCO Heritage sites) Nepal is one of the last places on earth you can spot the Asiatic rhinoceros and the Royal Bengal Tiger.

The altitude of the country ranges from 60m above sea level to the highest point on earth, Mt. Everest at 8848 m, all within the aerial distance of 150 km. resulting into climatic conditions from subtropical to arctic. Nowhere in the world, there is such a great variation. Travelling in the hilly region, one can feel difference in every 100 meter walk up or down in the mid-hills of Nepal. Kathmandu Valley comprising of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan represents rich cultural history with temples, pagodas, stupas and breathtaking ancient architectural excellence.

Nepal is situated between the “Asian Giants,”–India and China–Nepal faces a geopolitical tussle as both countries seek to gain influence in the former Himalayan kingdom. South Asia, as part of the broader Indian Ocean region, is increasingly becoming an area of China-India rivalry where smaller countries are being pulled into a tug-of-war between the two, making it hard to exercise their own national interests without being cast in this binary. Historically, Nepal has been in the “sphere of influence” of Delhi, and the Himalayan country’s greater coziness to China over the years is a counter reaction to the country’s over-dependence on India. Earlier Chinese infrastructural limitations in Tibet and the Himalayan region had not allowed Nepal’s greater cooperation with its Northern neighbor, but the inauguration of railways and connectivity in the twenty-first century gives Kathmandu a willing partner in Beijing to counterbalance Delhi’s influence.
From a political perspective, Nepal is the perfect venue for diplomatic negotiations due to its proximity to both China and India. Both the SAARC Secretariat and UNICEF’s South Asia Regional Office are located in Nepal. As a result of Bangladesh’s new participation in the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal) sub regional organization, connectivity is anticipated to increase and Nepal will have access to Bangladeshi ports. Although there are four South Asian countries involved in this connectivity agreement, once it is in place Nepal will have the chance to connect by water to many nations beyond the area and draw tourists from outside the continent, establishing itself as a South Asian “New Geneva.” Nepal might incorporate spiritual and cultural components into its short-term plan for promoting foreign travel. In the early phases of Nepal’s tourism growth, British and Swiss expeditioners heavily prioritized climbing, which meant that Nepal’s rich religious and cultural landmarks were not as prominently promoted as those in many Southeast Asian nations.

Nepal should make an effort to lessen its reliance on China and India by using one of its most potent weapons—the tourism industry—to draw tourists from nations other than China and India. Nepal’s tourism industry has to be more diverse if it is to achieve this goal. These two nations continue to be given priority by Nepali politicians in their plans for the tourist industry, such as the “Visit Nepal Decade” initiative. Although the majority of nationalities already have on-arrival visa policies for Nepal, the country’s tourism board can take more proactive measures to promote international travel through its embassies and missions abroad and use this platform as a soft power tool to foster relationships outside of its immediate neighborhood.

In addition, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka are among the smaller nations in South Asia that also engage in the “balancing act” between India and China. The tourist industry gives Nepal a much-needed avenue to forge relationships with nations outside of the subcontinent as it seeks to strike a balance in its relations with China and India. By utilizing the BBIN framework effectively and promoting Nepal’s Buddhist legacy, the tourist industry may be leveraged to connect with countries outside of South Asia via the high seas, all the while tackling important concerns like human rights and climate change. In contrast to hard power, such as military or economic force, tourism will have limitations, as with any form of soft power. But Nepal’s tourism sector has substantial untapped potential which can be a tool to promote its national interest in an increasingly competitive geopolitical landscape.