Author: Arif ArifArman

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: Saudi Arabian Ambassador in Dhaka Essa Yousef Essa Alduhailan paid a courtesy call on President Mohammed Shahabuddin at Bangabhaban here this noon. “During the meeting, the President said Bangladesh’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is very excellent…,” President’s press secretary Md Joynal Abedin told BSS later. The Head of the State thanked the Saudi government for facilitating the Hajj process for Bangladeshis and launching e-visa. Noting that Saudi Arabia is the biggest destination for the export of Bangladesh’s manpower, President Shahabuddin said Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia are playing an important role in the economic development of both countries.…

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: The United States has said that they maintain a “broad and deep” relationship with Bangladesh, and that they also want to advance the ties. “The United States maintains a broad and deep relationship with Bangladesh that we seek to advance,” an official at the US Embassy in Dhaka told UNB. The response came when the US Embassy’s attention was drawn to a media report that claims more US sanctions could be coming. (UNB)

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Chinese police detained a woman for posting online in support of the comedian who was punished for making a joke that authorities said insulted the Chinese military. According to state media, the 34-year-old woman, reportedly surnamed Shi, admitted to police that she had posted “inappropriate” comments about Chinese soldiers. Shi’s post was in reaction to the stiff punishment delivered to Li Haoshi, also known as House, over a joke about two dogs chasing a squirrel reminding him of one of Xi Jinping’s military slogan. After an audio recording of the joke went viral, Beijing police launched an investigation…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Describing Kashmir as the “paradise on earth” as he praised the beauty of the Union Territory, Arab influencer Amjad Taha said that this is India, and this is Kashmir where the G20 will take place. Known as “paradise on Earth,” it’s a place that has protected the Earth and may be the answer to climate change, the influencer wrote on Twitter. “This is not Switzerland or Austria; this is India, and this is Kashmir where the G20 will take place. It’s called the ‘paradise on Earth,’ a place that has preserved the Earth and can be the solution…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Amid China’s military expansion in the South China Sea and the East China Sea Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India stands for respecting sovereignty, peaceful resolution of disputes, and adherence to international law. “India stands for respecting sovereignty, peaceful resolution of disputes, and adherence to international law,” PM Modi said in an interview with Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun during his visit to Hiroshima to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit. PM Modi was responding to a question by the Japanese publication on how India plans to address China’s military expansion in the South China Sea…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview with Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun has underscored the importance of cooperation between the G7 and G20 in addressing pressing global issues. PM Modi, who also chairs the G20, emphasized his commitment to leading the international community in resolving the challenges of the “Global South,” including developing and emerging countries. Prime Minister Modi is in Japan from May 19- 21 to attend the G7 Summit under the Japanese Presidency at the invitation of Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. In his interview with the Japanese publication PM Modi noted the geopolitical tensions causing…

TECHNOLOGY DESK: Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations on Saturday called for the development and adoption of international technical standards for trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) as lawmakers of the rich countries focus on the new technology. While the G7 leaders, meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, recognised that the approaches to achieving “the common vision and goal of trustworthy AI may vary”, they said in a statement that “the governance of the digital economy should continue to be updated in line with our shared democratic values”. The agreement came after European Union, which is represented at the G7, inched closer…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: United States President Joe Biden, on Saturday, said that from 20-30 years from now people will look back at Quad and will say that it had changed the dynamics not only of the region but of the world as the new initiatives will build secure telecommunications in the Indo-Pacific region. In the opening remarks of the Quad meeting held on the sidelines of a Group of Seven Summit (G-7) meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, Biden said, “While our setting today is different, our mission remains the same and that is to advance our vision of a…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Domestic airlines flew 1.29 crore passengers in April, a rise of more than 22 per cent compared to the year-ago period, according to official data released on Friday. However, the domestic air traffic number last month at 128.88 lakh was marginally lower than the 128.93 lakh recorded in March. In April 2022, the number of passengers carried by airlines stood at 105.47 lakh. “Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-April 2023 were 503.93 lakh as against 352.70 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering annual growth of 42.88 per cent and monthly growth of…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Japan is mulling to join India’s UPI payment system and promote cooperation on the digital identity system, an official statement said on Friday. Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore and UAE have already started accepting Unified Payment Interface (UPI) payment systems. “Almost every global forum, whether G20, SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) or G7, wherever we are presenting Hon’ble PM Modi’s Digital India vision, has very good traction. People understand how Modi ji has democratised digital technology. I thank the Japanese digital minister. He has accepted PM Modi’s very deep and extensive vision of Digital India,” Union Minister for IT and Telecom…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Rising for the second consecutive week, India’s forex kitty jumped $3.55 billion to $599.53 billion for the week ended May 12, the RBI said on Friday. The overall reserves had jumped by $7.2 billion to $595.98 billion for the previous reporting week. It can be noted that in October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion. The reserves have been declining as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments. For the week ended May 12, the foreign currency assets, a major component…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to “amplify the voices and concerns of the Global South” nations at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, as he strives to “foster synergy” with the broader Group of 20 he is hosting this year. Speaking exclusively with Nikkei Asia at the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi ahead of his arrival in Japan on Friday evening, he said he was looking forward to discussing global changes and challenges in areas such as energy, digital technology and supply chains. “I will emphasize India’s role as a reliable partner in addressing these…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India is fully prepared and committed to protecting its sovereignty and dignity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday and asserted that the future development of the India-China relationship can only be based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests. Responding to questions over the India-China standoff in eastern Ladakh, Modi in an interview with the Japanese publication Nikkei Asia, also emphasised that peace and tranquility on the border are essential for normal bilateral ties among the neighbours. ‘India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity,” the prime minister said while stressing his…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Cadets from the Royal Saudi Naval Forces have arrived in India to take part in three weeks of training with their counterparts from the Indian Navy, the first such collaboration between the two nations. The Saudi contingent comprises 55 trainees and five instructional staff from the King Fahd Naval Academy. They arrived this week at a naval base in Kochi, in Kerala state on the southwestern coast of India, the Southern Naval Command said on Thursday. The planned 24-day exercise was “a major stride toward mutual cooperation” between the Indian Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Forces, the command…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Amid the financial crisis, government hospitals in Balochistan have run out of medicines, Pakistan vernacular media reported citing the Young Doctors Association of Balochistan. In Quetta’s government hospitals, a year’s worth of unrepaired CT scans, MRI, and angiography equipment is concerning as well. The Young Doctors Association Balochistan has urged electronic and media persons to also do a special report on the plight of hospitals in Quetta, as the top officials have also appealed to ensure the delivery of medicines in Government hospitals as soon as possible, Pakistan vernacular media Urdu Point reported. Earlier, The Express Tribune reported…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Adding to the grandeur of Poonch, a city rich in history, the historic ‘Poonch Fort’ in the middle of the town, is a beautiful tourist attraction, which despite its dilapidated condition, reminds of the greatness of the ancient architects and the rulers here. In its era, this fort was considered a symbol of grandeur. Today, it remains a witness to historical events which saw the rise and fall of many powerful rulers of its time. Its remains seem to be in a state of disrepair, but are still visible today telling the story of its glorious past to…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) cloud computing unit will invest 1.06 trillion rupees ($13 billion) in India by the end of this decade, doubling down on its past investments to cater to the growing demand for such services in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. This comes on top of its $6.5 billion investment in e-commerce in India, where it has rapidly expanded over the years but faces a strict regulatory environment that forces it to run only a marketplace. The latest investment will be used to build its cloud infrastructure in India and will support over 100,000 full-time jobs annually,…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday held a meeting with US President Joe Biden in which the two leaders concurred on continuing to work closely together in addressing issues related to China and also confirmed the importance of cooperating with China on shared challenges. The two leaders exchanged views on regional issues, on the basis of the recognition that any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force in the Indo-Pacific region, especially in East Asia, must not be tolerated, a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Biden is currently in Japan…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China is renewing its push for massive infrastructure projects in Central Asia as Beijing aims to fill the vacuum left in former Soviet states by Russia, which is ensnared in a widening net of Western sanctions over the Ukraine war, reports AFP. Central Asia has become key to China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, a defining geopolitical project for President Xi Jinping. Around 150 countries have received Chinese funds to build roads, ports, railways or hydroelectric dams. Beijing says trade with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reached $70 billion in 2022 and expanded 22 percent year-on-year in…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India’s liquefied natural gas buyers are seeking decades-long supply deals to protect them from price surges, a move that will support the government’s plan to boost the fuel’s use. Importers are accelerating efforts to lock in fuel, according to traders and executives. Buyers including Petronet LNG Ltd., GAIL India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. are in talks with suppliers in the US, Qatar and the UAE for deals that last for 20 years. The trend is a reversal for the nation, which hasn’t signed a long-term deal since 2021, according to contract data from BloombergNEF. That should help…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: More than a month ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington, India and the US on Wednesday held extensive talks focusing on operationalising their ‘Major Defence Partnership’ and co-development of military platforms. Boosting defence industrial cooperation, sharing of critical technology and having joint long-term research were also the focus of the 17th meeting of India-US Defence Policy Group (DPG) that was held in Washington. The two sides also deliberated on operationalising the ‘Major Defence Partnership’ and ways to improve supply chain security at the 17th meeting of India-US DPG that was held in Washington. “The two…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Tripura Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Wednesday said that a special exhibition of Tripura’s Queen Pineapple will be held in New Delhi on Thursday to draw more buyers from the national markets. According to Nath, the product has received wide appreciation after being exported to countries like Dubai, Qatar and Germany. “In Dubai and Qatar, we have sent the whole fruit while the Germans received a shipment of packed pineapples in sliced form. Both these consignments really helped the farmers earn good prices for their harvest. Since this product has good demand across the…

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: Bangladesh and Nepal have agreed to make efforts to start trading of power from the upcoming wet season (June-November) with the export of 40–50MW electricity from Nepal, according to a member of the Nepali delegation to the bilateral talks held in Patuakhali, Bangladesh. During the fifth meeting of the secretary-level Joint Steering Committee on energy cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh on Tuesday, the two sides agreed to start trading of power by taking India, which lies between the two countries, on board. A meeting of the joint-secretary level Joint Working Group, held on Monday at the same venue, had made its…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India aims to become the champion of cyber security, G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday. While talking with reporters after attending an event at IIT Delhi’s Bharti School of Telecommunication, Technology & Management, Kant said, “We have worked enough in the country on digital transformation, as I informed there are 4 billion people around the globe who do not have an identity, 2.5 billion have no bank account and 133 countries have no fast payment system.” “We have to take this digital public infrastructure to the global level, we also need to become a global champion of…