Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sri Lanka needs well-designed political and economic policy changes for long-term recovery

The government has taken steps to address shortages of fuel and gas to some extent when compared to the earlier situation which had long queues that stretched for kilometres outside fuel and gas stations. But a well-planned recovery plan still cannot be seen that can address the long-term food security issues. 

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Top Indian officials in Kabul to meet Taliban leaders and oversee aid distribution

Earlier this week, Ameer Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s interim foreign minister, said that they will pay "extra attention" to the security of the Indian Embassy in Kabul if New Delhi considers re-establishing a diplomatic presence.  India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had recently hinted at New Delhi’s openness to engage with the Taliban.

TTP demands rollback of administrative ‘reforms’, and ‘independent status’ for tribal areas in Pakistan

Significantly, any peace deal with the TTP, a group responsible for the killings of over ten thousand Pakistani nationals, would require approval from the Pakistani parliament. These demands would also effectively mean undermining the state's existing authority and constitution in the tribal region.

HIndu teacher shot dead in Jammu and Kashmir in continued targeted killings; opposition says Kashmir normalcy claim belied

Hindu community members in the valley, including Rahul Bhat's family, have accused the BJP-led government of making young Kashmiri Hindus "cannon fodder" in the name of rehabilitation of the community. They have also said the incident has shattered their dream of resettling permanently in the valley.

India sends another 40,000 MTs of diesel to crisis-hit Sri Lanka

With the economic crisis and the shortage of forex, the Indian credit line of USD 500 million for fuel imports has provided a lifeline to the island nation, which is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts, the public has been suffering for months.

Indian, Pakistani officials meet in New Delhi to discuss river-water sharing; backchannel contacts also working, says paper

Hindustan Times said that India and Pakistan have resumed backchannel contacts as part of efforts to bridge differences between the two sides on a host of issues, though there are no signs of any imminent breakthrough diplomatically. One of the most significant outcomes of these contacts in recent years was the revival of the 2003 ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) in February last year, the paper noted.

Enforced disappearances: Pakistan’s court orders issuing notices to all past and present rulers

Relatives of hundreds of people across the country, mostly from its restive Balochistan and northwestern FATA region, who were forcibly disappeared alleged by people linked to the country’s security establishment, have long been demanding justice in tracing their people. Successive governments, supposedly under the pressure from the military, have for long avoided taking any concrete measures in this direction.

India is not a problem for the world but a solution giver: PM Modi

He said India sent medicines and vaccines to countries around the world. “Even in such a big country, we took the vaccine to every citizen,” he added.

Grow your own crops at home; we are sitting on a volcano: Top Sri Lankan official issues dire warning on food crisis

“In the near future we may have to stay in the queue and return home without fuel,” he warned, requesting people to grow whatever crop they can grow in their home garden, a bizarre suggestion the country’s Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amarweera also repeated.

Twenty bodies, including of four Indians, recovered from Nepal’s plane crash site

Among the dead were an Indian couple from Thane, Maharashtra and their two children.

India not doing much to resolve Teesta water issue, says Bangladesh foreign minister, floats Chinese proposal

Momin also backed multilateral development of the river infrastructure. "In the Brahmaputra basin, only 3 percent is in China, in India only 6 percent people are affected by the river, but we are the lower riparian state with 23 percent affected people, “ he said, adding, “One country alone must not develop infra on this trans-boundary river.”

India Post delivers by drone, opens up future possibilities in a far-flung nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday inaugurated what was described as the country's biggest drone festival, where he said the use of drones will rise in sectors such as agriculture, sports, defence and disaster management.

TTP is a persistent threat to Pakistan's security, warns UN report, as TTP makes impossible demands on Islamabad

The report comes amid ongoing peace talks between the TTP and the Pakistan government as the violence has increased since August last year. Earlier attempts of peace talks, mediated by the Afghan Taliban, had failed to produce any significant result. This year alone, the TTP carried out 46 attacks, mostly targeting security forces, and killed 79 people, according to the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies data.

Maldives' tourism-hit economy to get $24 million World Bank grant for income support

“As the economy recovers [from the Covid-19 pandemic], our assistance will increase access to economic opportunities by promoting employment in critical sectors such as tourism and renewable energy. It will also enhance social service delivery in the islands,” Faris H Hadad-Zervos, the World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka was quoted as saying by The Times of Addu.

Technology can open new doors for the poor, says Modi; wants to increase use of drones in the country

Drones took the promise of 'ease of living' forward and would be yet another tool in the hands of the common man, Modi stated. “Be it urban or rural areas, agriculture fields or playfields, defence works or disaster management, the use of drones in the country will only increase,” he elaborated.

Bhutan aims to become free of stray dogs by 2030

Last year, authorities launched the Accelerated Dog Population Management and Rabies Control Programme (NADPM and RCP) with the twin aims of achieving 100 percent sterilization of stray dogs, register, and vaccinate all pet dogs, and control feral dogs.