Indian Sub-continent

DHAKA, Dec 2 (NNN-BSS) – A three-day tourism expo kicked off here yesterday, with a view to boosting the country’s travel industry business.

The Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), organised the event titled “Bangladesh International Travel and Tourism Expo” at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, also known as the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.

Bangladeshi Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister, Md Mahbub Ali, inaugurated the expo.

RANGAMATI, Bangladesh (AP) — A quarter century ago, Modhumala Chakma says it was impossible to leave her house in the evening and walk around the nearby hills because they were controlled by a tribal insurgent group seeking autonomy in southeastern Bangladesh.

“It was a difficult time,” says the 60-year-old farm worker from an ethnic minority in the Shuvolong area of Rangamati, one of three districts bordering India and Myanmar collectively called Chittagong Hill Tracts. “We lived in constant fear of being raped or killed.”

“Those bad days are gone,” she says.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States has added a key anti-Pakistani militant group and its al-Qaida branch to its list of “global terrorists,” triggering sanctions against the groups amid a resurgence of militant violence in this Islamic nation.

Both groups operate from Afghanistan, but they have hideouts in Pakistan’s former tribal regions in the northwest and elsewhere as well.

Thursday’s announcement by the State Department comes days after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, known as TTP, ended a monthslong ceasefire with Pakistan and resumed attacks across the country.

BENGALURU, India (AP) — India officially takes up its role as chair of the Group of 20 leading economies for the coming year Thursday and it’s putting climate at the top of the group’s priorities.

NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (NNN-PTI) – The Indian government has lifted the ban, imposed nearly three months ago, on exports of organic non-basmati rice, including broken rice, said an official notification, by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), issued late yesterday.

A part of the federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the DGFT is essentially involved in the regulation and promotion of foreign trade, through regulation.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A Taliban official says at least 10 students were killed Wednesday when a bomb blast hit a religious school in northern Afghanistan.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor says several others were wounded in the blast at the madrassa in Aybak, capital of the northern Samangan province.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State group has been waging a campaign of violence that escalated since the Taliban took power in August 2021.

COLOMBO, Nov 29 (NNN-XINHUA) – A super luxury cruise ship arrived at Colombo Port, today, carrying over 2,000 passengers, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said.

The “Mein Schiff 5” owned by a German operator, docked at the Sri Lankan capital, in the wee hours of today, with ceremonies and cultural shows planned throughout the day.

Officials from the SLPA said, the ship received a ceremonious welcome at the Colombo Port, and the passengers would be offered excursions for the majority of the locations, and tours covering Colombo, the south and the central highlands.

NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Moscow has sent India a list of more than 500 products for potential delivery including parts for cars, aircraft and trains, four sources familiar with the matter said, as sanctions squeeze Russia's ability to keep vital industries running.

The list, a version of which has been seen by Reuters in New Delhi, is provisional and it is unclear how many of the items will eventually be exported and in what quantity, but an Indian government source said the request was unusual in its scope.

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Four people, including a policeman, were killed in two separate incidents in the last 24 hours in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police told media on Tuesday.

A police constable was shot dead in the Jamal Garhi area of Mardan district of the province on Tuesday morning, police said.

The proscribed militant outfit Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took responsibility of the killing, local media said. However, police said it was a matter of personal enmity.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s new military chief took command of the country’s armed forces on Tuesday amid a deepening political rift between the government and the popular opposition leader, as well as a renewed threat from a key militant group that has been behind scores of deadly attacks over 15 years.