The Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors is an opportunity to provide guidance on ADB administrative, financial, and operational directions. The meetings provide opportunities for member governments to interact with ADB staff, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), media, and representatives of observer countries, international organizations, academe and the private sector. ADB’s annual meetings have become a premier forum for the discussion of economic and social development issues in Asia and the Pacific.

A total of 34 coronavirus infections was registered by Lebanon’s Health Ministry Thursday, raising the number of detected cases in the country to 784.

Lebanese students stuck in the U.S. arrived in Lebanon Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported, as the country remains under a coronavirus lockdown.

Lebanon confirms one new coronavirus death, 12 more infections

Lebanon registered one new death due to coronavirus Friday, and 12 new infections, raising the total number of registered cases to 796.

Lebanon’s mosques reopened their doors for Friday prayer as the country gradually scales back its coronavirus containment measures implemented almost two months ago.

Lebanon confirms 13 new COVID-19 cases, total at 809

Lebanon registered 18 new coronavirus infections Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the country up to 809.

Usually the kingdom of water tanks and satellite dishes, Lebanon's rooftops have recently been graced by unlikely scenes of locked-down residents fleeing their flats.

KARACHI: Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s five properties, estimated to be worth over Rs32 million and purchased by him in Karachi by using fake identities, have been taken over by the anti-terrorism court for auction, sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The FIA had booked Mullah Mansour, aliases Mohammad Wali and Gul Mohammad, Akhtar Mohammad and Amaar in a case lodged under Section 11H (pertaining to fundraising and money laundering) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, read with sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Mullah Mansour, who was killed in a drone strike along the Pakistan-Iran border on May 21, 2016, had purchased five properties, including plots and houses, in Karachi.

This revelation came in a report submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency to the ATC-II in July last year regarding an investigation into a case related to alleged fundraising by the slain Afghan Taliban leader and his accomplices through the purchase of properties on the back of forged identities.

Mullah Akhtar Mansour bought Rs32m properties in Karachi using fake identities

Since January, the court had been directing the investigation officer (IO) to complete the process of attachment of Mullah Mansour’s properties and proclamation of his two alleged absconding accomplices — Akhtar Mohammad and Amaar — under sections 87 and 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

On April 24, the court had ordered the Nazir (a court official) to take over the properties of Mullah Mansour after the IO submitted a compliance report regarding completion of the attachment process of the properties by the Federal Investigation Agency.

The court had ordered the Nazir to auction those properties and get advertisements published in newspapers.

When the matter came up before the ATC-II judge recently, the court’s Nazir filed a report regarding seizure of property owned by Mullah Akhtar Mansour on behalf of the court.

The judge asked the Nazir to file a report about publication of the auction advertisement in newspapers on the next date of hearing.

The judge granted a request by Rehmatullah Domki, the investigation officer, to hear the case next month. She scheduled a hearing from June 11.

During a previous hearing, the IO had informed the court that the FIA had unearthed five properties purchased by the Taliban leader before his death. An estimated value of the properties is Rs32 million.

The court had already called for reports from the commissioners of Peshawar and Quetta regarding the process of proclamation of Mullah Mansour’s alleged absconding accomplices and attachment of their properties.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Former Senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani on Friday said that the National Council for Minorities nominated through a notification after a considerable delay was illegal because it had been formed in violation of a judgement announced by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Tasaduq Hussain Jilani on June 19, 2014.

“The said act of violating the judgement of the Supreme Court is condemned,” the PPP leader said in a statement.

Mr Rabbani said that the Supreme Court’s judgement had come in the wake of a bomb blast in a Peshawar church in 2013 which left over a hundred members of the Christian community dead.

In a suo motu case, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, in paragraph 37(iv) of the judgement, had ordered the setting up of the National Council for Minorities to monitor practical realisation of the rights and safeguards of members of minority communities provided in the 1973 Constitution.

The council was supposed to be mandated to frame policy recommendations for safeguarding and protecting minorities’ rights by the federal and provincial governments.

The judgement clearly mentioned eight steps that the governments were to take, including (i) reservation of quota in services, (ii) a special police force to protect places of worship, (iii) steps to discourage hate speeches, and (iv) revision of school curriculum to promote cultural and religious tolerance.

The PPP leader said that none of the steps had been taken so far by the governments.

He said that the federal government had, after the approval of the cabinet, constituted the council through a notification and the body had become controversial even before its birth and as a result the religious affairs ministry had to amend its summary.

The PPP leader said that the council should be constituted through an act of parliament.

Mr Rabbani said that the importance given to safeguarding the rights of the minorities in the country was evident from the fact that the white colour portion of the national flag represented minorities and in over 20 Articles of the Constitution, 1973, the rights of minorities had been guaranteed.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bangladesh Finance Minister and ADB Governor A H M Mustafa Kamal today discussed ADB’s support to Bangladesh in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved a $100 million loan to support the Government of Bangladesh in its efforts to address the immediate public health requirements of combatting the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved an additional $500 million loan to bolster the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh to manage the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the country’s economy and the public health.

CHENNAI: The Kotturpuram branch of Indian Bank has invited tenders for auction of a property belonging to film producer and director Gautham Vasudev Menon in Adyar. As per details on Tenders India (a government tender information system), the auction process for the property located on First Main Road in Indira Nagar, has begun with the tender value being quoted at 12.26 crore. The winning bidder, expected to put up 50 lakh as a deposit. The property is 7,091 sqft, and the market price of each ground (2,400 sqft) in the area is 4.5 crore to 5 crore. “This particular account has been a non-performing asset (NPA) for some time and […]

The Public-Private Infrastructure Development Facility (the facility) directly supported the government of Banglahdesh infrastructure development agenda providing the much-needed long-term funds for infrastructure financing.These funds, at commercial terms with more than 20 years of maturity for infrastructure subprojects, filled a gap in the market at that time. The facility complemented the ongoing financial sector reforms and public-private partnerships (PPPs), all of which were intended to create an enabling environment for long-term infrastructure financing.

ADB's support to Asia and the Pacific’s transport sector has helped improve domestic connectivity and economic efficiency in the region, says a report released by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Intern - Urban Development and Water Division, SERD - 2008 in the Southeast Asia Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 15 September 2019.

Bu nəşrdə Azərbaycanda şaxələndirilmiş, inklyuziv və dayanıqlı artım naminə Asiya İnkişaf Bankı (AİB) və Azərbaycan Hökuməti arasında əməkdaşlığın və birgə səylərin xülasəsi təqdim edilir.

This report presents nine case studies on poverty reduction projects financed by ADB in Mongolia, Nepal, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam.

By end of 2019, the Urban Financing Partnership Facility (UFPF) assistance has led to a total of 152 completed projects, comprised of investment grants, technical assistance, direct charge activities, and project preparation studies.

Global law firm Dentons has advised the Israeli biotech company Pluristem on a €50 million loan provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The financing is part of a cooperation agreement between the EIB and the Israel Innovation Authority, which aims to strengthen Israeli-EU cooperation in innovative research in the field of biotech, pharmaceutical research and public health.

Kolkata and ADB are working systematically to update the city’s ancient urban systems after years of piecemeal approaches

Proyek perbaikan kawasan kumuh: 670 ribu keluarga di Indonesia nikmati manfaat dari perbaikan akses air dan sanitasi.

ADB pilot project with the Philippines’ Cantilan Bank tests cloud-based banking.

The influx of more than 700,000 people from Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Cox’s Bazar District in neighboring Bangladesh in August 2017 created a humanitarian crisis. Joining concerted international efforts, ADB quickly mobilized ADF grant funding of $100 million to help ensure this emergency situation did not escalate further.

TNS Your bank may be disbursing home loans without due diligence of realty projects. So don’t be lax in checking out the builder’s credentials If you believe that the project in which you have booked your flat is free from all the issues just because your bank has cleared your loan application and approved the required amount — then it’s time to think again. While many buyers think that the lending bank usually carries out all the checks before approving loan for a project, the reality is very different. It has been seen that banks are not doing enough to gauge the authenticity of housing projects before disbursing loans. There […]

Approved project 53128-001 in Pakistan.

Approved project 54108-001 in Bangladesh.

KOCHI: You have got some disposable amount, and want to own a real estate asset abroad. Now, it is possible as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allows resident Indians to remit money abroad for the purchase of immovable properties. According to a new RBI directive, banks are allowed to remit up to US$125,000 (around Rs 75 lakh) every financial year for any permitted current or capital account transaction, or a combination of both. The money can be used for purchasing immovable property outside India. Financial experts point out that the new norms might be helpful for the state as it would be easier for Keralites to spot properties due […]

Banking integration lowers bank default risk in recipient countries.

Export performance and firm size have a positive impact on trade participation at the intensive margin for firms of all sizes.

Banking integration lowers bank default risk in recipient countries.

Export performance and firm size have a positive impact on trade participation at the intensive margin for firms of all sizes.

Mid-segment residential properties witnessed the highest appreciation in Bangalore in the past three years, while in the high-end category the credit went to Pune, says a study. As per the report by global real estate consultants, Cushman and Wakefield, mid-segment residential property prices almost doubled in the north-west part of Bangalore, while they were up nearly two-thirds in some areas of Pune. The study spanned between first half (January-June) of 2011 and first half of 2014. In the mid-segment, Chennai with 27 percent, Delhi region with 22 percent and Kolkata with 17 percent, also saw some noteworthy increases, while Mumbai saw the second-lowest jump with 16 percent, following Hyderabad with […]

Continuing our global efforts to provide opportunities to young students  to learn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), HARMAN India has renewed its partnership with Christel House, a non-profit school that is transforming lives of impoverished...

Exotic primordial black holes born in the moments after the universe began could be the key to solving some of cosmology’s biggest problems… if only we can find them.

We can't find any trace of cosmic dark matter – perhaps because our models of the early universe are missing a crucial piece, says astrophysicist Dan Hooper

It certainly wasn’t big, and probably didn’t bang – and the surprises in the conventional story of the universe's origins don’t end there

A young boy chooses a nurse as the superhero he wants to play with over Batman and Spiderman in a new artwork by Banksy that encapsulates the gratitude Britons have felt toward the country's National...

After standing empty for two months, Greece's ancient sites, including the Acropolis hill towering over Athens, will reopen to visitors on May 18, authorities said on Thursday.

As Thailand's capital cautiously reopens many restaurants shuttered over coronavirus fears, the feline "employees" of the Caturday Cafe are back at work.

A king kobra is spotted near a train station in Singapore, animal rescuers were alerted to catch it.

Artist Ken Rinaldo encourages the bacteria on banknotes to grow and spread to explore colonialism in his touring show, Borderless Bacteria/Colonialist Cash