Author: Web Desk

TEHRAN – Iran’s chief negotiator in the Vienna talks, announced yesterday that, two draft texts containing Iran’s proposals on sanctions removal and nuclear restrictions, have been presented to the parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

 

“Logically, the other side should now examine these documents, in order to get ready to enter into serious talks with Iran,” Ali Bagheri Kani told Iranian media, in the Austrian capital.

 

He voiced hope that the JCPOA parties will be able to review Iran’s drafts and reach their conclusions about them “in the shortest time possible.”

 

Bagheri also warned about efforts by non-parties to the agreement, to derail current diplomatic work to revive the deal.

 

Earlier in the day, Israeli Primer Minister, Naftali Bennett, urged an “immediate halt to negotiations” with Iran, and “the implementation of tough steps by the world powers” against Iran, in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Bennett’s office said.

 

Israeli media reported on Monday that, the Israeli government has been contacting U.S. and European officials, over the past two weeks, to provide its alleged intelligence that Iran would be taking steps to enrich uranium, at a weapons-grade degree of purity.

 

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), dismissed, on Wednesday, the claim that Iran would be enriching uranium at a 90-percent degree of purity, noting that, the IAEA is the only monitoring institution with a presence at Iranian nuclear sites.

 

“There is no 90-percent enrichment at the moment in Iran. You have enrichment at five percent, you have enrichment at 20 percent, you have enrichment of 60 percent … but we don’t have any information about 90-percent enrichment,” Grossi said.

 

In his remarks to the press yesterday, Bagheri said, he warned his JCPOA counterparts on Wednesday, about “the outlook and approach of actors outside the talks, to negatively affect the negotiation process.”

 

The current round of JCPOA talks resumed this week in Vienna, after a nearly six-month pause, about three months after the current Iranian government took office in late Aug.

 

Representatives from Iran and the P4+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, as well as, the European Union, are seeking an agreement on the way to remove U.S. sanctions on Iran, in exchange for the reimposition of restrictions and enhanced international monitoring on Iran’s nuclear programme.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KATHMANDU – Nepal’s reliance on India for exports increased in recent years, with over four-fifth of the total volume going to the southern neighbour, in the first four months of the current 2021-22 fiscal year, starting in mid-July, government data show.

 

Nepal exported goods worth 66.94 billion Nepali rupees (557 million U.S. dollars) to India, during the first four months of the current fiscal year, or 81.51 percent of total exports.

 

“One of the main reasons behind the increasing dependency on India is COVID-19-related restrictions, against export and import of goods from other third countries, as Nepal shares an open border with India,” Rabi Sainju, former joint secretary at Nepal’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, told Xinhua.

 

India became the destination for 64.6 percent of Nepal’s total exports in 2018-19, which grew to 71.75 percent in 2019-20 and 75.75 percent in 2020-21, according to the data, released by the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), under the Commerce Ministry.

 

Nepal has not been able to produce goods in large quantities for export to third countries other than India, said Sainju.

 

“Most of the export products in Nepal are produced by small- and medium-sized enterprises, and we have to collect goods from them to be shipped abroad in large quantities, and it is also difficult to ensure the same quality of the goods collected from different enterprises,” he said, adding that, Nepal has also not been able to take advantage of the duty-free market access offered by China, the European Union and the United States.

 

Imports from India accounted for around two-thirds of Nepal’s total imports for the last three years, though they went down to 59.35 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year, according to the TEPC data.

 

“There is an inherent risk of relying on a single market for trade,” Keshav Acharya, a senior economist, told Xinhua. “Nepal needs to diversify its trade, so that the country will have enough leverage at a time of crisis.”

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

BANGKOK – Thailand saw rising investment demand in environmentally-friendly Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) projects, in the first nine months of the year, amid the government’s efforts to boost sustainable recovery from COVID-19, according to official data.

 

During the Jan-Sept period, the country’s Board of Investment (BOI) received 128.4 billion baht (about 3.8 billion U.S. dollars) worth of investment applications for the BCG projects, surging from 49.3 billion baht during the same period of last year.

 

As of Sept, the total value of BCG investment applications, filed by both local and overseas investors, amounted to 677.2 billion baht, according to the BOI data.

 

The strong growth this year came, following the BOI unveiling a series of measures and mechanisms, to promote the BCG investment, as the Thai government declared the BCG as a national agenda and the core of the country’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

 

According to the BOI, Thailand expects the BCG sectors to make up around 24 percent of its GDP over the next six years.

 

“The BCG economy model is very much consistent with Thailand’s international commitment and also our goals,” BOI Secretary General, Duangjai Asawachintachit said. “We need to set out to promote measures in both public and private investment, in a number of targeted sectors, as key drivers to meet this objective.”

 

Thailand vows to reduce its greenhouse gas emission by 20-25 percent by 2030, and aims for carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia)— Malaysia has recorded its first case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, involving a South African student studying at a private university in Ipoh city of Perak state.

 

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters Friday that the 19-year-old female student arrived from South Africa via Singapore on Nov 19 and had undergone a COVID-19 RT-PCR test upon entry at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

 

He said the individual was then subjected to the Observation and Surveillance Order under Section 15 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) and completed a 10-day home quarantine alone at a residence prepared by the university.

 

She was confirmed positive for the variant of concern on Dec 2, Khairy said.

 

He said the individual was fully vaccinated, was asymptomatic, and had fully complied with the home quarantine order.

 

 

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK