Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.
India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds up a folder with the Government of India's logo as she leaves her office to present the central budget in the parliament in New Delhi, India, February 1, 2024. /Reuters
India's economy is likely to grow at 6.5 percent in the financial year starting April 1, 2024 and at a similar pace the year after, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its "World Economic Outlook" released on Tuesday.
"Growth in India is projected to remain strong at 6.5 percent in both 2024 and 2025, with an upgrade from October of 0.2 percentage points for both years, reflecting resilience in domestic demand," the IMF report said.
The incoming 17th king of Malaysia, the sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar salutes the guard of honor at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia January 31, 2024. /Reuters
Malaysia's Sultan Ibrahim from the southern state of Johor was installed as the country's 17th king on Wednesday, taking the oath of office in a ceremony at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur.
The 65-year-old, who was elected in October 2023 by his fellow royal rulers, succeeds Pahang's Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah. Under a unique system of monarchy, the heads of Malaysia's nine royal families take turns to be the king, every five years.
Streets lie almost deserted after Myanmar declared an extension of the state of emergency, Yangon, Myanmar, February 1, 2024. /CFP
Myanmar's National Defense and Security Council on Wednesday declared that the ongoing state of emergency will be extended for six months from February 1. Myanmar's army first declared a state of emergency on February 1, 2021, for an initial one year as it carried out detentions of senior government leaders in response to alleged fraud during the general election in November 2020.
Marking the anniversary, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed "the urgency of forging a path towards a democratic transition with a return to civilian rule," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
A bat sits on a tree drinking raw date juice in Munshiganj on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 2, 2024. /CFP
Bangladesh on Monday reported its first fatality this year from the brain-damaging Nipah virus.
The virus, transmitted to humans through contact with bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs or other people, was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak affecting farmers and others in contact with pigs in Malaysia.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, right, with his wife Bushra Bibi, center, arrive in a court in Lahore, Pakistan, June 26, 2023. /CFP
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Khan have been jailed for 14 years each on charges of illegally selling state gifts.
The sentence, after the third conviction handed down to Khan in the last few months, also included a 10-year disqualification from holding public office. Bushra Khan has, however, been allowed by authorities to serve her sentence at Khan's Islamabad home. Khan is already in a prison in Rawalpindi.
(Cover: India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman poses for pictures as she leaves the Finance Ministry to present the annual budget in parliament in New Delhi, February 1, 2024. /CFP)