SRINAGAR, 9 February 2020, TON: Shops and businesses centers remained closed while public transport remained off road in occupied Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday as Kashmiri throughout the State observed a strike to mark the execution anniversary of a Kashmiri fruit vendor, Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was convicted for an attack on the Indian parliament in Delhi. His family received a letter informing them of his imminent hanging two days after he was dead, but the letter, dated Feb 6, 2013, was mailed on Feb 8, a day before Guru's execution.

Guru was convicted in a 2001 attack on India's Parliament in which 14 people lost their lives. Top Kashmiri-Pakistani leader Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik recorded their separate messages on the occasion.

Thousands of security forces were deployed in deserted streets in Srinagar and elsewhere, where they were ordered to shoot on spot whosoever violates.

Kashmiris have also given a call for a strike on 11 February to mark the day in 1984 when Kashmiri leader Mohammed Maqbool Butt was hanged in New Delhi jail after being convicted of killing an Indian Intelligence officer.

GENEVA, 9 February 2020, TON: Switzerland votes in a referendum on 9 February on a new law against homophobia that is opposed by the populist right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).

The new law would widen existing legislation against discrimination or incitement to hatred on different grounds including sexual orientation.

Campaigner Jean-Pierre Sigrist, founder of an association of gay teachers, is happy with the progress and hopes people will be stopped from beating on the grounds of sex orientation.

The change was passed by the Swiss Parliament in 2018 but critics, who believe it will end up censoring free speech, have forced a referendum on the issue.

Eric Bertinat, an SVP local lawmaker in Geneva, was of the view that he believed the law was part of an LGBT plan to slowly move towards same-sex marriage and medically assisted reproduction for gay couples.

Marc Frueh, head of the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU), a party which value Christian ethics, has termed the law as a "censorship law".

All of Switzerland's major parties except the SVP, the biggest political force in Parliament, support the law.

HARARE, 8 February 2020, TON: Zimbabwe should use its God-given resources, including the skills of its people, to develop the country and stop mourning the negative impact of sanctions imposed by the West, President Mnangagwa said on Friday.

Speaking after joining Banket residents in a clean-up of Kuwadzana Shopping Centre in the town, he said students will be exposed to modern science so that they develop inventions that develop the economy. Already over 90 patents have been granted to local students since the introduction of innovation hubs at State universities two years ago and he said the inventions would result in an increase in locally produced products. He said, Zimbabweans had the capacity to overcome the effects of the illegal sanctions if they united towards a common goal and vision. 

President Mnangagwa said, “We thank them for that. We have brilliant boys and girls in this country. Going forward, we can see that our country is going to be transformed by inventions by our children and skills from our children. We are a developing country but we should not cry that we have sanctions imposed on us. We should look at what God has given us and develop our country. Those who want to come and assist us, they should do so on our own terms”. 

The President said, “We don’t want them to come and lecture us or rule us. They should rule their countries and we rule ours. This is our country. To you the school children, we will do our best as Government to make sure you are exposed to modern science and technologies because the future of this country lies in science and technology, in yourselves creating employment, jobs and products and services for the nation. The future is upon you. It’s your duty to develop our country for it to be at par with other countries.” 

NEW DELHI, 8 February 2020, TON: Voters in New Delhi began voting on Saturday in a state election, which many analysts believe is test of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity following extensive anti-government protests over a new Citizenship Amendment Act. There are many Indian, especially the Muslims and Scheduled Castes are suspicion that Prime Minister Modi wants to turn secular India into a Hindu nation.

The main contest in the election is between the BJP and incumbent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s regional Aam Aadmi party (AAP). A poor showing in the capital this weekend is a blow to Prime Minister Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi  appealed on Twitter to voters “to vote in record numbers.” Polling is underway for 70 seats and the results will be announced on 11 February 2020.

MALI, 8 February 2020, TON: On the information provided by the US intelligence operators regarding presence of Al Qaeda and Islamic State-linked groups, French Forces along with multinationals carried out three operations on Thursday and two on Saturday against the Malian Muslims, killing more than 32 persons, Armed forces said in a statement. 

The main operations were conducted in the Gourma and Liptako regions where aerial bombing through Fighter aircrafts, helicopters and drone took place while ground forces carried out search operations in additional areas.

France, which controlled the country for sometime as colonial power had about 4,500 soldiers in the region in its counter-terrorism taskforce Operation Barkhane. Recently, additional 600 soldiers have been authorized. The reinforcements would mostly be sent to the area between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. This is in addition to 13,000-strong-United Nations Peacekeeping force in Mali. 

JAMMU, 8 February 2020, TON: The J&K Police, on Friday, arrested five Kashmiris under Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act from Katha and Sambha districts on charges of drug peddling while seized over Rs 4.7 lakh cash from their possession. As per the details furnished by vehicle checking authorities at Londi Morh on the Jammu-Pathankot highway in Kathua district, Yuka Butt from Shopian and Mohammad Afzal of Anantnag were in possession of 11 kilograms of poppy straw which is used in herbal medicine and cash of Rs 4.75 lakh. However, they were booked for possessing narcotics. In another case to harass even Hindus who were protesting against the Indian occupation, Police claimed to have seized only 6 grams of heroin from Kuldeep Raj and Ranju Choudhary near Chak Jhanda in Ramgarh. Anil Kumar, a resident of Gowal was also arrested for possessing four grams of heroin.

NEW DELHI, 7 February 2020, TON: Indian Military Intelligence (MI) has compelled NIA to hand them over Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh and four accused for interrogation as why they took the name of India Army and Military Intelligence as party to their criminal activities. To justify the take over from Police to Indian intelligence agencies, DSP Davinder Singh submitted an application to shift him from Kotbalwal jail in Jammu to Heeranagar jail in Kathua due to threats from Kashmiri Mujahideen. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP), Dilbag Singh confirmed shifting to Heeranagar jail in Kathua.

Meanwhile, DGP Dilbag Singh on Friday reviewed law and order situation after series of protests throughout Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir State. He directed the Police officers to take stringent action against security apparatus involved in corruption, blackmailing and kidnapping for ransoms.  He stressed on the point that those officials involved in unlawful activities during counter-insurgency operations, would not be spared.

He said, Jammu & Kashmir Police has a big challenge to fight militancy and maintaining of law and order in the Union Territory but stressed on the point due attention is not given to other crimes and prevention of criminal activities. The DG Police was especially concerned about law and order situation due to daily protests and targeting of security apparatus by abuses of unarmed Kashmiris. 

NEW DELHI, 7 February 2020, TON: India reacted strongly on Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s statement that Hindu-majority India was invading and occupying the State of Jammu and Kashmir. He also spoke against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was resented by Indian leadership at New Delhi. Indian warned its importers to stop import of Malaysian oil. However, Indian blackmailing tactics to force Malaysia to change its Kashmir policy or face embargo on export of Malaysian oil to India did not work.

As per data of Malaysian Palm Oil Council statists, India bought 4.4 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia in 2019, accounting for 24% of all Malaysian palm oil exports. Pakistan is third largest buyer of Malaysian Palm oil with 1.08 million tonnes in same year. The Government of Pakistan has announced that if India continues with bar on import of palm oil from Malaysia, Pakistan will compensate by starting import of oil from Malaysia. In the same regard, groups of importers have started contacting Malaysian Palm oil exporters. 

NEW DELHI, 7 February 2020, TON: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived India on a five-day visit on Friday, 7 February and was received at New Delhi Airport by Union Minister Sanjay Dhotre.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister will hold talks with President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and also the Sri Lankan disporea in India.

The Sri Lankan leaders will  Sarnath Buddhist Temple, Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Sarnath Buddhist Temple at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and other temples in Bihar.  

The sources at Prime Minister House told TON that Sri Lankan leader will also raise the issue of Indian fishermen illegally trawling fish its side of the Palk Strait as well India’s tactics regarding Tamils separatists.

GUWAHATI, 6 February 2020, TON: PM Narendra Modi is expected to visit Assam on tomorrow on 7 February to address a public rally at Kokrajhar in the Bodo Territorial Area District (BTAD).

On January 27, an agreement signed between the Centre, the Assam government and Bodo stakeholders (NDFB and its factions)  saw the announcement of various measures to ensure the territorial and cultural integrity of the region. Several institutes will be set up to bring growth and development to the region. PM Modi will fly in Guwahati and then take a chopper to Kokrajhar. Later, he will fly to West Bengal and then to New Delhi.

Assam was the first state to protest against CAA. CAA aims to provide amnesty to religiously persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan by giving them Indian Citizenship. The cut-off date has been fixed at, on or before 31st December 2014.

People in Assam see this as a violation of the Assam Accord that had set 25 March 1971, as the cut-off date for the detection and deportation of illegal foreigners from the State.

People of Assam have expressed fear and anxiety that CAA would regularize citizenship of several outsiders in the state and thus it will impact its demography and ethno-cultural integrity.