COLOMBO, 3 April, 2021 (TON): During a nation-wide operation to reduce motorcycle accidents, 8,957 persons have been identified for various offenses related to motorcycles, Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana stated.

The operation was carried out from 31 March to 1April.

Due to unfit for riding, two ninety-five motorcycles were taken into custody by the police, the Police Media Spokesman further stated.

DIG Ajith Rohana said, 264 drunk motorcyclists have also been arrested.

According to the Police Media Spokesman legal action has been taken on 85 for reckless driving, 80 for speeding, and 1,298 for riding without a helmet.

DHAKA, 2 April, 2021 (TON): State Minister presented a bill in the parliament to make the registration of tour operators compulsory.

On Saturday, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali presented the ‘Bangladesh Tour Operator and Guide (Registration and Operation) Bill-2021’ in the parliament.

The law, if passed, will regulate the activities of tour operators and tour guides for the development of the country's tourism sector and protect the interests of tourists.

The bill was later sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, asking it to examine the bill and submit a report to the parliament within a month.

Firstly, Jatiya Party senior MP Fakhrul Imam objected to the bill in parliament. His objection was later rejected.

However, according to the proposed law, any tour operator and tour guide must obtain a certificate from the designated authority of the government. Existing tour operators must obtain a registration certificate within three months of the law taking effect.

NEW DELHI, 3 April, 2021 (TON):  In a first multi-nation venture, joint exercise including Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India will be held from 4 April to 12 April.

To commemorate Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur’s birth anniversary, the exercise called `Shantir Ogroshena (front runner of peace) will be held in Bangladesh.

An officer said, “The Indian Army contingent of 30 personnel including officers, junior commissioned officers and jawans from the Dogra Regiment will participate in the exercise along with contingents from the Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army.”

It was added, “The theme of the exercise is robust peacekeeping operations.”

However, the exercise will also be attended by the military observers from the U.S., UK, Turkey, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore.

KABUL, 3 April. 2021 (TON): Afghan Defense Ministry stated on Saturday that at least 35 Taliban members were killed and 33 others injured in Afghan Army offensives in Faryab and Baghlan provinces.

In Faryab, 26 militants were killed and 33 wounded after the Afghan Air Force conducted airstrikes on a Taliban position in Sarchakan village of Gurziwan district.

In Baghlan, nine Taliban militants died after the Afghan National Army launched a special operation in Dand-e-Shahabuddin locality.

According to the statement of the ministry, the victims included six Taliban divisional commanders.

However as per the reports, a handful of weapons, ammunition and several vehicles were also destroyed during the offensives.

CONAKRY, 3 April, 2021 (TON): An initiative to improve environmental safety, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) is working with donor agencies to help the Lives & Livelihoods Fund for waste disposal in Guinea’s capital, Conakry.

The measures were taken through sustainable waste management and aid the sanitation systems of 33 member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Asia and Africa.

56 waste trucks to help major parts of the capital have been granted to the National Agency of Public Health and Sanitation, sponsored by the regional representative of IDB Dr. Alpha Diallo, Guinean President Alpha Conde.

MALE, 3 April, 2021 (TON): The Finance Ministry affirmed that the government employees will be given this year’s Ramadan allowance on Thursday, 8 April.

Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer signed a circular that said each employee will receive MVR 3,000 as Ramadan allowance in accordance to the Employment Act.

The allowance for employees who work multiple paid jobs will receive their allowance from their place of basic employment.

If an employee given the Ramadan allowance resigns before one third of Ramadan is over, the amount remaining after counting out the days they were employed must be recovered.

Meanwhile, those who are hired during the month of Ramadan must be given the Ramadan allowance within seven working says after they are hired.

However, the government offices have been instructed prepare the paperwork and apply for Ramadan allowance from Finance Ministry.

COLOMBO, 3 April, 2021 (TON):  On Saturday, the Sri Lanka Customs Narcotics Unit at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake arrested a sanitary worker of the airport with 17 kilograms of gold worth over Rs. 200 million.

A 37-year-old sanitary worker from the Negombo area was working at the Katunayake Airport.

He has been arrested with the stock of gold consisted of nearly 160 biscuits, the Customs Department said.

Investigations are been carried out by the Customs Department.

However, the arrested person had claimed that he obtained the stock of gold in a toilet in the airport and he did not know the person who had given it to him.

ISLAMABAD, 3 April, 2021 (TON): On Friday, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan confirmed that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to pay a visit to Pakistan from 6 April to 7.

The broad agenda of discussions will include bilateral ties with particular focus on economic cooperation between the two countries, said the Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri.

He said, "The two sides will also share their respective perspectives on regional and international issues of mutual interest."

Russo-Pakistani relations refer to the bilateral relations have been continued since decades. The Soviet Union and Pakistan first established the diplomatic and bilateral relations on 1 May 1948. Moreover, on 1May, 2018, Pakistan celebrated the 70th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations with Russia.

KIDAL, 3 April, 2021 (TON): In an insurgent attack on the camp in Aguelhok (Northern Mali), four United Nations peacekeepers were killed, the U.N. mission in Mali said on Friday.

Helicopters were dispatched to the scene to evacuate the wounded from camp, the mission said.

The camps in that region houses mostly Chadian peacekeepers.

The U.N. mission said that the attackers suffered heavy losses and had abandoned several of their dead at the site of the attack.

However, it is not wrong to say that Mali has been trying to contain an extremist insurgency since 2012. As the extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali's northern cities with the help of a 2013 French-led military operation, however, the insurgents quickly regrouped in the desert and began launching frequent attacks on the Malian army and its allies fighting the insurgency.

DHAKA, 3 April, 2021 (TON):  A Saudi Arabia returned woman abandoned her eight-month-old baby girl at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

On Friday, at 8 in the morning, the members of the Armed Police Battalion found the child crying inside a trolley at the airport, Alamgir Hossain, additional superintendent of APBn.

The CCTV camera footage revealed that the Saudi returnee landed at the airport at night, left the airport after abandoning the child.

However, for now a female APBn member is providing the child with food from the security agency’s canteen and taking care of her. Meanwhile, the security officials are trying to identify the woman.