KARACHI, Islamabad, 28 March, 2021, (TON): Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah evaluating the advancement of improvement plans of three divisions animals and fisheries, colleges and boards, and law and prosecution guided them to finish their progressing plans with the goal that they could be taken out from the following year's spending plan for taking new activities.

 He decided to further strengthen livestock and fisheries sectors so that the export of fisheries and halal meat could be initiated at a large scale.

 The chief minister was informed that the livestock and fisheries department had a portfolio of Rs10, 451.448 million for 26 schemes against which Rs4, 346.089m had been released showing a throw-forward of Rs6, 105.359m.

BEIJING, 28 March, 2021, (TON): There was and is no constrained work in cotton creation in Xinjiang, said Li Xuejun, a senior territorial administrator on Friday.

Li, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said this at a joint video promotion event for Xinjiang with the Chinese embassy in Britain.

He said that cotton production in Xinjiang has already achieved a high degree of mechanization. There is not a large number of cotton-picking workers even in the busy picking season.

Li noticed that cotton endeavors in Xinjiang are lawfully enrolled and work as indicated by-laws and guidelines. Laborers' privileges to installment, rest, culture, government assistance, and others are completely ensured, he said.

BEIJING, 28 March, 2021, (TON):  China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released a plan to expand the coverage of the country's gigabit network to benefit more people.

The gigabit optical network is expected to cover 200 million Chinese households by the end of this year, which should be doubled to 400 million by the end of 2023, according to the plan.

China also aims to increase its gigabit broadband users to exceed 10 million by the end of 2021, the plan added.

5G internet should be made available in all areas above the county level and some key townships by the end of this year, the plan noted. 

DHAKA, 28 March, 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Saturday and discussed the progress achieved in areas like connectivity, energy, trade, health, and developmental cooperation following which the two countries signed five MoUs covering a number of areas of bilateral cooperation.

Modi, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus, held one-on-one talks with Hasina which was followed by a delegation-level meeting that continued for over an hour.

The two sides signed five Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) covering areas such as connectivity, commerce, information technology, and sports. In a humanitarian gesture, PM Modi handed over a representational key of 109 ambulances to his counterpart Hasina. He also handed over a representational box to her as a symbol of India’s gift of 1.2 million Covid vaccine doses to Bangladesh.

FARAH, Afghanistan, 28 March, 2021, (TON): Farah (BNA) Armed Taliban shot dead Abdul Khaliq Farahi, Commander of 7th Battalion of the 2nd ANA Brigade in Farah yesterday morning.

Farah police spokesman said, that the Taliban shot dead Abdul Khaliq Farahi in front of his family as he was on his way to work in the Shapel Kuh area of central Farah.

According to the source, the perpetrators managed to escape.

Another report says, a civilian was martyred when a roadside bomb exploded in the Lash Joven district of Farah province.

BEIJING, 28 March, 2021, (TON): Iran and China on Saturday signed a 25-year key collaboration understanding tending to monetary issues in the midst of devastating US sanctions on Iran.

The agreement dubbed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, covers a variety of economic activity from oil and mining to promoting industrial activity in Iran, as well as transportation and agricultural collaborations, according to the report. No additional details of the agreement were revealed as Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi took part in a ceremony marking the event.

Before the ceremony Saturday, Yi met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and a special Iranian envoy in charge of the deal Ali Larijani.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, on Friday called the agreement “deep, multi-layer and full-fledged.” 

The deal, which had been discussed since 2016, also supports tourism and cultural exchanges. It comes on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Iran.

The two nations have had warm relations and both participated in a joint maritime exercise in 2019 with Russia in the northern Indian Ocean.

NEW DEHLI, 28 March, 2021, (TON): The BJP on Saturday accused the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh-drove Punjab government for the "murderous" attach on its MLA Arun Narang in the state and requested model activity against culprits.

In a statement, BJP General Secretary Arun Singh sentenced the mistreatment meted out to the legislator as extremely barbaric and painful. "The BJP condemns this incident that happened under the Congress government's protection. The Amarinder Singh government of the Congress is directly responsible for it," the party said in the statement.

Narang was allegedly thrashed and his clothes were torn by a group of farmers at Malout in Muktsar district on Saturday, police said.

When the Abohar legislator reached Malout along with local leaders to address a press conference, they were surrounded by a group of protesting farmers and black ink was thrown at them and their vehicles, officials said.

The Punjab chief minister strongly condemned the attack on Narang and also warned of strict action against anyone trying to disturb peace in the state.

He urged the farmers not to indulge in such acts of violence and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently resolve the crisis triggered by the passage of the farm laws in Parliament last year to prevent the situation from escalating.

NEW DEHLI, 28 March, 2021, (TON): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said his government will build a road along the Indo-Nepal border, starting from Maharajganj district in the state and reaching up to Uttarakhand.

Chief Minister also announced his government's plan to build a medical college in the Bahraich district. Further, he announced these decisions while inaugurating and laying foundation stones for various projects worth nearly Rs 280 cr in the neighboring Maharajganj district and projects worth Rs 333 cr for Bahraich district.

 "We are going to build a border road along the Indo-Nepal border. The work on it will be started from the Maharajganj district. The road will take you to Pilibhit and also connect to Uttarakhand," he said in Maharjganj where he also inaugurated a Nagar Panchayat office.

  In Bahraich, Adityanath also unveiled a statue of Maharana Pratap.

 "Maharana Pratap was born in Rajasthan when the country and religion both were in danger. The foreign invaders were eager to crush India's religion, culture and freedom. At that time, Maharana Pratap launched the 'yagya' of freedom and every Indian feels grateful for what he did for the country,” the chief minister said.        

­­NEW DEHLI, 28 March, 2021, (TON): Taking into account impending celebrations, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava instructed his officials on Saturday to ensure ideal perceptibility of the power and follow security rules while carefully implementing the DDMA orders in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A crime review meeting was held by the Delhi Police chief with senior officers of the force through a video-conference to discuss the law-and-order situation and take stock of the action taken against incidents of crime and criminals.

In view of consecutive festivals in the coming week, Shrivastava directed the officers to ensure optimal visibility of the force. He stressed on the Delhi Disaster Management Authority’s (DDMA) guidelines regarding Covid-appropriate behavior and said it should be strictly adhered to and enforced on the ground.

The Police Commissioner also instructed his staff to follow safety guidelines while enforcing the DDMA orders.

“The police commissioner reviewed the action taken regarding the enforcement of the DDMA’s Covid guidelines and directed all to remain extra alert to ensure that public celebrations and gatherings, congregations during upcoming festivals such as Holi and Shab-e-Barat shall not to be allowed at public places, public grounds, public parks, markets and religious places,” said Anil Mittal, the Additional Public Relation Officer (APRO) of Delhi Police.

 “An appraisal of the listing of criminals and the strategy to keep a vigil on them were discussed, along with an action plan to keep a tab on jail/bail released criminals and their activities. Emphasis was laid on taking legal remedies to speed up the investigation of the pending cases,” he added.

Srivastava likewise inspected the situation with the objections in the Integrated Complaints Management System and coordinated the officials for an expedient removal of the protests, authorities said.

MALE, 27 March, 2021 (TON): On Saturday, MDP leader and Parliament speaker former President Mohamed Nasheed said he desires that his party does not stand by a government that steals from the people.

Nasheed has demanded Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem’s resignation and expressed displeasure over the decision of the Prosecutor General’s Office not to pursue charges in a case involving corruption in a government contract to procure ventilators amid pandemic in 2020.

In a tweet, Nasheed said, “I see the government colluded in this. I do not wish for MDP to stand by a government that steals,” he said.

However, in response to the allegations, PG Shameem blamed insufficient investigation into the case, and said his office will prosecute if investigators find where the money went to and present the information.