DHAKA, 20 March, 2021 (TON): Union Parishad member Shahidul Islam Swadhin arrested by the Police Bureau of Investigation over links with the attacks on Hindu homes in Sunamganj’s Shalla Upazilla.

In the early hours on Saturday, Swadhin was picked from the Moulvibazar’s Kulara, said special SP Khaled Uz Zaman of thr PBI in Sylhet.

In a statement, he said, “Shahidul Islam Swadhin is the prime suspect in the attacks at Noagaon village in Shalla Upazila. He has been brought to the PBI's Sylhet office after his arrest.”

Supporters of a radical group attacked and vandalized around 70 Hindu households at the village on 17 March alleging insult to Islam in a Facebook post criticizing their leader Mamunul Haque, police said.

A total of 23 people, including Swadhin, have been arrested so far.

However, till the latest advancement, Swadhin was held as an ‘instigator’ of the attacks. He was named in a case filed by local Habibpur UP chairman the day after the attack.

SHENZHEN, China, 20 March, 2021, (TON): Qualcomm Inc CEO Steve Mollenkopf said he is "seeing improvement" in endeavors to ease chip deficiencies that have caused interruptions across a few ventures, and that interest for more established chips is simpler to react to.

The request has taken off for contributes ongoing months, with alarm purchasing further pressing limit and driving up expenses of even the least expensive segments of essentially all computer chips.

“There’s an ability for the market to respond more quickly to some of the older nodes than the newer nodes, so depending on the product, you may be in a position to get some improvement,” Mollenkopf said, speaking via video link at the China Development Forum in Beijing on Saturday.

Talking in a similar board, president and CEO of Micron Technology Inc Sanjay Mehrotra said the chipmaker would mean to build its stock in accordance with the developing interest for the organization's items.

NEW DEHLI, 20 March, 2021, (TON): Smoke was identified in the baggage van of Lucknow-bound Shatabdi Express at Ghaziabad station on Saturday, authorities said.

All passengers on board are safe, railways said.

The train showed up at Ghaziabad station at around 6:41 am and fire detachment was called to the spot after fire quenchers neglected to control the smoke, the authorities said.

The train left for its objective at 8:20 am after the influenced mentor was disconnected, they said.

NEW DEHLI, 20 March, 2021, (TON): The CBI on Friday charge sheeted four of its own authorities in a payoff for-help body of evidence including the investigation against Frost International that had purportedly dedicated a bank misrepresentation of more than '4,300 crores.

Prior, the office had booked its agent administrators of police R K Rishi and RK Sangwan and Inspector Kapil Dhankad alongside a backer regarding a supposed bribery ring run by them inside the office to help organizations blamed for redirecting bank advance assets, authorities had said Wednesday.

The three accused CBI officials were arrested in January this year. They were booked for allegedly "compromising the integrity of investigation of certain cases on extraneous pecuniary considerations".

The FIR had likewise named Additional Director of Shree Shyam Pulp and Board Mills Mandeep Kaur Dhillon and heads of Frost International Sujay Desai and Uday Desai in the bribery case.

KABUL, 2o March, 2021, (TON):  Nawroz, meaning new day and New Year in the Persian calendar, is celebrated in Afghanistan, Iran, parts of Pakistan, and parts of central Asian countries.

The festival is one of the biggest celebrations in Afghanistan.

MOSCOW, 20 March, 2021 (TON): Russia hopes for the best regarding its relations with the U.S. yet it has also prepared for the worst, said the Kremlin.

On Friday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov cited by media that Putin had already stated clearly about Russia’s intention of maintain good ties with U.S.A for the advantage of the rest of the world.

Nevertheless, "we cannot fail to take into account" US President Joe Biden's words, Peskov added.

The remarks came amid Moscow-Washington’s escalating tensions after a US intelligence report on Tuesday, accused Russia of "denigrating" Biden's candidacy during the elections to increase support for former President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, Putin said, "I want to invite President Biden to continue our discussions, but on the condition that we do this actually live, as they say, online."

Putin stressed that Russia is prepared to work with the US in fields of mutual interest, but only on terms that are favorable for Moscow. Moreover, the discussions could be held soon, and the Kremlin is ready at any time convenient for the White House.

DHAKA, 20 March, 2021, (TON): Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina stated that "Bangladesh will always be with Sri Lanka and it will continue to be.

“I can assure you," she said during bilateral talks with touring Sri Lanka's delegation.

COLOMBO, 20 March, 2021, (TON): An official of the Sri Lanka Air Force has kicked the bucket and an airman was wounded during a parachute instructional course at SLAF Parachute Training School in Ampara earlier today.

SLAF spokesperson Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe said that the parachutes of the officer and the airman had collided during the landing.

The wounded airman was conceded to the Ampara Hospital. The expired official, distinguished as a 34-year old Squadron Leader of the SLAF.

THIMPHU, 20 March, 2021 (TON): On Friday, Bhutan High Court’s larger bench supported bench three’s judgment for the conviction of the Home Minister Sherub Gyeltshen for two months in the case of claiming false vehicle insurance worth Nu 226,546.

The minister’s attorney and other defendents however, appealed to the court that lower court was mistaken in the application of legal provisions.

After a thorough review, the larger bench’s judgment stated it upheld the lower court’s decision. 

The HC’s bench three, in its judgment rendered in October last year, stated the minister’s statements on claiming insurance for his vehicle were inconsistent for it stated that Lyonpo Sherub Gyeltshen, in his intimation letter to the Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Ltd (RICBL), claimed his Toyota Prado met with an accident at Lamperi on the Thimphu-Wangdue highway on July 21, 2016.

Besides, in another statement, Lyonpo claimed that his car engine malfunctioned when it was on the way to Mongar. There was no proof to indicate the accident actually happened.

In the violation of section 311 of the Penal Code of Bhutan Lyonpo Sherub Gyeltshen was convicted.

Section 311 states a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of fraudulent obtaining of insurance if the defendant presents a false statement as part of an application for commercial or personal insurance or as part of a claim for payment on a commercial or personal insurance policy.

However, he was also asked to refund the full amount to the insurance company through the Office of Attorney General (OAG). But the sources said, High Court’s Chief Justice Duba Dukpa rescued himself from the case.

ISLAMABAD, 20 March, 2021 (TON): While praising UN-SG Antonio Guterres’s leadership, Pakistan expressed support for Antonio’s re-appointment as the UN Secretary General for another five years, Pakistan Foreign Office said on Friday.

It was conveyed during a telephonic conversation between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the UN Secretary General, the office reported.

The statement said, “Lauding the UNSG’s leadership during challenging times, the Foreign Minister welcomed his availability to serve a second term in office, and expressed Pakistan’s full support for Mr. Guterres’s re-appointment for another five-year tenure.”

Several other issues on the UN agenda also made into focus, that include the pandemic situation, economic recovery, international debt relief efforts, equitable availability of vaccines, peacekeeping, Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and the Afghan peace process.

The Un-SG called Pakistan a fundamental partner of the United Nations, for its constructive contributions towards the effective functioning of the Organization.

Also, the secretary general lauded Pakistan’s Presidency of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the promotion of the socio-economic development agenda.

Most importantly, the two leaders agreed that the Afghan peace process should be taken forward through consultations and in a way that ought to develop peace, stability and security in the region.