LUCKNOW, 11 March, 2021 (TON): On 15 March, the state executive meeting of the UP Baharat Janata Party (BJP) will be held.

The meeting will be inaugurated by the Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and presided by UP BJP President Swatantra Dev Singh; however, CM Yogi Adityanath will also attend the meeting.

The state committee will deliberate on the political scenario in the state and developments in state politics to decide the party's strategy for the upcoming panchayat elections and then the assembly elections next year.

UP BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava said, "The chiefs of morchas are considered office-bearers who attend important meetings to take forward party activities. These morchas are like lateral extensions of the party that work with various groups of the society and strengthen the hold of the party among these groups."

"BJP has to reach out to people with the performance of the UP government in the last four years. The party leadership will draft a roadmap using these inputs," a senior party functionary said.

As the panchayat elections are approaching, BJP needs support from the voters as this will give the state unit enough leads on its strengths and weaknesses.

MALE, 11 March, 2021 (TON): President of Maldives, Ibrahim Solih said in a media interview,” China has played an important role in the development of Maldives,” and affirms its commitment to enhancing cooperation with China.

He said while noting that China has its assistance in Maldives’s socio-economic and infrastructure built, "Over the years, China has cemented itself as one of Maldives' most important and reliable partners."

 "I have personally witnessed the commitment and efforts by the Chinese builders on these important projects," said Solih. "Despite the ongoing pandemic, I am humbled that Chinese projects resumed work, with Chinese workers returning to the Maldives with precautionary measures in place," he said.

"China has the ability to lead humanity on the Green front, to revolutionize important technologies, and to open a path into a new era that will be greener, healthier, and yield sustainable economic progress," Solih added.

As per President Solih’s remarks, Maldives is likely to be more inclined towards China for various projects, including climate-related projects as the Maldives is most vulnerable to climate change. China and Maldives have already worked with close ties on global issues of common interest and hope to look at each other with a bright friendly future.  

HARIDWAR, 11 March, 2021, (TON): Naked, dreadlocked holy men, known as Naga Sadhus, were among a huge number of Hindu pioneers who have crowded the banks of India's Ganges River, for one of the country's generally acclaimed and beautiful strict celebrations.

Authorities in Haridwar expect 2.5 million people for the Maha Shivratri festival, one of the three auspicious bathing days over the next month as part of a major gathering called the Kumbh Mela.

Before dawn on Thursday, men, women, and children jostled for space along the several km of riverbank before a brief plunge in the fast flowing water, singing hymns and showering flowers into the Ganges.

On Thursday, the country recorded nearly 23,000 infections, down sharply from a peak of almost 100,000 in September but more than double the rates seen in January.

Cases are rising again in several regions, especially in the western state of Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai, where authorities have re-imposed restrictions.

Hindus believe bathing in the Ganges will cleanse their sins and bring salvation.

SRINAGAR, 11 March, 2021 (TON): Fire gutted six residential houses overnight in Nawabazar, Srinagar J&K.

According to the police, the fire engulfed the residential houses in the densely populated area.

The statement read, “Six residential houses have been completely destroyed. Authorities have deputed field staff to assess the damage. The exact cause of the fire is being investigated.”

It added, “Fire tenders were immediately pressed into service and the blaze was controlled from spreading.”

As per the reports no casualties reported however, the property of the people has been damaged.

THIMPHU, 11 March, 2021 (TON): As per the UN’s Committee for Development Policy (CDP), Bhutan is well on track to graduate from the group of LDCs (Least Developed Countries Status) in 2023.

From 22-26 February, the CDP held plenary meetings to review the progress of the LDC’s including Bhutan.

The CDP’s LDC Monitoring Report of this year states that Bhutan will graduate from the LDCs by 2023, coinciding with the end of the 12^th plan.

It added that the country is making good progress in preparing and planning for a smoother transition strategy and for appropriate actions to address the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic and LDC graduation.

As Bhutan was the only country to submit its report on the preparation of the smooth transition from the LDC category to a middle-income country, the report stated that Bhutan’s graduation was sustainable and irreversible.

As per the CDP’s recommendations, the graduation of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Laos would be effective in 2026.  This means that Bhutan will graduate three years ahead of the three countries

The government had earlier requested the UN to reset Bhutan’s LDC graduation path to help the country regain its grip on a smooth transition from the LDC category due to the pandemic. However, LDC graduation itself indicates that the country is moving towards transition in its policies and strategies to help build the economy, politics and social setting that could attract foreign investments.

THIMPHU, 11 March, 2021 (TON): In order to finance a 600-megawatt hydroelectric project at Trashiyangtse, the state-owned plants' REC Ltd and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) have entered into an agreement with Bhutan-based Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Ltd (KHEL).

On Wednesday, the REC Ltd stated that KHEL is an equal ratio joint venture between SJVN India and Druk Green Power Corporation Bhutan, set up to develop the 600-MW Kholongchhu hydroelectric project in east Bhutan.

"The project is proposed to be funded in a debt-equity ratio of 70:30 and as per the MoU, REC would extend rupee term loan of Rs 2,029 crore. The balance debt shall be extended by PFC (Rs 2,029 crore), NPPF, Bhutan (Rs 200 crore), and Bank of Bhutan (Rs 200 crore)," it said.

On 9 March, 2021 MoU has been signed by REC Ltd alongside PFC with KHEL, to finance a 600MW hydroelectric project at Trashiyangtse, Bhutan.

REC and PFC, both under the administrative control of the power ministry, are non-banking financial companies in the power sector.

However, REC sources stated that the project is executed as per the inter-government agreement between the Indian government and the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) in April 2014 to implement 4 hydroelectric projects in Bhutan through a joint venture.  And KHEL is the first joint venture between the two.

TEHRAN, 11 March, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated that the U.S. should initiate to return to the nuclear deal 2015.

The nuclear deal is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The media cited him saying, "The US itself has left the JCPOA and should take the first step to return to the deal.”

He added while stressing that they should first solve the problem and then as the Supreme leader has said that Iran will implement the deal.

In 2018, during the Trump administration, the U.S. abandoned the deal, and soon after leaving it, the U.S. imposed sanctions against Iran.

However, Tehran has started to quit the factions of the deal gradually.   

NEW YORK, 11 March, 2021, (TON): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invited the acclamation by Libya's House of Representatives of the interceding Government of National Unity as “an important step towards restoring unity, stability, security and prosperity” in the country on Wednesday.

He recognized individuals from the House and the Libyan Political Dialog Forum for their work in propelling the political cycle in Libya, and furthermore adulated the country's 5+5 Joint Military Commission and nearby experts in Sirte for their endeavors in getting the parliament's endorsement.

He encouraged the new unity government to cooperate with the House of Representatives “to address the urgent needs of the Libyan people without delay, advance preparations for national elections on December 24, 2021, and continue to work toward the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement of October 23, 2020.”

He likewise repeated the help of the UN for the Libyan individuals taking all things together their endeavors to improve the harmony and security of their country.

SANAA, 11 March, 2021, (TON): Yemen's military on Wednesday said it had part of the way broken a six-year attack of the southern city of Taiz by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Representative Col. Abdul Basit Al-Baher said that troops had held onto control of a few mountain areas on the western edges of the city and resumed a street to western zones on the Red Sea.

Without precedent for years, soldiers from the Taiz pivot met other government troops from the Giants Brigades in a freed region in Al-Wazyia subsequent to breaking the last Houthi line of defense that had since a long time ago isolated them.

Al-Baher said, “This is an important development since it not only breaks the siege but unifies the fronts against our common enemy.”

A week ago, Yemeni soldiers in Taiz have broken a very long time of military impasse in the city by dispatching another hostile to push back the Houthis from the city's edges and break the radicals' attack.

The military took over control of Jabal Habashy region and a few key areas on the eastern and western edges of Taiz in which many Houthi rebels died and got injured.

Media showed pictures of troopers recovering tanks, defensively covered work force transporters, and rocket launchers deserted by the crushed Houthis.

According to an official, Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, during a telephone conversation with Taiz Gov. Nabil Shamsan ordered his troops in Taiz to press ahead with their military offensive until the Houthi siege had been ended.

After failing to seize control of the city’s downtown during early military expansion across Yemen in 2015, the Houthis surrounded the densely populated city, blocking vital food and medical supply lines. The militia group has repeatedly shelled residential areas in Taiz, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians over the last six years.

Yemen's Defense Ministry said that military soldiers and associated tribesmen scored restricted military increases on various fronts in the region of Marib. The military held control of a mountain in Al-Kasara, west of Marib, and executed, injured and caught many Houthis.

In other challenged regions in Marib like Murad, Serwah, and Helan, government troops took cautious positions, zeroing in on pushing back Houthis as warplanes from the Arab alliance focused on Houthi military fortifications and areas.

Hadi called Yemini safeguard serve, Mohammed Al-Maqdashi, to compliment government troops on their benefits and rehashed his request to the military to thwart "Iran's plan and its devices" in Yemen.

LONDON, 11 March, 2021, (TON): Ten years since the start of the Syria conflict, a coalition of international aid organizations has warned of the “suffering and increased irreversible, damage” if growing humanitarian needs are not met.

“A decade since the outset of the conflict, living conditions for many Syrians are worse than ever,” the coalition of 35 aid agencies, including Save the Children, MercyCorps, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, said.

“There continues to be violence and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

In excess of 80% of individuals in Syria are living in destitution and food frailty levels are at a record high. More than 12.4 million individuals are food shaky and a further 1.8 million are in danger.

A further 12.2 million Syrians need standard admittance to clean water and 2.4 million children are presently out of school.

The statement said“The protracted displacement crisis as a result of the Syrian conflict is the worst since the Second World War.”

“We also call on governments with influence over the warring parties to use their pressure to seek an end to this brutal conflict and spare millions more Syrians from the violence,” it added.

The appeal comes all at once of exceptional investigation over the eventual fate of the UK's job in settling the Syria war.

Recently, spilled data from the British Home Office uncovered that the public authority is intending to slice its guide spending plan to Syria by as much as 67%.

Anna McMorrin, shadow minister for international development in the UK’s opposition Labor party, said, “this is a time for leadership not retreat. Any attempt by the UK Government to cut vital lifesaving aid would further signal Britain’s shameful retreat from the world stage at a time when we need the international community to act together.”

She said the UK government should redouble efforts to end hostilities and help the millions still caught up in the conflict, “particularly in the northeast and northwest where the regime and rogue forces act with impunity.”

When President Bashar Al-Assad launched a brutal crackdown on protests against his rule then the war begins in Syria in 2011.

The conflicts swelled into hard and fast clash between Assad's powers and dissident gatherings going from the Free Syrian Army to radical groups connected to Al-Qaeda.