NEW DELHI, 22 May, 2021, (TON): The Indian Navy and Coast Guard officials on Friday, May 21, recovered two more bodies from Arabian Sea days after a powerful cyclone sank a barge P305 off the country's west coast. 

A total of 51 bodies have been recovered from the Arabian Sea since a barge sank after being hit by a cyclone earlier this week, the Indian Navy said on Friday. 

According to Indian Navy officials 24 people were still missing and 188 survivors have been rescued so far.   

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police registered an FIR against the captain of barge P-305 and some other persons after it sank in the Arabian Sea during cyclone Tauktae. 

On Monday, the barge P305 was hit by Cyclone Tauktae and sank 35 nautical miles off the coast of the commercial capital Mumbai. 

The Indian military is continuing search and rescue operations, after a deadly cyclone left scores missing and stranded at sea. 

“Indian Navy is coordinating search and rescue operation with ships and aircraft for the remaining (missing) crews,” the Indian Navy statement said. 

truction. 

Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to barrel into the west coast in two decades, has so far killed at least 51 others after wreaking havoc in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala

KABUL, 22 May, 2021, (TON): The establishment of the Supreme State Council is important for accelerating the peace process and that the final list for members of the body will be announced Monday, said Mohammad Ismail Khan, a former mujahedeen leader and former minister of energy and water on Friday.  

“If consensus is achieved, of course, the Taliban will also accept it to enter into dialogue with such people,” Ismail Khan said and added that “At the same time, the knowledge of these people (members of state council) can be a guiding principle for the government.” 

Earlier, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah said that the Taliban hasn’t been serious about engaging in the peace process and that the group still maintains ties with al Qaeda. 

Based on the political agreement signed last year between President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the Supreme State Council is established to ensure political consensus in the country. Political leaders and national figures will be members.

ISLAMABAD, 22 May, 2021, (TON): A bomb blast at a pro-Palestinian rally in southwestern Baluchistan province killed at least seven people and injured 14 others on Friday said, officials. 
The attack targeted a vehicle carrying a local leader of the religious political party in the town of Chaman, near the Afghanistan border. 
According to the initial investigations, unknown assailants detonated an improvised explosive device planted on a motorbike parked near the vehicle as rally participants began to disperse.    
Provincial government spokesman Liaquat Shahwani said security forces swiftly sealed the area and a police search was underway to find those behind the attack. 
No one took responsibility for the bomb blast.  
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but least populated province, and has seen several attacks in recent months. 
Rallies in support of Palestinians were held across Pakistan on Friday, as the country marked Palestine Day in solidarity with the people of Gaza and to protest against Israel’s airstrikes and attacks on Gaza. The 11-day conflict killed at least 243 Palestinians in Gaza.   

ABUJA, 22 May, 2021, (TON): Nigeria's army chief, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, died in a plane crash on Friday during an official visit to the northern state of Kaduna, which has had security challenges in recent months, the presidency said. 

The air force said in a statement that its plane crashed near the Kaduna airport and that it was investigating the cause. 

Eleven crew and officers aboard a Nigerian military plane were killed when the plane crashed. 

The air force said the plane crashed near Kaduna Airport and that it was investigating. 

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, described the crash as a "mortal blow ... at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country." 

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, has had a poor air safety record in the past, although it has improved in recent years. It was the third air force plane crash in three months. 

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Attahiru alongside other military chiefs in January after years of mounting criticism over spreading violence by armed groups.  

KATHMANDU, 22 May, 2021, (TON): President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives and announced mid-term elections for November 12 and 19. 

A midnight Cabinet meeting had made the recommendation to dissolve the House after the prospect of forming a new government has ended. 
The President's Office said in a statement, "President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, has dissolved the House of Representatives as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal and called the mid-term elections for Nov. 12 and 19."  

Under Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal, the president shall dissolve the lower house and call for new election, as suggested by the prime minister, if the incumbent premier fails to obtain a vote of confidence or a new one cannot be appointed. 

The move followed a notice from the Office of the President that it could apppoint neither KP Sharma Oli, the incumbent prime minister, nor Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepali Congress president, as claims made by both to form a new government were insufficient. 

Bhandari on Thursday called on the opposition parties to form a new majority government, as recommended by Oli. 

Earlier, K P Sharma Oli was reappointed as Nepal Prime Minister on May 13 after the Opposition parties failed to secure majority seats in Parliament to form a new government. 

The House of Representatives, which has 271 members, was formed in elections held in November and December in 2017. 

GADCHIROLI, 21 May 2021, (TON): New Dehli claims that its security forces’ anti-naxal commandos of the Maharashtra Police on Friday morning gunned down 13 Maoists, including 7 women, in a fierce gun-battle in the deep forests of Kotmi in Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli in eastern Maharashtra.

Anti Naxal Squad (ANS) of the Gadchiroli police claims to have recovered a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives, including one AK-47 rifle, SLR, Carbine, 303 and 12 bore rifles and an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) from the spot.

KATHMANDU, 21 May 2021, (TON): Nepal's political crisis deepened on Friday as both embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and the Opposition parties staked a claim for the formation of a new government by submitting letters comprising signatures of lawmakers to President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

Prime minister Oli reached the President's Office Shital Niwas a couple of minutes ahead of the Opposition leaders. He submitted the letter claiming support of 121 lawmakers from his own party CPN-UML and 32 lawmakers of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) for his reappointment pursuant to Article 76(5) of the Constitution.

JSP-N president Mahantha Thakur, JSP-N Parliamentary Party leader Rajendra Mahato and PM Oli had signed the letter submitted to the President, CPN-UML leader Bishnu Rimal was quoted as saying in The Himalayan Times.

Earlier Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba claimed to have garnered the support of 149 lawmakers. Deuba, along with the leaders of Opposition parties, reached the President's Office to stake claim for the post of prime minister. The Opposition's decision came after Prime Minister Oli reportedly expressed unwillingness on Thursday to undergo another floor test to prove his government's majority in the House of Representatives.

Leaders of the Opposition alliance including the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN (Maoist Center), the Upendra Yadav-faction of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) and the ruling CPN-UML's Madhav Nepal faction claimed to have the support of 149 lawmakers of the House of Representatives (HoR), said Nepali Congress senior leader Prakash Man Singh.

The number includes 61 MPs of Nepali Congress, 48 of Maoist Center, 13 of JSP and 27 of UML. The leaders from the Opposition alliance left for the President's official residence, Shital Niwas, to submit the signatures of 149 lawmakers recommending Sher Bahadur Deuba's appointment as the prime minister.

Deuba, 74, is the president of the Nepali Congress and served as the prime minister of Nepal on four different occasions; first from 1995 to 1997, then from 2001 to 2002, again from 2004 to 2005, and from 2017 to 2018.

MYANMAR, 21 May 2021, (TON): Myanmar's military General Min Aung Hlaing-appointed state election commission said on Friday that his agency will consider dissolving Aung San Suu Kyi's former ruling party for its alleged involvement in electoral fraud and have its leaders charged with treason.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party first came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory, and won an even greater majority in last November's general election. It was set to start a second term in February when the military seized power in a coup, arresting her and dozens of top government officials and party members.

Genaral Min Aung Hlaing cited electoral fraud as the justification for the army's takeover, saying “there was terrible fraud in the voter lists.” The Union Solidarity and Development Party, which suffered unexpectedly heavy losses in the election, made similar allegations.

Political parties were called to discuss planned changes in the electoral system at a meeting Friday, There, Union Election Commission chairman Thein Soe said an investigation of last year's election that would soon be completed showed that Suu Kyi's NLD had illegally worked with the government to give itself an advantage at the polls.

"We will investigate and consider whether the party should be dissolved, and whether the perpetrators should be punished as traitors,” he said.

KABUL, 21 May 2021, (TON): NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Paris on Friday that NATO will continue to train Afghan special forces outside the country after it winds up 18 years of security work in conflict-torn Afghanistan in coming months.

NATO Secretary General said, “As we end our military presence, we are opening a new chapter,” after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron that were focused on preparations for a summit of the alliance's leaders next month.

Secretary General Stoltenberg said NATO's revised role would involve giving “advice and capacity-building support to Afghan security institutions, as well as continued financial support.” He said NATO also plans “to provide military education and training outside Afghanistan, focusing on Special Operations Forces.”

It is on record that all the combatants have already withdrawn from Afghanistan and troops for the security of economic interest projects or training of Afghan forces ar present in Afghanistan, The statement indicates that foreign presence would remain in the country.

ISLAMABAD, 21 May, 2021 (TON): Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a telephonic conversation on Thursday reaffirmed their resolve to further solidify Pakistan-China bilateral relations.

The commitment was reiterated by the two leaders as part of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties.

PM Imran congratulated the Chinese premier on the special occasion, that would be celebrated by both the sides in a befitting manner.

“I am confident that under your leadership our “All-Weather Strategic Co-operative Partnership” will further strengthen and flourish creating a brighter and promising future for our people, said PM Imran.

"The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative and has generated economic activity, employment and will further enhance bilateral and regional trade," the premier said.

The year 2021 is a special occasion as it marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China, he added.

Both the leaders stressed the need to continue with the momentum of high-level exchanges to further diversify and deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries.