MALE, 23 April, 2021 (TON): Due to fire that broke out on a boat at sea last night, two people suffered burn injuries.

The boat was carrying four people at the time of the fire and was near K. Kuda Vilingili, said Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).

MNDF said that the fire incident was reported in the kitchen of the boat named "Tom Cruiser" which is owned by Top Tours Company.

The agency added that the reports of the incident were received around 3:23 am.

A Maldivian and a foreigner were injured due to the incident. 

The two injured have now been transported to Male' City for medical care. They were taken to the IGMH hospital which has not yet made any official comment on the conditions of those injured.

RIYADH, 23 April, 2021 (TON): To develop vegetation and limit desertification, the campaign of planting 10 million trees across the Kingdom has been completed.

The campaign Let’s Make it Green” was launched in October last year has been a success, announced by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and the National Center for Vegetation Cover.

The campaign covered all of the Kingdom’s 13 provinces.

The Eastern Province topped the list with more than 2.6 million trees planted, followed by more than 2.1 million in Madinah, over 1.3 million in Makkah, around 1 million in both Jazan and Riyadh, 462,000 in Qassim, and 270,000 in Asir.

Baha reached nearly 300,000, and more than 142,000 trees were planted in the Northern Border, followed by Jouf with more than 113,000, then Hail with about 85,000, Tabuk with over 75,000, and finally Najran with nearly 52,000 trees.

However, according to the officials, the campaign involved planting the endangered trees and shrubs in areas that were environmentally degraded due to overgrazing, logging, uprooting, and urban sprawl.

NEW DELHI, 23 April, 2021 (TON): The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has announced a U.S.-India partnership on clean energy and climate change.

While addressing the Leaders’ Climate Summit, Modi announced launch of India-US climate and clean energy Agenda 2030 partnership.

This partnership can be a sample of green collaborations to help developing countries access to affordable green finance and clean technologies.

Modi said that we will help mobilize investments, demonstrate clean technologies, and enable green collaborations.

Prime Minister said that India's ambitious renewable energy target of 450 Gigawatts by 2030 shows our commitment.

Modi said, despite our development challenges, we have taken many bold steps on clean energy, energy efficiency, afforestation and bio-diversity.

However, not only India but at the Summit called by U.S. President Joe Biden, several countries including the U.S., Japan and Canada announced their enhanced climate action plans to substantially cut their carbon footprints by 2030.

WASHINGTON, 23 April, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted to pass a bill to combat the increasing hate crimes against the Asian Americans during the pandemic.

The bill got approved with 94-1 votes by the Senate and was sent to the House that will soon take up their legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "By passing this bill we say to the Asian American community that the government is paying attention to them, has heard their concerns and will respond to protect them."

Sponsored by Hawaii's Democratic senator Mazie Hirono and New York's Democratic congresswoman Grace Meng, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to designate an official to review pandemic-related hate crimes.

However, the bill also directs the DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance raising awareness of hate crimes amid the pandemic, and work with other agencies to establish an online platform for reporting those crimes.

DHAKA, 23 April, 2021 (TON): Four dead in the chemical warehouse fire in Old Dhaka’s Armanitola.

The fire on the ground floor of Haji Musa Mansion also left 25 people, including three firemen, injured.

On Friday, as many as 19 units of the fire services controlled the fire around 6 am in the morning, after it started at 3:15 am.

Those injured in the incident were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Fire Service staff cut the grilles at balconies and windows and rescued the residents stuck on the rooftop of the six-storey building.

However, the authorities were yet to determine the source of the fire.

ISLAMABAD, 23 April, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, the Pakistani President Arif Alvi said that the Pakistan cannot move towards normalization of ties with India it rolls back its August 5 decision to scrap Indian-occupied Kashmir's autonomy.

He made the remarks while speaking to the U.S. media on various issues.

He commented on the Afghan Reconciliation Process, saying that the US' decision to withdraw its forces from the war-torn country is a positive step towards peace in Afghanistan.

The President said, "Pakistan will try to persuade the Taliban to take part in the Turkey conference."

"India is using the Afghan soil to meddle in the affairs of Baluchistan and carry out terrorism there," he said.

However, Alvi also said the relations between Pakistan and the US are improving.

KABUL, 23 April 2021, (TON): Incident of increasing violence taking place across the country. National Salvation Movement (NSM) insurgents belonging to ethnic minority beheaded five Afghan government forces personnel who were kidnapped after a clash in outskrits of the Maidan Shahr on Tuesday. Eye witnesses in Maidan Wardak province said that the groups were non-Pushtun and could not be identified who kidnapped the forces performing checkpost duties, however, their beheaded bodies were found on Thursday.

Sardar Bakhtiari, deputy head of Maidan Wardak Provincial Council was quoted by media saying that it was an incident of surrender that took place two nights ago in the village of Mulakhail in Maidan Shahr where the beheaded personnel were guarding a checkpoint. He claimed that the insurgents took all the equipment of the checkpoint with them.

The Taliban have condemned the incident and rejected any claim of involvement.

DHAKA, 23 April, 2021 (TON): Amidst the ongoing pandemic crisis, the Supreme Court has directed divisional special judge and special judge courts to conduct virtual proceedings to only dispose of bail and other urgent criminal applications.

On Thursday, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court issued the directive in line with the chief justice's orders.

According to the notice, the special judges must remotely hold sessions to dispense with bail and other urgent criminal plea on a daily basis, except weekly and public holidays, following the Supreme Court's guidelines on the use of information technology and related matters.

However, the order will take effect on Sunday and will remain in force until further notice.

NEW DELHI, 23 April, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, the Indian Navy started searching Indian Navy rescuers on Thursday started searching for an Indonesian submarine that went missing with 53 people on board in waters north of the island of Bali.

The Indian Navy's Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) departed from Visakhapatnam to support the Indonesian Navy in Search and Rescue efforts for KRI Nanggala on Thursday.

On 21 April, an alert was received by the Indian Navy through the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office (ISMERLO), regarding the missing Indonesian submarine.

The submarine was exercising in a location 25 miles North of Bali with a crew of 53 personnel.

In the South East Asian region, only India has deep submergence rescue capabilities and the DSRV can carry out rescue operations in deep waters.

However, the DSRV can recover submarine crews from depths up to 1000m and it is equipped with sonar and a Remotely Operated Vehicle to clear the underwater obstructions for the rescue operations. The DSRV can be transported to the area of operations by air or sea routes.

Accordingly, the Indonesian Defense Ministry had sought assistance on Wednesday from Australia, Singapore and India in the search and rescue operation of the 44-year-old submarine, KRI Nanggala-402.

WASHINGTON, 23 April, 2021 (TON): The request to deploy an aircraft carrier was sent to the desk of Pentagon Chief Lloyd J. Austin, who is expected to decide soon, said the U.S. military officials.

The media reported, "The request has been made by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of Central Command, military officials said, who asked for 24-hour support from a carrier, with its attendant fighter squadrons, and it is being viewed as a specific reference to the Eisenhower, which left its home port in Virginia in February and headed to the Mediterranean Sea."

The Pentagon describes such a move as a “military retrograde operation” to protect troops as they leave an area.

General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the media aboard his airplane last week, just after President Joe Biden announced the Afghanistan withdrawal that “It’s not over yet.”

“We have a lot of work ahead of us to make sure we get out in a good and orderly fashion, protect the force and continue defending America,” he said. 

“We’re going to protect the force,” Milley said.

“We have a change of mission. Our mission is to conduct a retrograde while protecting the force, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

However, the U.S. President Joe Biden announced a new counterterrorism approve to Afghanistan that the United States will withdraw its remaining 2,500 troops from Afghanistan by 11 September this year.