COLOMBO, 23 April, 2021 (TON): The Sri Lankan Army had opened fire on a group of sand smugglers in a tractor fleeing a checkpoint.

The tractor tried to fled the check-post in the Palavi area in the Chavakachcheri Police Division in Jaffna on Thursday morning, Chavakachcheri Police said.

The sand smugglers were traveling in a tractor loaded with sand from the Palavi area when the Army had ordered to stop the tractor at the checkpoint.

The troops had fired at the tractor when it continued without stopping.

The wheels of the tractor had been shot at and three suspects had left the tractor and fled on foot. The Army took steps to hand over the tractor to the Chavakachcheri Police.

However, the suspects had escaped the area and investigations are underway for their detention.

TEHRAN, 23 April, 2021 (TON): Pakistan and Iran are heading towards increasing bilateral cooperation with border security and establishment of trade markets along the borders.

On a three-day visit to Iran, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, "Fraternal relations between the two countries had deepened during the visit."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged that bilateral relation between Pakistan and Iran had improved.

A MoU has been signed between Pakistan and Iran to open trade centers in border areas.

On the other hand, Rouhani highlighted that border security remained as the prime point of concern for Pakistan and Iran, which he said "could be tackled through greater cooperation between the two neighbors".

A MoU was also signed to open the third cross-border market at Mand-Pishin border crossing point to enhance bilateral trade.

But border security and cross-border movement of terrorists has been one of the prime issues of distrust between the two countries for some time.

The 909 km-long border between Pakistan and Iran is filled with operating terror groups, criminal gangs, human traffickers and drug traffickers.

Consequently, terror attacks targeted at locals on both sides along with attacks on security forces on both sides, have kept relations between the two countries stretched.

BEIJING, 23 April, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry called on Japan to reflect upon its history of aggression and take practical steps to win trust from neighboring countries.

Spokesperson of the ministry Wang Wenbin said, "China urges Japan to hold fast to the principles established in the four political documents between China and Japan, as well as the four-point principled agreement, and face up to and earnestly reflect upon its history of aggression."

Wang's remarks came after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sent a ritual offering on Wednesday to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, on the occasion of its spring festival.

Wang said China firmly opposes the wrong practices of Japanese politicians.

 However, he urged Japan to make a clear break with militarism and take practical actions to win trust from the global community especially its Asian neighbors.

JAKARTA, 23 April, 2021 (TON): According to an official on Thursday, the Indonesian Army detected underwater movement at 2.5 knots around the last location of the submarine Nanggala-402 missing during a torpedo firing exercise in waters north of Bali Island.

The military spokesperson Achmad Riad said, "The contact then lost, so there is still not enough data to identify that it was a submarine."

He added, a helicopter and two military vessels also found the oil spill and the smell of diesel fuel at several different locations, but it is not yet possible to conclude that this is submarine fuel.

However, according to the sources, the authorities have deployed six military vessels and a helicopter to search in the last position of the submarine detected, including the underwater oceanographic vessel Rigel.

ROME, 23 April, 2021 (TON): A 28-year old Albanian man arrested by the Italian police over suspicion to be allegedly involved in the 2016 terror attack in Nice, France.

The 2016 Nice terror attack took the lives of 86 people.

On Wednesday, the Italian police said in a statement that the man, for whom a European arrest warrant was in place, was captured near Caserta, north of Naples, thanks to a coordinated effort between Italian, Albanian and French authorities.

Eighty-six people were killed on Bastille Day, 2016, when Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a truck through crowds watching a fireworks display on the seaside promenade in Nice, in southern France.

Lahouaiej Bouhlel himself was shot dead by two police officers who chased his truck on foot.

However, the 28-year-old Albanian man is suspected of having sold weapons to the attacker, according to the reports.

By Hassan Ali

Bengal elections campaign became a hardline for Delhi and Bengalis. Some Ministers of Delhi spreading false propaganda against Bangladesh and Bengalis especially, Amit Shah during the election campaign in West Bengal. Unfortunately, Amit shah is India's home minister and former president of the ruling fundamentalist political organization called Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In Calcutta’s Ananda bazar he addressed the newspaper, and he disdains the integrity of the Bengali people; he stated, "The poor people of Bangladesh is still do not get food, so they come to India. If BJP comes to power in West Bengal, infiltration from Bangladesh would be stopped.

Bangladesh had not officially and formally protested on Amit Shah's statement, but in reply to Amit Shah's latest statement, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh AK Abdul Momen said: "His knowledge about Bangladesh is limited. On the contrary, in some areas, Bangladesh is far ahead of India." There is a long history of Indian politicians, disregard the people of Bengal and Bangladesh. On 11^th February, 2021, Amit Shah speaks about Bangladeshis; Earlier, at a public meeting in West Bengal he again gave provocative remarks and alleged infiltration from the Bangladesh border to Indian Border. He stated, “If the BJP came to power in West Bengal, "not just people, even a bird, will not be able to enter the country through the border."

He did not stopped there. In 2019, he rendered a policy guideline in a meeting and categorically said Bangladeshi would be found and expelled from the land of west Bengal. In his policies, he mentioned to the BSF in November 2020 that the border should be sealed "even mosquitoes and flies cannot enter. Histories know that West Bengal is also a part of United Bengal under the rule of Sijar dolha.

It is now clear that Delhi has intensified these anti-Bangladesh campaigns as the West Bengal Assembly elections had begun. Their target is to defeat Bengal Daughter Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress party and seize West Bengal's power. Due to hatred and persecution against the Muslim community, the Muslim vote in West Bengal is less likely to go to the BJP, counting 30% of the total vote. The most proactive "Pakistan card" in Indian elections is obsolete in West Bengal because of the geographical distance.

After the Failure of the Pakistan card, Delhi is now keen to run the "Bangladesh card" because the two parts of Bengal have a bitter history of partition by the British Colonial rule and the huge migration and sad history of Hindu-Muslim communal riots. The Muslim Rulers, language, literature, religion, and common culture have made a historical bond between the two parts of Bengal.

Bangladesh officials have several times said that Bangladesh would accept its citizens wherever they are in India if India provides a list with the appropriate evidence. However, Amit Shah could not give it, even after becoming the home minister because Amit Shah knows very well that there is no Bangladeshi Muslim infiltration in India, which is their headache.

It's a huge conspiracy against Bengalis people and Muslims of Bangladesh came to India for jobs through illegal immigration. Here the questions arise, why would Muslims of Bangladesh go to India and opt for third-class citizens? In India, minorities cannot go for the rent houses in dominant areas of upper caste of Hindus; they do not get high-ranking jobs in Government and cample to do lower-class jobs. On the other side in Bangladesh, they are first-class citizens. They get government jobs, and Bangladesh is the Asia tiger in terms of economy. Then why the people of Bangladesh left their homelands and migrated to India.

Bangladesh is patiently observing the allegations and propaganda of Delhi. Bangladesh protested several times on Indian behavior; on the other side, Bangladesh gives a huge number of jobs to Indian citizens for regional stability. The Indian work in garments, the IT sector, textiles, and various NGOs based in Bangladesh. According to some media reports, most Indian citizens are sending money to India through hundi. The Refugee and Migration Movements Research Unit, in its 2019 report showed that remittances from Indian nationals from Bangladesh amounted to $4 billion. There is no official data on how many Indians are working legally or illegally in Bangladesh, but it is not less than half a million.

On the other hand, the official statistics showed that 2.25 million tourists (one in five foreign tourists) went to India from Bangladesh in 2018. The US is in second place. Although Amit Shah did not know the role of this massive number of tourists in the Indian economy, what happened to the business of Kolkata in the absence of Bangladeshi tourists after the Covid-19 situation -- the businessmen of Kolkata understood it well.

BEIJING, 22 April, 2021 (TON): According to a State Council executive meeting, China will improve the implementation of the system for the regular transfer of direct fiscal funds to further benefit businesses and the public.

On Wednesday, the meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang also passed a draft regulation on the country's land management.

According to the meeting, the system of direct fiscal fund allocation, which has become a regular practice this year, is a major macro-control innovation.

A total of 1.7 trillion yuan (about 261.35 billion U.S. dollars) of fiscal funds were directly channeled to local governments last year to stabilize the economy.

However, some 2.8 trillion yuan will be transferred under the same mechanism in 2021.

KATHMANDU, 22 April, 2021 (TON): Quota system for mountaineers to climb Mt. Everest has been implemented by the government of Nepal.

The move aimed at preventing overcrowding on the world's tallest peak.

As per the new rules enforced on Wednesday, the Nepali government has introduced a "first come, first ascent" policy.

According to the policy, it would allow certain groups of mountaineers who had received climbing permits first to summit the mountain in the first weather window.

 States rules, “If this policy leads to an unmanageable situation, expedition organizers are allowed to arrange expeditions of maximum 170 individuals in each positive weather window through coordination among themselves."

Positive weather windows remain limited as the mountaineers seek to scale the 8848.86-metre tall mountains as early as possible.

However, the Nepali government's move has come amid intense scrutiny over a reported traffic jam on Mt. Everest in 2019 when a record 644 mountaineers, including 280 foreigner mountaineers, stepped onto the top of the world.

MANILA, 22 April, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, the Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders' summit scheduled on Saturday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Duterte "has decided to remain in the country to attend to pressing domestic concerns in light of the surge of COVID-19 cases."

"This special leaders' meeting will address urgent matters in the region, including recovery efforts, the situation in Myanmar, ASEAN community-building efforts, external relations, and regional and international issues," the statement added.

The DFA said Duterte has designated Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin as his special envoy to the summit.

The summit will discuss ASEAN's collective efforts in addressing threats and challenges to peace and stability in the region.

NEW DELHI, 22 April, 2021 (TON): The Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the BJP government over the pathetic state of affairs in the country due to infection spread.

In a tweet R. Gandhi said, "I am in quarantine at home but getting sad news from all over the country. In India, the problem is not only corona, but the anti-people policies of the central government."

"The country needs solution not false assurances and festivals," he further said.

His remarks came on a day when India reported highest single day spike in the COVID new cases in the last 24 hours and more than 2,104 deaths were reported.