DHAKA, 22 April, 2021 (TON): The capital city of Bangladesh has received the first set of six railcars for Dhaka Metrorail.

On Wednesday, the coaches reached the pier near the depot at Diabari, said MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited.

The work to unload the coaches from the vessels will begin on Thursday morning, he said.

He said, the Kobe-based Japanese company Kawasaki also shipped the second set on Wednesday.

The 24 sets of 144 coaches are expected to arrive in time, the managing director of the government firm said.

However, the final trials will be held after tests.

BERLIN, 22 April, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, the German government announced that it would extend the deployment of its troops in the west African country of Mali, which had been operated in cooperation with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN).

The government said in a statement, "The threat of terrorism and organized crime not only affects Mali, but threatens to destabilize the whole of West Africa."

“Germany's military involvement in Mali was still necessary to sustainably support stability and peace in the Sahel region," it added.

According to the German government, the operational area of EU Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali) with the main purpose of training Malian armed forces would be expanded to Niger and Burkina Faso, with the number of German soldiers increasing from 450 to up to 600.

The participation of the Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces, in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) would continue unchanged.

According to the statement, the UN mission focused on implementing the intra-Mali peace agreement and restoring statehood and political dialogue.

ANKARA, 22 April, 2021 (TON): According to the presidential decree, the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed the Trade Minister and appointed chiefs of two newly established Ministries.

While citing the decree, the media reported that the Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan was removed from the post and replaced by Mehmet Mus.

Derya Yanik was appointed as head of the Family Ministry, and Vedat Bilgin took the post as the Labour Minister.

However, before the separation of the ministries in the decree, the ministries of labor and family had been under the same roof.

NEW YORK, 22 April, 2021 (TON): Marking the international Earth Day on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for commitment to restoring the planet and to making peace with nature.

He said in his message, "We heedlessly plunder the earth's resources, deplete its wildlife and treat air, land and seas as dumping grounds. Crucial ecosystems and food chains are being pushed to the brink of collapse."

"This is suicidal. We must end our war on nature and nurse it back to health," he noted.

Ending the war, said the Secretary-General, calls for bold climate action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, stronger steps to protect biodiversity, and reducing pollution and waste.

However, Guterres assured that these steps will not only safeguard the planet, our only home, but also create millions of new jobs.

MALE, 22 April, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, the decision to approve the request has been made by the temporary parliamentary committee set up to review Finance Ministry’s request for a one-year extension to overdraw from the public bank account.

Implementation of Article 32 (a), (d), and (e) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act was suspended for one year, starting from 26 April last year, with the powers bestowed upon the Parliament under Article 36 of the Act.

The committee, in its report after its one-day review, wrote that the Finance Ministry, when granted the exemption last year, managed the cash flow so that the overdraw limit does not exceed MVR 4.4 billion.

However, officials from Finance Ministry, Maldives Monetary Authority, and Auditor General’s Office were summoned by the committee for consultation.

COLOMBO, 22 April, 2021 (TON): Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed the state ministers of the government to use technology to stop corruption and directly intervene to increase the efficiency of government institutions.

The president called to stop accusing the government agencies that provide public services are unable to fulfill the role expected by the people.

The President expressed these views at a monthly review meeting with state ministers held at the President's House in Colombo this morning (21).

People point out that the cause of concern among the people is the inefficiency, corruption and obsolescence of certain state institutions.

The President pointed out that the problem could be solved through the direct intervention of state ministers and the use of technology for an efficient public service.

President Rajapaksa asked state ministers to submit a report on such institutions that have not met the government's targets and said if needed he was ready to appoint other officials to those institutions.

Moreover, the President also emphasized the need to monitor and expedite the progress of projects implemented through foreign loans and local budget allocations.

KIEV, 22 April, 2021 (TON): With a goal to strengthen the Ukrainian Navy, Ukraine and Britain have reached an agreement on expanding the Orbital training mission, the media reported on Wednesday.

Britain-led Operation Orbital, a training program for the Ukrainian armed forces, was established in 2015 following the request of the Ukrainian authorities. 

On 19-20 April, during the visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Ruslan Khomchak to Britain, this agreement was reached with his meeting with the British Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter.

Khomchak thanked Britain for its assistance in increasing the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their compatibility with NATO troops.

In response, Carter said the British Armed Forces had trained over 20,000 Ukrainian servicemen as part of bilateral military cooperation.

However, the British side led the initiative to train the Ukrainian Navy and support defense reform in Ukraine.

CANBERRA, 22 April, 2021 (TON): Australia has cancelled two Chinese “Belt and Road” infrastructure building initiative deals with a state government, provoking an angry response from Beijing.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Wednesday that the bilateral deals with Victoria state were among four vetoed under new laws that give the federal government power to overrule international agreements by lower-level administrations that violate the national interest.

The “Belt and Road” deals struck with Beijing in 2018 and 2019 triggered the legislative response.

Victoria Education Department pacts signed with Syria in 1999 and Iran in 2004 were also canceled.

“I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations,” Payne said.

The Chinese Embassy in Australia said in a statement the decision “further shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving China-Australia relations.”

The Chinese embassy said while referring to the Australian government, “It is bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations, and will only end up hurting itself.”

However, the move marks a significant escalation that could push icy bilateral relations into an abyss.

Australia’s bilateral relations with its most important trading partner are at their lowest point in decades. Chinese government ministers refuse to take phone calls from their Australian counterparts, and trade disruptions are widely seen as China imposing economic punishment.

JAKARTA, 22 April, 2021 (TON): the Indonesian military said on Wednesday, Indonesia’s navy is searching for a submarine that went missing north of the resort island of Bali with 53 people on board.

The KRI Nanggala 402 was participating in a training exercise when it missed a scheduled reporting call, Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said.

The submarine carrying 49 crew members, its commander and three gunners is believed to have disappeared in waters about 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Bali, he said.

Tjahjanto said the navy has deployed scores of ships to search the area, including a hydrographic survey ship, and has asked for help from Singapore and Australia, which have submarine rescue vessels.

However, the German-built submarine, which has been in service in Indonesia since 1981, was rehearsing for a missile-firing exercise that was to take place on Thursday that Tjahjanto and other military leaders were to attend.

THIMPHU, 22 April, 2021 (TON): Despite the unprecedented pandemic situation, the third thromde elections will be held on 28 April, according to the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB).

The commission has worked out separate strategies to conduct the election amid the pandemic and the lockdown situation, said ECB’s head of civic and electoral training department, Phub Dorji.

Phuentsholing thromde is expected to see the election amid the lockdown.

Elections in the other two thromdes of Thimphu and Gelephu will be held with the protocol.

If the lockdown stays till the poll day in Phuentsholing, the election officials would visit the houses of voters to collect votes in envelopes, as movement of people will be restricted, Dorji said.

He stated, “Postal ballots will be issued to the voter who will then cast his or her secret vote, seal the envelope and return it to the election official.”

However, the ECB will mobilize vehicles to collect votes from the voters who are reside in other dzongkhags and plan to cast their votes in polling booths, as they will not be able to travel to the thromde if the lockdown remains.