MOSCOW, 18 April 2021, (TON): Russia detained a Ukrainian diplomat for allegedly receiving classified information from a database of the country’s main security agency.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed on Saturday that Alexander Sosonyuk, Ukraine’s Consul in St Petersburg, was taken into custody on Friday during a meeting with a Russian in which he received “information of a classified nature contained in the databases of law enforcement agencies and the FSB”.

Further details were not known about the incident.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Sosonyuk has been released from custody and is safe but he did not say if he is at Ukrainian Embassy at Leontievskiy Lane Moscow or at St Petersburg. So far he has not been confirmed when asked to move out of Russia.

The detention comes amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine over Russian military buildup along the border with the eastern Ukraine region.

NEW DELHI, 18 April 2021, (TON): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday filed a charge sheet against seven narco-smugglers associated with the banned terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) in connection with its probe into the Jammu narco-terrorism case.

An NIA spokesperson confirmed names of smugglers associated with BKI including Gurpartap Singh, resident of Tarn Taran in Punjab, Sham Lal, Ajeet Kumar aka Kala, Bishan Das aka Raju, Jasraj Singh, Subhash Chander and Gurbaksh Singh, all residents of Jammu under several sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the NIA Special Court, Jammu.

As per the details, the case was filed at Arnia police station on 20 September 2020, when during a search at International Border, near RS Pura in Jammu heroin weighing 61 kgs along with two pistols, three magazines and 100 live rounds were recovered.

As per the sources at Jammu, these Sikhs were dragged into fake cases as they were in the favour of Kashmir becoming part of Pakistan. The facts cannot be dedied that a Hindu arrested on the same day was actually involved in narcotics crimes.

DHAKA, 18 April 2021, (TON): Five workers of power plant at Banshkhali's Gandamara were killed and fifteen injured by Police in an attempt to disperse protesters demanding payment of dues.

Anwar Hossain, Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Chittagong confirming that the incident took place on Saturday afternoon in which five workers died;identified as Rony, resident of Chuadanga, Mohammad Rahad resident of Kishoreganj, Shuvo resident of Narsingdi, Mahmud Reza resident of Banshkhali, and Raihan resident of Noakhali.

As per the details workers of the power plant at Banshkhali's Gandamara were of protest since Friday over their unpaid dues and few work hours off to allow to perform Ramzan prayers and Aftar. However, the management failed to resolve the crisis.

DIG Hossain said due Friday’s demonstrations fifty policemen were deployed at the power plant. Fifteen injured workers were taken to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital for treatment.

It was a joint venture coal-fired power plant between S. Alam Group of Bangladesh and two Chinese companies to set up the 1224 MW power project. Earlier, four locals were killed in police firing in Banshkhali over land acquisition troubles in 2016. This year S. Alam Group paid the penalty of 2 billion Bangladesh Takas to the government for keeping alive the controversial project.

The plant comprising two 612 MW generation units at Banshkhali in Chattogram was scheduled to start supplying electricity to the national grid from 16 November 2019, however, the government's power department found during inspection that the S. Alam group and its Chinese joint venture partners have completed only around 25 per cent of the project by that time. The group has now got an extension to complete the project by 2022. A joint venture company, or JVC, comprising Bangladeshi S. Alam Group and two Chinese firms had inked power purchase agreement, or PPA, and implementation Agreement with the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd (PGCB), to implement the power plant five years ago.

 The BPDB had provided the letter of intent to the JVC to set up the project on 31 October 2013. Two separate power companies under the JVC of SS Power I Ltd and SS Power II Ltd would separately implement the power plant project, as per the contract. Two Chinese firms -- SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corporation and HTG Development Group - have 20 per cent and 10 per cent stakes respectively, while S. Alam Group has 70 per cent stake in the project. Apart from being a stakeholder, the Chinese SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corporation is also the engineering, procurement and construction, or EPC, contractor of the project.

The way the project work has been advancing, S. Alam Group is unlikely to complete the project within the extended time too, said an insider. The BPDB and the PGCB inked deals with S. Alam Group to implement the project under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010 bypassing tender. The law empowered the government with sweeping authority to skirt the existing laws in the energy and power sectors so that it can implement projects quickly. The BPDB is supposed to purchase electricity from these power plants at a tariff rate of US$ 8.259 cents for 25 years, as per the deal. An executive of the S Alam Group, however, said five foreign banks have assured to provide around US$2.60 billion as loan to implement the project.

BRAZZAVILLE, 17 April, 2021 (TON):  Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso has taken the oath of office for another term, extending his 36-year accumulated rule.

In 21 March election, the 77-year-old won 88.4 percent of the vote. It was boycotted by the main opposition.

Sassou Nguesso was sworn in the capital Brazzaville on Friday.

He begins a new five-year term, one with a mighty challenge, to curb its reliance on revenue from oil and to grow more food.

However, in a country that has notched up huge debts under his decades-long rule, he also plans to boost industry and revive the country's decrepit railways.

MOSCOW, 17 April, 2021 (TON): Russia has sent 15 warships to the Black Sea for a manoeuvre, amid renewed tension in eastern Ukraine, Russian Navy said.

The warships passed through the Kerch Strait on the Crimean Peninsula on Saturday.

Initially, it was not said how long the exercises would last, media reported.

The U.S. had previously cancelled the deployment of two warships to the Black Sea following complaints from Russia.

However, shipping in the strait was not affected, it said.

The European Union, NATO and Ukraine criticized Russia's actions.

However, the international concern is growing about an escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine because of Russian troop deployments not far from the Ukrainian border.

PATNA, 17 April, 2021 (TON): On Saturday, the Jharkhand High Court granted the Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav bail in connection with withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore from the Dumka treasury, in connection with a case linked to the multi-crore fodder scam.

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, granted bail to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader during the hearing on Saturday.

The former Bihar CM has been convicted in wrongful withdrawal of money to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore from Dumka, Chaibasa and Deoghar treasuries.

 However, the special CBI court at Ranchi has already granted him bail in two cases registered in Chaibasa and one in Deoghar.

After the bail granted in Dumka treasury case, he is likely to be released from jail soon.

KATMANDU, 17 April, 2021 (TON): Creating a record feat on the 8,091-metre tall peak, six Nepali women have reached the top of Mt. Annapurna, the Himalayan nation's Department of Tourism and an expedition organizing company said.

On Friday, Purnima Shrestha, Sharmila Tamang, Dawa Phuti Sherpa, Dawa Yangjung, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, and Maya Sherpa became the first Nepali women to top the mountain, affirmed by Bhisma Raj Bhattarai, section officer at the mountaineering section of the tourism department.

Annapurna is considered among the world's most treacherous mountains to climb due to its extremely steep south face, a wall of rock that rises 3,000 meters.

However, a total of 68 climbers, including the mountain guides, reached the top of Annapurna on Friday, which is the record high on the mountain in a single day, said Mingma Sherpa, chairperson of Seven Summit Trek,

MALE, 17 April, 2021 (TON):  The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has launched an investigation into the allegation one of the suspects arrested in connection to the plot to blow up a school lab in Th. Thimarafushi was tortured in jail.

Ahsan Mohamed, 32, Asrafee Villa, Th. Thimarafushi, is one of eight suspects arrested in a counter-terror operation in Thimarafushi, who has been charged with conspiracy to carry out an act of terrorism and possession of a document indicating support for a terrorist organization, and is detained at the Dhoonidhoo Custodial.

HRCM said that the case involving the alleged torture of a detainee at Dhoonidhoo Custodial was brought to their attention at approximately 10:00 pm on Friday and a team was dispatched to Dhoonidhoo Custodial on Friday night to clarify information from the detainee.

However, all eight suspects arrested in connection to the Thimarafushi terror plot are jailed pending the outcome of their trial.

DHAKA, 17 April, 2021 (TON): At a power plant under construction by S Alam Group in Chattogram’s Banshkhali, about five people have been killed in a clash between police and workers.

The violence broke out around 10:30 am on Saturday at the coal-fired power plant, according to the local police.

At least 20 others were injured in the clash, including police and local residents.

There were growing tensions between the power plant administration and the workers at the power plant in the last few days over various issues.

The situation escalated on Saturday morning, leading to the clash between police and workers.

However, four bodies were brought to the Upazila Health Complex on Saturday.

ZINDA JAN, 17 April, 2021 (TON): In a car bomb attack targeted at an outpost in the Zinda Jan district in the western province of Herat province on Friday evening caused three police officers to die, said the provincial governor Sayed Waheed Qatali on Saturday.

The governor said, the explosion that happened in the Bazarak area in the Zindajan district was followed by Taliban attacks on the district from three directions.

He added, the clashes continued for few hours.

Meanwhile, the Taliban attacked Chesht, Oba, Gulran, Kohzor, and Kashk-e-Kunhna districts in Herat on Friday night, Qatali said, but, there was no harm to security forces in the Taliban attacks in the five districts of Heart, he added.