LUCKNOW, 3 January 2021, (TON):  Indian Intelligence agencies have started probe into those Pakistanis who visited India to meet their relatives but did not return. In one of the cases, Pakistani woman, Bano Begum from Karachi was became member of Guadau Gram panchayat and running the affairs of a village as its interim head in Etah district. Investigations are in progress to find out how she got the Aadhaar, voter ID and other documents while staying on a long-term visa.

An FIR has also been lodged against her, which reveals that Bano Begum, a resident of Karachi, Pakistan came to India 35 years ago and got married to an Indian national, Akhtar Ali, resident of Etah. Bano Begum has resigned from the post and her case is pending before Etah District Magistrate Sukhlal Bharti. 

The initial investigation revealed that Bano Begum applied for Indian citizenship on several occasions but was not successful in getting approval. Recommendation to appoint Bano as head of the village committee as interim Pradhan was made by village Secretary Dhyanpal Singh, who has been removed from the post and is being investigated for Pakistani links and Khalistan movement.

BEIJING, 02 January 2021, (TON): China stands ready to work with ASEAN to further enrich the strategic partnership and usher in a new era of peace, development and cooperation for the region, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"Since its launch, China-ASEAN cooperation has always been results-oriented, pioneering and responsive to the trend of the times. It has become the most successful and vibrant example of regional cooperation," he said.

Reminding that the two sides become the largest trading partners in 2020, he said, "We jointly pushed for the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which gave birth to the world's most promising free trade area with the largest population and biggest economic aggregate. This is a historic breakthrough in China-ASEAN cooperation.’’

Wang said the Chinese side is open to the new opportunities it will bring for enhancing China-ASEAN ties.

Wang called on the two sides to work together to defeat COVID-19, do their best to bolster regional economic recovery, and stay committed to sustainable development.

NEW DELHI, 2 January 2021: A 72 years old farmer from Uttar Pradesh’s Bilaspur died at the protest site in UP-Ghaziabad border on Saturday. Witnesses says he died due to cold wave but it is also alleged that died by committing suicide at the protest side. The deceased was identified as Kashmir Singh Ladi, who hailed from the Bilaspur area of Rampur district.

Police said, Kashmir Singh Ladi was founded hanging at one of the mobile toilets at the protest sites. Bharatiya Kisan spokesperson claimed that Ladi has left behind a note written in Punjabi which blamed the government for not accepting the demands of farmers.

Several farmer deaths have been reported from the protest sites around Delhi due to extreme weather conditions.

Apart from the UP-Ghaziabad border, thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana are camping at Delhi’s borders to pressurize government to primarily repeal the farm laws.

ISLAMABAD, 2 January 2021, (TON): Pakistan counter-terrorism authorities have accelerated their efforts to make arrests. In a recent crackdown authorities have arrested Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi on charges of terror financing.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Lahore confirmed having made the arrest today. It said that they have already filed numerous against different entities on charges of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Spokesperson of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi denied involvement in any money laundering or terrorist financing and said that he is doing welfare work by running a dispensary for poor and marginalized persons.  

The authorities spoke on the condition of anonymity that a case filed against him at the CTD police station Lahore and he is under their custody.

RIYADH, 02 January 2021, (TON): A Saudi-backed team of engineering experts has been drafted in to assess and repair the damage to Aden’s airport following Wednesday’s deadly missile attack.

The specialists’ work is being carried out as part of the ‘Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen’ (SDRPY).

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the SDRPY said an operation to assess damage caused to the airport was being carried out in coordination with the Yemeni government, local authorities in the governorate, and Aden airport’s administration.

“An engineering team affiliated with the Saudi Program for Development and Reconstruction of Yemen was urgently present within 24 hours of the explosion at the airport site,” the statement added.

A team of contractors, consultants, and technical experts will supervise the repair work. Aden is the second-largest airport in Yemen after Sanaa which is under the control of the Iran-backed Houthis.

“The team worked on an urgent intervention to remove rubble from the site, and implemented all repairs to the affected areas, including repairing infrastructure and electrical, mechanical, and sanitary works,” the statement said.

On Wednesday, A number of guided missiles hit the airport moments after a plane carrying cabinet members of the newly formed Yemini government had touched down. Yemen blames Iranian military experts for masterminding the strike which left dozens of people dead and injured.

CAIRO, 02 January 2021, (TON): The president of the Arab Parliament has praised the efforts of King Salman in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi described the role the king had played in preserving the GCC and strengthening its march in all fields, calling it an extension of Saudi Arabia’s established and historical role in supporting the council’s march in the decades since its foundation.

In a statement ahead of the GCC’s 41st session, he said that the Kingdom represented the strategic depth of joint GCC action.

WASHINGTON, 02 January 2021, (TON): Pakistan on Friday stressed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to prevent the “judicial murder” of a Kashmiri leader and human rights activist, Asiya Andrabi, and to persuade India to drop all “fabricated charges” against her.

In a letter addressed to Mr Guterres, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Munir Akram said the world must stop giving a “free pass” to India over its “systemic crackdown on the legitimate and indigenous freedom movement in Kashmir”.

In a similar letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Pakistan’s envoy in Geneva Ambassador Khalil Hashmi argued that the world body’s “timely intervention may help prevent miscarriage of justice”.

He said, the United Nations, could also “assist in breaking the vicious cycle of impunity and human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).”

The United Nations timely action would “send a strong message of hope to the Kashmiri people, especially women leaders and human rights defenders”, Ambassador Hashmi wrote.

In New York, Ambassador Akram said: “With Indian judiciary showing little proclivity to stand up for the rights of Kashmiris, there is an imminent and real threat to the life of Ms Andrabi and her associates, who are staring at a real possibility of a judicial murder.”

The US Institute of Peace, a Washington-based think-tank, while presenting an annual report on the situation in Kashmir noted that “Kashmir has once again emerged as a major flashpoint between South Asia’s nuclear-armed rivals, India and Pakistan.”

Ms. Andrabi, who risks conviction by a sham court on Jan 18, is the founding leader of “Dukhtaran-i-Millat”, a prominent women's rights organization in IIOJK. She, with her two associates, has been under Indian custody on special framed charges in New Delhi’s Tihar jail where two top Kashmiri leaders- Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru- were hanged in 1984, and 2013, respectively.

MOSCOW, 02 January 2021, (TON): Russia plans to respectively host six bilateral drills with Algeria, India, Pakistan, Laos, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, the Ministry said in a statement on Friday while, there will be two multilateral drills involving members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

A Russian-Mongolian military exercise will be held in Mongolia.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that the country's ground troops have planned to participate in nine military exercises in 2021.

"All the manoeuvers will be aimed at peacekeeping and counterterrorism," the Ministry added.

VIENNA, 02 January 2021, (TON): Members of the OPEC group of oil producers and their partners will meet via videoconference on Monday to decide on production levels for February, in a hope to avert the downward trajectory seen in 2020.

After their last summit, from November 30-December 3, the OPEC+ members agreed to increase production by half a million barrels per day in January.

The 13 members of the OPEC cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, and their six allies led by Russia, also agreed to meet at the beginning of each month to decide on any adjustments to production volumes for the following month.

Russia and Saudi Arabia are respectively the second and third-biggest oil producers in the world after the United States.

Before the pandemic, OPEC members were content with two summits a year at the organisation’s headquarters in Vienna.

“Finally, we saw a strong demonstration of OPEC+ will and capability to manage the market, laying the groundwork for Brent’s recovery to over $50 per barrel despite remaining demand uncertainty in the market,” JBC Energy analysts said in a statement.

The OPEC+ ministerial meeting comes after oil consumption tanked in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

KHARTOUM, 02 January 2021, (TON): Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Friday announced the formation of the National Mechanism for Protection of Civilians.

"The formation of the national mechanism for the protection of civilians has completed," said Hamdok in a speech to the Sudanese people on Friday, the 65th anniversary of Sudan's independence.

"The mechanism includes a joint force from the regular forces and the peace parties, which will achieve security and stability for our citizens," he noted.

Hamdok vowed to provide protection for all the civilians, saying that the establishment of the national mechanism tends to impose security in all parts of the country, stop the extrajudicial killing, and prevent impunity.

Meanwhile, the prime minister announced the Council of Ministers' ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

He said the ratified conventions are to be approved by the joint meeting of the Sovereign Council and the cabinet to become effective.

The announcement of the formation of the national mechanism for the protection of civilians came days after the end of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) mandate in Sudan.