NEW DELHI, 5 March, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, India's decision party called a report which minimized its status as a free nation "one-sided."

The 2021 Freedom House report, which common liberties activists say reflects reality in current India, saw the nation known as the world's biggest majority rules system minimized from "free" to "partially free."

Report, published on Wednesday, the Washington-based foundation supported by the US government defended the difference in India's status by saying that social liberties in the country “have been eroding since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014.”

India's general position tumbled from 83 to 88 out of 211 nations recorded in the report.

The decision Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quickly excused the report and its results. “The report is biased and politically motivated,” BJP spokesperson Sudesh Verma said.The main opposition party, Congress, said that losing its “free” status was a shame for the government.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate told, “After 73 years of freedom, if we are called partially free by an NGO which is funded by the US government, shouldn’t our heads be lowered in shame?”

Jha, a well-known critic of the government, was himself questioned for hours by Delhi police last year for participating in a protest against the country’s new controversial citizenship law that has been seen as aiming to render stateless members of India’s Muslim minority.

“If you are a critic of this government then your persecution is the natural fact,” Jha said.

 “What Freedom House said is a lived fact in India today where a tweet, or a word of humor or a cartoon, or a comment or conversion or marriage outside your community or caste or an article or a book, may land you in jail or ensnare you in the judicial labyrinth,” he told the reporter.

DHAKA, 5 March, 2021 (TON): The children cannot be imprisoned for more than 10 years regardless of the crimes they have committed, the High Court ruled out.

In a verdict the court said, that a child’s statement cannot be considered evidence.

The 64 page copy of the verdict was recently published.

Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 sentenced some people to death in a murder case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act in 2011.

A juvenile court sentenced a child to 10 years in prison in the same case.

However, the verdict was challenged at the High Court later.

At the hearing appeal, a panel of two judges found the child’s confessional statement was recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure or CrPC, which can be used as evidence in trial.

As questions were raised over child’s statement’s recording, the judges forwarded the case to the chief justice.  

The chief justice on Oct 2, 2018 formed the larger bench of three judges who overturned the child’s sentence.

The verdict said recording statement of a child is contradictory to the juvenile justice system.

Therefore, a child’s confessional statement cannot be used as the basis of their conviction, according to the ruling. 

WASHINGTON, 5 March, 2021 (TON): Following Myanmar’s unrest, the U.S. Department of Commerce has entered Myanmar’s Defense Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs, and two commercial entities in trade blacklist.

On Thursday, the media reported that the department has also adopted more restrictive export control measures against the Southeast Asian country.  

The United States last month designated multiple Myanmar military leaders and blacklisted three entities related to the military or security forces of Myanmar.

After the President U Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi along with other officials of the NLD were detained by the military coup on 1 February, 2021, Myanmar was in the state of emergency, for the military alleged that there was massive voting fraud in November 2020 general elections, however, the election commission denied the allegations.  

TRIPOLI, 5 March, 2021, (TON): The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday said it has sent 145 illegal migrants voluntarily from Libya to their country Mali. 

"Amid COVID-19, stranded migrants in Libya continued to register for IOM's Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) program. This week, 72 women and 73 men from Mali returned home through a VHR charter flight from Tripoli," the UN agency said in a statement. 

"Supported by an IOM medical escort, there were nine migrants with medical conditions on board. All migrants were tested for COVID-19 before departure. This flight was made possible with the support of the European Union Trust Fund," it said. 

The VHR program was launched in 2016 as part of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative on Migrant Protection and Reintegration with funding from the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) in Libya and other countries in Africa. With a high demand among migrants to return home, IOM scaled up its efforts to assist migrants including the expansion of reception centers, reintegration activities and community-based support to returnees and victims of trafficking. 

Libya is one of the most important starting points for African migrants to Europe. Libya has suffered years of security deterioration amid sharp political divisions, an armed struggle for power and a war on terrorism. The state has lost its ability to effectively control its borders which led to the availability of various paths for African migrants to enter Libyan territory.  

NEW YORK, 5 March, 2021, (TON): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Thursday, the appointment of Cherith Norman Chalet of the United States as Assistant Secretary‑General for General Assembly and Conference Management in the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, said UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in a press briefing on Thursday. 

She will succeed Movses Abelian of Armenia, who now holds the position of Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. 

Ms. Chalet brings many years of experience in foreign policy and international issues and has considerable knowledge and involvement in the United Nations intergovernmental machinery, said Guterres' press office in a press release. 

Chalet served as ambassador and representative to the General Assembly and its related Committees, the Security Council and to the funds and programs, Ms. Chalet has held several senior management roles within the United States Mission to the United Nations, most recently as Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador for United Nations Management and Reform, with primary responsibility on United Nations reform matters. 

Chalet has served as a U.S. ambassador and representative to the UN General Assembly and its related committees, as well as to the Security Council and to UN funds and programs. She has held several senior management roles within the U.S. Mission to the UN, most recently as the deputy permanent representative and ambassador for UN management and reform with primary responsibility on UN reform matters. 

Before joining the US Mission, Ms. Chalet served in Washington, D.C., as a senior legislative liaison between the State Department and the US Appropriations and Budget Committees and members of Congress. 

TEHRAN, 5 March, 2021 (TON): Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian Foreign Minister restated that the nuclear deal 2015 is not renegotiable.

On Thursday, in a series of tweets on Twitter the minister said, JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) cannot be renegotiable.

He said, "If 2021 is not 2015, it's not 1945 either. So let's change UN Charter and remove the veto so often abused by the U.S.

"Let's stop posturing, which we both did 2003-2012 to no avail, and get down to implementing JCPOA which we both actually signed on to."

The remarks followed Wendy Sherman nominee for Deputy Secretary of State’s call for a new and stronger deal with the West Asian country.

On Tuesday while speaking to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the "JCPOA is by no means renegotiable, and the only way to protect and revive it is to remove sanctions by the US".

He said, Iran’s gradual withdrawal of the nuclear obligation is because U.S.’s 2018 retreat from the JCPOA and also due to the U.K., France, and Germany’s inability to fulfill their nuclear commitments.  

In December last year, Iran’s parliament passed a law of Iran's Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions" that is to lessen the 2015 nuclear deal obligations further, unless the U.S. lifts sanctions against Iran.

PILIBHIT, 5 March, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, Nepal Police opened fire on the Nepal-Indian border that killed an Indian national, said UP police in a statement.  

According to the statement, Nepal police fired on their side of the border with Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district that happened after an argument with the Nepal police.

" We have got information through the SSB that three Indian citizens had gone to Nepal and had a confrontation with the police there over some issue, one person has died from a Nepal police bullet, one person has managed to return to the Indian side and the third person in untraceable. We are trying to question the man who has returned to the Indian side. There is no law-and-order issue at the border," Jai Prakash, the police chief in Pilibhit on the social media.

The Indian man along with to two other men had gone to Nepal however; the reason of argument remained unclear.

The man that killed was Govinda 26, and the other two were Pappu Singh and Gumeet Singh, the media reported.

WEST BENGAL, 5 March 2021, (TON): The Shiv Sena leadership has decided to opt withdrawal from the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. However, the party leadership has announced party’s support All India Trinamool Congress leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

In a development, Sena MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the polls in West Bengal are turning out to be "Mamata Didi vs All", the Shiv Sena has decided not to contest the elections, but will stand in solidarity with Mamata Banerjee. He said that since everyone has turned against Mamata Banerjee through “Three Ms”, Money, Muscle and Media are being used against Mamata Didi, we will support her.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena President and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have confirmed regarding latest development. However, there are also reports circulating that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the real face of Shiv Sena which was tentatively planning to contest around 60 seats in West Bengal.

PEMAGATSHEL, 4 March, 2021 (TON): A Nyasikhar-Kuri Gongri road will soon be completed that would make traveling safer and convenient and would benefit 50 households from the two chiwogs.

The people Nyasikhar chiwog are eager for the new farm road as they are unhappy with a delay in the completion of the project at the deadline.

“We have an existing road from Chiphung side. But during the summer, it gets blocked frequently and gives us lots of trouble. If this road gets ready soon, we will be benefitted very much. Then it will take only 9 kilometers to reach Gongri,” said Sangay Dorji, from Nyasikhar under Chhimoong Gewog.

The new farm road which is more than nine kilometers will connect Nyasikhar chiwog with the Nganglam-Gyalpoizhing highway. It will also replace or give people a choice over the old farm road which runs through Dungmaed Gewog and is around 20 kilometers long. However, residents are upset as the project which was scheduled to be completed by the end of last year is still not yet done.

“We cannot travel or transport anything on the old road, especially in summer. We are trapped here as if we are in the prison. It will be two years in March since the project started. We are worried when it will complete,” added Dorji Gyeltshen, the Nyasikhar Tshogpa.

Meanwhile, the Gewog Administration says they looked into it. They found works got delayed as transporting fuel and construction materials were hampered when the old road got damaged. Heavy rain and unexpected issues had also disrupted works.

KATHMANDU, 4 March, 2021 (TON): As the talks between the government of Nepal and the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) came to an end on Thursday, three points agreement have been signed between the two.

Following the formation of respective two-member teams to hold official discussions, the meeting was held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar.

According to the three-point deal, the CPN will resolve all their political issues through dialogue, conduct all their political activities in a peaceful manner, and the government will rescind all restrictions on CPN, release all arrested cadres, and 'release' pending cases on the party.

The talk teams consisting of Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa and Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Rajan Bhattarai representing the government, and CPN's Spokesperson Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma 'Prakaanda' and central committee member Uday Chalaune 'Deepak' representing the outlawed party signed the agreement for their respective parties.

However, the details of the agreement have not made public but the press states that they would be revealed on 5 March.