GANDHINAGAR, 26 February, 2021 (TON): As the name of the world's largest cricket stadium changed, two days later the name of the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) has been changed to Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU) on the recommendation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Prime Minister, during last year's convocation, had said, "The PDPU has enlarged its horizon to the entire energy sector and other areas in the last one decade. Looking at PDPU's progress, I appeal to the Gujarat government that, to see if it can and if needed amend the law, better convert this petroleum university and its name into the Energy University, as its outlook and scope is going to be larger."

In order to represent the PDPU’s larger vision, the recommendation was made by the Prime Minister to replace the word Petroleum with Energy. The university website has also made the necessary changes on its homepage following the notification.

KABUL, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Friday, in the Ghor province of Afghanistan at least three people were killed and five others injured after unidentified gunmen stormed a slain journalist's house.

The house attacked was of Bismillah Adil, a journalist, activist, and former head of Radio Sada-e-Ghor, who was killed in an attack by armed men on the first day of this year.

Lala Gul, Adil's kin, has said that his brother, cousin, and his 13-year-old nephew have lost their lives in the attack.

Five others who have sustained injuries are also the family members of the journalist, according to local sources

Gul claimed that the attack was carried out by the Taliban, but it denied the allegation.

However, an investigating team has been assigned to probe the incident while protests have been carried after the incident took place.

NEW YORK, 26 February, 2021 (TON): The leading Indian economist Ligia Noronha has been appointed as the Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) by the UN Chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.

The lady has over 30 years of international experience in the field of sustainable development.

She has worked since 2014 as Director of UNEP’s Economy Division based in Nairobi, leading UNEP’s work on climate mitigation and energy transitions; on inclusive green economies, sustainable consumption, and production, as well as on trade and sustainable finance, and the nexus of environment, pollution and health, the statement said.

She has been involved and headed many projects, some involving as a member of the Global Assurance Group of the Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Development project.

RIYADH, 26 February, 2021 (TON): Mansour Al-Mushaiti, Saudi Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture received the deputy minister of foreign affairs for international economic relations, Rodrigo Yanez, in Chile and his accompanying delegation in Riyadh.

Ways to strengthen the economic partnerships and Saudi agricultural investment abroad were discussed in addition to inviting the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Co. and Saudi investors to explore investment opportunities in Chile.

The Saudi side welcomed the Chileans’ desire to increase the percentage of its products in the Saudi market and benefit from the Saudi desalination sector’s successful experiences.

During the meeting, Al-Mushaiti affirmed the strength of economic relations between Saudi Arabia and Chile.

The two sides also reviewed aspects of bilateral cooperation, advantages, and investment opportunities in Chile and its most prominent agricultural products.

WASHINGTON, 26 February, 2021 (TON): The United States calls for an ‘’independent, impartial, credible and thorough investigations’’ into Uganda’s 14 January elections, which it says were marred by irregularities and abuses by security forces against opposition candidates.

The spokesperson of the U.S Department of State, Ned Price said, “It will consider a range of targeted options to ensure that members of Uganda’s security forces would be held accountable for their actions when the East African nation went to the polls last month to elect a leader.

‘’Uganda’s January 14 elections were marred by irregularities and abuses by the government’s security services against opposition candidates and members of civil society’’, Price said on Tuesday.

Ugandan troops serve on the African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM that has been helping Mogadishu since 2011 to battle against the militants.

Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, the main challenger of Uganda President Yoweri Museveni expressed gratitude to the United States for ‘’not keeping quiet about the most rigged elections in our nation’s history’’.

“We continue to thank the world for not keeping quiet about the most rigged election in our nation’s history, accompanied by gross human rights abuses. The people of Uganda will continue using all lawful actions to pursue good governance’’, he wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

Bobi Wine made an application to Uganda’s top court Wednesday requesting to withdraw his election petition over the disputed polls. Wine cited the abduction, torture, harassment, and intimidation by security forces at the watch of President Museveni and his Attorney General, as some of the reasons for his withdrawal.

TRIPOLI, 26 February, 2021 (TON): As the deadline approached on Thursday, Libya’s newly elected PM was unable to name the members of the cabinet, thus raising questions whether his interim government can unify the factions or not.

The Prime Minister-designate Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah was set to announce his Cabinet in a news conference from the capital Tripoli and send it to Libya’s House of Representatives for approval, however, he only shared proposed guidelines for the selection of Cabinet members with Libyan lawmakers and an outline of his priorities in the coming period, he told.
“We are ready to submit the names (of Cabinet ministers) but we should consult among ourselves and examine candidate names meticulously,” Dbeibah told reporters in Tripoli without specifying when he will actually make the submission.
“These are critical times and we are taking into consideration that the Cabinet must genuinely achieve national unity and seek consensus and reconciliation,” he said.
Earlier this month, Dbeibah was elected as prime minister by Libyan delegates at an UN-sponsored conference near Geneva.

The move waits to appoint the Cabinet as it is a part of an UN-backed transitional roadmap, which envisages holding general elections in the war-torn North African country by the end of the year.

NEW DELHI, 26 February, 2021 (TON): Poll dates for five states Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry due for assembly elections in April-May this year, will be announced by the Election Commission of India on Friday in a press conference at 1630 hours.  

The terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states are coming to an end in May and June. Polls are to be held for 294 seats in West Bengal, 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, 140 seats in Kerala, 126 seats in Assam, and 30 seats in Puducherry.

In Puducherry, President's Rule has been imposed.

People exercising their franchise will be able to cast their vote by showing their e-electoral photo identity card as this will be the first elections after the rollout of Digital Voter ID cards.

NEW DELHI, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Friday, the Indian foreign ministry said that India's coast guard found 81 survivors and eight dead on a boat crammed with Rohingya refugees adrift in the Andaman Sea.

The ministry added that the survivors would not be allowed to enter the Indian Territory.

Reports state that another refugee is missing, meanwhile, the United Nations refugee agency had raised the alarm earlier this week over the missing boat, which had set off on 11 February from Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, where refugee camps have been established for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled neighboring Myanmar.

After four days at sea the boat's engine failed, and the Rohingya had run out of food and water and many were ill and suffering from extreme dehydration by the time they were rescued, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said.

Two Indian coast guard ships were sent to help the refugees, 23 of whom were children, and the Indian government is in discussions with Bangladesh to ensure their safe return, he said.

It is known already that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after a deadly crackdown by security forces in Myanmar in 2017, however, on Monday, the Bangladesh authorities state to be unaware of any boats leaving the camps.

CAIRO, 26 February, 2021 (TON): Egypt welcomed and supported the Sudanese stalled proposal to form an international quartet committee to arbitrate negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) made at a meeting of interested parties with the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) African Union (AU) presidency coordinator, Alphonse Ntumba, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry announced.

The official expressed support towards the proposed committee, which would be convened under the auspices of Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the DRC.

Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said that during the meeting, Shoukry expressed his appreciation for the DRC’s endeavors during its presidency of the AU and that he looked forward to the key role Kinshasa can play to help reach a legally binding agreement on the rules of filling and operating the GERD, taking into account the interests of the three countries.

Hafez added that Cairo had confirmed to the Congolese delegation that the proposed committee should include representatives from the U.S. EU and the UN.

It is hoped that the move would push negotiations forward and assist Cairo, Khartoum, and Addis Ababa in reaching an agreement as soon as possible over Ethiopia’s filling of the GERD’s lake.

NEW YORK, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield was sworn in as the United States ambassador to the United Nations.

The diplomat who was Assistant Secretary of State for Africa under the administration of Barack Obama was confirmed by 78 votes to 20 in the upper house, which has the power to approve or reject presidential nominations.

And her inauguration followed a confirmation vote by the Senate on Tuesday.

The third African American to hold UN post, Ms. Greenfield took her oath of office before Vice President Kamala Harris.

Thomas-Greenfield, a respected career ambassador, was one of President Joe Biden's first picks for his national security team. An Africa specialist, she served as U.S. ambassador to Liberia and held posts in Kenya, The Gambia, and Nigeria.

She was expected to travel to New York, the seat of the United Nations, to present her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday.

As a former president, Trump pulled the US out of key agencies such as UNESCO and the World Health Organization and reneged on key international agreements such as the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Accord, as he promoted his America First policy. Observers have said that Washington's influence at the United Nations diminished under Donald Trump.