MOSCOW, 04 January 2021, (TON): The Russian Strategic Missile Forces will carry out more than 200 exercises of various levels in 2021, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

 "In 2021, the Strategic Missile Forces will have than 200 exercises of various levels, including tactical and special tactical exercises with missile regiments and missile divisions, as well as a number of command-and-staff exercises with missile formations," the Ministry stated on Sunday.

 "The intensity of activities during the exercises will change significantly with a general tendency to maintain their duration," the statement added.

 Russia's latest missile systems and about 10 models of modern special equipment will be used during the drills, according to the Ministry.

The service personnel for the missile forces will perform a number of tasks, including intensive manoeuvers on combat patrol routes, it added.

 In 2020, also over 200 command-and-staff and tactical exercises were conducted by the Strategic Missile Forces.

KHARTOUM, 3 January 2021, (TON):  Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia held next round of talks Sunday over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue under the patronage of

African Union (AU). The meeting is chaired by South African Minister of International Cooperation given that South Africa is currently the chair of the African Union (AU) mediating the negotiations. Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aty were of the view that fundamentals of the Egyptian stance is mandating the crystallization of a legal binding agreement among Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt on the rules of dam operation and reservoir filling. Sudanese side which attended the meeting comprised of Foreign Minister Omar Kamar El Din.

Earlier, Sudan on rejected Ethiopian proposal regarding the filling and operation of the GERD that an agreement should only be about the first phase of the filling of the GERD, while it links the agreement with reaching a comprehensive treaty regarding the Blue Nile water. Sudanese officials said, proposal constitutes a violation of the Declaration of Principles signed by Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia in March 2015.

Sources said, the meeting discussed Sudan's proposal aimed at reactivating the negotiations via giving a greater role for the AU experts to reach a binding legal agreement on the GERD, however, there was no breakthrough

Ethiopia, which started building the US$4-billion GERD in 2011, expects to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity to push the country's development. Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country that relies on the river for its fresh water, is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the water resources.

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.