Kabul [Afghanistan], November 3,2023: The Taliban-led Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations of Afghanistan has said that more than 3,000 Afghan migrants have returned to their homeland from Iran, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported.
On Thursday, the Taliban-led ministry in a statement on X said that approximately 3,676 individuals of Afghan descent have come back to Afghanistan, both forcibly and voluntarily,
Among these, 303 families have been identified as needing assistance and have been referred to the office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for support, according to the Taliban-appointed border officer of Islam Qala, according to Khaama Press report.
The Taliban-appointed border officer of Islam Qala said 303 families have been referred to the office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for support.
On Wednesday, the Taliban-led Ministry announced that as of November 1, more than 4,000 Afghan migrants were forcefully returned from Pakistan. The situation showcases the ongoing challenges and complexities faced by Afghan migrants in the country as governments continue to manage refugee and migrant populations, according to Khaama Press report.
Meanwhile, doctors at the Torkham migrant camp on Thursday said that they have treated about 2000 ill immigrants who have returned from Pakistan, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported. The doctors said that they are ready to provide better health services to Afghan immigrants.
Some of the immigrants who have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan have asked international institutions to make more medical centres for them, according to TOLO News report.
Wellington, Nov 3,2023: New Zealand’s Electoral Commission declared the official results for the 2023 General Election on Friday, with a coalition of right-wing parties led by the National Party losing majority and needing NZ First to form a government.
The National Party has two fewer seats, the Maori Party has gained two, and the Green Party has won one more seat, according to the special votes counted over the last three weeks after the election day on Oct. 14.
The past three weeks saw the recounting of all votes, the checking of the special votes for eligibility before being counted, the scrutiny of the rolls and the comprehensive audit checks to ensure the results are accurate, the Electoral Commission said.
According to the official results, the number of seats in Parliament on these results will be 122, which will be the largest ever Parliament.
The National Party has 48 seats compared with 50 on election night. The Maori Party has six seats compared with four on election night. The Green Party has 15 seats compared with 14 on election night, the results showed.
There are no changes for the Labor Party which has 34 seats, ACT New Zealand which has 11 seats, and the New Zealand First Party which has eight seats, according to the results.
There is an overhang of two seats because the Maori Party won more electorate seats than it would otherwise have from its share of the party vote, it said, adding one more seat will be added to Parliament after the Port Waikato by-election, taking the total to 123.
The turnout of enrolled voters was 78.2 percent, lower than the 82.2 percent in 2020 and the 79.8 percent in 2017, it said, adding the final enrolment rate was 94.7 percent.
With no party winning a majority of seats, the formation of a new government will depend on the outcome of inter-party negotiations to form a coalition government.
Canberra, Nov 2,2023: A group of Australians who were stranded in Gaza have been evacuated to Egypt, the government has confirmed.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on Thursday said that 20 Australian citizens who were trapped in Gaza left the region through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Wednesday.
Another two family members of Australian citizens and one permanent resident of Australia who registered with DFAT for government assistance leaving Gaza were also evacuated.
Penny Wong, the minister for foreign affairs, told state media Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio that the evacuees were met by Australian consular officials and taken to Cairo where ongoing travel arrangements will be made.
“We are supporting those families and Australian citizens who did get out overnight,” she said.
According to the government, there are 65 Australians who are still in Gaza who have registered with DFAT.
The federal government has not announced plans for any more repatriation flights for citizens who wish to leave Palestine, Israel or Lebanon but in October deployed two Royal Australian Air Force aircraft to the Middle East to aid with potential future evacuation efforts.
Chhatrapati Sambhaijnagar, Nov 1,2023: In the background of the Maratha reservation, the Maratha movement has turned violent in many places across Marathawada.
So the state government has also become on alert mode and has called an all-party meeting immediately on Wednesday.
This all-party meeting will be held at the Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai, said sources.
However, the leaders of the Thackeray group have not been invited to this meeting. Ambadas Danve will attend the meeting only as the Leader of the Opposition.
Curfew orders have been issued in many areas of the Marathwada region.
Meanwhile, Beed, Dharashiv, and now in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, curfew has been imposed here till November 15.
Upper District Magistrate Janardhan Viddate issued orders in this regard at night. It has been clarified on behalf of the administration that this decision has been taken to control the situation arising due to the agitation of the Maratha-Dhangar community in the district.
Meanwhile,a-30 year old farmer from Dhamangaon village in Phulambri taluka of district committed suicide Tuesday evening by hanging to a tree in his land on this issue who was identified as Balu Narayan Bhokre.
He stated in his suicide note that he cannot see the present situation of Maratha Activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, who has been on fast for the last eight days for Maratha reservation.
Notably, the state cabinet accepted the Justice Shinde committee’s preliminary report on Tuesday, which was formed to prescribe the procedure for issuing caste certificates to eligible members of the Maratha-Kunbi and Kunbi-Maratha castes.
Chief Minister Shinde also announced the appointment of three-member committee of former judges to extend guidance on extending reservation to Maratha community as well as to battle the ongoing case in the Supreme Court.
NEW DELHI/LONDON, Oct 28,2023: India is unlikely to sign onto a global pledge to reduce cooling-related emissions at the COP 28 climate meeting, citing the need for the world’s most populous country to have affordable cooling, two government officials told Reuters.
The pledge to cut cooling-related carbon dioxide emissions by at least 68% by 2050 compared with 2022 levels was developed by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Cool Coalition and COP28 host the United Arab Emirates. The pledge would require major investments by countries to shift to sustainable cooling technologies and also raise the cost of such products.
It is expected nations will announce their decision on the cooling pledge at the annual climate conference in Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12.
New Delhi is not willing to undertake targets above those committed to in 1992 under the multilateral Montreal Protocol to regulate production and consumption of ozone depleting chemicals and hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigerators, air conditioners and insulating foams, the government officials said.
India’s environment ministry did not reply to a request for comments. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as India’s stand is still being considered.
The country aims to reduce its power demand for cooling across sectors by 20%-25% by 2038 under its own cooling action plan announced in 2019.
“India’s per capita emissions and energy consumption are very low. Its cooling requirements are set to grow multifold in the coming years and it cannot risk committing to investments that will make cooling expensive,” one of the government officials said.
The country’s electricity consumption for household air conditioners is expected to increase nine-fold by 2050, outpacing growth in every other major household appliance, according to data published this week by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Between 2019 and 2022, India’s electricity consumption for air conditioning increased 21% and nearly 10% of its electricity demand comes from those appliances. Its per capita carbon emissions are around 2 metric tons against the world average of around 5 metric tons.
The cooling pledge is an opportunity for countries to receive funding from other countries and philanthropies.
Jerusalem, Oct 27,2023: The positions of Israel and Russia on the Middle East conflict do not always coincide, but the sides continue close contacts and dialogue, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi told Sputnik.
“We still have disagreements with the Russian side on various positions, for example at the UN. But we have close contacts, we meet often. I was just a couple of days ago at the Foreign Ministry and talked to Mr. Deputy Minister [Mikhail] Bogdanov. Our ministry is in close contact with the Russian ambassador to Israel,” Ben Zvi said.
“There are contacts. We do not always agree on our positions, but this is part of our dialogue. Each of us tries, I think, to present his position to the other side, explain why we think this way and try to convince otherwise. It doesn’t always work out, but this is part of the dialogue,” the ambassador said.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting over 200 people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. The conflict escalation has resulted in thousands of people killed and injured on both sides.
GENEVA/BEIRUT, Oct 24,2023: Almost 20,000 people have been internally displaced in south Lebanon and elsewhere since early October, a U.N. agency said on Monday, as violence escalates on the Lebanese-Israeli border following the eruption of the Gaza war.
The International Organization for Migration said 19,646 people had been displaced inside Lebanon since it began tracking movements on Oct. 8, the day after an assault on Israel by Hamas militants and an Israeli counteroffensive on Gaza.
It said the movements were mostly by those fleeing the south of Lebanon, while some people have also moved from other areas.
Israeli authorities have also been evacuating dozens of towns and communities from the north of Israel.
Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah group and Israel have been exchanging fire on an increasingly frequent basis along the border in the worst escalation since the two sides fought a war in 2006.
Many who have fled south Lebanon have moved north to the coastal city of Tyre, which is 18 km (11 miles) from the border.
Inaya Ezzeddine, a lawmaker from Tyre, said the movement was putting a strain on families hosting the displaced and the government of a country struggling with an economic crisis.
[1/4]Yolla Ali Al Swaid, 43, who escaped from the south Lebanese village of Al- Dohira near the Israeli border, recounts how she was injured by what she claims was an Israeli shelling, while sitting in a school where she takes refuge in Tyre, Lebanon October 20, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra Acquire Licensing Rights“This war is happening amid a very big economic crisis and people don’t have provisions,” Ezzeddine said, adding that around 6,000 people had sought refuge in Tyre and three schools had been used to shelter some of them.
“We cannot open all schools because schools are still operating, every school we open (for the displaced) we’re depriving its pupils from using it,” she added.
School teacher Yolla Ali al Swaid fled to Tyre after she was injured in the shelling that hit her home in the border village of Dhaira, an area where there have regularly been exchanges of fire.
“The school’s four floors are all full. We’re 11 people in the room with my sister family,” Ali al Swaid told Reuters, adding the crowding was encouraging some people to consider going back home.
“There are people who are thinking about hanging white sheets on their homes when they go back there,” said Swaid, who also fled her home in the war in 2006.
Hezbollah says 27 of its fighters have been killed in the clashes since Oct. 7, while Lebanese security sources say 11 fighters from Palestinian groups in Lebanon, which are allied to Hezbollah, have also died.
Israel’s military says seven troops have been killed along the frontier area.
New Delhi, Oct 23,2023: India’s macroeconomic outlook for the current financial year 2023-24 is bright and is solidly underpinned by strong domestic fundamentals, a Finance Ministry report has stated even as it noted the challenges arising from geo-political tensions.
The Monthly Economic Review for the month of September released on Monday highlighted the uncertainties arising from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East and noted that crude oil prices may push higher depending on how situations develop going forward.
Further, the report noted that the relentless supply of US Treasuries and continued restrictive monetary policy in the US could cause financial conditions to be restrictive.
“Fraught geopolitical conditions can cause a general increase in global risk aversion. If these risks worsen and are sustained, they can affect economic activity in other countries, including India,” it said.
The report said that sluggish global demand is affecting India’s trade but this is projected to recover from the second half of the current fiscal (H2FY24). It noted that with a lower trade deficit and a comfortable forex reserve position, India’s external account looks robust.
The Finance Ministry report highlighted that strong private consumption demand has been a major driver of India’s economic growth in the recent period and additional growth drivers have also emerged.
“The first is the gradual strengthening of investment demand. Investment has hitherto been propelled mainly by the capital spending of the Union Government and the crowding-in it induced for private corporate investment. While this continues unabated, increasing demand for residential properties, supported by responsive housing loan financing, has given a fillip to construction activity and the property markets,” the report said.
As per the report, the second growth driver is the firming of industrial activity, substantiated by recent data and credible perception surveys.
“Improving corporate balance sheets and their fledgling investment activity, supported by a strong and emerging banking system and financial market, makes this outlook brighter,” it said.
Mentioning about the latest upward growth revision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the report said that the development shows growing confidence of global analysts in India’s economic strength amidst global uncertainties and fresh geo-political challenges.
Gaza, Oct 22,2023: The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to 4,651, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, 14,245 Palestinians were wounded in the coastal enclave, the ministry said in a statement.
Among the victims, 1,873 were children and 1,023 were women, it added.
At least 266 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in the last 24 hours, Ashraf al-Qedra, the ministry’s spokesperson, said in a press statement.
The Israeli airstrikes were triggered by a large-scale Hamas attack on Israeli military targets and towns on Oct. 7, which has so far killed at least 1,400 people in Israel.
Tel Aviv, Oct 22,2023: The number of people held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip has again increased to 212 despite efforts by a number of countries to ensure exchange of hostages and prisoners between the Palestinian movement and Israel, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday.
On Saturday, the confirmed number of hostages stood at 210 after two US citizens, who also have Israeli citizenship, were released from captivity the day before.
“To date, we have notified the families of 212 abducted people and 307 deceased IDF soldiers,” Hagari told a press briefing.
The IDF also said 27 Hamas members had been arrested in the West Bank overnight, the Times of Israel newspaper reported. Since the beginning of the conflict, a total of 727 wanted Palestinians, including over 480 allegedly affiliated with Hamas, have been detained by Israeli forces, the newspaper reported.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and seizing people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. The blockade was later eased to allow trucks with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The escalation of the conflict has resulted in thousands of people killed and injured on both sides.
MUMBAI,Oct 21,2023: India on Saturday completed a key test in its ambitious crewed space mission Gaganyaan, hours after halting the planned lift-off, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said.
Isro posted on X, the platform formerly called Twitter that the reason for the launch hold had been “identified and corrected”.
“Crew escape system performed as intended. Mission Gaganyaan gets off on a successful note,” it added.
The agency did not specify the cause of the delay.
The test launch had been set for 8am (10.30am Singapore time) but could not initially be completed. It was successfully completed at 10am, Isro said.
The Gaganyaan mission is aimed at developing a human-habitable space capsule that will carry a three-member crew into an orbit of 400km for three days, before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
Isro has said it will explore ways to achieve a sustained human presence in space once Gaganyaan is completed.
About 90 billion Indian rupees (S$1.5 billion) has been allocated for the mission, which follows the agency’s historic landing of its Chandrayaan-3 craft on the lunar south pole in August.
The Gaganyaan mission is expected to launch from the country’s main spaceport in Sriharikota before 2024, although a schedule has not been announced.