New York, April 8,2023: A government review of the calamitous American withdrawal from Afghanistan found that the United States should have started the evacuation earlier, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The National Security Council on Thursday released a 12-page summary of the government’s findings about the withdrawal in August 2021, which swiftly turned violent.
Amid the U.S. rush to evacuate people from the international airport in Kabul, an Islamic State suicide bomber carried out an attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 civilians, the report said.
Within days of the U.S. withdrawal, the Afghan government collapsed.
“Clearly we didn’t get things right here with Afghanistan with how fast the Taliban was moving across the country,” said White House spokesman John Kirby.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, said on Thursday that the Joe Biden administration was “trying to gaslight the American people for their disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan that directly led to American deaths and emboldened the terrorists.”
Kiev, April 8,2023: Ukraine plans to integrate into the European Union (EU) internal market before obtaining full membership, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Friday.
“Our goal is to integrate into the EU internal market without waiting for EU accession,” Svyrydenko was quoted as saying by the government press service.
Earlier in the day, the government adopted a document which would pave the way for Ukraine to join the EU mobile roaming space, the official said.
In the future, Ukraine will start working on integration into the internal market in all relevant areas, from customs and energy to food safety, Svyrydenko added.
The Priority Action Plan to strengthen the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EU includes 29 measures, Svyrydenko said.
In June 2022, EU leaders accepted Ukraine as a candidate for membership in the bloc.
In January, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine aims to become a member of the EU within the next two years.
April 03,2023:Finland’s main conservative party has claimed victory in a tightly-fought parliamentary election.
With all of the votes counted on Sunday, the centre-right National Coalition Party (NCP) came out on top at 20.8 percent. They were followed by the right-wing populist party, The Finns, with 20.1 percent, while Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats garnered 19.9 percent.
With the top three parties each getting around 20 percent of the vote, no party is in a position to form a government alone. Over 2,400 candidates from 22 parties were vying for the 200 seats in the Nordic country’s parliament.
“We got the biggest mandate,” NCP leader Petteri Orpo said as he claimed victory, surrounded by supporters in a restaurant in the capital, Helsinki.
“Based on this result, talks over forming a new government to Finland will be initiated under the leadership of the National Coalition Party,” he said.
Marin, who at age 37 is one of Europe’s youngest leaders, conceded defeat.
“Congratulations to the winner of the elections, congratulations to the National Coalition Party, congratulations to The Finns Party. Democracy has spoken,” the prime minister said in a speech to party members.
“We have gained support, we have gained more seats [in parliament]. That is an excellent achievement, even if we did not finish first today,” she added.
Marin, considered by fans around the globe as a millennial role model for progressive new leaders, has received international praise for her vocal support of Ukraine and her prominent role, along with President Sauli Niinisto, in advocating for Finland’s successful application to join NATO.
But at home, she has faced criticism for her partying and her government’s lavish public spending, including on pensions and education.
Aprl03,2023: Russia will place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus near its ally’s borders with NATO countries, the Russian envoy to Minsk has said, in a move set to escalate tensions with the West.
Russian ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov said on Sunday night that the weapons would be moved to the country’s western border as part of moves to “ensure security”.
“This will be done despite the noise in Europe and the United States,” Gryzlov told Belarusian state television.
Gryzlov said a storage facility would be completed by July 1, without specifying exactly where the weapons would be stationed.
The envoy’s comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin last month announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Belarus shares borders with Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, all of which are members of NATO, the military alliance originally established to deter Soviet expansion in Europe after World War II.
NATO has increased the number of its troops stationed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland by nearly tenfold since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Putin’s closest allies, said on Friday that some of Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons could be deployed to his country’s territory along with a position in Russia’s tactical nuclear arsenal.
Tactical nuclear weapons have a shorter range and lower yield than strategic nuclear weapons and are designed for carrying out limited strikes on the battlefield.
Washington [US], April 1,2023: In a historic move, US Georgia Assembly has passed the first-ever resolution condemning Hinduphobia making it the first-ever US State to do so.
The legislation, notably, recognizes the contributions of Indian Americans and Hindu Americans in Georgia and calls out the rise of Hinduphobia around the country, the official Twitter handle of CoHNA (Coalition of Hindus of North America) said.
The Coalition of Hindus of North America is a grassroots advocacy and civil rights organization representing the Hindu community of North America.
The resolution passed by the Georgia legislature citing ‘Understanding Hinduphobia
Initiative’ described Hinduphobia as “a set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviours towards Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Hindus that may manifest as prejudice, fear, or hatred.”
“In a historic move, Georgia legislature passes the first-ever County Resolution condemning #Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu bigotry! The resolution recognized the contributions of Indian Americans and Hindu Americans in Georgia and called out the rising #Hinduphobia around the country. This trend has been documented by the @HinduphobiaConf and the research by @RutgersU and @ncri_io,” the official Twitter handle of CoHNA tweeted.
The resolution further underlined that the American Hindu community has been a major contributor to diverse sectors such as medicine, science and engineering, information technology, hospitality, finance, academia, manufacturing, energy, retail trade, and so much more in the US.
“Hindu contributions of Yoga, Ayurveda, meditation, food, music, arts, and more have enriched the cultural fabric and have been widely adopted in American society and enriched the lives of millions,” it said.
The legislative delegation of Forsyth County in the suburbs of Atlanta, home to one of the largest Hindu American and Indian American diaspora communities, made an effort to recognize #Hinduphobia and call for an end to anti-Hindu hate, the CoHNA wrote on Twitter.
Reps Lauren McDonald and Todd Jones from Forsyth County, a suburb of Atlanta that is home to one of Georgia’s largest Hindu and Indian-American diaspora groups, presented the resolution.
Todd Jones is a State House Representative from District 25 (South Forsyth and North Fulton Counties), whereas Lauren McDonald is a Georgia representative from District 26.
Thanking the two US Reps, the CoHNA tweeted, “We thank@McDonaldGA26 and @turntotodd for their leadership in directing this Resolution. This was the joint effort of many lawmakers who have worked closely with the Hindu community in the great State of Georgia and we thank them all for this recognition.”
Bhopal, Apr 1,2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off the country’s 11th and Madhya Pradesh’s maiden Vande Bharat Express conveying 300 children from Rani Kamalapati Station (Bhopal) to Hazrat Nizamuddin Station (Delhi).
The Prime Minister interacted with the minors on the decked-up platform – prior to the commencement of their journey – and smilingly waved as the train pulled out.
Later addressing a public meeting on the premises, Mr Modi mentioned the kids’ excitement and added that the train symbolises the enthusiasm of transforming India.
Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion were Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw; Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, several of his ministerial colleagues and other public representatives.
The Prime Minister viewed the indigenously-designed and ultramodern train before its departure.
New Delhi, Apr 1,2023: Stepping up its attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre over Adani issue, the Congress on Saturday categorically said the Opposition will keep continuing its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter.
The Congress has been spearheading the Opposition, demanding JPC into the Hindenburg Research report over Adani Group.
The Hindenburg Research report alleged the Adani Group had engaged in stock manipulation and accounting fraud schemes over the course of decades.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress general secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said, ” Nineteen Opposition parties are united. Our demand is that there should be a JPC on the Adani issue.”
“There has been no communication between the Government and Opposition. No attempt made by the ruling party. We will continue our demand ,” the Congress MP said in an apparent reference to ‘logjam’ in both the Houses of the Parliament.
New Delhi, Apr 1,2023: India has registered a slight dip in Covid-19 cases on Saturday with, 2,994 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the active caseload over 16,354-mark, in the last 24 hours, as per the Health Ministry.
On Friday, India recorded 3,095 highest single-day rises of fresh coronavirus cases.
India’s Covid-related death roll has increased to 5,30,876 with 9 more fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.
Two deaths each were reported from Delhi, Karnataka, and Punjab, one from Gujarat, and two were reconciled by Kerala.
As many as 1,840 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 4,41,69,551. The Recovery Rate currently at stand 98.77 percent.
The Ministry said, 9,981 vaccine doses of COVID have been administered during the last 24 hours under the nationwide vaccination drive.
220.66 cr Total Vaccine doses (95.21 cr Second Dose and 22.86 cr Precaution Dose) have been administered so far, said the Ministry.
Meanwhile, 92.16 cr Total Tests have been conducted so far; 1,43,364 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, as per Ministry data.
Mar 25,2023:Air force commanders from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark have said they have signed a letter of intent to create a unified Nordic air defence aimed at countering the rising threat from Russia.
The intention is to be able to operate jointly, based on already known ways of operating under NATO, according to statements on Friday by the four countries’ armed forces.
The move to integrate the air forces was triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, the commander of the Danish air force, Major General Jan Dam, told Reuters.
“Our combined fleet can be compared to a large European country,” Dam said.
Norway has 57 F-16 fighter jets and 37 F-35 fighter jets with 15 more of the latter on order. Finland has 62 F/A-18 Hornet jets and 64 F-35s on order, while Denmark has 58 F-16s and 27 F-35s on order. Sweden has more than 90 Gripen jets.
It was unclear how many of those planes were operational.
The signing at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany last week was attended by NATO Air Command chief General James Hecker, who also oversees the US Air Force in the region.
Sweden and Finland applied to join the transatlantic military alliance last year. But the process has been held up by Turkey, which along with Hungary has yet to ratify the memberships.
Mar 25,2023:France has banned the “recreational” use of TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and other apps on government employees’ phones because of concerns about insufficient data security measures.
The ban is to come into force immediately, the Ministry of Public Sector Transformation and the Civil Service wrote on Twitter on Friday.
“In order to guarantee the cybersecurity of our administrations and civil servants, the government has decided to ban recreational applications such as TikTok on the professional phones of civil servants,” Stanislas Guerini said on Friday.
He added that for several weeks, several of France’s European and international partners have adopted measures to restrict or ban the downloading and installation of or the use of the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok by their administrations.
Guerini said recreational applications do not have sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection in order to be deployed on administrations’ equipment, adding that exemptions can be given for professional reasons, such as institutional communication of an administration.
A string of governments and institutions have banned TikTok in recent weeks, including the White House, the UK parliament, the Dutch and Belgian administrations, the New Zealand parliament, and the governments of Canada, India, Pakistan, Taiwan and Jordan.
Concerns regarding alleged security risks posed by TikTok have most prominently been raised by US lawmakers and national security officials who say that user data gathered by the app could be accessed by the Chinese government.
Calls to ban TikTok from government devices gained momentum after FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November it poses national security risks.
New Delhi [India], March 25,2023: Following the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as an MP, a plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday challenging the automatic disqualification of legislators from the Parliament or State Assembly after conviction in a criminal case.
The plea challenges the constitutional validity of Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 which lays down the automatic disqualification of a legislator while terming it illegal.
The petition filed by social activist and PhD scholar Aabha Muralidharan sought direction to declare that there does not exist any automatic disqualification under Section 8(3) and in cases of automatic disqualification under Section 8(3), the same be declared as ultra-vires of the Constitution for being arbitrary and illegal.
The plea filed through advocate Deepak Prakash further asked the apex court to issue directions to declare that the mandate of Section 499 of IPC (which criminalises defamation) or any other offence prescribing maximum punishment of two years will not automatically disqualify any sitting member of any legislative body since it violates the freedom of speech and expression of an elected representative.
Section 8(3) is ultra vires of the Constitution since it curtails the free speech of an elected Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislative Assembly and restrains lawmakers from freely discharging their duties cast upon them by the voters of their respective constituency, the petition added.
The petition assumes significance as it was filed when Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after a Surat court in Gujarat verdict held him guilty of criminal defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison.
The petition said that factors such as nature, gravity, role, moral turpitude and the accused’s role should be examined while considering disqualification under Chapter III of the 1951 Act.
It stated that the intent of the legislature while laying down the Act of 1951 was to disqualify the elected members who upon commission of a serious/ heinous offence are convicted by the courts and hence are liable to be disqualified.