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8 1-10-2019 to 15-10-2019 ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Indian Army to help strengthen
Maldivian security forces
Tourists must pay
$1,000 to enter
‘Dragon Island’
Jakarta, The Indonesian island of Komodo, home to the
Komodo dragon, will not be closed to tourists next year as it previously
planned, but a $1,000 membership scheme will be introduced,
authorities said on Tuesday.
It reverses a July announcement that the island would close in
January 2020 to protect the dragons and their habitat, the BBC
reported. It was due to re-open after a year, but on Monday, the
Ministry of Environment and the region’s Governor, Viktor
Bungtilu Laiskodat agreed that that the island would not close, and
that a membership system will now be introduced, at a cost of
$1,000. Currently, tourists pay around $10 to enter the island.
State news agency Antara said there would be two membership
levels. Premium members will be allowed to visit Komodo island,
while non-premium members will be able to visit other islands in
the Komodo national park, where dragons also live.
Marius Jelamu, spokesman for Laiskodat, told the BBC that
precise details were still being worked out.
In July, the Governor said the island needed to be closed to stop
tourism from interfering in the mating and hatching processes of
the komodo dragon population. Last year, 176,000 people visited
Komodo, up from 44,000 people in 2008. Komodo dragons are the
world’s largest lizards. They can grow up to 3 metres long and
have razor-sharp teeth and a poisonous bite. Most of them –
around 1,700 – live on Komodo Island, and around 1,000 more
live on Rinca, another island in the national park. The national
park as a whole is a Unesco World Heritage site.
New Delhi : Indian Army Chief General Bipin
Rawat on Tuesday handed over some transport
vehicles to the Maldivian National Defence Force
(MNDF) as part of India’s efforts to boost the
operational capacities of the island nation amidst
Chinese moves to gain influence there.
“Talks are underway to hand over different
types of weapons and ammunition to the Maldives
army. Assistance will also be given to Maldives to
set up an engineering workshop and a diagnostic
set-up for the vehicles and other equipment that
have been given on Tuesday,” a senior army officer
told IANS.
Rawat, who is on a five-day visit to the country
since September 29, has met Maldives Defence
Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi, MNDF Chief
Major General Abdulla Shamaal and MNDF Vice
Chief Brigadier General Abdul Raheem Abdulla.
Discussions during the meeting “revolved
around the assistance that India’s military could
provide in order to boost the training and operational
capabilities of the archipelago nation,” a
Maldivian English daily reported quoting the
MDNF.
Following the meeting, Abdulla Shamaal
tweeted: “Highly privileged to meet Gen. Bipin
Rawat, COAS India and discuss further intensifying
our multi-faceted military-to-military relationship.
Some of our key focus areas have been
building MNDF’s operational capacity and broader
training of our personnel.”
The strategic importance of Maldives for India
can be gauged from the fact that India has taken
upon itself to conduct its air and EEZ surveillance.
India has supplied helicopters and surveillance
equipment to Maldives in the past.
In view of the special importance, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had paid a visit to
Maldives in June this year, his first foreign visit
after being re-elected.
Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim
Mohamed Solih had jointly commissioned a
Coastal Surveillance Radar System built in India
during the visit.
There have been reports about China trying to
exert political influence over Maldives in order to
secure its geopolitical interest in the Indian
Ocean. China has reportedly invested billions of
dollars in the archipelago nation during the rule of
former Maldivian leader Abdulla Yameen.
Yameen, who was elected as President in 2013,
imposed an emergency upon the country five
years later, taking several political prisoners.
Military assistance was sought from India by the
former democratic leaders of Maldives.
India released a statement saying Maldives
should abide by the rule of law, a position that
threatened cordial relationships between the two
countries. The Maldivian Democratic Party later
recorded a landslide victory in the parliamentary
elections, which were supported by India.
“Maldives can be a very vantage point in the
Indian Ocean region if anyone takes control of it.
It is located just 300 miles from India. Our EEZ is
only 200 miles away from it,” said a former
Indian Navy official.
Monaco to launch
Gandhi stamp
New Delhi, French Riviera microstate
Monaco has announced release of postage
stamps on Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th
birth annivarsary on October 2.
Priced at 2.10 euros, 40,000 stamps will be
on sale from October 2, at the ‘Office des
Timbres’, the ‘Musee des Timbres et des
Monnaies’- the post offices and philatelic
counters of the principality said.
“It will be included, with other values, in
the second part of the philatelic programme
2019 and offered to our subscribers and customers,”
it added.
Earlier in August, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has released postage stamps
on Mahatma Gandhi to commemorate his
150th birth anniversary in Abu Dhabi in the
presence of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed
Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
This year, India is celebrating the 150th
birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi whose
values of peace, tolerance and sustainability
continue to be relevant and guide the world.
Sonia, Rahul to march in
Delhi to reclaim Gandhi
New Delhi, Amid tussle with the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over
Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy, the Congress
leaders will hold marches across the country
on Wednesday on the occasion of his
150th birth anniversary. Interim Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi and former party
President Rahul Gandhi are set to lead
march in the national capital and General
Secretary Priyanka Gandhi in Lucknow.
“Sonia Gandhi along with Rahul Gandhi
will be marching from the Delhi Pradesh
Congress Committee (DPCC) office on the
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg to Rajghat,”
party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal
said in a release.
Sonia Gandhi would also administer
oath to party leaders and workers at
Rajghat to redeem Gandhi, Gandhism and
Gandhi’s India, said Venugopal. In today’s
strife-torn world, Mahatma Gandhi and his
philosophy were more relevant, he added.
He said the ideological anchor of the
nation, as indeed the Congress, Mahatma
Lucknow : The Yogi Adityanath government
has removed two IAS officers
from their posts after they faced CBI raids
in connection with the mining scam.
The two officers, Ajay Kumar Singh and
Pawan Kumar have been put on the waiting
list late on Wednesday. Singh was posted
as secretary in the Khadi and Gramodyog
Department, while Pawan Kumar was special
secretary, Housing and Urban
Development.
The two figured among the 12 accused
in the CBI FIR, had allegedly allowed the
Gandhi’s legacy of non-violence, co-existence,
compassion, truth, environmental
sustainability and economic self-reliance
had not only shaped India, but many
nations across the world, he said. In an
apparent jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), he said, “Some political parties and
disparate ideological proponents seem to
have realised the importance of Gandhiji,
his philosophies and teachings now.”
He said the BJP and it’s government had
renewals of leases in violation of the e-tendering
policy during their tenure as district
done everything “contrary” to the
Gandhian teachings and whatever the
Mahatma stood for. “Barring high sounding
schemes, surrounding orchestrated
events that aim only at electoral benefits,
the very grain of this government is antipoor,
anti-disadvantaged & oppressed,” he
said. He recounted atrocities against the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
and deprived people across the country,
and massive loan write-offs and recapitalisation
exercises aimed mainly to benefit
crony corporates.
He also attacked the government over
number of issues, like mob lynching
accused getting bail and rape victims being
jailed and killed, and joblessness.
“However, our government pretends everything
is fine,” he said in an apparent jibe at
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks
made at the Houston in US. He said the
Congress guided by the Gandhian ideals
would take on this oppressive and anti-people
government.
UP CM removes IAS officers named in mining scam
magistrates of Saharanpur, official sources
said.
"It was alleged that during the period
2005- 2015, 13 leases relating to sand mining
in Saharanpur were allotted or granted
to accused lease holders.
"It was further alleged that the leases
were renewed in 2012 and 2015 subsequently
by then district magistrates, in violation
of government orders relating to
allotting the lease deeds through e-tendering
process," a CBI spokesperson said in a
statement.