01 -15 October 2020 The Asian Independent

26 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 WORLD
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Myanmar sparks outrage after it demonstrates
'FABRICATION OF FACTS' at UNGA
Dhaka : Bangladesh is "outraged" to
witness Myamar's another "blatant demonstration
of falsehood and fabrication of
facts" in the ongoing UN General
Assembly (UNGA), and shared the situation
on the ground before the international
community.
"Bangladesh strongly rejects baseless
accusations and falsification and misrepresentation
of facts that Myanmar made in
the UNGA," a senior official in Dhaka told
UNB conveying what Bangladesh exactly
responded to Myanmar's propaganda.
Bangladesh, through the UN, has urged
the Myanmar government to abandon its
policy of lies and propaganda and demonstrate
genuine political will to take back
Over 2.83 lakh people still
affected by Assam floods
Guwahati : Though some respite
in rain has led to a further improvement
in the flood situation in Assam,
2.83 lakh people in eight of the
state's 33 districts were still affected
as on Wednesday, disaster management
officials said. Assam State
Disaster Management Authority
(ASDMA) officials said that of the
affected people, 2,08,481 people
were in central Assam's Nagaon district,
where 117 relief camps have
been set up.
The officials said that in the third
wave of floods, over 26,652 hectares
of crop lands and low-lying areas in
432 villages in these eight districts -
- Nagaon, Biswanath, Hojai,
Morigaon, Dibrugarh, Goalpara,
Golaghat and West Karbi Anglong -
- have been inundated.
Around 45,000 domesticated animals
as well as wild animals, including
rhinos in sanctuaries and national
parks, were also affected due to
the flood, which also damaged many
roads, bridges, embankments, government
buildings and schools, they
added.
The Brahmaputra was flowing
above the danger level at
Neamatighat in Jorhat, Dhubri and
Sonitpur districts while two of its
tributaries, Jia Bharali and Kopili,
crossed the danger mark in Sonitpur
and Nagaon districts, respectively.
The ASDMA officials said that
Assam, until early August, witnessed
devastating floods that killed
120 people in 22 districts, while 26
others were killed in landslides since
May 22. With a respite in monsoon
rains, the situation significantly
improved in the first week of August
even as 57 lakh people were affected
in 5,378 villages in 30 districts.
According to the India
Meteorological Department (IMD),
Assam witnessed 11 per cent excess
rainfall (1,651.1 mm against average
1,486.2 mm) in the four-month
(June-September) monsoon period.
In September so far, the state
recorded 37 per cent excess rainfall
(373.8 mm against average 272.4
mm).
their own nationals with safety, security
and dignity, said the official, Dhaka tribune
reported.
Myanmar at the UNGA claimed that
Bangladesh is harbouring terrorists in Cox's
Bazar Rohingya camps but it rejected such
"baseless" allegations. Bangladesh, under
the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, maintains a zero-tolerance policy
to terrorism, terrorists financing and other
drivers of terrorism, said another official.
"We don't allow our territory to be used
by any terrorist. Myanmar needs to look at
its own mirror," the official said, mentioning
that this is what Bangladesh's reply to
Myanmar during the general debate at the
UNGA. Bangladesh also pointed out "concocted
and misleading" statement of
Myanmar on the development in Rakhine
State, particularly in the repatriation
process.
Myanmar's Minister Kyaw Tint Swe, in
his speech at the UNGA, on Tuesday said
bilateral cooperation is the only way to
effectively resolve the repatriation issue
between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Bangladesh strongly disagreed on such
a notion reminding Myanmar that the
Rohingya issue is not a bilateral one but it
is Myanmar's internal problem.
Bangladesh highlighted Myanmar's
track record of inhumane treatment of ethnic
minorities, including Rohingyas, saying
it is nothing new for Myanmar.
Bangladesh said it is Myanmar's State
policy of deliberate exclusion and persecution
on their own people that instigated
insurgency and turned Myanmar into the
breeding ground of organized crimes.
Bangladesh took the floor to reply
Myanmar's "propaganda" and said a deadly
conflict is going on in Rakhine State
ignoring the UN call for ceasefire simply to
implement Myanmar's "genocidal campaign"
against its own people, said the official.
On January 16, 2018, Bangladesh and
Myanmar signed a document on "Physical
Arrangement", which was supposed to
facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their
homeland.
Nepal Army chief selfquarantines
after staff
tests Covid-19 positive
Kathmandu : Purna Chandra Thapa, Chief of Army Staff
(CoAS) of the Nepali Army (NA), has gone into self-quarantine
after a staff member at his official residence tested positive for the
novel coronavirus.
According to the NA's public relations directorate, the CoAS
went into quarantine on Sunday as per the Health Ministry protocols,
The Himalayan Times reported on Monday.
The staff member has tested positive the previous day.
Thapa and Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel had selfquarantined
earlier after a staff at the Covid-19 Crisis
Management Centre had contracted the virus.
On Monday, the country's overall caseload increased to 74,745
after 1,351 new infections were reported in 24 hours, The
Himalayan Times quoted the Health Ministry as saying in its latest
update. Meanwhile, with the emergence of four new fatalities,
Nepal's Covid-19 death tally jumped to 481.
Ministry spokesperson Jageshwor Gautam urged the public to
not take the pandemic casually and adopt necessary precautionary
measures to ensure safety from the virus as cases of infection are
being regularly reported from across the country.