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NEW DELHI: Urging people to depend less on cash for their daily lives, Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi  has sought people’s support to take his fight against black money to the “next level”. Sharing his vision of ‘New India’, in his monthly radio talk show Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said that it can be achieved when 1.25 billion Indians take a pledge and unitedly work towards it. The thought of New India was recently a theme in the Prime Minister's speeches, including his address to the BJP workers after jubilating poll results for his party in the five states on early this month. In fact, on Narendra Modi app, the Prime Minister had asked the people to take a pledge and join him in building a New India by 2022 - the year when the country completes 75 years of Independence. "My dear countrymen, we must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. .... We should contribute towards ensuring reducing the use of cash, of currency notes," the Prime Minister said on Sunday in his radio show. Pursuing people to adopt digital mode of payment in their daily needs like paying school fees, buy medicines or items from fair price shops or purchase air and train tickets, he said "we can do this in our day to day lives. You can't imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption." Observing that the budget had announced that there would be 25.00 billion digital transactions this year, he said if 1.25 billion countrymen can resolve, "they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months.-Asfar  ....

Published at: 2017-03-27 00:00:04

India's Border Security Force (BSF) has intensified vigil on Sylhet's border with Northeast India following 'Operation Twilight'. An official of BSF's Assam-Meghalaya command based in Shillong said they apprehend some militants may try to flee into India in view of the ongoing operations against them in Sylhet. "They (militants) generally try to escape into India when they come under pressure in Bangladesh. That is the usual trend, so we need to monitor all cross border movements in the Assam-Meghalaya sector," the BSF official said. But he was not willing to be named because he does not have formal authority to brief mediapersons. Assam police intelligence chief Pallabh Bhattacharyya also pitched for stronger vigil both on the border and in his state. He said over the last six months, Assam police has arrested more than 70 militants and their associates from Bangladesh. "We need not only vigil on the border but we need to closely monitor activities in some known pockets of illegal migrants from Bangladesh, where the militants get shelter," Bhattacharyya said. Indian security forces have also been alerted against the movement of one arms smuggler Primat Khasia said to be active on the Dawki-Tamabil border region. Khasia is said to be running a cartel that supplies arms to both ethnic rebel groups like ULFA and the jihadi groups like Neo-JMB. Indian intelligence officials also suggest that Bangladesh agencies may do well to check on the hidden arms caches of groups like ULFA and find out if some of those weapons are making their way to the jihadi groups like Neo-JMB.    ....

Published at: 2017-03-27 00:00:04

India and Bangladesh are expected to unveil a joint roadmap for cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India next month. This is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to develop blue economy partnerships with the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region to harness maritime resources and ensure peace. The two neighbours are likely to sign their first comprehensive defence cooperation agreement during Hasina's trip, from April 7-­10, which will help maintain peace in the common maritime region in Bay of Bengal amid an increase in terrorism and presence of extraregional powers, people aware of the matter said, reports India’s Economic Times. "In the maritime domain, cooperation in the blue economy in the Bay of Bengal has opened new opportunities for both the countries. It is also the shared responsibility of both the countries that our common maritime region in the Bay of Bengal remains peaceful so as to harness the potential of blue economy," said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified. "India and Bangladesh can develop a joint roadmap of blue economy cooperation and help each other in developing capacity in this emerging field." Prime Minister Modi's blue economy initiative launched in 2015 is a multi­disciplinary approach for the exploitation of hydrocarbons and other marine resources, deep sea fishing, preservation of marine ecology, mitigating climate change by addressing environmental issues and disaster management.  With its advancement in science and technology, India is in a position to lend expertise in deep sea bed activities, hydrographic surveys and weather predictions, the person said. The Bay of Bengal leads to the Indian Ocean Region, which has several vital sea lanes of communication passing through it from the Hormuz Strait to the Suez Canal, Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Malacca Strait, extending up to the South China Sea.  Security partnerships among the countries in the region, therefore, assume importance. India has launched blue economy initiatives with Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, among other nations in the Indian Ocean Region. Last year, NITI Aayog had launched a consultation process for integrating defence and internal security with a 15­year vision, and initiated a discussion to leverage India's status as a major maritime nation with a long coastline and the potential to become a significant blue economy. India has more than 7,500 km of coastline, more than 2 million sq km of exclusive economic zone, more than 1,300 islands and network of rivers. Maritime trade accounts for about 75 per cent value and more than 90 per cent of volume of Indian trade, and the country is blessed with a strategic location within the Indian Ocean Region.   ....

Published at: 2017-03-27 00:00:04

Asian stocks got off to a weak start on Monday as caution among investors prevailed with lingering doubts about the future policy agenda of the new US administration. Nikkei 225 lost 1.5 per cent to 18,970.79 while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4 per cent to 2,159.72. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.1 per cent to 24,351.67. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 per cent to 5,743.80 while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 per cent to 3,274.42. Stocks in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries were lower. US stocks finished mixed on Friday after Republicans canceled a vote on their health care bill. The S&P 500 index finished down 1.98 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 2,343.98.  The Dow lost 59.86 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 20,596.72 as Goldman Sachs and Boeing sank. Technology companies inched higher and the Nasdaq composite rose 11.04 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 5,828.74. US crude oil futures fell 14 cents to $47.83 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 27 cents to settle at $47.97 a barrel in New York on Friday.  Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 8 cents to $50.84 a barrel in London. The dollar weakened to 110.38 yen from 111.34 yen while the euro rose to $1.0846 from $1.0799.....

Published at: 2017-03-27 00:00:04

Police say that the man killed in the blast outside Dhaka international airport is likely to be one of the two cousins 'missing' from Mirpur. Airport Police Station OC Noor-e-Azam Mia said on Sunday that the police 'nearly identified' the young man, reports bdnews24.com. After a newspaper had reported that the family identified him as one of the two 'missing' cousins, Ayad Hasan Khan, his mother, Munmun Ahmed, was contacted.  "Kafrul Police Station OC has asked me not to say anything. I can't say anything," she said. Asked whether the person killed in the blast was Ayad, Kafrul Police Station OC Shikder Mohammad Shameem said, "There is still some confusion." Police's counterterrorism unit Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Sanwar Hossain said, "We initially suspect that he is Ayad. But the work for the confirmation is still under way." The families of Ayad and his cousin Ahmed Rafid Al Hasan filed General Diary or GD when the two left home at Monipur in Mirpur in August last year. They reportedly left behind a note saying, "We have found our path." The duo have not been found yet. Airport Police Station Sub-Inspector Yasin Khandaker, who started a case over the blast near the entrance of the airport, said police were trying to identify the suspect using a mobile-phone found on the body. Three bombs were found in a trolley bag the youth was carrying during the blast on Friday evening. Police initially suspected that a bomb in the bag went off as he took extra precautions after seeing police personnel at the police box on the opposite side of the entrance of the airport. Forensic doctors confirmed after the post-mortem examination that explosives were strapped to the body. DMP chief Asaduzzaman Mia, however, ruled out any possibilities that it was an attempt of a suicide attack. SI Yasin said "It can't be he made bombs alone. Someone else might have made the bombs and sent him to transport those. He might have been a member of any banned group." The blast in front of the airport police box came a week after a suicide attacker was killed at a RAB camp in the same area. Another suspected suicide attacker was shot dead by RAB personnel at a check post in Khilgaon on the following day. The law enforcers are yet to identify any of the three.  ....

Published at: 2017-03-27 00:00:04