Submit your Article

A 36-hour curfew has been declared in Sri Lanka, as a state of emergency is enforced amid violent protests against food and fuel shortages, BBC reported.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued a notice prohibiting anyone from being on any public road, in a park, on trains, or on the seashore, unless they have written permission from the authorities. 

The curfew began at dusk on Saturday.

Social media sites have been blocked, including Facebook and Twitter.

WhatsApp is also down, and mobile phone users received a message saying this was "as directed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission". 

The stringent restrictions are aimed at preventing new protests, after crowds were accused of setting vehicles ablaze near the president's private residence on Thursday.

The military has since been deployed and now has the power to arrest suspects without warrants, according to BBC.

The island nation is in the midst of a major economic crisis. It is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which is used to pay for fuel imports.

Faced with power cuts lasting half a day or more, and a lack of fuel and essential food and medicines, public anger has reached a new high.

Thursday's protest outside President Rajapaksa's Colombo house began peacefully, but participants said things turned violent after police fired tear gas, water cannons and also beat people present.

Protesters retaliated against the police by pelting them with stones.

At least two dozen police personnel were reportedly injured during the clashes, according to an official cited by Reuters news agency. 

On Friday, 53 demonstrators were arrested, and local media reported that five news photographers were detained and tortured at a police station. The government said it would investigate the latter claim. 

Despite the crackdown, protests continued, and spread to other parts of the country.

Demonstrators in the capital carried placards calling for the president's resignation, BBC reported.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's decision to impose a state of emergency has come as a shock to many. 

One of the most draconian pieces of legislation in Sri Lanka, it is meant to be deployed in situations of "exceptional threat, danger or disaster". 

One of the last times it was invoked, for instance, was in the aftermath of the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in 2019. 

The law allows for the detention of people without proof or the presumption of innocence, and severely restricts fundamental rights such as the freedom of movement and expression. 

It also allows the police and military to arrest and detain people without warrants.

This has given rise to fears that the government is going to resort to a brutal crackdown on protesters, who are angry about the toll taken on their lives by the ongoing economic crisis. 

Civil protesters and journalists have already reported being tortured by police for simply being present at the protests outside Mr Rajapaksa's home, and one of the organisers was taken in for questioning late on Friday night. 

The imposition of the law cannot be challenged in the courts, although parliament will need to ratify it within 14 days of its declaration. 

The government has the majority in parliament to pass it. Thereafter it will need to be extended on a monthly basis, according to BBC.

President Rajapaksa said the decision to declare a state of emergency was taken in the interests of public security, the protection of public order, and to ensure the maintenance of supplies and essential services.

The demonstrations mark a massive turnaround in popularity for Mr Rajapaksa, who swept into power with a majority win in 2019, promising stability and a "strong hand" to rule the country, BBC reported.

Ukrainian troops moved cautiously to retake territory north of the country’s capital on Saturday, using cables to pull the bodies of civilians off streets of one town out of fear that Russian forces may have left them booby-trapped, Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that departing Russian troops were creating a “catastrophic” situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and “even the bodies of those killed.” His claims could not be independently verified. 

Associated Press journalists in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, watched as Ukrainian soldiers backed by a column of tanks and other armored vehicles used cables to drag bodies off of a street from a distance. Locals said the dead — the AP counted at least six — were civilians killed without provocation by departing Russian soldiers.

"Those people were just walking and they shot them without any reason. Bang,” said a Bucha resident who declined to give his name citing safety reasons. “In the next neighborhood, Stekolka, it was even worse. They would shoot without asking any question.”

Ukraine and its Western allies reported mounting evidence of Russia withdrawing its forces from around Kyiv and building its troop strength in eastern Ukraine. 

The visible shift did not mean the country faced a reprieve from more than five weeks of war or that the more than 4 million refugeeswho have fled Ukraine will return soon. Zelenskyy said he expects departed towns to endure missile and rocket strikes from afar and for the battle in the east to be intense.

In his nightly video address Saturday, the Ukrainian leader said the country’s troops were not allowing the Russians to retreat without a fight: “They are shelling them. They are destroying everyone they can.”

Russia, Zelenskyy said, has ample forces to put more pressure on Ukraine’s east and south, according to the Associated Press.

“What is the goal of the Russian troops? They want to seize the Donbas and the south of Ukraine,” he said. “What is our goal? To defend ourselves, our freedom, our land and our people.”

Moscow’s focus on eastern Ukraine also kept the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol in the crosshairs. The port city on the Sea of Azov is located in the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region, where Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian troops for eight years. Military analysts think Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to capture the region after his forces failed to secure Kyiv and other major cities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross had hoped to evacuate Mariupol residents Saturday but had not yet reached the city. A day earlier, local authorities said the Red Cross was blocked by Russian forces.

An adviser to Zelenskyy, Oleksiy Arestovych, said in an interview with Russian lawyer and activist Mark Feygin that Russia and Ukraine had reached an agreement to allow 45 buses to drive to Mariupol to evacuate residents “in coming days.” 

The Mariupol city council said earlier Saturday that 10 empty buses were headed to Berdyansk, a city 84 kilometers (52.2 miles) west of Mariupol, to pick up people who managed to get there on their own. About 2,000 made it out of Mariupol on Friday, some on buses and some in their own vehicles, city officials said, Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said 765 Mariupol residents on Saturday used private vehicles to reach Zaporizhzhia, a city still under Ukrainian control that has served as the destination for other planned evacuations. 

Among those escaping was Tamila Mazurenko, who said she fled Mariupol on Monday, made it to Berdyansk that night and then took a bus to Zaporizhzhia. Mazurenko said she waited for a bus until Friday, spending one night sleeping in a field.

“I have only one question: Why?” she said of her city’s ordeal. “We only lived as normal people. And our normal life was destroyed. And we lost everything. I don’t have any job, I can’t find my son.”

Mariupol has been surrounded by Russian forces for more than a month and suffered some of the war’s worst attacks, including on a maternity hospital and a theater that was sheltering civilians. Around 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city, down from a prewar population of 430,000, and they face dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine, according to the Associated Press.

Zelenskyy said a significant number of Russian troops were tied up in Mariupol, giving Ukraine “invaluable time ... that is allowing us to foil the enemy’s tactics and weaken its capabilities.”

Home Minister Balkrishna Khand, also the acting Prime Minister, has directed the authorities concerned to immediately fix the problems recently surfaced in the supplies of petroleum products.

He issued a directive to Secretary at Ministry of Supplies Ganesh Prasad Pandey, acting Director-General of Nepal Oil Corporation Birendra Goit and General-Secretary of Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association Biswo Aryal to immediately resolve the issue of petro product supplies.

The Home Minister warned that the government would be compelled to take tough measures despite its unwillingness if problems continued on the supplies of most essential goods.

NOC acting director-general Goit shared that Minister Khand had directed them to monitor whether or not the oil entrepreneurs were selling out petro products. As per the directives, they carried out the monitoring of petro supplies in collaboration with the District Administration Office Kathmandu, Goit added.

He further informed that they monitored 20 plus petrol pumps of the Kathmandu Valley and found some were smoothly supplying and some others not.

He also shared that preparation was underway to have a dialogue with the agitating side at 5 pm on Saturday.

General-Secretary of the Association Aryal informed that a directive was issued to end the problem surfaced in petro product supplies by holding dialogue with the NOC.

The oil entrepreneurs and diesel suppliers have been warning to stop the sales and supplies of petro product demanding increment of petro tanker fare with the rise in the price of petro products. RSS

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi said that India-Nepal relation is developing as a unique example in the world.

PM Modi said so while addressing a joint press meet with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India today following a delegation-level bilateral talks led by Prime Ministers of both countries.

Stating that the friendly ties between India and Nepal and the mutual relations between people of both countries remained a unique example, Modi claimed such an example was not seen in any country in the world.

Furthermore, during the joint press meet, the Indian Premier mentioned that the thread between India and Nepal was interlinked since ancient times at various levels including civilisation, cultural and mutual relations. “We have been all-weather friend since time immemorial.”

Expressing his happiness to welcome Prime Minister of Nepal in New Delhi on the auspicious day of beginning of Navarattra today, he extended best wishes to the citizens of Nepal and India on the occasion.

The Indian PM commended Deuba’s role in making Indo-Nepal relations more dynamic and better, terming PM Deuba as an ‘old friend’ of India.

He reminded of India’s ‘Neighbour First’ policy upheld by his government since his first stint as the Prime Minister of India to give top priority to the neighboring countries.

Asserting that India’s policy towards Nepal was influenced by cordiality, he reaffirmed India’s commitment to assist Nepal in its journey of peace, progress and development.

PM Deuba reached New Delhi on April 1 leading a 50-member delegation in a three-day official visit to India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Informing that there had been a discussion and review on all aspects of multi-dimensional India-Nepal relations with the Nepali delegation, Indian PM Modi said that both the countries agreed to collaborate and cooperate on energy sector.

He also reiterated his commitment to speed up the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project.

Necessary efforts would be taken for India to purchase electricity from Nepal, help it to promote clean energy and help reduce trade deficit the country is undergoing, said PM Modi

He also expressed the hope that the Jaynagar-Kurtha railway that come into operation from today would help strengthen contact and relations between people of both the countries.

The Indian PM said that there would be an India-Nepal partnership in the construction of Ramayan Circuit, an integrated check post in Nepalgunj and a police training academy, adding that they were aware about the misuse of the open border between the two countries and so were engaging in discussions on the matter.

Saying that there have been ancient relations between the two countries due to Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu and Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, he wished Nepal’s PM Deuba’s visit to Kashi Vishwanath tomorrow (Sunday) would be fruitful. RSS

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi said that India-Nepal relation is developing as a unique example in the world.

PM Modi said so while addressing a joint press meet with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India today following a delegation-level bilateral talks led by Prime Ministers of both countries.

Stating that the friendly ties between India and Nepal and the mutual relations between people of both countries remained a unique example, Modi claimed such an example was not seen in any country in the world.

Furthermore, during the joint press meet, the Indian Premier mentioned that the thread between India and Nepal was interlinked since ancient times at various levels including civilisation, cultural and mutual relations. "We have been all-weather friend since time immemorial."

Expressing his happiness to welcome Prime Minister of Nepal in New Delhi on the auspicious day of beginning of Navarattra today, he extended best wishes to the citizens of Nepal and India on the occasion.

The Indian PM commended Deuba's role in making Indo-Nepal relations more dynamic and better, terming PM Deuba as an 'old friend' of India.

He reminded of India's 'Neighbour First' policy upheld by his government since his first stint as the Prime Minister of India to give top priority to the neighboring countries.

Asserting that India's policy towards Nepal was influenced by cordiality, he reaffirmed India's commitment to assist Nepal in its journey of peace, progress and development.

PM Deuba reached New Delhi on April 1 leading a 50-member delegation in a three-day official visit to India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Informing that there had been a discussion and review on all aspects of multi-dimensional India-Nepal relations with the Nepali delegation, Indian PM Modi said that both the countries agreed to collaborate and cooperate on energy sector.

He also reiterated his commitment to speed up the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project.

Necessary efforts would be taken for India to purchase electricity from Nepal, help it to promote clean energy and help reduce trade deficit the country is undergoing, said PM Modi

He also expressed the hope that the Jaynagar-Kurtha railway that come into operation from today would help strengthen contact and relations between people of both the countries.

The Indian PM said that there would be an India-Nepal partnership in the construction of Ramayan Circuit, an integrated check post in Nepalgunj and a police training academy, adding that they were aware about the misuse of the open border between the two countries and so were engaging in discussions on the matter.

Saying that there have been ancient relations between the two countries due to Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu and Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, he wished Nepal's PM Deuba's visit to Kashi Vishwanath tomorrow (Sunday) would be fruitful. RSS

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that as a close neighbor with deep and diverse ties, Nepal wishes to benefit from India’s economic rise.

Addressing the business community in New Delhi, PM Deuba said it is inspiring to meet the leaders of India’s business community, investors, and entrepreneurs.  “Nepal seeks to build a closer partnership with the Indian private sector. We desire to welcome more Indian investors in Nepal and invite them to be a meaningful part of our economic transformation,” PM Deuba said.  We have opened almost every sector of the economy for foreign investment.

And among these, hydropower, manufacturing, tourism, services, infrastructure, and agro-based industries are our priority sectors, he added. He said the Nepal government's policy envisages empowering the private sector and facilitating businesses.  Our tariffs are low; the tax regime is simplified, and trade-related infrastructures are being strengthened, Deuba said.  Incentives for investment in Nepal are no less attractive.  Every business that has invested in Nepal has achieved a very high rate of return, he added.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to resolve the boundary matters through the established the bilateral mechanism.

In the bilateral talks with Modi on April 2, Deuba had such a request.  “The two Prime Ministers discussed the boundary matters. The Prime Minister of Nepal urged the Prime Minister of India to resolve the boundary matters through the established bilateral mechanisms,” says the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, there is no mention of map row that erupted in 2017. In response, Indian side said that there could be a way out of the dispute but it should not be politicized.

The Indian side has not mentioned boundary disputes in their press statement. The statement issued by Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs falls short of mentioning the Kalapani, Lipulkeh, and other areas. 

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to resolve the boundary matters through the established bilateral mechanism.

In the bilateral talks with Modi on April 2, Deuba had made such a request.  “The two Prime Ministers discussed the boundary matters. The Prime Minister of Nepal urged the Prime Minister of India to resolve the boundary matters through the established bilateral mechanisms,” says the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, there is no mention of the map row that erupted in 2019. In response, the Indian side said that there could be a way out of the dispute but it should not be politicized.

The Indian side has not mentioned boundary disputes in their press statement. The statement issued by Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs falls short of mentioning the Kalapani, Lipulkeh, and other areas.