Russia starts Belarus military drills amid new diplomacy on Ukraine
Russia started the active phase of military drills in Belarus on Thursday as Britain launched new diplomacy in a standoff over Ukraine, warning Moscow that going to war with its neighbour would be disastrous for Russia, Ukraine and Europe,Reuers reported.
US officials have warned that Russia may attack Ukraine after massing troops near its borders, and have accused Moscow of raising tensions further by holding joint military exercises in Belarus with what NATO says is Russia's biggest deployment to the country since the Cold War.
Russia denies planning an attack, and says it has the right to move its troops as it sees fit across its own territory, and that of its allies with their agreement. It says its military exercises are defensive in nature.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that Russia was expected to have 30,000 troops in Belarus as well as Spetsnaz special operations forces, SU-35 fighter jets, S-400 air defence systems and nuclear-capable Iskander missiles.
Mirroring the military exercises in Belarus, Ukraine launched its own war games on Thursday that, like Russia's Allied Resolve drills, will run until Feb. 20.
The Ukrainian forces, whose numbers have not been disclosed, are set to use Bayraktar drones and anti-tank Javelin and NLAW missiles provided by foreign partners. Kyiv was due to receive a further shipment of US military aid later on Thursday.
At talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned Moscow against attacking Ukraine.
"Fundamentally, a war in Ukraine would be disastrous for the Russian and Ukrainian people and for European security and together NATO has made it clear that any incursion into Ukraine would have massive consequences and carry severe costs," she said.
Lavrov said Moscow was open to improving dire relations between Britain and Russia.
"Of course we can only normalise relations through mutually respectful dialogue... Ideological approaches, ultimatums, threats, morality lectures are a road to nowhere," he said.
'Lines in the snow'
Britain also hoped to use a visit to NATO headquarters by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to underline European solidarity as Moscow seeks guarantees that Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, will never be allowed to join NATO.
"As an alliance we must draw lines in the snow and be clear there are principles upon which we will not compromise," Johnson said. "That includes the security of every NATO ally and the right of every European democracy to aspire to NATO membership."
After French President Emmanuel Macron met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, some Russian experts have said there are tentative signs that the former KGB spy wants t avoid an escalation of the Ukraine crisis. L8N2UJ668
The United States and the European Union have threatened Russia with sanctions if it attacks Ukraine, building on steps taken after Russia annexed Crimea and backed separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
The Kremlin's point man on Ukraine, Dmitry Kozak, was set to meet officials from Ukraine, Germany and France in Berlin for the latest talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the talks would be important and that he hoped they could get a Trilateral Contact Group on the conflict in east Ukraine functioning again. The group includes Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a security watchdog.
French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said agreeing at the talks to continue discussions would be a positive signal.
Six Russian warships have arrived at Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, bulking up Moscow's forces in the Black Sea ahead of planned naval drills, Russian officials said.
MCC is in the interest of Nepali people: Ram Sharan Mahat
Nepali Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact is in the interest of Nepali people.
He said so during a meeting of the party’s executive committee held on Thursday.
Leader Mahat said that MCC is appropriate for the construction of transmission lines, substations and roads in Nepal.
“The MCC project is a very important draft for Nepal. Nepali Congress should play a vital role to endorse the MCC from the Parliament,” Shashanka Koirala said while talking to journalists after the meeting.
During the meeting, the leaders also discussed upcoming local level elections and sister organisations.
He said that Nepal Congress should contest the local elections without forging alliance with any parties.
Nepal records 1, 369 new Covid-19 cases, 12 deaths on Thursday
Nepal logged 1, 369 new Covid-19 cases and 12 deaths on Thursday.
According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 8,880 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 1,013 returned positive. Likewise, 3,000 people underwent antigen tests, of which 365 tested positive.
With this, the country's active caseload mounted to 1,170,986. Similarly, the death toll has climbed to 11,864.
The Ministry said that 2,238 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Valley reported 239 new cases today.
According to the Ministry, 235 cases are reported in Kathmandu, 64 in Lalitpur and 30 in Bhaktapur.
Nepse plunges by 11.96 points on Thursday
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 11.96 points to close at 2,801.56 points on Thursday.
Similarly, the sensitive dropped by 1.70 points to close at 527.28 points.
A total of 6,950,838 units of the shares of 227 companies were traded for Rs 3.82 billion.
Meanwhile, Nabil Equity Fund was the top gainer today with its price surging by 2. 76 percent. Likewise, Mithila Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 4 percent.
At the end of the day, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3.95 trillion.
Nepal’s trade deficit soars to Rs 880 billion in 6 months
The country faces a huge trade deficit of Rs 880 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year.
In a half-year report made public by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Wednesday, noticeable import is the reason behind the soaring trade deficit.
The trade loss in total goods is 46.6 percent. The loss however decreased by 5.8 percent as compared to the same period last year. In the review period, the export-import ratio has reached 11.9 percent. It was 9.2 percent in the same period last fiscal.
In these six months, imports worth Rs 191 billion was made from India, while such import in the same period of the last fiscal year was R 83.1 billion. However, the export of total goods in these six months amounted to Rs 118 billion.
Similarly, in the review period, net foreign direct investment recorded increase by 48.1 percent, thereby reaching Rs 11.34 billion.
The balance of payment is at a loss of Rs 241.23 billion. In the same period of the corresponding year, BoP loss was at Rs 124.92 billion.
Moreover, the remittance inflow decreased by 5.5 percent, thereby reaching Rs 468.45 billion in this period. RSS
MCC cannot be endorsed in its current form, say Dahal, Nepal
Two leaders of the ruling coalition—CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) cannot be endorsed in its current form.
They said so during a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Baluwatar on Thursday.
Dahal and Nepal said that the MCC compact should not be endorsed in its existing form without addressing the issues raised by the people.
The Prime Minister has been piling pressure on the leaders of the coalition to endorse the MCC.
Prime Minister Deuba had also sought support of the main opposition CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Janata Samajbadi Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur for the parliamentary ratification of the MCC.
The United States has given the government of Nepal a deadline of February 28 to pass the MCC.
PM Deuba, Dahal and Nepal discuss MCC in Baluwatar
Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal held a meeting in Baluwatar on Thursday.
During the meeting, the top guns of the major political parties discussed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), local level elections and House obstructions among other issues.
On the occasion, PM Deuba opined that the MCC should be tabled in the Parliament as soon as possible.
Dahal and Nepal, however, said that the MCC should not be endorsed in the status quo without addressing the issues raised by the leaders on the compact.
PM Deuba is in favour of endorsing the MCC agreement from the Parliament promptly.
But Speaker Agni Sapkota has been expressing his reluctance to table the MCC in the Parliament.
Earlier on September 11, PM Deuba had sent a commitment letter to the MCC headquarters requesting for four to five months to secure the required majority in the House of Representatives for the ratification of the compact.
Dahal, however, has been piling pressure on the Prime Minister to take the decision on the MCC only after the local elections.
PM Deuba told Dahal that the issue of MCC should be resolved from the Parliament.
Reminding Dahal that the United States has given the government of Nepal a deadline of February 28 to endorse the compact from the Parliament, PM Deuba said that they should find the way out at the earliest, the Baluwatar source said.
Of late, the Prime Minister has started holding discussions with the main opposition CPN-UML and other political parties seeking support in MCC endorsement from the Parliament.
The government signed a compact agreement worth $500 million with the government of the United States of America in September 2017 to build transmission lines, substations and roads in Nepal.
India's biggest state holds election in key test of Modi's popularity
India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh began voting on Thursday in the first of a series of local elections that will be a key test of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling party.
With a population almost as big as that of Brazil, keeping power in the bellwether state would give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a boost in its bid for a third successive victory at nationwide parliamentary polls due by 2024.
Television footage from polling stations showed queues of people bundled up against the winter cold as they waited to cast their votes.
Defeat in Uttar Pradesh, or in any of the other three states it holds that also stage elections this month, would add to pressure on the Hindu nationalist party amid criticism of high unemployment and its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"If the BJP loses, especially in UP, that will be a big setback," said Rahul Verma, a fellow at New Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Policy Research. "But you can call this a semi-final. The game in 2024 will be very, very different."
For the main opposition Congress party, led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, the calculation appears more bleak. Of the five states where voting begins this month, it holds only Punjab in the northwest.
"Congress desperately needs to win states, even if it's smaller states, just to get back in the habit of winning. Otherwise they are in trouble," Verma added.
Failure to do so would lead to more questions over the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather have all served as prime ministers but who has struggled to dent Modi's high ratings.
RELIGIOUS LINES
During campaigning, the BJP has appealed to large Hindu majorities in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Both are home to important holy sites, some of which are disputed by Hindus and minority Muslims.
Opinion polls suggest the party will win the vote in both states, despite some opposition parties seeking to mirror its Hindu-first agenda and appeal to its support base.
"We have seen all political parties playing within the same field of the BJP," said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of a biography of Modi, on the campaign so far. "That is one of their biggest successes."
Congress and activists have criticised the approach, saying that it risks stoking communal tensions that have flared up into deadly violence in the past.
Yogi Adityanath, a hardline Hindu monk who is seeking re-election as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, touted his record on fighting crime, and said that law and order took precedence over religion.
"My government dealt with the issues of corruption," he told a small group of reporters on Monday.
"Law and order has improved markedly and police action during my rule was taken against gangsters and mafia groups without discriminating on the basis of their caste or religion."
Uttar Pradesh, home to around 200 million people, votes in seven phases ending on March 7, while most other states begin polling in the coming days. Counting in the five states begins on March 10, with the results expected soon after.
The BJP faces a challenge from Congress in the northeastern state of Manipur, while in the western state of Goa, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying to expand its reach beyond its traditional base of India's capital New Delhi.
The fifth state, Punjab, looks like a close contest between the ruling Congress, AAP and several regional parties.
