Newsletter 22 Feb

Top 5 News

1. Trump said ‘really like’ PM Modi so businesses ‘will be discussed’
2. DRDO system destroys drone in trials, being deployed for Trump’s security
3. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Arunachal Pradesh to attend the 34th Statehood Day
4. Notifications issued for panchayat by-elections in J&K withdrawn, later
5. Kejariwal Took Oath 3rd time as Delhi CM

….Corona Virus row….

Death toll in China reaches 2230, confirmed cases over 66,000

However, US claimed lack of Transparency

Saturday’s Brief

PM Modi hails SC for redefining environmental jurisprudence, says judiciary has struck balance between development and environment, while speaknig on International Judicial Conference in Delhi.
- Recently, there have been some important judicial judgements which were subject of global discussions. Before these judgements, several concerns were being expressed about consequences, but 1.3 billion Indians accepted these judicial verdicts wholeheartedly.
- CJI, SA Bobde “India is a melting pot of many cultures and traditions, this is equally true of its judicial system and institutions. We have assimilated legal cultures of all civilisations who have come to our shores.
- Union Law Minister RS Prasad “ Terrorists and corrupts have no right to privacy.”
Delhi Govt Sources: Names of CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia dropped from the school event where Melania Trump is scheduled to visit. Delhi Govt Sources claim both were to attend the programme since the school comes under Delhi Govt
J&K DGP Dilbag Singh: In 2020 so far, there have been 12 successful operations, in which 25 terrorists have been killed, 9 terrorist operatives in Kashmir and 3-4 terrorist operatives arrested in Jammu area. More than 40 over-ground-workers have also been arrested.
- Security forces killed 2 LeT terrorists named Naveed Ahmed Bhat alias Furkan and Aaqib Yaseen Bhat in an operation last night. They were involved in many terrorist activities. Baramulla Police have also arrested one HM terrorist Junaid Farooq Pandith.
- DIG Baramulla M Suleman: One Chinese pistol, 13 live rounds and 2 magazines have been recovered from local terrorist Junaid Farooq Pandith of Hizbul Mujahideen. His questioning is underway.
Spokesperson of Embassy of China in India on reports that China deliberately delayed Indian application of sending flight to Wuhan to bring back Indians: We always attach great importance to health and safety of Indians in China and provided assistance for the return of Indian citizens
- Epidemic situation in Hubei is complicated and prevention and control entered critical stage. Departments of two countries are keeping communication in this regard. There is no such thing as China deliberately delaying granting flight permission.

National

Finally, Trump said 'really like' PM Modi so businesses 'will be discussed'

Previously, Trump signaled No trade deal in Current visit, but May Be Later

President Donald Trump has signaled that a “big trade” deal might not be on the agenda during his visit to India next week, saying that he is saving “a very big” US-India deal for later.
“We can have a trade deal with India, but I am really saving the big deal for later, maybe before elections. But we will have a very big deal with India,” Trump said while talking to reporters.
Foreign Secy, Harsh Vardhan Shringla on visit, India and USA to hold talks in areas of defense, counter-terrorism, people to people contact, energy and regional issues. PM Modi will also host lunch for President Trump.
This will be the 5^th meeting between PM Modi and President Trump in the last 8 months.
He added, President Trump is expected to be accompanied by a high-level delegation on his upcoming visit to India. Many cabinet ministers expected to accompany him.
It is a strategic partnership and a forward-looking relationship
President Trump was ambiguous about whether a trade deal with India was imminent and larger trade deal was in the works for later, potentially after the U.S. elections in Nov.
- Trump’s comments come days after U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer cancelled a trip to India – as reported in The Hindu – to finalize a mini trade deal which the two countries were hoping to finalize when Mr. Trump visits India.
- Trade deal between India and US is not stuck, the Minister of Commerce and his US counterpart have decided to engage in talks. Both the countries will have a wide-ranging discussion and will have a Free Trade Agreement later. India will seek restoration of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) by the US (ANI)
- Program
  - The US President will reach Gujarat’s capital city of Ahmedabad by noon on Feb 24 and is slated to address a mammoth crowd of more than 100,000 people which is expected to turn up for an event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the lines of the ‘Howdy Modi’ function that was addressed by the US President and PM Modi in Houston in Sept last year.
  - The President is also likely to visit the Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati.
  - Later in the day he will arrive in New Delhi and is expected to hold talks.
  - On Tue morning, the US President will first receive a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan as per protocol.
  - PM Modi could then accompany the US leader to the Gandhi Ashram in Delhi (subjected to time availability if the Sabarmati ashram cannot be visited).
  - The two leaders will then meet at the Hyderabad House, New Delhi and will lead official state meetings.
  - On Tue, President Trump will meet with executives of Indian companies — with business interests in the US during his visit to the capital – at an event organized by the US embassy in New Delhi.
  - The companies expected to be represented at the meeting include the Indian oil and gas company Reliance Industries, Tata Sons, Bharat Forge, Mahindra and Mahindra.
  - POTUS’s visit will conclude with an early banquet dinner, following which he will depart for Washington.
India-US Trade
- India has become an important trading partner for the United States over the past two decades, but the relationship has been marred by long-standing disagreements on everything from dairy products to intellectual property rights protections.
- Trade between the US and India has grown steadily ever since India’s economy began to take off in the mid-1990s and its IT sector shot to prominence in the early 2000s.
- From 1999 to 2018, trade in goods and services between the two countries surged from $16 billion to $142 billion. India is now the US’ 8^th-largest trading partner in goods and services and is among the world’s largest economies.
- India’s trade with the US now resembles, in terms of volume, U.S. trade with South Korea ($167 billion in 2018) or France ($129 billion).
  - But as trade between Washington and New Delhi has increased, so too have tensions. U.S. and Indian officials have disagreed for years on tariffs and foreign investment limitations, but also on other complicated issues, particularly within agricultural trade.
  - Concern for intellectual property rights has preoccupied the United States for thirty years, while issues concerning medical devices and the fast-growing digital economy have more recently emerged. On top of this, the Trump administration has exacerbated tensions by creating new dilemmas, including a focus on bilateral trade deficits and the application of fresh tariffs, prompting retaliation from Modi’s government.

Congress raised question on investment incurred in welcome of President Trump. Is Trump God that 70 lakh people will gather to welcome him, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

DRDO system destroys drone in trials, being deployed for Trump's security

At a time when drones are being used by Pakistan-based terror groups against India, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed an indigenous anti-drone system which has successfully destroyed UAVs during trials.
The system is also being deployed for security of the US President Donald Trump during his forthcoming visit to India.
- Almost all security agencies including the Air Force, Army, paramilitary forces and those involved in VVIP security are looking at acquiring anti-drone systems after the terror groups and others started using them.
- Over the recent past there have been instances of smuggling of small arms and narcotics using drones which can carry 3-4 kilograms of weight and can fly at very low heights.
- “The DRDO system successfully neutralized an incoming drone during trials using its kill system. The counter drone system has capabilities to both detect and destroy drones in air,” [ANI].
- The DRDO counter drone system was first deployed to provide security cover to the Republic Day Parade this year which was attended by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and PM Narendra Modi, along with other dignitaries.
- A number of instances of drones being used for smuggling weapons have been taking place along the riverine borders with Pakistan in Punjab and Jammu where small drones fly at very low height and drop supplies, sources said.
- Border Security Force troops have also shot down some of the drones coming from Pakistan.

You might be remember, on A total of 183 incidents of drones flying in border areas of the country have been reported, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated on house

The minister, however, did not specify the time period in which these incidents were reported. Puri also said that all security agencies need to purchase anti-drone technology as per their requirement.
The Indian Air Force is the main airspace control agency and continues to train security agencies and police of all states and union territories on the threat from drones and anti-drone measures, the minister said.
India has an estimated over 6 lakh rogue or unregulated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and security agencies are analyzing modern anti-drone weapons like ‘sky fence’ and ‘drone gun’ to counter terror or similar sabotage bids by these aerial platforms, official sources said on Sept 30, 19.
These agencies are now looking at some specific anti-drone techniques like sky fence, drone gun, ATHENA (Advanced Test High Energy Asset), drone catcher and Skywall 100 to intercept and immobilize suspicious and lethal remote-controlled aerial platforms.
As of now, no any established technology has come in effect.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Arunachal Pradesh to attend the 34th Statehood Day

Mr Shah will launch the Arunachal Pradesh Industrial and Investment Policy, 2020 and inaugurate the Joram Koloriang Road being constructed by the Border Roads Organization (BRO).
- He laid the foundation stone of the new headquarters of the Arunachal Pradesh police.
- Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, will also attend the Statehood Day function.
- When Modi took the decision of abrogating Article 370, rumors were spread in North East that Article 371 will also be removed. But on statehood day of Arunachal and Mizoram, I want to assure you that nobody can remove Article 371 and nor it is anybody’s intention.
- Shah further added “Before 2014, North East was connected to India only geographically and through administration, but with Narendra Modi as PM, NE is now connected with our heart and soul.
- Arunachal Pradesh became a full-fledged state on Feb 20, 1987. Till 1972, it was known as the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA). It gained the Union Territory status on January 20, 1972 and was renamed as Arunachal Pradesh.
China objects to Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, claims it violated Beijing’s “territorial sovereignty and sabotaged political mutual trust”.
MEA, on above objection, “It’s an integral part of India. Indian leaders routinely travel to the state as they do to any other states of India. Objecting to visit of an Indian leader to any state in India doesn’t stand to reason” (ANI)
Background

Arunachal Pradesh literally “land of dawn-lit mountains” is the north-easternmost state of India. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares international borders with

Bhutan in the west, Myanmar in the east, and China in the north, with which the border is the McMahon Line.
A major part of the state is claimed by both China and Taiwan, both referring to it as “South Tibet”. During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, Chinese forces temporarily crossed the McMahon line.
Land of the Dawn-Lit Mountains is the sobriquet for the state in Sanskrit; it is also known as the Orchid State of India or the Paradise of the Botanists. Geographically, it is the largest of the Seven Sister States of Northeast India.
- In 1913–1914, representatives of China, Tibet and Britain met in India to define the borders of Outer Tibet. British administrator Sir Henry McMahon drew the 550 miles (890 km) McMahon Line as the border between British India and Outer Tibet, placing Tawang and other areas within British India. The Tibetan and British representatives devised the Shimla Accord including the McMahon Line, but the Chinese representatives did not concur. The Shimla Accord denies other benefits to China while it declines to assent to the Accord.
- The Chinese position was that Tibet was not independent from China and could not sign treaties, so the Accord was invalid, like the Anglo-Chinese (1906) and Anglo-Russian (1907) conventions.
- In the time that China did not exercise power in Tibet, the line had no serious challenges. In 1935, a Deputy Secretary in the Foreign Department, Olaf Caroe, “discovered” that the McMahon Line was not drawn on official maps. The Survey of India published a map showing the McMahon Line as the official boundary in 1937.
- In 1938, two decades after the Shimla Conference, the British finally published the Shimla Accord as a bilateral accord and the Survey of India published a detailed map showing the McMahon Line as a border of India.
- In 1944, Britain established administrations in the area, from Dirang Dzong in the west to Walong in the east.
- In January 2007, the Dalai Lama said that both Britain and Tibet had recognized the McMahon Line in 1914.
- In 2008, he said that “Arunachal Pradesh was a part of India under the agreement signed by Tibetan and British representatives”.
- According to the Dalai Lama, “In 1962 during the India-China war, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) occupied all these areas (Arunachal Pradesh) but they announced a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew, accepting the current international boundary”.
- In recent years, China has occasionally asserted its claims on Tawang. India has rebutted these claims and informed the Chinese government that Tawang is an integral part of India.
- India reiterated this to China when the two prime ministers met in Thailand in October 2009.
- A report that the Chinese Army had briefly invaded Arunachal Pradesh in 2016 was denied by India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.
- In April 2017, China strongly objected to a visit to Tawang by the Dalai Lama, as it had to an earlier visit by the US ambassador to India. China had objected to the Dalai Lama’s previous visits to the area.
On Mar 26^th last year only, China destroys 30,000 world maps for showing Arunachal Pradesh as part of India.
China claims the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet. It destroyed 30,000 world maps for not mentioning Arunachal Pradesh and Taiwan as part of Chinese territory.
The two countries have so far held 21 rounds of talks to resolve the border dispute covering 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Notifications issued for panchayat by-elections in J&K withdrawn, later

Notifications issued for panchayat by-elections in J&K withdrawn

Jammu and Kashmir, the notifications dated Feb 15 and 17 issued for Phrase 1 and 2 (Panchayat by-elections) respectively and the schedule issued on Feb 13 for other phases of Panchayat by-elections are hereby withdrawn, says office of the election authority, chief electoral officer.
Political parties in meeting with the CEO expressed apprehensions of holding elections when the top leadership of two main parties in the Union Territory was behind bars.
The last round of the Panchayat elections was also boycotted by the NC and PDP. But this time, the polls are likely to be fought with all parties in the play. Over 12,000 seats were left vacant from the previous poll, which was expected to be filled up now.

On 18^th of this week, Six Months After JnK Reorganization, EC Announces Nominee To Delimitation Commission

Six months after the reorganization of JnK, the Election Commission of India which announced that the Ministry of Legislative Affairs had requested Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to nominate a member to the “proposed” Delimitation Commission for JnK.
The EC mentioned that Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra had been selected as the CEC’s nominee. Addressing the media in Nov 2019, Arora stated that the Delimitation Commission had to be formed by the MHA.
Referring to the demarcation of boundaries of Parliamentary or Assembly constituencies, the delimitation process is carried out at regular intervals to ensure that each constituency has approximately an equal number of voters.
It is usually done when a state is divided which is the case with JnK, which was split into the UTs of JnK and Ladakh.
Reportedly, the commission will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and comprise one member each from the JnK administration and the EC.
Elections have not been held in the state since the dissolution of the state Assembly on November 21, 2018.
As per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of JnK shall be increased from 107 to 114.

Kejariwal Took Oath 3^rd time as Delhi CM yesterday Monday

Along with Arvind Kejriwal, 6 other ministers have also took oath. While addressing a rally in Ramlila Maidan, he mistakenly (?) said “Delhi ko mahan Rastra bnayenge”.
Arvind Kejriwal (CM), Manish Sisodia, Satyender Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain, and Rajendra Gautam
As per norm, only 10% of member of assembly capacity can be minister.
Portfolio allocation in Delhi Govt has been finalized, CM Arvind Kejriwal will not be taking charge of any Department
- Manish Sisodia will be the Dy CM and he has been allocated Education, Finance, Planning, Land and Building, Vigilance, Tourism, Services, Art, Culture and Languages Departments.
- Satyendar Jain was heading the Home, Health, Public Works Department, Power, Industries, Urban Development, Irrigation and Flood Control Departments.
- Gopal Rai, the Babarpur MLA, was heading the Labour, Employment, Development and General Administration Departments.
- Imran Hussain headed the Food and Supply, and the Elections Departments.
- While Hussain was heading the Forest and Environment for most of the term, it was later transfected to Kailash Gahlot towards the end of the tenure.
- Gahlot was also responsible for the Transport, Revenue, Law and Justice, Legislative Affairs, Information and Technology, and administrative Reforms Departments.
- Rajendra Pal Gautam was responsible for the Social welfare, SC and ST, Cooperative and Gurudwara Elections Departments.
Today, Sushil Gupta, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP, on if the party is planning to expand its presence beyond Delhi: If the public calls us, then we will have to go. If the country has to be improved then we will go wherever the public calls us.
Delhi Min. and AAP leader Gopal Rai, We will hold a campaign from 23rd Feb to 23 March in all the States to help people join the AAP. Our aim is to make 1 Crore people join this campaign.

Delhi Went to AAP again

AAP, which had won 54.34% votes in 2015, came close to its past performance and secured 53.57% votes.
BJP also improved its vote percentage from 32.19 in the previous election to 38.51%.
Delhi Assembly Election 2020: Congress, BJP congratulate AAP for landslide victory
Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is set to register a massive victory in the Delhi assembly election 2020 with 62 seat.

Shaheen Bagh Row…

Shaheen Bagh Protesters Set 7 Conditions To Interlocutor On 4^th Day Of Mediation Talks

News flashed in media that Barricading removed by protestors
In a massive development, a delegation of Shaheen Bagh women protestors on Saturday, have set seven conditions to SC-appointed interlocutor Sadhana Ramachandran
In a massive development, a delegation of Shaheen Bagh women protestors on Saturday, have set seven conditions to SC-appointed interlocutor Sadhana Ramachandran, as per sources. Sources state that Ramachandran who arrived at the site alone, met only with women protestors in the morning and refused to talk to the media. Moreover, the interlocutor advocate Sanjay Hegde will allegedly visit the site in the evening to continue the 4^th day of mediation talks.
Shaheen Bagh sets conditions (as per Republic):
1. If half of the road is opened, provide security to protestors by providing an aluminum sheet between protests and road
2. Revoke all cases against Jamia students
3. No NPR in Delhi
4. Investigation on all inflammatory speeches
5. Create an alternate protest site in Shaheen Bagh itself
6. Revoke all cases against youngsters who were booked for Shaheen Bagh protests
7. Cognizance of the deaths due to anti-CAA protests throughout India
Shaheen Bagh road ‘partially’ opened
- Earlier on Friday, UP police have reopened the Noida-Faridabad road after 69 days of shut down due to the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protests.
- But visuals show that barricades are still present at the site while allowing vehicular traffic.
- Police have particularly reopened the stretch from Noida’s Mahamaya flyover to Delhi and Faridabad.
- While all roads close to the area have been closed by the UP Police due to the continued protests, Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch has predominantly been in focus due to the large-scale gathering.
- Shaheen Bagh protests began on Dec 14 where thousands of people, including women and children camped on the streets protesting the CAA-NRC-NPR.On Mon, Supreme Court appointed advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran as interlocutors to talk to protestors at Shaheen Bagh and try to persuade them on shifting the protest site. Moreover, the apex court has also asked the Centre to look into alternative protest sites like Ramlila Maidan, Janta Mantar, and Lal Quila as such. Next hearing will be held on coming Monday.