Newsletter 13 August

Sino-Indian Standoff: The onus for resolving the ongoing border standoff in the Ladakh sector of the (LAC) is “not on China”, the Chinese envoy has said, as he accused Indian troops of crossing the disputed border and triggering a violent clash on June 15.

According to reports, the Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong made the assertions in a signed article in the latest issue of his embassy’s magazine, China-India Review, which was posted online late on Wed night.

In simple words what Sun is saying “Beijing is not ready to vacate whatever they have occupied in standoff” now the ball in court of New Delhi as how they take it.

The talks between military representatives of India and China to discuss disengagement in the Depsang plains north of Galwan area on Sat near Line of Actual Control has failed to yield to any substantial result.
Referring to the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley, Sun wrote: “If one analyses this incident carefully, it’s quite clear that the onus is not on China. The Indian side crossed the LAC for provocation and attacked the Chinese border troops.
“The Indian forces seriously violated agreements on border issues between the two countries and severely violated basic norms governing international relations.”
Sun contended the clash was “completely instigated by the Indian side and the responsibility does not lie with the Chinese side”. He reiterated China’s position that the June 15 incident “happened on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the Indian side crossed the LAC first”, and the “Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the LAC”.
The MEA India had in June rejected the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s claim of sovereignty over Galwan Valley as “exaggerated and untenable”. And while the Chinese side has sought to convey a picture of progress in the disengagement and de-escalation process along the LAC and even said disengagement has been completed at most points, the Indian side has asserted the procedure is far from complete.
India has also called on the Chinese side to deliver on its commitments made during meetings of corps commanders and a conversation between the Special Representatives on the border issue on the issue of disengagement.
There was no immediate reaction from Indian officials to the Chinese envoy’s article.
Despite India’s assertions in recent weeks that its troops didn’t cross the LAC and that their patrolling had been hampered by Chinese forces since April, the Chinese envoy sought to blame the entire standoff on the Indian side.
Sun wrote that at a meeting of the corps commander on June 6, the Indian side “promised that they would not cross the estuary of the Galwan River to patrol and build facilities, and the two sides agreed to build observation posts on either side of the Galwan river mouth”.
He alleged that “Indian border troops copped out on the consensus reached in the commander-level meeting” and “again crossed the line for provocations, which triggered the conflict”.
“At present, the overall situation in the China-India border areas is stable and controllable. We hope the Indian side meet the Chinese side halfway, avoid taking actions that may complicate the border situation and take concrete actions to maintain stability in the border areas,” Sun wrote.

China has extended an anti-dumping tariff on optical fiber made in India, the ministry of commerce said in a notice published on its website on Thurs.

IAF chief flies MiG-21, reviews operational readiness on western front

Indian Air Force (IAF) chief RKS Bhadauria on Thurs flew Mig-21 Bison during a visit to a fighter squadron at a frontline airbase in Western Air Command and reviewed the operational preparedness,” IAF officials.
Officials said the flying by the IAF Chief in a MiG-21 indicates the high operational readiness of the force amid the tension with China in Eastern Ladakh over territorial issues.

PM Narendra Modi launches Transparent Taxation platform to honor honest taxpayers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a platform to honor the honest taxpayers.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has carried out several major tax reforms indirect taxes in recent years, like reduction in Corporate Tax rates 30-22% while 15% for new manufacturing units and abolition of Dividend distribution Tax.
The new platform will be having faceless assessments, faceless appeal and taxpayer charter.
- In India, only 1.5 crore citizens were paying taxes out of 130 crore people.
- The faceless assessment and taxpayer charter will come into place from today itself, while the faceless appeal is going to be applicable from Sept 25.
- 0.94% of 2012-13 Tax returns were scrutinized. In 2018-19, this figure come down to 0.26%. That is, the scrutiny of the case has reduced by about 4 times, said PM.

In JnK: Kashmir Police team leaves for Rajouri to probe alleged Shopian fake encounter

Matching DNA samples and examining role of Rajouri 3 youths in militancy, killed on July 18^th: IGP

A police team headed by a DSP rank officer on Thurs left from Kashmir for Rajouri district as part of the probe into the alleged Shopian encounter case, officials said.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, Vijay Kumar, said a police team has left for Rajouri to complete the legal formalities in view of missing reports lodged by the families of three laborers at Peru police post there.
He said that the case has two aspects, “One is matching DNA samples as we have the DNA samples of the three militants killed in Shopian. We will take DNA samples of the families and then match them. That is one aspect and second aspect is to investigate whether these three youths who had come from Rajouri were in contact with local militants. We will examine their call details and all the technical evidence,” he said.
The family members of three laborers who went missing in the Shopian district of Kashmir last month have alleged, on the basis of photographs, that the three unidentified militants the army said it killed in a gunfight there on July 18, were in fact their innocent relatives.
They have identified the trio as Abrar Ahmad Khan (18), son of Bagha Khan, Imtiyaz Hussain (26), son of Sabir Hussain, both residents of Dhar Sakri of Tehsil Kotranka and Abrar Ahmad (21), son of Muhammad Yousuf of Tarkasi village.
Security has been tightened in Srinagar, especially the city Centre Lal Chowk, ahead of August 15.

Kerala government hands over compensation of Rs 1.3 crore to former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan

Kerala government gave in-principle approval to hand over the compensation and settle the case
The Modi government conferred him with Padma Bhushan in 2019
The former ISRO scientist alleged he was tortured during his 50-day custody
The P Vijayan government finally gave in-principle approval to hand over the compensation and settle the case.
The state government had handed over Rs 60 lakh earlier after the top court directed the state government to give Rs 50 lakh and the national human rights commission also instructed the Left government to give Rs 10 lakh.
Modi government conferred him with Padma Bhushan
Clearing Nambi of all charges, the Supreme Court said that the former ISRO scientist was “arrested unnecessarily, harassed and subjected to mental cruelty”.

Neighborhood

China firmly opposes any official interaction between the US and Taiwan. No one in the US should have any illusion because anyone playing with fire will get burned. The DPP authorities should realize that being a puppet and seeking independence is doomed to fail.- Chinese FM

Covid-19 pandemic hits the only source of income for majority of Tibetan refugees

According to TRTA, if Tibetan winter business is cancelled this year, apart from Tibetans suffering a huge loss in income, the Indian garment factory owners in Ludhiana and Delhi will also see a steep fall in their profits.
Tibetan refugees in India are a despondent lot this year as the novel coronavirus has brought their winter business, sweater trade — for most of them their only source of income to a complete halt.
Choe Gyaltsen, President of the Tibetan Refugee Traders’ Association (TRTA), said, “After discussions with the Ludhiana and Delhi traders’ associations regarding buying of garments for the winter business, we have been told to wait till September in the hope that a proper vaccine may get developed and the pandemic might slow down.”
According to Gyaltsen, the garment buying process for winter business usually kicks off in June. This year, however, TRTA has issued an order to all the 235 Tibetan winter business communities (3,700 families) registered under the association not to buy garments till Sept.

Pak army claims major cyber-attack by Indian intelligence identified

The Pakistan military claimed on Wed that the country’s intelligence apparatus had identified a major cyberattack by Indian intelligence agencies wherein the cell phones and other devices of Pakistani government officials and military personnel were hacked.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement that an advisory was being sent to all government departments and institutions to identify lapses and enhance cybersecurity measures in place.

Pakistan, Uzbekistan agree to boost trade volume to $300m

The agreement was reached during the delegation-level talks as FM Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Uzbekistan’s Dy PM Elyor Ganiev led their respective sides here at the MFA in Islamabad.
The Pak FM said “India is mistreating minorities, especially Muslims blaming them for spread of coronavirus and urged the international community to strongly condemn India for this degrading behavior”.
Qureshi said India’s hateful policies could pose a threat not only to the region but also to world peace.

Pakistani Taliban down but not out, says ex-spokesman

The Pakistani Taliban has suffered major losses from American and Pakistani security operations in recent years, but its cells remain active in Pakistan’s cities and are still capable of carrying out attacks, a former spokesman has told Al Jazeera in his 1^stinterview since escaping from Pakistani military custody in Jan.

The group and its allies remain active in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, once one of the most high-profile leaders of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban or [TTP], who later co-founded the armed group’s breakaway faction Jamaat-ur-Ahrar (JuA).
“We cannot say that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaat-ur-Ahrar or other anti-Pakistan [armed] groups are completely finished,” he said. “They definitely have a set-up and perhaps they have gone silent as part of a plan. They are present in Pakistani cities and they have the ability to carry out attacks.”
Ehsan – whose real name is Liaqat Ali but is better known by his nom de guerre – spoke exclusively to Al Jazeera this week, breaking his silence on how he surrendered to Pakistani security forces in 2017, and how he escaped from a military-run safe house in an affluent neighborhood of the northwestern city of Peshawar. He also offered insights into the operations of the Pakistani Taliban and the JuA.
The interview was conducted from an undisclosed location through voice notes exchanged over an internet-based messaging service.
The former spokesman was one of the most notorious Pakistani Taliban leaders during the height of the group’s bloody war against the Pakistani state, which saw more than 20,000 civilians killed in suicide bombings, IED blasts and other attacks, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). The group also killed more than 6,000 members of Pakistan’s security forces, according to SATP data.
Ehsan said the killing of Pakistani Taliban leaders such as then-chief Maulana Fazlullah in a 2018 US drone attack, and senior leaders Khalid Haqqani and Shahryar Mehsud two months ago have affected the organization, but not decimated it.
“Their ability to launch attacks has definitely decreased, but they are not yet finished,” Ehsan said. “They will continue to try to prove their presence.”
Ehsan had been held for almost three years, after surrendering to Pakistani security forces in February 2017 under what he claims was an agreement that granted him full legal immunity, a personal monetary stipend and a guarantee that he would be allowed to live as a “peaceful citizen”.
Pakistan’s military was provided with a detailed list of the allegations made by Ehsan in this interview, but offered no comment. The Pakistani interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The civilian government also offered no comment on Ehsan’s imprisonment or escape since it occurred, although Interior Minister Ijaz Shah did confirm in February that he was no longer in Pakistani custody.
“The first thing is that Ehsan is claiming this, this is one side of the equation,” said Rahimullah Yousufzai, a veteran journalist who has covered the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban for decades.
“In Afghanistan, organizations [that target Pakistan] like the TTP and Jamaat-ur-Ahrar have to face increased difficulties when the relationship between the US and Pakistan is better,” he said. “The US, in order to get its objectives [Vis a Vis the Afghan peace process] from Pakistan, is targeting organizations that are against Pakistan.”

Press unions demand fair probe following death of Nepalese journalist Balaram Baniya

Baniya was found dead under “mysterious circumstances”.
Baniya, an Assistant Editor at Kantipur Daily and was missing since Mon, was found dead on Wed near Bagmati River in central Nepalese district of Makwanpur.

Nation Amid COVID-19

COVID 19- Updated India reached the maximum no of infected cases in the world

reaches the landmark of distributing more than 3 Cr N95 Masks to States. More than 1.28 Cr PPEs and 10 cr HCQ distributed Free of Cost by Central Government. In addition, 22533 ‘Make in India’ ventilators have been delivered to various States / UTs / Central Institutions.
Record single-day spike of 66,999 COVID-19 cases pushes India’s virus caseload to 23,96,637, while death toll climbs to 47,033: Govt
India has extended an assistance of US dollar 1 million to the government of Antigua and Barbuda for combating COVID19 pandemic.
Dr Saumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO made a surprise visit to SEOC/Covid War Room in Puducherry, UT and took a briefed about operations. She said state emergency operations center coordinates disaster relief and response in Puducherry. Real time monitoring of data flowing in from PHCs, other govt depts. Pandemic response needs all of govt, all of society approach.