Newsletter 2 December

Sino-Indian Standoff: Despite the Deadlocked on both Sides, Dragan is creeping slowly

Chinese Govt planned Galwan incident, says US top panel

The Chinese government had “planned” the June Galwan incident even as Beijing ramped up its multiyear coercion campaign against its neighbors, provoking military or paramilitary standoffs with countries from Japan to India, the United States top panel said in its report released on Wed.
Months after the Galwan clashes that resulted in the brutal death of 20 Indian soldiers, United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) in its report ‘2020 Report To Congress of the USCC’ said-
- “Some evidence suggested the Chinese government had planned the incident (Galwan), potentially including the possibility for fatalities.”
- “In June 2020, the PLA and Indian troops engaged in a massive physical brawl in the Galwan Valley, located in the far-western Ladakh region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) separating the two countries.”
- “Beijing ramped up its multiyear coercion campaign against its neighbors, provoking military or paramilitary standoffs with countries from Japan to India and much of Southeast Asia.
- Shortly after China’s defense minister urged Beijing to use military force to stabilize its periphery, a violent clash on the China-India border in June led to the first loss of life between the two countries since 1975,” it said.
- Quoting Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the report said, “According to Dr Madan, if China’s goal from its actions was “to acquire territory… [the Chinese government] might deem the moves a success”. If Beijing intended to dissuade India from building infrastructure on its side of the LAC or warn it against aligning with the United States, however, “then the Chinese moves have been ineffective, if not counterproductive.“
- “Some evidence suggested the Chinese government had planned the incident, potentially including the possibility for fatalities. For instance, several weeks prior to the clash Defense Minister Wei made his statement encouraging Beijing to “use fighting to promote stability,” report said.

Chinese PLA recently conducted a series of exercises at a Western Theater Command Air Force base, an important air defense point in Northwest China. As many as seven J-11 fighters, forming a large formation, participated in the training, Global Times, (GT) Chines State Tabloid tweeted.

China buys Indian rice for first time in in at least three decades amid border tensions

The breakthrough comes at a time when political tensions between the two countries are high because of a border dispute in the Himalayas.
China has started importing Indian rice for the first time due to tightening supplies and an offer from India of sharply discounted prices, Indian industry officials told Reuters. India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and China is the biggest importer.
Beijing imports around 4 M tons of rice annually but has avoided purchases from India, citing quality issues.
The breakthrough comes at a time when political tensions between the two countries are high because of a border dispute in the Himalayas.
Indian traders have contracted to export 100,000 tons of broken rice for Dec-February shipments at around $300 per ton, industry officials said.
China’s traditional suppliers, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan, have limited surplus supplies for export and were quoting at least $30/ ton more compared with Indian prices, according to Indian rice trade officials.

India ridiculous to clamor about China-Pakistan MOU-GT

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe wrapped up his two-day visit to Pak on Tue.
According to ‘Pakistani media reports’, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further deepen cooperation between the two countries was inked during Wei’s visit.
It soon caught the eyeballs of Indian media, particularly its tabloids.
This pack of sensationalists argued that the new defense deal was signed by China and Pakistan to harm their “common foe – India.” They claimed that it “is changing military dynamics in South Asia.”
The development of China-Pakistan relations has its own rhythm and logic. Unfortunately, India simply cannot stay calm or observe it without using a zero-sum game mentality.
India’s concern is always about whether its hegemony in South Asia and its sphere of influence will be affected.
But the country should understand that its position and influence ultimately depends on its own governance ability and its own country’s development – not on other external factors.
However, no Indian media given it any space, as GT claimed.

Farmer Protest Row….

We will continue our agitation till the three farm laws are repealed: Farmer leader Darshan Singh

Protest against new farm laws to continue, say farmer leaders after talks with government

Representatives of farmers, who held talks with the Govt on Tue over their demand for the repeal of 3 new farm laws, said that the meeting remained inconclusive and they will continue their protest.
A farmer leader also said that the meeting was good and some progress was made and during the next meeting with Govt on Dec 3, they will convince it that the new farm bills are not pro-farmer.
The representatives of farmers held talks with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his deputy Som Prakash at Vigyan Bhawan.
Chanda Singh, a representative of protesting farmers, later told the media that their protest will continue till they take something from the Govt “be it bullets or peaceful solution“.
Tomar told the media after the talks held at Vigyan Bhawan that the “meeting was good” and another round of talks will be held on Dec 3.
Surjeet Singh Phul, Punjab president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), said the meeting remained inconclusive.
The Govt proposed that there will be an 11-member committee in which 5 members will be from the Govt and 6 from the farmers’ side. But we rejected the proposal. We had told them that anti-farmer laws must be withdrawn, he said.
Manjeet Singh Dhaner, a farmer leader, told the media that the next level of talks will be held on Thu at 12 pm. “Our agitation will continue. Tomorrow a committee will list out the problems in the anti-farmers laws. Day after tomorrow, we will meet again.
In short, they can’t go back until law will withdraw. Union Govt procureed 318 LMT paddy till Nov 30
Govt asked the farmer unions to submit specific issues in farm laws by Wed.

Why farmers fear losing MSP under new laws

The major reason why farmers think they will lose out on MSP is because two types of market will be buying the same commodity but one will levy taxes (old system) and one won’t (new market that will compete with the APMCs). If there are two markets buying the same commodities but only one of them levies a tax, the trade will inevitably shift to the one without a tax.

10 out of 13 honey brands fail ‘purity test’, finds CSE investigation

The investigation also uncovered that Indian companies in the business of honey were importing synthetic sugar syrups from China for adulterating with honey.
Honey marketed by prominent brands failed a key test of purity, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found in an investigation.
There are a range of purity tests to determine if the honey has been adulterated with sugar.
CSE food researchers selected 13 brands of raw and processed honey, including Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath and Zandu, and subjected them to tests that are required under India’s food regulatory laws to be labelled as honey.
Most of the brands passed muster but when subjected to a test, called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (that can ascertain the composition of a product at the molecular level) that was done at a lab in Germany, only three of the brands passed.
The NMR test is not required by Indian law but is required by Indian companies who want to export.

UK PM Boris Johnson invited for 2021 Republic Day celebrations at Red Fort

UP to scrap 44-yr-old scheme that rewards interfaith marriage

The Uttar Pradesh govt is planning to withdraw a scheme that has incentivized interfaith marriage for 44 years. The Inter-caste and Interfaith Marriage Incentive Scheme has been in place since 1976, initiated by the national integration department in the state. In UP, 11 interfaith couples were beneficiaries of the scheme last year and got Rs 50,000 each, said an official.

"Shocking Findings In Probe Against Kerala Journalist": UP Govt to Supreme Court

Siddique Kappan claimed that he is working as a journalist in a Kerala-based daily but that newspaper was closed 2 years back, the state Govt told a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde. UP Govt recently filed an affidavit in the top court claiming that Kappan was going to Hathras under the “garb of journalism” with a “very determined design” to create caste divide and disturb law and order situation.

NEIGHBORHOOD/ WORLD

China concealed official figures, misled world on Covid outbreak: Report

China deliberately concealed the extent of the Covid-19 outbreak during its early days by playing down official figures, according to a report citing leaked documents from Wuhan.
CNN reveal that local health authorities in the province of Hubei, where the virus was first detected, listed a total of 5,918 new cases on Feb 10, more than double the number that was made public. The report said that the larger figure was never revealed to the world.
The previously undisclosed figure is among a string of revelations contained within 117 pages of leaked documents from the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
It added that the documents amount to the most significant leak from inside China since the beginning of the pandemic and provide the first clear window into what local authorities knew internally and when.
The “Wuhan Files” are the latest evidence on China’s poor handling of the COVID outbreak in the early days.
It also comes a day after WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted it would do everything possible to find the animal origins of Covid-19.
The WHO sent an advance team to Beijing in July to lay the groundwork for the probe but Beijing is yet to provide clearance for the larger team of scientists to travel to China and begin their study.
WHO itself has come under fire for not questioning China’s lack of transparency.
Add to this other missteps such as when the UN body changed the timeline to acknowledge it found out about the outbreak through Chinese media reports, and not Beijing directly as earlier said, has cast a long shadow over the WHO.

Uyghur businessman pleads for information of his son missing since “Chinese invasion”

Amid China’s attempts to refute reports of atrocities on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, Abdurahman Hasan, an Uyghur, has taken to Twitter pleading for information about his son who has been missing since the “Chinese invasion”. Why did this tragedy happen? I think the answer is very simple, due to the Chinese invasion,” Hasan, tweeted.
He has not been able to contact his family after he left China for Turkey, reported Uyghur Freedoms Herald.
He left China in Jan 2017 to Turkey when the Beijing-led administration in Xinjiang began to hunt down the influential Uyghur public figures.
In an earlier tweet, he said that his wife was raped by the “Chinese invaders” in the concentration camp set up by the Beijing.
For the last 6 years, millions of East Turkistan people, mostly of Muslim faith, have been held in concentration camps, prisons, and slave labor camps.
According to survivors’ accounts, they are being tortured, killed for their organs, raped, sterilized and executed.

INDIA: COVID-19

Govt never spoke about vaccinating entire country, said Health Secretary Bhushan.
UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for use, first in the world