Newsletter 15 December

Sino-Indian Standoff: Both side Military talks deadlocked

China's Nuclear Arsenal grows in Capability

China’s nuclear forces, under the aegis of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), are nowhere as large as those of the USA or Russia, but the inventory is significantly growing and modernizing.
New missiles such as DF-41 and DF-31AG inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBM) were paraded in Beijing in Oct 2019, demonstrating the forward strides that the PLARF is making.
An annual report from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, titled Chinese Nuclear Forces 2020 and authored by Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda, discussed the state of play in the PLARF.
It claimed, “China is continuing the nuclear weapons modernization program that it initiated in the 1980s and increased in the 1990s and 2000s, fielding more types and greater numbers of nuclear weapons than ever before.”
It is impossible to say how many nuclear weapons China actually has, but Kristensen and Korda offer their best estimate in the report.
They claimed, “We estimate that China has a produced a stockpile of approximately 350 nuclear warheads, of which roughly 272 are for delivery by more than 240 operational land-based ballistic missiles, 48 sea-based ballistic missiles and 20 nuclear gravity bombs assigned to bombers.“
The remaining 78 warheads are intended to arm additional land- and sea-based missiles that are in the process of being fielded.
This figure of 350 is up significantly from the estimated 290 listed in the 2019 edition of the report from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Significantly, these figures vary from those issued in the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) annual report on Chinese military power.

PLA carrying out development work in Tibet: CDS Rawat

Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat stated on Monday that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is carrying out development activities in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, amid the Sino-Indian standoff at Ladakh.

No winter session of Parliament due to COVID-19, says Pralhad Joshi

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi has said that he has informally contacted floor leaders of various political parties and they have expressed their concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and opined of doing away with Winter Session of the Parliament.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Jaishankar, Raab discuss ways to take India-UK ties at 'higher level'

EAM S Jaishankar on Tue said he and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had a four-hour-long discussion on a wide range of issues including on how to take India and UK ties at a higher level.
Speaking at the joint press briefing along with Raab after bilateral and delegation-level talks, Jaishankar said he and Raab believe that the interests of both the countries are better served by working together more effectively.
“We focused on 5 broad themes – connecting people, trade and prosperity, defense and security, climate change, and health,” he added.
Both also reviewed the situation in Afghanistan, the evolution of the Indo-Pacific, and developments in the middle-east.
“I’m pleased that PM Boris Johnson has invited PM Narendra Modi to join the UK-hosted G7 Summit next year. Johnson has also accepted the very generous invitation to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations in Jan, which is a great honor”, said Raab.
Raab, who arrived Delhi on Mon, is on a 4-day visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays foundation stone for Hybrid Renewable Energy Park in Kutch district of Gujarat

PM Modi on Tue laid foundation stones of a desalination plant, a hybrid renewable energy park, and a fully automated milk processing and packing plant in his home state Gujarat.
Harnessing its vast coastline, Gujarat is taking a significant step towards transforming seawater to potable drinking water with the upcoming desalination plant at Mandvi in Kutch district, an official said.
This desalination plant, with 10 cr l/ day capacity (100 MLD), will strengthen water security in Gujarat by complementing Narmada Grid, Sauni network and treated waste water infrastructure, he said.
Nearly 8 lakh people across the regions of Mundra, Lakhpat, Abdasa and Nakhatrana talukas will receive desalinated water from this plant, which will also help in sharing the surplus to upstream districts of Bhachau, Rapar and Gandhidham.
The Hybrid Renewable Energy Park near Vighakot village in the district will be the country’s largest renewable energy generation park. It will lead to the generation of renewable energy to the tune of 30 GW.
Spread over 72,600 hectares of land, the park will have a dedicated hybrid park zone for wind and solar energy storage, as well as exclusive zone for wind park activities.
Modi also laid the foundation stone of a fully automated milk processing and packing plant at Sarhad Dairy at Anjar. The plant will cost Rs 121 crore and have the capacity to process two lakh l milk/ day, an official release said.

Farmers protests: As cracks show, farm outfits move to forge a united stand

“Govt is available 24×7 to resolve farmers’ issues,” said PM Modi at foundation stone laying ceremony of development projects in Kutch, Gujarat
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal has called former ally BJP as the real ‘tukde tukde gang’ which is trying to push patriotic Punjab into communal flames.
Seeking to keep its flock together, AIKSCC, which has been coordinating with Punjab farmer unions for the current protests, has evicted its convener V M Singh who went against its stand on repeal of three farm laws as a precondition for talks with the government.
After Singh pitched for a middle path and wanted his own group, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan and others to demand legal guarantee to purchase at minimum support price (MSP) through a legislation as a way out to end the stalemate, AIKSCC sought to distance itself from him.
Farmers’ protests resulting in daily loss of Rs 3,500 cr: ASSOCHAM
Two Punjab farmers, returning to Patiala from a protest site on Delhi’s border, killed after their tractor trolley is hit by a truck in Haryana’s Karnal district: Police

AAP to contest 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly pollsal

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced that the Aam Aadmi Party will fight the 2022 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh which he said should become a developed state. In a press conference, Kejriwal said Uttar Pradesh does not have good schools and hospitals and people are facing irregular power supply.

Massive Ruckus In Karnataka Assembly; Congress MLCs Forcibly Remove Dy Chairman From Chair

A massive ruckus broke out in the Karnataka Assembly on Tue, in which the Deputy Chairman S. L. Dharmegowda was forcefully pushed out of his seat in the legislative council by Congress MLCs.
This ruckus comes when the assembly was already witnessing a stormy session because of the contentious anti-cow slaughter amendment bill.
A Congress leader SR Patil said, “The ruckus broke out in Karnataka assembly session because the Deputy Chairman, SL Dharmegowda, had occupied the seat of Chairman K Prathapchndra Shetty.”

J'khand using environment as ruse to stall coal mine auction: Centre

The Centre on Mon accused Jharkhand Govt of using the environment as a ruse to attempt stalling auction of 41 coal mines, nine of which are located in the tribal state, for commercial exploitation and assured the Supreme Court that these do not fall in eco-sensitive zones.

Facebook Fuel For India: Ambani Speaks to Zuckerberg, Hails Jio-FB Partnership

Indian billionaire, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. Mukesh Ambani joined Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Dec 15 for a profound conversation during the first edition of Facebook Fuel for India 2020 virtual event.
During the first day of the 2-day event, Ambani hailed the Jio-Fb partnership and said that together, we are now a value creation platform for users and businesses.

NEIGHBORHOOD/ WORLD

A data leak shows that over two million Chinese Communist Party members were secretly embedded in organizations around the world including India

In an explosive data leak, around two million Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members who got secretly embedded in some of the world’s biggest companies, banks, media groups, universities and Govt agencies, have been exposed.
‘The Australian’ newspaper obtained the leaked database which apart from the names of around two million CCP members, has their party position, birth-date, national ID number and ethnicity.
Among the companies mentioned in the list are manufacturers such as Boeing and Volkswagen, pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and banks like ANZ and HSBC.
As per the documents, around 600 people at HSBC, Standard Chartered banks are CCP members.
“It is believed to be the first leak of its kind in the world,” The Australian journalist and Sky News host Sharri Markson said.
“What’s amazing about this database is not just that it exposes people who are members of the Communist Party, and who are now living and working all over the world, from Australia to the US to the UK, but it’s amazing because it lifts the lid on how the party operates under President Xi Jinping,” she added.
Around 79,000 CCP branches have been set up inside western companies where members, if called on, are answerable directly to the Communist Party and President Xi himself, the reports said.
“It is also going to embarrass some global companies who appear to have no plan in place to protect their intellectual property from theft, from economic espionage,” Markson said.
The data was reportedly extracted from a server in Shanghai in 2016 by Chinese dissidents, who used it for counterintelligence purposes.
It was later leaked to the international bipartisan group the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, before being sent to the international consortium of 4 media organizations-The Australian, the UK’s Mail on Sun, Belgium’s De Standaard and a Swedish editor.
The Australian did not name the individual members on the list, only the companies they work for.
In different code words, ‘India’ figures over 100 times in the leaked data of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recruits embedded in global companies and Govt agencies. Code names like ‘India also smells’, ‘India Love Jane’, ‘Indian red’, ‘Indian Eagle’.
Amid the West’s hyping-up of CPC members “infiltrating” foreign institutions, FM spokesperson Wang Wenbin slammed the stigmatization as another version of the “China threat” theory; its logic is ridiculous, and narrative untenable, Global Times Tweeted.

Pakistan army to gain ‘control’ of $60 billion CPEC projects

Pakistan recently cleared a bill in Parliament that will virtually give the powerful army sweeping control over the $60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects while diminishing the role of the civilian government. The proposed law has caused discomfort in the opposition ranks and sparked concerns over the possible implications of establishing a “parallel govt”.

Afghan peace talks must resume in Jan as agreed: Khalilzad

US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has said “it is imperative” that the peace talks between the negotiating teams of the Kabul government and the Taliban “must resume on Jan 5 as agreed”.

Pompeo urges countries to join US to hold China accountable for COVID-19

US Secy of State Michael Pompeo on Mon lambasted Beijing for covering up the COVID outbreak in China saying that the US and the world is beginning to “build up its efforts to push back” and hold China accountable. Pompeo in an interview with Rob Schmitt of Wake Up America on Newsmax on Mon cited India as an example of pushing back Chinese products by banning Chinese apps as well.

Covid-19

The Union Ministry of Health informed that India`s recovery rate has escalated to 95.12%, calling it a significant milestone in its fight.
After a lull, Maharashtra back in dubious top spot with highest daily deaths
On Sun, Maha with 70 deaths was at the top followed by West Bengal with 47 and Delhi 33, according to ministry data
While the country’s case fatality rate is 1.4%, Maharashtra’s continues to be 2.5%
Interestingly, Kerala that has been reporting the highest new daily detections has managed to keep deaths under control.
It has been reporting between 29-35 deaths in Dec and held on to 4^th position in the daily mortality chart.