Newsletter 13 July

July 13, 2021
 Team

Important Picks of the Day

NATIONAL​

Chinese soldiers enter Ladakh's Demchuk, object to Dalai Lama's birthday celebrations (↓):

The Chinese, comprising Army personnel and civilians, came in 5 vehicles and raised banners near the village community center.

India to appoint National Maritime Security Coordinator for maritime security (↓)

The National Maritime Security Coordinator will break the silos and cut across the turf of Navy, Coast Guard, State Maritime Boards to enhance maritime domain awareness and ensure a better response. The Chinese forays into the Indian Ocean via Pakistan and Myanmar will be on top of the NMSC agenda.

Afghan situation to dominate Jaishankar’s central Asian visit

EAM S. Jaishankar travels to Central Asia on Tue for two back-to-back meetings focusing on Afghanistan, which will see him face-to-face with the foreign ministers of both Pak and China as well as at the same conference as Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, and U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad (↓)

Karnataka: NIA to probe Sri Lankan human trafficking case

The MHA has handed over the Sri Lankan human trafficking case in Karnataka to the National Investigation Agency, sources have said. On Jun 11, 38 Sri Lankan nationals were arrested in Karnataka’s Mangaluru city in a major operation. All the nationals were staying in various lodges in the port city after entering India illegally without valid documents.

PM met virtually, CMs of all NE States, review Covid situation

PM Narendra Modi has reviewed the situation about Covid-19 with the CMs of all Northeastern states, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram via video conferencing at on Tue. This comes against the backdrop of the rising R-factor, which indicates the speed at which the infection is spreading in the country, resulting in a sluggish pace in the decline of active cases in NE states.

NPCI overseas arm launches UPI QR code payments in Bhutan

Unified Payments Interface is an instant real-time payment system, allowing users to transfer money on a real-time basis, across multiple bank accounts without revealing details of one’s bank account to the other party

Clarify stand on plea against sedition: Supreme Court to govt

A bench of SC deferred the hearing after solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought time to file an affidavit. The court also asked the attorney general, who was also issued notice on the petition, to file his response on the issue.

NEIGHBORHOOD

Taliban warn Turkey against extending troops in Afghanistan

The Taliban on Tue warned Turkey against extending its presence in the country when US-led forces leave the country, insisting the decision was “disgraceful”. Turkish President had said on Jul 9 that Turkey and the US agreed on the “scope” of how to secure Kabul airport under the control of Turkish forces after US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Washington hailed Ankara’s “clear commitment” to playing a lead role in securing the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the leaders’ discussions.

Boeing delivers 10th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I to Indian

US-based aerospace company Boeing on Tue delivered the 10th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I to the Indian Navy.

Visible from space: Human waste, sewage, wastewater dumped by China on the South China Sea

Swarms of Chinese vessels have dumped human waste and wastewater for years in a disputed area of the South China Sea, causing algae blooms that have damaged coral reefs and threatened fish in an unfolding catastrophe, a US-based expert said Mon. Satellite images over the last 5 years show how human waste, sewage, and wastewater have accumulated and caused algae in a cluster of reefs in the Spratlys region where hundreds of Chinese fishing ships have anchored in batches, said Liz Derr, who heads Simularity Inc, a software company creating AI technologies for satellite imagery analysis.

India committed to support Africa's energy transition through the deployment of clean energy technologies: EAM, S Jaishankar

Emphasizing that African nations have shown “great interest” in the India-led International Solar Alliance, EAM on Tue said New Delhi is committed to supporting Africa’s energy transition through the rapid deployment of clean energy technologies.

Pakistan may recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Ankara: A tweet by the Pakistani embassy in Turkey on Sat is being seen as a significant step towards Islamabad recognizing the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus as a sovereign state.

Chinese soldiers enter Ladakh's Demchuk, object to Dalai Lama's birthday celebrations

  • Chinese soldiers and some civilians appeared on the other side of the Sindu river in the Demchuk region of Ladakh and displayed banners and Chinese flags in protest when Indian villagers were celebrating the birthday of the Dalai Lama. The incident occurred on July 6.
  • The Chinese, comprising Army personnel and civilians, came in five vehicles and raised banners near the village community center where the Dalai Lama’s birthday was being celebrated.
  • Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the Dalai Lama on the occasion of his 86th birthday. This is the first time Narendra Modi has publicly confirmed speaking with the Dalai Lama since he took over as prime minister in 2014.
  • President of the Tibetan Govt-in-Exile Penpa Tsering told India Today TV last week that the Dalai Lama was expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Covid-19 situation stabilizes.
  • PM Modi’s tweet shows a significant shift in India’s Tibet policy vi’s-a-vi’s China and a strong message to Beijing. The Indian government had not wished China on the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.
  • India and China have been in a military stand-off since April-May last year and are yet to find solutions to de-escalate tensions at the friction points, including the Hot Springs-Gogra heights.
  • The Indian and Chinese sides have held multiple rounds of talks at both military and diplomatic levels but without much yield except for the limited mutual withdrawal of soldiers by both sides on both northern and southern banks of the Pangong Tso.
  • No official word from MEA has come in media regarding the development.

India to appoint National Maritime Security Coordinator for maritime security (↓)

  • The National Maritime Security Coordinator will break the silos and cut across the turf of Navy, Coast Guard, State Maritime Boards to enhance maritime domain awareness and ensure a better response. The Chinese forays into the Indian Ocean via Pakistan and Myanmar will be on top of the NMSC agenda.
  • Two decades after the Kargil Group of Ministers’ recommendation, the Narendra Modi government is all set to create and appoint a National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC) to interface between the civilian and military maritime domain to enhance the security architecture and energy security of India.
  • The Maritime Security Coordinator will work under Indian National Security Advisor and be the principal advisor to the government on the maritime security domain.
  • According to South Block sources, the Ministry of Defence and Military Affairs has sought Union Cabinet approval for the NMSC post and there is all likelihood that a serving or recently retired Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy will be appointed to the job.
  • The NMSC has been a long pending requirement since the Kargil GoM recommended it and its need was most felt during the 2008 Mumbai massacre when 10 Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) gunmen directed by ISI handlers in Karachi intruded into Mumbai and created mayhem with the maritime security agencies like Navy, Coast Guard, and Mumbai Port all at sea figuratively.
  • The appointment of NMSC fills the need of the hour as the Navy, Coast Guard, and state maritime boards all tend to work in silos with overlapping jurisdictions and are constantly at odds with each other.
  • While India has suffered from sea blindness over centuries with land-based security doctrines, historically and geo-strategically, the country is a maritime nation with over 7000 km of coastline and over 2 million km of Exclusive Economic Zone.
  • Over 70% of Indian trade including vital crude oil is transported through sea and protection of sea shipping lanes is vital to India’s security with Govt on June 16 clearing the Deep Ocean Mission for the blue water economy.
  • India has 9 coastal states and 4 union territories, which believe that maritime and coastal security is the responsibility of the central government and have little to increase the maritime domain awareness.
  • With China moving towards a sea-based security doctrine and penetrating the Indian Ocean through Pakistan and Myanmar, the post of NMSC will be vital for maritime and energy security as Beijing plans to reach the eastern seaboard of Africa through the Indian maritime domain.
  • However, the creation of NMSC is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Act East Policy, SAGAR (Security and Growth of All in the Region), Deep Ocean Mission, and the Sagarmala project to make India’s 12 major ports into a world-class standard.

Afghan situation to dominate Jaishankar’s central Asian visit

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar travels to Central Asia on Tue for two back-to-back meetings focusing on Afghanistan, which will see him face-to-face with the foreign ministers of both Pakistan and China as well as at the same conference as Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad

  • Jaishankar will first attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ministerial in Dushanbe on July 13-14 after which he will travel to Tashkent for a regional connectivity conference on July 15-16.
  • Although Mr. Jaishankar has been at the same venue as the Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at least twice in the past few months, the SCO meeting marks the first time he will be in the room with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, since the two met in Moscow last Sept, when they agreed to de-escalate tensions at the Line of Actual Control, which yet to come ground.
  • However, The MEA declined to comment on whether Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Wang will have a separate meeting at either of the two venues that both will travel to.
  • The focus of both meetings is expected to be the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistanand regional solutions for the country in the wake of the U.S. and NATO troops pull-out said, organizers.
  • Dushanbe will host a special SCO-contact group meeting of eight member states (Russia, India, China, Pakistan, and Central Asian states) with Afghanistan Foreign MinisterHanif Atmar on July 14.
  • Significantly, the contact group, which normally meets at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers, is being upgraded this time, and all foreign ministers are expected to give a joint statement on Afghanistan.
  • The statement will be of particular importance as the Taliban has stepped up violence in the country, and Taliban militants claim they are taking over more towns and cities from the Afghan forces, which led to India pulling all its staff out of the Kandahar Consulate on Sat. Afghanistan was high on the agenda of Mr. Jaishankar’s meetings in Tehran and Moscow last week as well.
  • In Tashkent, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will make a greater push for trade connectivity between South and Central Asia, including discussing the importance of the Chabahar project with India and signing a transit trade agreement (TTA) with PM Khan that will give Uzbekistan access to Pakistani ports, benefitting trade with Afghanistan as well.
  • At the conference entitled “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity, Challenges, and Opportunities”, Mr. Mirziyoyev will project Uzbekistan as the Central Asian fulcrum and a key country in the Intra-Afghan peace process, that has, in the past, hosted Taliban delegations for talks.
  • Ghani and Mr. Khan will participate together at the inaugural session of the Conference on Fri, which will be addressed virtually by UN Secretary-General Guterres, and followed by a plenary session with speeches by Mr. Jaishankar, Chinese FM Wang Yi, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, and ministers and senior officials from other Central Asian countries, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (virtually), Gulf States, the U.S., and the European Union.

The Indian consulate general in Kandahar has not been closed & continues to operate through local staff. The temporary measure to bring diplomats back to India is based on safety & security grounds, tweets Afghan Ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay. India’s long-term commitment towards a peaceful, sovereign,& stable Afghan remains strong, Afghan Ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay added.

NPCI overseas arm launches UPI QR code payments in Bhutan

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system, allowing users to transfer money on a real-time basis, across multiple bank accounts without revealing details of one’s bank account to the other party

  • NPCI International Payments Ltd, the international arm of National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI), has partnered with the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan, the central bank of Bhutan and was established under the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Act of 1982, to implement QR-based unified payments interface (UPI) payments in Bhutan.
  • The launch of BHIM UPI in Bhutan will add a new milestone in financial integration between the two economies, a statement said on Tue.
  • The collaboration between NIPL and RMA will enable acceptance of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) powered BHIM App in Bhutan. RMA will ensure that the participating NPCI mobile application through UPI QR transactions is accepted at all RMA acquired merchants in Bhutan.
  • The launch, it said, will benefit more than 200,000 tourists from India who travel to Bhutan each year. With this launch, Bhutan will become the first country to adopt UPI standards for its QR deployment and the only country to both issues and accept RuPay cards as well as accept BHIM UPI.
  • UPI is an instant real-time payment system, allowing users to transfer money on a real-time basis, across multiple bank accounts without revealing details of one’s bank account to the other party. In 2020, UPI enabled business worth $457 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 15% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP).
  • “Our vision has always been focused on taking our robust and popular payments solutions to global markets”, said Ritesh Shukla, chief executive, NPCI International Payments Ltd.
  • The service will be formally launched by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tue at a virtual ceremony in the presence of Bhutan finance minister lyonpo Namgay Tshering, governor of Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Dasho Penjore, Department of Financial Services secretary Debasish Panda, ambassador of Bhutan to India General V Namgyel, Ambassador of India to Bhutan Ruchira Kamboj, NPCI chief executive Dilip Asbe and other guests.

How Pak-based cyber attackers targeted govt installations in India

Using a brand-new malware, Pakistan-based cyber attackers targeted and compromised energy companies and at least one government organization in India, earlier this year. The attackers installed a new kind of Remote Access Trojan (RAT) – a program that enables covert surveillance and unauthorized access to victim’s computers.

Another disturbing aspect of the hack was the fact that India-based compromised domain URLs were used by the attackers. Speaking exclusively to India Today TV, the head of Black Lotus Labs, Micheal Benjamin shares all the findings.

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