Important Picks of the Day :

[ NATIONAL ]

PM Modi to handover keys to beneficiaries of the central housing scheme in 75 districts of UP today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be digitally handing over keys to beneficiaries of the central housing scheme to 75,000 beneficiaries in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after inaugurating ‘Azadi@75-New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape’ Conference-cum-Expo at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan of Lucknow.

Stalled Indian projects, Tamil cause take center-stage on Shringla’s Sri Lanka trip (↓)

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, on a four-day visit to Lanka, meets PM Mahinda Rajapaksa & Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, discusses post-pandemic economic recovery.

Pakistan talks about peace while its PM glorifies terrorists like Laden as martyrs: India in Right of Reply at UNGA

Pakistan’s permanent representative talks about peace, security here, while his Prime Minister Imran Khan “glorifies global terrorists like Osama Bin Laden as martyrs”, India said in its Right of Reply at the First Committee General Debate, 76^th session of United Nations General Assembly here on Monday.

Prepared to deal with any two-front threat involving Pakistan, China: IAF chief

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari stated, “China continues its deployment at three airbases in the Tibet region. We are fully prepared to deal with any situation on our side.” Ahead of Air Force Day, IAF displays Rafale’s Scalp stealth cruise missile: The Scalp fitted in IAF’s Rafale jets is used to hit high-value targets namely radars, airbases, ports, and communication facilities.

Gujarat riots: SC to hear the plea of Zakia Jafri against SIT’s clean chit to Modi on October 26

The Supreme Court Tuesday said it would hear on October 26 a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri, challenging the Special Investigation Team clean chit to Narendra Modi, then CM, Gujarat during the 2002 riots.

Lakhimpur violence: Farmers and the UP govt reach agreement

The Uttar Pradesh govt on Monday announced a judicial inquiry in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident stating that an FIR has been registered based on farmers’ complaints.

Energy crisis: India says coal crisis could drag on

More than half the nation’s plants are on alert for outages after surging electricity demand and a slump in local coal output eroded stockpiles

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

Malaysia summons China envoy over South China Sea ‘encroachment’ (↓)

Malaysia says Chinese ships, including a survey vessel, entered its exclusive economic zone off Borneo.

China, the US eye further talks with Yang Jiechi set to meet Jake Sullivan

Top Chinese diplomat Yang to hold talks with US national security adviser in Switzerland, sources say. They aim to rebuild communication channels and implement the consensus reached between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, one source says

The router was bad, says Facebook after FB, Instagram, WhatsApp go down for 6 hrs

The outage of popular social media apps Facebook. Instagram and Whatsapp left billions of users in limbo. Facebook apologized for the outage but didn’t immediately say what caused the outage.

China’s ban on private tuition creates a black market as demand remains high

China prohibited after-school private tutoring early this year, citing concerns that children and parents were being put under undue stress.

Taliban forces have unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras, including a 17-year-old girl, in Afghanistan’s Daykundi province after members of the security forces of the former govt surrendered, a new investigation by Amnesty International has revealed.

COAS pays tribute to martyrs in an investiture ceremony at GHQ, says their sacrifices won’t go waste

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has said Pakistan “owes [its] peace and stability to the selfless devotion and sacrifices” of its martyrs.

Month after meeting with Taliban, Pakistan replaces DG ISI, Nadeem Anjum appointed new boss

Exactly 31 days after Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the then Director General ISI’s visit to Kabul and subsequent meeting with Taliban raised eyebrows, Pakistan has posted him as Corps Commander Peshawar. Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum is now the new ISI Chief. Reports suggest this posting will be for his likely elevation to the post of Chief of Army Staff after Bajwa. Going to Peshawar is seen as continuity in his critical role in handling Afghanistan.

PM Modi to handover keys to beneficiaries of the central housing scheme in 75 districts of UP today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be digitally handing over keys to beneficiaries of the central housing scheme to 75,000 beneficiaries in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after inaugurating ‘Azadi@75 – New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape’ Conference-cum-Expo at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan of Lucknow.

• PM Modi to hand over keys to beneficiaries of a central housing scheme in 75 Uttar Pradesh districts. After 2014, our government has permitted to build over 1.13 crore houses under PM Awas Yojana, in the city.
• Of these, over 50 lakh houses have been built & given to the poor so far:
• Under PM Awas Yojana, the Central govt has transferred nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in the accounts of the poor: PM said.
• He also flagged off 75 buses under FAME-II for 7 cities incl Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi & Ghaziabad

Stalled Indian projects, Tamil cause take center-stage on Shringla’s Sri Lanka trip

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who is on a 4-day visit to the island nation on Monday met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, to smooth out bilateral ties that have hit rough weather due to China’s growing influence in the region. Shringla also met with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa onTue.

With a focus on the Indo-Pacific strategic construct and the Quad, India is concerned that the Rajapaksa regime’s increasing tilt towards China may prove to be counterproductive for New Delhi.

• The main reason for Shringla’s visit is to assess the primary reasons behind stalling of certain key projects being executed by India, while those being overseen by China run smoothly, ThePrint reported citing sources.
• ThePrint -while New Delhi understands the Rajapaksa administration’s “predictable” tilt towards Beijing, it wants Sri Lanka not to “favor China at the cost of their relationship with India.”
• When the Rajapaksa brothers came to power after the Easter Bombings, it seemed there would be a resetting of ties between India and Sri Lanka in the face of rising Chinese debt, which got aggravated post the Hambantota Port takeover by Beijing.
• On Sun Shringla visited the lower tank farms to push forward the project.

Scrapped East Container Terminal (ECT) ‘hurts’ Sri Lanka’s credibility: Last month, the Adani Group signed a $700 mn deal with the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to develop and run the strategic Colombo Port’s West International Container Terminal.

• The Adani Group will have a 51% stake and the agreement to build, operate and transfer will be valid for 35 years, which shows that India will have “some presence” instead of no presence at such a strategic location- ThePrint
• The Colombo West International Container Terminal of the Port of Colombo will be coming up just next to China’s jetty at the port.
• However, to get this deal done, Sri Lanka scrapped the $500 million tripartite project- agovt-to-govt dealsigned by Colombo with India and Japan –to develop the ECT, which will be once again pushed in the visit.

Expansion of Colombo Security Conclave: Apart from asserting the importance India gives to its neighborhood policy concerning Sri Lanka, Shringla will also discuss with the Sri Lankan govt, the issue of expanding the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC).

• This will be a follow-up to what was discussed at the last meeting of the CSC which took place virtually between the Deputy National Security Advisors (DNSAs) of India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.
• At this meeting, it was decided that the CSC (earlier known as the trilateral NSA meeting on maritime security) will induct Bangladesh, Seychelles, and Mauritius as full-fledged members from being observers currently.

The CSC is expected to meet later this year again in the Maldives, (ThePrint reported citing sources).

The CSC was revived by NSA Ajit Doval in Nov 2020, which met for the first time since 2014. Owing to China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region, India is now planning to include more members in this dialogue to address the rising competition and also to firm up a robust intelligence and security network against the growing challenges of arms and drug trafficking in this region.

Besides, the Shringla also took up the Tamil cause with the Sri Lankan prime minister and discussed the need for urgent implementation of the 13^th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution.

• The 13^th Amendment became part of the local statute as a direct result of the Indian intervention in 1987, under the India-Sri Lanka Accord.
• It proposes the establishment of a provincial council system and devolution of power to the nine provinces in Sri Lanka. Successive governments in Sri Lanka, however, have not implemented it.
• Shringla Mon also met representatives from local Tamil political parties, such as Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Tamil Progressive Alliance, and Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC).

During the meeting, the foreign secretary stressed “India’s commitment to protecting the rights of Tamils through full implementation of the 13^th amendment, early convening of Provincial Council elections, achieving reconciliation and establishing connectivity to India”.

Post-pandemic economic recovery

• At his meeting with Fin Min, Shringla discussed India and Sri Lanka’s economic and commercial ties, and “post-pandemic economic recovery by taking forward joint projects of mutual benefit”.
• In Sept 2020, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual summit with Prime Minister Rajapaksa, the latter had sought to defer the debt the island nation owes to India.
• India has already provided a $400 million currency swap facility to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to assist the country with its economic recovery and to tackle Covid-19- related disruptions.

Projects unveiled by Shringla

On Mon, the Shringla inaugurated 4 projects in Colombo in the housing and education sectors.

• This included handing over 1,235 houses to beneficiaries under the Indian Housing Project (IHP) Phase III.
• Under this project, India is constructing 50,000 houses for Rs 1,372 crore across various districts in Sri Lanka.
• Another housing project was inaugurated at the Vavuniya district, in which India is assisting Sri Lanka to construct 600 houses in 25 districts.
• Shringla unveiled two colleges in the Kandy district and Vadamarachchi, Northern Province.
• Vada Central Ladies College in Vadamarachchi is one of 27 schools taken up for renovation and was handed over during this visit.

Pakistan talks about peace while its PM glorifies terrorists like Laden as martyrs: India in Right of Reply at UNGA First Committee (ANI)

Pakistan’s permanent representative talks about peace, security here, while his Prime Minister Imran Khan “glorifies global terrorists like Osama Bin Laden as martyrs”, Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, A Amarnath said in its Right of Reply at the First Committee General Debate, 76^th session of United Nations General Assembly here on Mon (local time).

• Amarnath said: “As the epicenter of global terrorism, Pakistan has repeatedly indulged in cross-border terrorism against its neighbors, with no regard for UN principles.”
• Emphasizing that Pakistan’s representative talks about peace and security here, Amarnath stressed that Pakistan prime minister “glorifies global terrorists like Osama Bin Laden as martyrs”.
• The First Committee deals with disarmament, global challenges, and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime.
• Underlining that and Islamabad has been making desperate attempts to peddle falsehoods at multilateral forums, he said that such acts deserve collective contempt.
• “Pakistan has made many unsubstantiated allegations against India including about J&K and Ladakh,” he said.

“Let me reiterate here that the entire territory of J&K, was, is, and always will be an integral and inalienable part of India. This includes the area that is under illegal occupation of Pakistan. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all these areas under its illegal occupation added”. he said.

Prepared to deal with any two-front threat involving Pakistan, China: IAF chief

Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari on Wed stated that the Indian Air Force was prepared to deal with any two-front threat scenario involving China and Pakistan while asserting that China’s enhanced infrastructure won’t affect India’s combat readiness.

Responding to China’s presence near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chaudhari said India is fully prepared to deal with any situation, adding that the partnership between China and Pakistan need not be feared and “the only worry is western technology passing from Pakistan to China.”

• The newly-appointed chief was speaking at a press conference ahead of the 89^th anniversary of the Indian Air Force set to be held on Fri, Oct 8^th.
• Chaudhari emphasized that the IAF is committed to the theaterization program and keen on the integration of the tri-forces while adding that it will result in a maximum increase in our net combat capability.
• He added that the strengths of each force should be taken into account and deliberations on the subject are underway.

Chaudhari said that IAF’s offensive strike capability has become more potent with the integration of new weapons and the induction of Rafale and Apache jets.

• He also spoke about IAF’s steps towards protecting India’s infrastructure from cyber attacks.
• Regarding India’s drone capabilities, Chaudhari stated that the air force will give contracts to startups to develop swarm drones based on competition.
• They will also allow startups to design counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), as part of IAF’s effort to develop indigenous anti-drone capability.
• He said “we have four squadrons of the MiG-21s and the drawdown will happen in the next 3-4 years and We are on the verge of getting 6 Light Utility Helicopters from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)”
• Concerning airfields in Pakistan and PoK, we don’t need to be much alarmed as they are small strips capable of taking on a few helicopters while one towards the Afghan border is probably for rescuing from Afghanistan.
• IAF’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition & Reconnaissance (ISTAR) program (based on jet aircraft) is being progressed through the DTTI initiative with the US.

India’s 5th Gen AMCA jet to be Public-Private program

• India’s 5^th-generation fighter program, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft will be a corporate public-private program, a massive break from the traditional ‘govt only shape of all military aviation projects thus far.
• Livefist can confirm that India’s HAL and the Aeronautical Development Agency are in the process of laying the contours for a joint venture company to execute the AMCA program.
• The joint venture company will be a 3-way partnership between HAL, DRDO, and an Indian private sector firm.

Energy crisis: India says coal crisis could drag on as long as six months

India could face as long as six months battling to ensure coal-fired power plants have enough fuel as the nation’s energy crisis escalates.

• More than half the nation’s plants are on alert for outages after surging electricity demand and a slump in local coal output eroded stockpiles.
• Power stations had an average of 4 days’ worth of coal at the end of last month, the lowest level in years, and down from 13 days at the start of Aug.

• Coal plants accounting for between 40 gigawatts to 50 gigawatts of capacity currently have less than 3 days of fuel stocks, Power Min told the Newspaper, against a total national coal capacity of about 203 gigawatts.
• Coal accounts for about 70% of India’s electricity generation, and consumption is forecast to rise in the next few years, even as PM Modi pushes for a massive increase in renewables.
• Like neighboring China, India is suffering from the impacts of a sharp surge in electricity demand, a squeeze on domestic mine output, and surging prices of seaborne coal.
• The ministries are working with state-run Coal India Ltd. and NTPC Ltd., India’s largest power generator, to raise output from mines and to ensure demand is met, Singh was quoted as saying.
• Coal supply will be prioritized to utilities that have made regular payments to coal companies, and that have been maintaining mandated levels of fuel stocks, according to the newspaper.

Malaysia summons China envoy over South China Sea ‘encroachment’

Malaysia has said it has summoned China’s ambassador to protest against the “presence and activities” of Chinese vessels in Kuala Lumpur’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea off the island of Borneo.

Chinese vessels, including a survey boat, were operating off the coasts of the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak in contravention of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late on Mon, without elaborating the number of ships involved.

“Malaysia had also protested against the previous encroachments by other foreign vessels in our waters.” The statement read.

• Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei claim parts of the South China Sea off their coasts, while China claims almost the entire area under the so-called 9-dash line that the international court ruled to be without basis in 2016.
• In recent years Beijing has stepped up its activities in the disputed waters, building artificial islands, setting up military outposts on rocky outcrops and islets, and deploying vast fishing fleets and ships from its maritime militia.
• Last year, Malaysia and China were involved in a months-long standoff in the sea off Sarawak where Petronas, Malaysia’s national oil company, was exploring for oil and gas. China also sent a survey ship to the area on that occasion.
• According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative China has 27 outposts in the disputed waters and also controls Scarborough Shoal, which it seized from the Philippines in 2012.

China sends 56 warplanes into Taiwan’s defense zone in the largest-ever air incursion: At least 150 Chinese warplanes have reportedly entered Taiwan’s air defense since Friday. Chinese jets have repeatedly entered Taiwan’s airspace in the past few months with 600 air incursions by Chinese jets reported this year. (see the last newsletter)

Chinese air intrusions over Taiwan challenge US military might in Indo-Pacific: The Chinese provocative actions against Taiwan this month to demonstrate its military clout before an exercising armada of US-UK-Japan warships in the vicinity is seen as part of psychological operations by Beijing to challenge the West over self-declared control of Taipei.

• The aerial intrusions came at a time when aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan, USS Carl Vinson, HMS Elizabeth along with Japanese, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian ships are exercising between Taiwan and the coast of Okinawa.
• While the region appears to be on the edge, top diplomats see the provocative maneuvers by China against Taiwan directed at the domestic audience rather than a serious war threat to Taipei.
• Beijing watchers believe that the recent aerial intrusions aim to wear down the Taiwanese by conveying the signal that no one will come to support of Taipei if China decides to militarily take over the strategic islands.

As per Chinese State Media, Global Times, President Xi said that the CPC and Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Party have promoted the peaceful development of relations across the Straits (Taiwan) on the common political basis of both adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing “Taiwan independence,” which has benefited people on both sides.

On Sat, Chu won the KMT election on the island of Taiwan and became the next party chair. During the race, Chang distinguished himself from other candidates by emphasizing a strong pro-unification stance, whereas Eric Chu and Johnny Chiang had in the past called for reform of the KMT to change its pro-China image. In the first KMT debate, when asked about identity trends among young people that show rising Taiwanese identity and increasing low identification with China, Chang advocated that the KMT return to the fundamental principles it was built on and double down on emphasizing that a Taiwanese identity is a form of Chinese identity.-The Diplomate

India: On China breaching Taiwan airspace, the chief Air Marshal, VR Choudhary stated it is a matter of two countries and would refrain make any comments.

China, the US eye further talks with Yang Jiechi set to meet Jake Sullivan

China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi will hold talks with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Switzerland this week, according to sources familiar with details of the meeting. The talks between the pair – said to be most likely to take place on Wed – will come less than a month after the telephone call between the two nations’ presidents, Xi Jinping and Joe Biden.

• The talks this week would be yet another round of in-person talks between officials from the two powers since Biden took office, with little in the way of concrete progress in the earlier meetings.
• President Joe Biden’s national security adviser will hold talks with China’s top diplomat in Switzerland on Tue (Oct 5) and Wed, the SCMP said, at a time of rising tension over several issues including Taiwan, while the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond.

Ties between China and the US deteriorated sharply under former President Trump and the Biden administration has maintained pressure on China on a range of issues from Hong Kong and the Xinjiang region to the origins of Covid-19.

• China has also been angered by increased US support for Taiwan, believing the US is colluding with forces there seeking the island’s formal independence, a red line for Beijing.
• China claims Taiwan as its territory, which should be taken by force if necessary. Taiwan says it is an independent country and will defend its freedoms and democracy.
• In late July, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the second-ranking U.S. diplomat, held face-to-face meetings with Xie Feng, a Chinese foreign vice-minister, in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, ended with no specific outcomes and the prospect of a meeting between Biden and Xi was not discussed.
• In Mar, during high-level talks in Alaska, Chinese officials including Yang Jiechi railed against the state of US democracy, while US officials accused the Chinese delegation of grandstanding.

China shows off new military gear in Zhuhai: ANI

The China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, typically referred to as the Zhuhai Air Show (13^th edition held last week from 28 Sept till 3 Oct) because of its location near this southern Chinese coastal city, was delayed by 11 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The Air Show has the full support of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the central govt, and the Chinese defense industry.
• While it is described as an air show air, land, and naval equipment are all on grand display.

Indeed, the event gives the world a glimpse of the latest PLA equipment, as well as concepts and designs from Chinese manufacturers, which thus gives foreign analysts a useful glimpse into future directions and priorities of the Chinese military and the show, didn’t disappoint, even in the absence of foreigners.

The biggest news from the 2021 edition of the show was manned aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and land equipment.

The aircraft, the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) showed the J-16D electronic warfare (EW) fighter and J-20A stealth fighter powered by WS10C engines for the very first time, while it has never displayed its J-11, J-15, or J-16 fighters before, may because of being knock-offs of the famous Russian Su-27/Su-30 fighter family.

• The PLAAF statically displayed a twin-seat J-16D. It is China’s equivalent of the US Navy’s EA-18G Growler, the EW variant of the Super Hornet.
• The J-16D is presumed to be in service, as the aircraft in Zhuhai bore the construction number “0109”, indicating it is the ninth in the first production batch. However, its operational unit has not been ascertained yet. ⁽¹⁾

COAS pays tribute to martyrs in an investiture ceremony at GHQ, says their sacrifices won’t go to waste

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has said Pakistan “owes [its] peace and stability to the selfless devotion and sacrifices” of its martyrs on an investiture ceremony held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Tue.

• Terming the martyrs the real heroes of the country, the army chief said, “there is no cause nobler than laying one’s life for the defense of the motherland, and sacrifices of our martyrs won’t go [to] waste.”
• Gen Bajwa conferred awards on army personnel for their acts of bravery during operations and meritorious services rendered to the nation, the ISPR statement said.
• Senior army officers, families of those receiving awards, as well as martyrs’ families attended the ceremony, it said.
• According to the statement, 47 officers were awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz, while 6 officers, 7 junior commissioned officers (JCOs), and 12 soldiers were awarded Tamgha-i-Basalat, which were received by their families.

Exercise with Chinese troops concludes

Meanwhile, the closing ceremony of the two-week-long Joint Anti-Terro­rist Exercise 2021 was held on Mon at the National Co­unter Terrorism Centre, Pabbi, where the troops from China and Pakistani armed forces took part in the drill.

• It was the first military exercise conducted in Pakis­tan under the ambit of the Sha­n­ghai Cooperation Organi­sation’s Regional Anti Terrorism Structure, said a press release issued by the ISPR.
• The exercise focused on enhancing cooperation and cohesiveness in combating international terrorism.
• The Chinese and Pakistani troops participated in the exercise and shared their experiences of capacity building and innovative approaches and methods on emerging technologies being used to counter the evolving threats.

Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Farmers and the Uttar Pradesh government reach agreement

• Farmers and the government in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, struck an agreement on Mon, a day after a demonstration turned violent, killing nine people.
• A former high court judge will investigate the violence on Sunday, and the relatives of the dead will get ex-gratia payments of Rs 4.5 mn apiece, while those injured in the skirmishes will receive Rs 1 million. Farmers were protesting ahead of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s arrival to Lakhimpur Kheri when violence erupted.
• Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, has also expressed regret over the event, calling it “unfortunate.” “Action will be taken against whoever is guilty,” Yogi Adityanath stated.
• Farmers’ organization Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) has demanded the toughest punishment for anyone engaged in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, claiming that individuals from various political parties, not farmers, were behind it.
• Describing the incident as “unfortunate”, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) in a statement said,

“The people involved in the incident were not farmers, they belonged to various political parties. The incident was carried out using leftist methods. People were mercilessly beaten to death with sticks, something farmers couldn’t do.”

• The BKS claimed that the way people took the law into their own hands and committed murders in public shows that they were part of some professional gangs.