[ NATIONAL ]

China lodges protest with India over CDS Gen Bipin Rawat’s comments on ‘security threat’

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman said speculation on the ‘so-called Chinese military threat’ is a serious violation of the strategic guidance of the two countries and is dangerous.

‘Bringing bilateral issues to SCO violates norms, offenders must be condemned:’ Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister comments come as an indirect reference to Pakistan’s repeated attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at SCO meet on several occasions in the last few years.

India supports inclusive, representative govt in Afghanistan: EAM Jaishankar

Expressing concern over recent developments in Afghanistan, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said: “India supports an inclusive and representative government in Afghanistan.” He spoke about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and urged countries to work together to ensure that assistance reaches the Afghan people.

CBI’s special director elected to Interpol executive committee after ‘intense’ campaign

CBI Special Director Praveen Sinha defeated other contestants from China, Singapore, Korea, and Jordan to become ‘Delegate for Asia’ on Interpol’s executive committee.

The Centre may ban all Hurriyat factions for financing terror

The Centre may soon ban Hurriyat Conference as an “unlawful organization’ under the UAPA, citing the alleged involvement of its constituents and leaders in terror financing in Jammu & Kashmir. Sources said the home ministry would take a final call on outlawing all factions of the Hurriyat Conference — including the moderate Hurriyat and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, once led by late hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani — under Section 3(1) of UAPA.

Indian astronomers discover a new exoplanet and rare stars hotter than Sun

Indian astronomers have added another feather to their cap as they have recently made two discoveries – an exoplanet 1.4x the size of Jupiter and a rare class of radio stars hotter than the Sun.

What’s the new Covid variant in South Africa, and why it’s of ‘serious’ concern even in India

The new variant, B.1.1.529, seems to be dominating all infections in South Africa in less than two weeks. No cases in India yet, but scientists and Union health secy have raised alarm. India to tighten Covid-19 testing for tourists amid new variant concerns. The variant has a serious public health impact because of India’s recent opening up of international travel.

15 more countries recognize India’s vaccination certificate: MEA

As many as fifteen more countries have recognized India’s Covid-19 vaccination certificate, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed late on Thu. “Mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates continues! Fifteen more recognitions for India’s vaccination certificate,” MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

‘It was Parliament function’: Om Birla on Oppn boycotting Constitution Day event

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Friday said opposition parties should have participated in Constitution Day celebrations as it was a function of Parliament not of the government. “I am upset by the boycott. It is my endeavor that there should be no tradition of a boycott during the address of President, Vice President, and the governor,” Birla said.

For the first time, India has more women than men

India has more women than men for the first time on record, according to government data that also showed a slowing birthrate in the world’s second-most populous nation.

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

Chinese state media renews warning against NFT ‘zero-sum game’, flagging ‘fraud’ risks as digital collectibles gain recognition

The People’s Daily newspaper questioned whether NFTs were hype and fraud, given the skyrocketing prices of some digital collectibles. Beijing has not explicitly banned NFTs, leaving the door open for listed companies to issue announcements that tie future business plans to the concept

Sri Lanka to sign new container port deal with China

 Sri Lanka will tap a state-run Chinese firm to build a deep-sea container port, the government said on Wed (Nov 24), in a move likely to reignite fears over Beijing’s rising regional maritime power.

Afghan economy could shrink 30% or more in coming months: IMF

The Afghan economy, which is already going from bad to worse since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, could shrink by 30% or more in the coming months warned International Monetary Fund (IMF). Most of the international forums including the IMF, World Bank, EU, US stopped their aids and assistance to Afghanistan with the onset of the Taliban’s regime in Kabul.

Hazara elders pledge support for Taliban rulers

Dawn-More than 1,000 Shia Hazaras pledged their support on Thursday to Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, saying that the “dark period” of previous Western-backed governments had ended with the return of the Islamists.

China lodges protest with India over CDS Gen Bipin Rawat’s comments on ‘security threat’

ThePrint– Ministry of Defence, China has protested on Thu to India over Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat’s reported remarks about Beijing constituting the biggest security threat.

“Indian officials speculate on the so-called Chinese military threat’ for no reason, which is a serious violation of the strategic guidance … that China and India do not constitute a threat to each other’, and incites geopolitical confrontation, is irresponsible and dangerous, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Sr. Col Wu Qian told an online media briefing here.

• According to the transcript on the ministry’s website, Sr. Col Wu was responding to a question on the reported comment by Gen. Rawat.
• There is a ‘lack of trust’ between India and China in resolving the border dispute, and suspicion’ is growing. What is China’s comment on this?
• We express our firm opposition to this. We are firmly opposed to this and have made solemn representations to the Indian side, Sr Col Wu said.
• He, however, did not mention when the protest was lodged.
• “China’s position on the Sino-Indian border issue is unambiguous,” he said.

The Ladakh standoff began in May 2020, when China moved over 60,000 of its troops which were mobilized for exercises into Pangong Tso and other areas along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

• The tension escalated following a deadly clash in Galwan Valley on June 15 last year.
• After a prolonged standoff, the troops disengaged from the most contentious area of Pangong Tso.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in the Gogra in July but the talks to workout disengagement from the remaining areas have not succeeded so far.

Trust deficit in India-China ties: Analysts

The Straits Times -There is no longer any trust between India and China, analysts say, a bad sign for the outlook on their Himalayan border where both have been building up forces and infrastructure.

“China has a history of using coercive tactics along the LAC (the Line of Actual Control) to signal displeasure with India,” Jeff Smith, a researcher at the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Centre, focusing on South Asia.

“Frankly, China has built up a significant advantage along its side of the LAC in terms of infrastructure,” he said.

Smith said-In recent years, India has been making a belated attempt to close that gap. 

• In 2013-2014, we saw Chinese patrols making… incursions across the LAC in an attempt to signal to India that you need to halt this new infrastructure, they’re provocative.

• “They hope that they can sort of bully India into submission,”
• “The two sides are both sorts of digging in and becoming increasingly entrenched,” he said.
• “We’ve seen… a progressive trend of escalating tensions and hostilities at the LAC, which had been relatively peacefully managed since at least the early to mid-1990s.”
• “…Beijing is frankly in a position where its appetite for risk… and appetite for hostility, particularly with its neighbors, have grown considerably in recent years.”

On the same Asian Insider podcast, Nirupama Rao, a former Indian diplomat to China, said that any trust there had been between the two sides was disappearing.

‘Bringing bilateral issues to SCO violates norms, offenders must be condemned:’ Jaishankar

In an indirect criticism of Pakistan, India on Thu said repeated attempts to deliberately bring bilateral issues into the SCO violate the laid down principles of the grouping and such counter-productive acts should be “condemned”.

In a virtual address at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of states, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also asserted that any serious connectivity initiative must be transparent and conform to the most basic principle of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

• The comments are seen as an indirect reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
• India has been severely critical of the BRI as the USD 50 billion corridor passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
• Jaishankar said India has been taking steps to operationalize the Chabahar port in Iran to provide secure and commercially viable access to the sea for Central Asian countries.

India has proposed to include the Chabahar port in the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) while reaffirming New Delhi’s commitment to “cooperate, plan, invest and build physical and digital connectivity in the SCO region”, he said.

The 8-nation SCO has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organizations, while India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.

“India considers the SCO as an important regional group to promote cooperation in various fields based on universally recognized international norms, good governance, rule of law, openness, transparency, and equality,” Jaishankar said.

• Pakistan attempted to raise the Kashmir issue at SCO meetings on several occasions in the last few years.
• “Such acts are counterproductive to the spirit of consensus and cooperation that define this organization and should be condemned,” the minister said.
• Talking about economic prosperity, he said India believes that greater connectivity is an economic force-multiplier that has acquired greater salience in the post-Covid era.

Showcasing India as an “emerging economic force” at the global level, he said the country’s agile response in fighting COVID-19 and ensuring economic stability has been noteworthy despite the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.

• He said notwithstanding the pandemic, India attracted record FDI inflows of USD 77 billion in 2020-21 and another USD 22 billion in the first 3 months of this year.
• The IMF has forecast a 9.5% growth in the Indian economy in 2021. Our trade performance has also been strong, growing by more than 20% this year.
• He said the WIPO has ranked India number one in the Global Innovation Index 2021 in the Central and South Asian region.
• Indian Startups have so far created 65 unicorns, out of which 28 unicorns were added during 2021 alone.
• We stand ready to share our experience with the other SCO member states through our initiative to set up a Special Working Group on Startups and Innovation.

CBI’s special director elected to Interpol executive committee after ‘intense’ campaign

ThePrint-Praveen Sinha, special director at India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was elected ‘Delegate for Asia’ on the executive committee of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Thu.

The 13-member executive committee of the Interpol supervises the general secretariat’s work, in line with the decisions of the general assembly, which is the supreme governing body of Interpol, comprising representatives from each of the member countries.

The executive committee meets three times a year and sets organizational policy and direction.

Sinha, a 1988-batch Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, was appointed as the special director of the CBI in June this year. It was under his guidance that the CBI updated its crime manual for the first time in the past 15 years.

(sources)- Sinha was elected to Interpol’s executive committee following a “tough election”, defeating other contestants from China, Singapore, Korea, and Jordan.

The elections were held in Istanbul, Turkey, during the ongoing 89^th Interpol general assembly, which meets once a year.

How Sinha was elected (ThePrint, citing official)- Sinha’s election is the “result of an intense and well-coordinated election campaign across the world”, even as “crucial support of friendly countries was sought at bilateral engagements at different levels.”

• Indian embassies and high commissions regularly followed up with the host govt, while envoys of these countries resident in Delhi were approached.
• Simultaneously, India’s National Central Bureau (NCB-India) approached its counterparts around the world to campaign for this election.
• The Indian ambassador in Turkey camped in Istanbul for the last few days and held on-the-ground bilateral meetings with delegations for the final efforts to gain support.
• Interpol is a vital body for tackling the rising specter of trans-National organized crimes, terrorism, and cyber-crimes.
• India will continue to actively contribute to Interpol’s aims and objectives and to enhance its effectiveness.

Indian astronomers discover a new exoplanet and rare stars hotter than Sun

ANI – Indian astronomers have added another feather to their cap as they have recently made two discoveries — an exoplanet 1.4x the size of Jupiter and a rare class of radio stars hotter than the Sun.

The first by Prof Abhijit Chakraborty et.al, using the Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search (PARAS) optical fiber-fed spectrograph–the first of its kind in India–on the 1.2-m Telescope of PRL at its Mt Abu Observatory from Ahembdabad’s Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) recently.

• The team discovered an exoplanet, dubbed TOI 1789b, while its mass is 70% and size is 1.4x to Jupiter, orbiting an ageing star that is 1.5 times that of our Sun and located 725 light-years away.
• The measurements were taken between Dec 2020 and March 2021.
• ISRO added that in April 2021, it acquired additional follow-up readings from the TCES spectrograph from Germany and independent photometric observations from the PRL’s 43-cm telescope at Mt. Abu.
• TOI 1789b orbits its Sun in just 3.2 days, putting it at a distance of 0.05 AU from the star (roughly 1/10^th of the distance between Sun and Mercury).
• Amongst the numerous exoplanets known so far, there are less than 10 such close-in systems.
• Due to its closeness to its host star, the planet is intensely hot, with a surface temperature of up to 2000 K.
• It also has an expanded radius with a density of 0.31 g/cc–making it one of the lowest density planets known.

The second discovery was made last week by Barnali Das et al team from the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA).

• They found 8 stars belonging to a rare class of radio stars that are warmer than the Sun, with unusually strong magnetic fields and much stronger stellar wind.
• A Giant Metrewave Radio Pulse (uGMRT) was used to make this discovery.
• NCRA claimed that the success of the GMRT program has revolutionized the notion about this class of stars and opened up a new window to study their exotic magnetospheres.
• Interestingly, only 15 MRPs have been detected in space so far, 11 of which were discovered by the astronomers in Pune.
• Furthermore, 8 of the 11 stars have been discovered this year.

The success of the uGMRT study suggests that MRPs may not be rare, but simply difficult to detect, as radio pulses are only visible at particular times, and usually noticeable only at low radio frequencies.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha to hold nationwide protests today to mark one year of the farmers’ movement

ANI – Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, has organized protests in different states on Fri to mark the first anniversary of the farmers’ movement against 3 Central farm laws.

• As per an official statement from SKM, thousands of farmers will reach the protest sites around Delhi.
• In Karnataka, the farmers have decided to come onto the streets especially important highways on Fri, said SKM.

Also, “Protests are planned in approximately 25 locations spanning all districts of Karnataka. 2 of the protest locations for this highway will have people from Bangalore also joining rallies in vehicles at Srirangapatna and Chadalapura in Chikballapur district.”

• In Tamil Nadu, SKM has planned rallies in all district headquarters jointly with trade unions.
• As per their claim, the protest demonstration and meeting in Chennai, Tractor rallies are being planned into several state capitals like Raipur and Ranchi, Kolkata, and Patna.
• Meanwhile, thousands of farmers are arriving at the morcha sites around Delhi with tractors and ration, and other supplies.

Days after PM Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will repeal the 3 farm laws, Union Minister on Wed informed that the Union Cabinet led by the PM has completed the formalities to repeal 3 farm laws.

Farmers have been protesting against the 3 bills on various borders of Delhi since Nov 26, 2020.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait had said that 60 tractors will head to the Parliament in the national capital on Nov 29 as a part of the tractor march to press for a statutory guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops among other things.

The government has annually announced MSP for 23 crops in recent years. But effectively, it is maintained only for a few crops like paddy, wheat, and soybean since there is no legal provision to implement the pricing.

A guaranteed MSP will kill Indian agriculture, said GV Ramanjaneyulu, executive director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. It will also increase distortions in cropping patterns.

For an example of paddy and red gram: Paddy has a guaranteed procurement at Rs 1,900/quintal and red gram is guaranteed at Rs 5,500/quintal, but with paddy, a 24 quintal yield needs 1 hectare, while the same land will give red gram 4 quintals. Thus, the price of both crops cant is equivalent because in that case, a farmer will tend to grow paddy rather than the red gram. 

• The govt at their very best, are still able to procure just 30- 40% of the total crop production of 1 crop at MSP.
• And they have to achieve this with skyrocketing carry-forward stocks, as well as soaring procurement, handling, storage, and other miscellaneous charges.
• In 2019-20, the FCI procured 77.34 mn tonnes (MT) of paddy and 38.99 MT of wheat, worth roughly around Rs 215894 crore at MSP.
• In 2020-21, this shot up to Rs 2,53,274 crore.

While the whole procurement to handling, storage, and distribution affair of these foodgrain costs well above Rs 20/kg, which is the MSP of these crops (Wheat: Rs 20.15/kg; Paddy: Rs 19.60/kg), and is distributed at an extremely subsidized rate of Rs 2-3/kg to the poorest section.

Moreover, the Winter Session of Parliament will commence on Nov 29 and is expected to continue till Dec 23.

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

Chinese state media renews warning against NFT ‘zero-sum game’, flagging ‘fraud’ risks as digital collectibles gain recognition

• The People’s Daily newspaper questioned whether NFTs were hype and fraud, given the skyrocketing prices of some digital collectibles
• Beijing has not explicitly banned NFTs, leaving the door open for listed companies to issue announcements that tie future business plans to the concept

The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, has spoken out against the investment fever around non-fungible tokens (NFTs), questioning whether it is another “zero-sum game hyped by cryptocurrency investors and capital”.

An NFT – is data added to a file that creates a unique signature. It can be an image file, a song, a tweet, a text posted on a website, a physical item, and various other digital formats. This means that someone can own a digital file (and that it’s marked with code to differentiate it from any digital replicas).

• Like real estate, fine art, and other cryptocurrencies, the biggest risk for NFT investors is whether the items will keep their value.
• Token holders may get stuck with NFTs if their popularity declines and people stop wanting to buy them.

The latest state-media warning comes as NFTs and the metaverse have been gaining momentum, with a growing list of Chinese firms openly embracing them.

Media firm 36kr Holdings gave away 1,124 metaverse-themed digital collectibles at a conference in Shenzhen on Wed, the latest sign of growing interest in digital assets despite the govt’s previous bans on cryptocurrency trading and mining.

However, China has not explicitly banned NFTs or the metaverse, leaving the door open for dozens of listed companies to issue announcements that tie future business plans to the concepts.

The hype has created a “metaverse group” of stocks that have had huge bull runs lately, leading market regulators to issue warnings and raise questions.

Sri Lanka to sign new container port deal with China

The Straits Times –Sri Lanka will tap a state-run Chinese firm to build a deep-sea container port, the govt said on Wed (Nov 24), in a move likely to reignite fears over Beijing’s rising regional maritime power.

• The island’s capital Colombo is located in the Indian Ocean between the major hubs of Dubai and Singapore, meaning influence at its ports is highly sought after.
• Sri Lanka’s port authority signed a preliminary agreement to build the new Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) in Colombo with India and Japan in 2019.
• But President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration scrapped the deal in Feb, with Cabinet agreeing this week to award the project to the state-run China Harbour Engineering Company.
• It did not say how much the deal was worth, but official sources had earlier estimated another US$500 million (S$684 million) to develop the partially built terminal.
• China has ploughed huge sums into Sri Lankan infrastructure projects over the last decade, becoming one of the country’s biggest foreign financiers.
• It has also enjoyed significant political influence on the island under the Rajapaksa clan, which has ruled the country for 11 of the last 16 years.
• The ECT is the third port project to come into development around Colombo’s harbor in the past decade.
• Just two months ago, Sri Lanka awarded an Indian company another site to build a brand-new deep-sea jetty at an estimated US$700 million cost.
• That project is next to the Chinese-run Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), in operation since 2013.

Two Chinese submarines berthed at the CICT in 2014, sparking anger in India, which considers its neighbor Sri Lanka to be within its sphere of influence, since then, Sri Lanka has refused permission for more Chinese submarines to be stationed there.

• In 2017, unable to repay a huge Chinese loan, Sri Lanka allowed a Chinese company to take over its southern Hambantota port, which straddles the world’s busiest east-west shipping route.
• The deal, which gave the partially state-owned firm a 99-year lease, raised fears about Beijing’s use of “debt traps” in exerting its influence abroad.
• India and the United States have also expressed concerns that a Chinese foothold at Hambantota could give Beijing a military advantage in the Indian Ocean.