[NATIONAL]

India lies in the tough neighborhood, will boost its capacity to secure borders: US envoy nominee

Eric Garcetti, currently serving as the Mayor of Los Angeles, says he will ‘double down’ on US efforts to strengthen India’s capacity to defend its sovereignty and deter aggression.

Quad partnership a ‘real, contemporary arrangement’ to look at present issues, says Jaishankar

Speaking at Global Technology Summit 2021, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said the outcomes of the Quad are ‘practical subjects, which will make a difference.

No unease in ‘extraordinary’ India-Bangladesh relationship, says Foreign Secretary Shringla

On the eve of President Kovind arriving in Dhaka to attend Bangladesh’s 50^th Victory Day celebrations as a guest of honor, Shringla said India and Bangladesh’s relationship is multifaceted & recent communal riots there have not impacted ties.The bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Dhaka has not been impacted due to the recent spate of communal riots in Bangladesh, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday, adding that the ties between the two countries have hit a “high point” in recent years. Shringla’s statement came ahead of President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to Bangladesh from Dec 15 to 17, on the occasion of 50 years of ‘Victory Day’ and the liberation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday called on President Kovind and discussed bilateral issues. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh said that the two dignitaries reiterated their wish to further consolidate the existing friendly ties between the countries.

Left-Wing Extremism affected districts under SRE scheme reduced to 70 this year: Centre

Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts covered under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme reduced from 126 to 90 in April 2018 and further to 70 in July 2021, stated Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in a written reply to question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. 5 districts of Andhra, 10 of Bihar and Odisha, 14 of Chhattisgarh, 16 of Jharkhand, 3 of Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, 2 of Maharashtra, 6 Telangana, and 1 district of West Bengal have been covered under the SRE scheme. Projects worth approx Rs 991 crore have been approved during 2017-20 under the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) for strengthening of State Police Forces and construction of 250 fortified police stations. Further Rs 871.75 crore has been released under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme to 11 LWE affected States during the last three financial years.

Civilian killings: Naga group ENPO declares non-cooperation with armed forces

Eastern Nagaland civil society groups have adopted several resolutions including non-cooperation with the armed forces following the recent killing of 14 civilians in the state’s Mon district. After the Konyak Union, eastern Nagaland civil society groups have also adopted several resolutions including non-cooperation with the armed forces following the recent killing of 14 civilians in the state’s Mon district. They have also demanded the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

IAF chopper crash: Group Captain Varun Singh declared dead

Group Captain Varun Singh, who was the sole survivor onboard the ill-fated Mi-17 helicopter that crashed in Tamil Nadu on Dec 8^th, claimed 13 lives, succumbed to his injuries this morning, the Indian Air Force has said and further declared dead. As per the media report, his condition was critical and was on the life support system.

Mundra Port drug seizure: NIA set to unravel larger Afghan plot

The National Investigation Agency has arrested an Afghan national in connection with the Mundra Port drugs seizure case. The NIA had earlier arrested seven persons in connection with the seizure of 2988.21 Kgs of heroin. During the investigation, the NIA found that the Afghan national was involved in the conspiracy. The consignment was imported by a trading company registered in Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh. It was declared as semi-processed talc stones originating from Afghanistan.

Dubki, darshan aur aarti: PM Modi’s two-day Kashi visit

PM Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor, chaired a conclave with chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, visited a host of temples, and witnessed the enchanting Ganga aarti during his two-day trip to Varanasi.

‘Jan-Feb may see Omicron surge, but cases may be mild’

India could see a major surge in Omicron cases during Jan-Feb as the variant is expected to outpace the speed at which the Delta strain spread, a senior official source told TOI. He said the infections, however, are likely to remain mild. Meanwhile, WHO says Omicron is spreading at an unprecedented rate and is likely already present in most countries, though only 77 have reported cases.

Parliament passes bills to extend the tenure of CBI, ED chiefs

The Parliament on Tuesday passed two bills to replace the ordinances promulgated in November to enable the extension of tenure of the directors of the CBI and ED to a maximum of up to 5 years, which, junior personnel minister Jitendra Singh said has been done by the government to check corruption and ensure and enhance transparency.

Sinovac shot offers an inadequate shield from Omicron variant, says HK study

The findings are a blow to those who have received the 2.3 billion doses of Sinovac shipped out. 7 new Omicron cases in Mumbai, Maharashtra tally now 8. India logs 6,984 new COVID-19 cases, 247 deaths in the last 24 hrs. International travelers arriving from ‘at-risk’ nations to mandatorily prebook RT-PCR test starting Dec 20. Niti Aayog member Dr. VK Paul on Tue said that there is a chance of our vaccines becoming ineffective in emerging situations.

SC cites national security, allows Char Dham project

The Supreme Court on Tue allowed widening of major portions of the strategic Char Dham road project in Uttarakhand to enable speedy deployment of men, machinery, and armament by the armed forces on the India-China borders, given the recent Chinese build-up, but struck a delicate balance on green concerns by ordering strict implementation of environment protection measures.

Cabinet approves project for design & manufacture of semiconductor chips

Ashwini Vaishnaw,Union Minister to media – We have reached $75 Billion in electronics manufacturing today; seeing the pace at which the sector is growing, India will reach $ 300 Billion in electronics manufacturing in the next 6 yrs. Around 20% of the engineers in the semiconductor industry in the world are from India. The decision has been taken today to design a C2S (Chips to Startup) program for 85,000 highly trained and qualified engineers. Special care given to small industries, around 15- 20 MSME units will be created. The whole program will generate 35,000 high-quality direct employment & 1 lakh indirect employment. This program will become a strategic edge for India:

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

Blinken hits out at China over ‘aggressive actions’ in the South China Sea

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday (Dec 14) criticized China’s “aggressive actions claiming open seas as their own”, as Washington seeks allies in the region against Beijing.

PM Deuba set to become Nepali Congress president after winning elections

Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday won the election of the president of the Nepali Congress during the party’s ongoing General Convention. As per the election officer Sunil Pandey, Deuba secured 2733 votes out of 4623 votes that were cast. He defeated Dr. Shekhar Koirala, who was contesting while other presidential candidates, gave up in the second phase of the election. The second round of voting started from 3:30 pm (local time) after no one got more than 50% votes in the first round.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets his Russian counterpart virtually, twitted by the State media CGNT. China and Russia have demonstrated their responsibilities as major countries and have become pillars of multilateralism, safeguarding fairness and justice in the world. More details are awaited.

India lies in the tough neighborhood, will boost its capacity to secure borders: US envoy nominee

Observing that India is situated in a tough neighborhood, US President Joe Biden’s nominee, Eric Michael Garcetti, for next envoy to New Delhi on Tue told lawmakers that he will double-down on America’s efforts to strengthen India’s capacity to “secure its borders, defend its sovereignty and deter aggression.

Garcetti is currently serving as the Mayor of Los Angeles and is a personal confidant of Biden.

Garcetti –“I will work through information sharing, counterterrorism coordination, joint freedom of navigation patrols and military exercises, and sales of our best defense technologies in order to realize the full potential of our major defense partnership”.

• He said if confirmed, he will work closely with India to promote green energy through the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Agenda 2030.
• In addition, respect for human rights and strong democratic institutions are key elements of our strategic partnership and values enshrined in our constitutions.
• He said in 1992, the year he graduated from college after studying Hindi and Indian cultural and religious history, US-India ties languished in the shadow of Cold War era mistrust.
• Annual trade stood at a paltry USD 2 billion, defense trade was zero and military interoperability was non-existent.
• The very idea of a US-India strategic partnership would have been deemed laughable.
• I intend to champion an ambitious economic partnership that reduces market access barriers and bolsters fair trade and creates good jobs for the American middle class.
• Garcetti also said that he fully supports the law of the land, the implementation of CAATSA, and part of that is the waiver provision.
• On enforcement of CAATSA sanctions on India that has started receiving delivery of the S-400 missile system from Russia, he said “I don’t want to prejudge”.
• If that diversification doesn’t occur because we have to protect our data and our systems.

India is the only designated Major Defense Partner of the United States-Having concluded 4 major defense enabling agreements since 2016, the two have made significant progress and the US looks forward to further increasing information sharing, bilateral and multilateral exercises, maritime security cooperation, liaison officer exchanges, and logistical cooperation.

Responding to questions related to human rights in India, Garcetti assured the lawmakers that he would personally be talking to various stakeholders in India on this issue.

“…If confirmed, I will actively raise these issues. I’ll raise them with humility. It’s a two-way street on these, but I intend to engage directly with civil society,” he said.

Quad partnership a ‘real, contemporary arrangement’ to look at present issues, says Jaishankar

ThePrint-The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (US, India, Japan, and Australia) or Quad is looking at “practical subjects” facing the world today and is a “contemporary arrangement” looking at present-day issues, External Affairs Min, S. Jaishankar said Tue at the Global Technology Summit (GTS) 2021.

The GTS 2021 has been organized by Carnegie India and the Ministry of External Affairs.

Jaishankar, who was addressing the topic Geopolitics of Technology, also said that the outcomes of the Quad are “practical subjects, which will make a difference”.

“Producing a vaccine, implementing a connectivity project, facilitating student mobility, looking at promoting start-ups, technology collaboration — we (Quad) have taken a sensible view of the landscape, problems of the landscape and said how do we find a more effective solution,” he explained.

He said decoupling with China “is much easier said than done” when asked about both Indian and Chinese economies decoupling in the wake of growing tensions between Beijing and Delhi.

“Decoupling is the wrong description … what you are going to see to some extent is hedging and de-risking with short supply chains,” the minister added.

On the issue of New Delhi entering several small groups such as the recently announced grouping among India, Israel, the US, and the UAE, Jaishankar said, this will be “more technology focussed”.

Takeaways from Covid pandemic-Jaishankar said orthodox international relations with national competition have come into conflict with the mantras of globalization, “where the virtues of it were so self-evident that we were supposed to keep everything else in abeyance”.

The big takeaways from the Covid pandemic, according to Jaishankar, were shorter supply chains and more national capacities.

Importance of building partnerships and national capabilities-According to Jaishankar, the contention between building international partnerships and developing national capabilities does become a challenge when it comes to becoming more protectionist or being more globalized.

US support for India’s nuclear technology-According to Jaishankar, the US support for India, and Washington’s eventual strategic embrace of New Delhi came with the signing of the Civil Nuclear Deal and that to him was not “surprising” and neither was it “counterintuitive” vis-à-vis India’s relationship with China, which has reached a nadir in the present day. The India-US Civil Nuclear Deal, also called the Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy or the 123 Agreement, was signed in Oct 2008.

Dubki, darshan aur aarti: PM Modi’s two-day Kashi (Uttar Pradesh) visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a 2-day trip to Varanasi – his parliamentary constituency, on Tue. PM Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor on Mon and chaired a conclave with chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of BJP-ruled states on Tue.He also attended a program at the Swarved Mahamandir and addressed a mega rally.

1. Upon his arrival, PM Narendra Modi first traveled to the Kaal Bhairav temple.
2. PM Modi then traveled to Varanasi’s Lalita Ghat where he took a dip in the Ganga. Visuals show the Prime Minister offering obeisance to the holy river that has held a significant place in the Indian civilization for thousands of years.
3. PM inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor. The corridor has been extended to about 5 lakh square feet from the earlier 3,000 square feet.
4. PM had lunch with construction workers who worked on the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project. He also showered flowers on them.
5. PM and UP CM Yogi Adityanath took a cruise ride at Varanasi’s Ravidas Ghat.
6. PM witnessed the enchanting ‘Ganga Aarti’ on Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat. He was accompanied by CMs and deputy CMs of several BJP-ruled states. The sky shone with a light show and fireworks.
7. On Mon midnight, PM Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath went on a late-night “inspection”. They visited parts of the city and the Banaras railway station.
8. On Tue, he chaired a conclave with chief ministers of BJP-ruled states. 12 CMs and 9 deputy CMs have also participated in the conclave.
9. He attended a program at the Swarved Mahamandir to celebrate the 98^th-anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan.
10. PM Modi also addressed a mega rally at Kashi talking about the contribution of saints to India’s freedom struggle. He highlighted the development works in Varanasi saying that the number of tourists to Varanasi in 2019-20 doubled compared to 2014-15.

At around 5 pm on Tue, PM boarded a plane from Varanasi back to Delhi.

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

Blinken hits out at China over ‘aggressive actions’ in the South China Sea

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tue (Dec 14) criticized China’s “aggressive actions claiming open seas as their own”, as Washington seeks allies in the region against Beijing.

“….We do, too. That’s why we’re determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions there threatened the movement of more than US$3 trillion worth of commerce every year,” Blinken in his key policy speech at the University of Indonesia in Depok in West Java, during his first leg of his visit to South-east Asia.

• China claims most of the South China Sea, bringing it into a dispute with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
• Indonesia is a non-claimant state but has had clashes with China over fishing rights in the North Natuna Sea, and most recently oil and gas drilling activities in the area.
• Blinken said Washington will work with its allies and partners “to defend a rules-based order” to ensure the region remains open and accessible.
• Doing this, he stressed, is “not about a contest between a US-centric region or a China-centric region” as the Indo-Pacific is its region.
• Rather, the goal is to uphold the rights and agreements which had contributed to peace and prosperity in the region.
• Blinken said the world’s most dynamic region that is “free from coercion and accessible to all” will not only be good for the people living there, but also for Americans.

China hit back at Blinken’s comments, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin saying at a regular media briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that Washington should respect the ways the region maintains peace, especially through ASEAN, “instead of drawing ideological lines, putting together small cliques and inciting bloc confrontation“, Bloomberg reported.

Blinken also spoke of democracy and the Myanmar issue, where he promised that the US will continue to work with its allies and partners to press the regime to “restore Burma’s path to inclusive democracy”.