[ NATIONAL ]

Vikram Misri, a former envoy to China, appointed as Deputy NSA

India’s former envoy to China Vikram Misri was on Monday appointed Deputy National Security Adviser in the National Security Council Secretariat. A career diplomat from the 1989 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, Misri was appointed as India’s Ambassador to Beijing in 2019. The Ministry of External Affairs had earlier this month appointed PK Rawat as the next ambassador to China. Misri has served in various capacities at the MEA, in the Prime Minister’s Office, and various Indian missions abroad in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. He was Private Secretary to PM Modi (May-Jul, 2014) and former PM Manmohan Singh (Oct 2012-May 2014). Misri has also been India’s Ambassador to Myanmar and Spain. Before joining the govt, he worked for 3 years in the private sector in the fields of advertising and advertising film-making.

SFJ radical Multani arrested in Germany for Delhi and Mumbai terror plots

Previously a resident of Hoshiarpur in Punjab, 45-year-old Jaswinder Singh Multani is a close associate of SFJ founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, and is involved in separatist activities, an official said on condition of anonymity.

Defence Minister virtually dedicates to the Nation 24 bridges & 3 roads built by BRO in 4 States & 2 Union Territories

BRO achieves the feat of completing a record 102 infrastructure projects in one working season. Singh said the projects will bolster security; ensure socio-economic development of far-flung areas & contribute to developing a New India. ‘BRO Cafes’ to be set up at 75 places in border areas, as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations. Of the 24 bridges, 9 are in Jammu & Kashmir; 5 each in Ladakh & Himachal Pradesh; three in Uttarakhand, and 1 each in Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh. Of the 3 roads, 2 are in Ladakh and 1 is in West Bengal. The highlight was the inauguration of India’s first indigenous Class 70 140-feet Double-Lane Modular Bridge, built at the height of 11k feet at Flag Hill Dokala, Sikkim, and Chisumle-Demchok road at Umling La Pass at over 19k feet in Ladakh which also holds the Guinness World Record of world’s highest motorable road.

SEC recommends emergency use authorization of Covovax, Corbevax vaccines for 18+

After reviewing all applications and data, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC), a body under India’s drug regulator, has recommended granting the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 vaccine Covovax and Corbevax vaccine that is manufactured by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Biological E, for those 18+ of age. Meanwhile, the SEC has also recommended the COVID-19 antiviral pill, Molnupiravir. Almost 10 pharma companies have completed clinical trials of antiviral pills.

NEET PG Counselling Delay: After Police-Docs Faceoff in Delhi, Medics Body Calls for Shutdown Across India on Dec 29

Resident doctors clashed with police at South Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday after they were stopped from marching to the Supreme Court over delayed admissions to medical colleges under the NEET, which is being heard by the top court. Counseling for admissions is on hold. Calling the delay in college allotments after the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), postgraduate exam unacceptable, the resident doctors’ groups in Delhi have threatened a complete shutdown of medical services. The NEET was scheduled for Dec 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The exam was finally held in Sept this year. An official statement read “on Mon, a group of resident doctors “without having any authorized permission” blocked the BSZ Marg, the main road between ITO and Delhi gate, and jammed the traffic for more than 6 hours“

Narendra Modi gets new Rs 12-crore car: PM’s new wheels can survive the blast, rain of bullets

The Mercedes-Maybach S650 armored vehicle is an upgrade from the prime minister’s Range Rover Vogue and the Toyota Land Cruiser. PM Modi has added the Mercedes-Maybach S650 armored vehicle to his convoy of the Range Rover Vogue and Toyota Land Cruiser. According to reports, the vehicle can withstand bullets thanks to the upgraded windows and body shell and can take an assault from AK-47 rifles. The car also boasts of an Explosive Resistant Vehicle (ERV) 2010 rating and the occupants of the vehicle are protected from a 15kg TNT explosion from a distance of only 2 m. The car is fitted with a 6.0-l twin-turbo V12 engine that develops 516 bhp and about 900 Nm of peak torque. The top speed is restricted to 160 km/h.

5G services to be rolled out in these 13 Indian cities first.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has also produced a consultation paper to solicit input from the sector on a variety of spectrum auction concerns, including pricing, value, and rollout obligations. The govt said on Mon that 5G services will be available in 13 locations throughout the country next year. Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and Gandhi Nagar are among these cities. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea are conducting 5G trials in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz bands. In the sectors of education, enterprise, mobility, and security, the organizations have also presented India-specific use cases.

Punjab’s Vini Mahajan is the new drinking water secretary, 8 other secy-level appointments cleared

In Sept this year, Mahajan was replaced as Punjab chief secretary after Charanjit Singh Channi took over as CM. In a major bureaucratic reshuffle Mon, former Punjab chief secretary Vini Mahajan was appointed as secretary in the Centre’s Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), which is steering the Modi govt’s flagship ‘Har Ghar Nal Se Jal’ scheme. Rohit Kumar Singh, special secretary in the culture ministry, will take over as the consumer affairs secretary. In the culture ministry, Singh was spearheading the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ program. SK Singh, a 1987-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, was in the Deptt of Admin Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and Deptt of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare (DPPW), has been appointed as steel secretary. DARPG special secretary V. Srinivas will replace Singh and take over as the new DARPG and DPPW secretary.

India blocks Mother Teresa’s charity from receiving foreign funds

The charity, set up by the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1950, works with some of the country’s poorest and destitute. Since 2014, PM Modi’s govt has cracked down on hundreds of NGOs; last year Amnesty International shut down its India operations. The group’s application to renew its license to continue getting foreign funds under India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act “was refused on [Dec 25] for not meeting the eligibility conditions,” the ministry said in a statement Monday. “No request/revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity (MoC) for review of this refusal of renewal.”

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

China says it has received visa applications from US officials to attend Winter Olympics

China has said that it has received visa applications from US officials to attend the Winter Olympics, says after, in Nov, President Joe Biden declared diplomatic boycott saying that they won’t be sending its officials to Beijing,in response to the genocides and human rights violations against the minorities in the Xinjiang province. Then Beijing had warned that it would take “resolute countermeasures” against the Biden administration. “What I can confirm is that the Chinese side has received the visa application from the concerned U.S. officials,” Zhao Lijian, Chinese ministry told a regular news briefing. SCMP (source)-The US govt had recently submitted visa applications for its 18 officials, mainly from the State Department and the Pentagon, to attend the Feb 4 marquee event and provide security and medical support for American athletes. The Chinese foreign minister on Monday confirmed that the visa requests would be handled with “international practice, relevant regulations and the principle of reciprocity”.

Biden signs $768.2 billion defense spending bill into law

The $768.2 billion price tag marks $25 billion more than Biden initially requested from Congress, a prior proposal that was rejected by members of both parties out of concerns it would undermine US efforts to keep pace militarily with China and Russia.

UN calls for New Year’s ceasefire in Myanmar

The UN on Mon called for a New Year’s ceasefire in Myanmar between the country’s military and its opponents, urging all parties to exercise utmost restraint and seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the interest of the people.

Pakistan at 99^th spot in Global Innovation Index as it faces a low literacy rate

Out of 132 economies in 2021, the Global Innovation Index has ranked Pakistan 99^th, a rank which reports claim indicates the country’s low literacy rate and lack of significant investment in innovation in the form of research and development and education. Pakistan’s expenditure on education is nearly 2.9% of its GDP. It has the lowest literacy rate in the South and overall Asia, reported The Express Tribune. The country’s literacy rate is 62.3% while the female literacy rate is even lower at 51.7%. Concerning the countries in Asia, Vietnam is at 44, India is at 46. India is ranked 2^nd amongst the lower-middle-income group of economies and first in Central and South Asia, according to The Express Tribune.

A Year After Receiving Indian Submarine ‘INS Sindhuvir’, Myanmar Now Inducts Second-Hand Chinese Sub

Myanmar’s Navy has commissioned a diesel-electric submarine that previously served with China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, bringing their bilateral military cooperation to new heights. The UMS Minye Kyaw Htin was reportedly inducted into service on Dec 24. The commissioning ceremony was held on the 74^th anniversary of the founding day of the Myanmar Navy. The Chinese submarine UMS Minye Kyaw Htin belongs to the Ming class. The Ming class submarines were first produced in China in 1974, but they are now being phased out from the PLA Navy as newer designs are introduced.

ISI provides winter clothes, navigation app to terrorists to infiltrate J&K

To sneak more terrorists in J&K from Pak-occupied Kashmir (POK), Pakistan’s intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has been providing them with winter gear and a navigation app. These terrorists have been trained to use GPS-based navigational systems and also trained in camouflaging and other tactics to survive in the forest areas of J&K to evade the security forces’ vigil.

• A confirmed report of around 250 terrorists at various launch pads across the Line of Control in the POK areas and around 90 ultras have been trying to sneak into J&K.
• These launch pads are humming with the activities close to Machhal, Tangdhar, and Keran sectors in J&K and the terrorists are trying to infiltrate the LoC.
• (officials)- the ISI has directed them to find out new routes to infiltrate and this was also validated by the interrogations of the arrested Over Ground Workers (OGW).
• The arrested terrorists have also confirmed that the probable new routes have been provided by the ISI and they have been instructed to continue despite the snowfall.
• The arrested OGWs admitted that 5 new routes like Kalakot, Manjot, Kashnala, etc., in PoK, are on the terrorist map, and thus the patrolling has been increased.
• (official)- Usually, during the winter the attempts of infiltration used to be less in recent years, but this year the trend has seen an increase which is a matter of concern.

The use of drones by these terror groups for sending arms and explosives has been also a major concern for the security forces in J&K and they are keeping eyes on these aerial carriers, the source further said, adding that the Indian Army has installed an anti-drone mechanism at vulnerable points on the LoC and International Borders.

SFJ radical Multani arrested in Germany for Delhi and Mumbai terror plots

Police from Erfurt in central Germany have arrested a pro-Khalistan radical Jaswinder Singh Multani, a prominent member of the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), for his involvement in a blast in a Ludhiana court last week, and for hatching a conspiracy to target locations in Delhi and Mumbai, on Mon on request of federal govt.

• Multani has links to Pakistani and has been involved in the smuggling of arms and ammunition from across the border into Punjab.
• Previously a resident of Hoshiarpur in Punjab, 45-year-old Multani is a close associate of SFJ founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannu and is involved in separatist activities.
• A bomb went off in the district courts complex in Ludhiana on Dec 23, killing one person and injuring 6 others, triggering a high alert in the state.

Multani recently showed up on security agencies’ radar for arranging and sending weapons consignments comprising explosives, hand grenades, and pistols from across the border with the help of Pakistan-based operatives. He also said that Multani was planning to carry out terrorist activities in Punjab by using the smuggled consignments.

• On Feb 7, the Punjab Police arrested 4 people belonging to Tarn Taran, Amritsar, and Ferozepur and recovered 8 countrymade pistols along with ammunition.
• The arrested people procured the illegal arms to carry out radical activities in Punjab, police said.
• The police later arrested a man, Jeevan Singh, who was radicalized by Multani on social media to target key farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal.
• Multani also sent funds to Singh for arranging locally made weapons for targeting Rajewal, who is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union-Rajewal.
• In Aug, Multani also radicalized another man from Tarn Taran through social media and arranged 2 hand grenades for criminal activities, the official said.

As told earlier, Punjab police chief, Siddharth Chattopadhyaya on Sat said the dismissed head constable killed in the Ludhiana court blast, Gagandeep Singh, had links with pro-Khalistan elements and terror outfits, and some Pakistan-based entities could be behind the incident.

Looking Ahead: France, the ally and partner

France has a special place in PM Narendra Modi’s heart as he hasn’t forgotten that Paris stood for New Delhi when the world declared it a pariah after the nuclear tests at Pokhran in 1998. Russia sells long-range weapons and radars to China, the US sells hardware and fighters to Pakistan, but France is the only country that does not supply any weapons to India’s adversaries. Among the five permanent members of the UNSC, France is India’s most trusted partner. The US and Russia are too, only they sometimes tend to choose a different path. The UK has its agenda, and nothing can be expected of China, which represents the interests of its client state Pakistan on the high table.

While India’s national security planners remain tight-lipped on the role played by France in building India’s precision-guided delivery platforms, it was Paris that provided the inertial guidance system for the first Prithvi short-range nuclear missile, at a time when the world had imposed sanctions on India for Pokhran II, and when India was targeted by China in the UNSC through resolution 1172.

[ NEIGHBORHOOD ]

UN calls for New Year’s ceasefire in Myanmar

The United Nations on Mon called for a New Year’s ceasefire in Myanmar between the country’s military and its opponents, urging all parties to exercise utmost restraint and seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the interest of the people.

Sputnik -UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer said: “…Those inflicting suffering on their people need to silence their guns and protect people in times of great need. The future of Myanmar’s children counts on this,” reported.

Heyzer said her statement echoes the earlier call by the UNSC calling for a ceasefire that comes out of the deep concern about the continued escalation of violence in Kayin State and other parts of Myanmar, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.

• On Sunday at least 35 people in 7 vehicles and did not stop for the military, including women and children, were killed and their bodies were burned in Myanmar.
• The National Unity Government (NUG) called it a “Christmas massacre in Karenni state
• Sputnik – Heyzer also called on all parties in Myanmar to fully respect their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians, reported.
• Heyzer also appealed for allowing humanitarian assistance to be provided to those in need, including those forced to flee the violence.
• Heyzer, who began her assignment earlier this month, reaffirmed her full commitment to support the people of Myanmar and promote peace.
• To focus on mobilizing coherent international support to achieve these goals.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew the previous elected government and detained many top officials, including ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was jailed earlier this month. Since the coup, the military has tried to assert its power over the people through bloody force.

UN agencies, rights groups, and local journalists have documented massacres, mass arrests, torture, forced displacement, men, women, and children being murdered with impunity, heavy weaponry used by junta forces to attack villages and root out armed resistance groups, and the blocking of humanitarian aid. Junta forces have killed more than 1,300 people and arrested over 11,000, according to the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.