[NEWS OF THE DAY]

1. India Probes 4 Cough Syrups After WHO Alert On 66 Child Deaths In Gambia
2. India, Indonesia debt outperforms China despite global selloff
3. IAF to increase Sukhois armed with BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with over 500km-range
4. Taiwan foresees more Chinese coercion, intimidation in Xi’s next term
5. Pakistan government on defensive after IMF rebuke
6. Sonia Gandhi joins Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Karnataka’s Mandya

What Else

7. 2 Pak soldiers, 7 militants killed during exchange of fire in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
8. DRDO tests 3 unmanned remote-controlled weaponized boats in Pune, ahead of DefExpo
9. Jaishankar takes up student visa issue with New Zealand Foreign Minister
10. China’s Xinjiang hit with severe Covid travel restrictions
11. G7 counters China’s Belt and Road Initiative to curb its global influence
12. Pakistan Army chief will be appointed next month, says Defence Minister Khawaja Asif
13. Myanmar junta jails Japanese filmmaker for 10 years
14. Japan says no pact yet with Sri Lanka on debt restructure talks

India Probes 4 Cough Syrups After WHO Alert On 66 Child Deaths In Gambia

• The govt has started an investigation into 4 cough syrups manufactured by a pharma after the WHO warned that they could be linked to the deaths of 66 children in The Gambia.

• (sources) The WHO alerted Drugs Controller about the syrups on Sept 29 and the latter immediately and the state regulatory authority launched a detailed investigation.
• They added that as per the information available at this point, it seems the firm had exported these products only to The Gambia.
• WHO chief Tedros told reporters on Wed that the 4 cold and cough syrups “have been potentially linked with acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children”.
• The “exact one-to-one causal relation of death” has not yet been provided by WHO”. (here)
• [The salts used in the medicines are common and provided in other pharma worldwide too, thus it is beyond understanding how 4 products of a given pharma are problematic.]

India, Indonesia debt outperforms China despite global selloff

• Bloomberg- The two countries’ sovereign debt only lost 0.4% and 1.5% respectively for $-based investors in the 3^rd quarter, less than other emerging markets in Asia.
• They knocked China off the top spot as the best performer in the region.
• Both notes have the widest spreads in emerging Asia, helping to shield investors from the turmoil in US Treasuries, which had the longest string of quarterly losses in almost a decade.
• They offer an alternative to China, which had previously been considered a haven amid extreme rate fluctuations.
• The world’s 2^nd-biggest economy hasn’t seen the scale of foreign inflows observed last year as Chinese 10-year yields have largely remained below those on Treasuries since Apr. (here)

IAF to increase Sukhois armed with BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with over 500km-range

• ThePrint- The IAF is set to increase the number of Sukhoi 30 (SU-30) MKI fighters integrated with BrahMos supersonic missile, which now has a range of over 500 km.
• (Sources) – the IAF currently has 40 SU-30 MKI with BrahMos, the only supersonic cruise missile in the world with a range increased from 290 to 500km.
• The land-launched BrahMos, which is difficult to intercept by surface-to-air missiles has a range of about 400 km and work is also to increase its range to 800 and 1,500 km.
• The Su-30 MKIs at Thanjavur was also taken due to their strategic location.
• Tiger Sharks squadron has 18 fighters and about 6 of which are equipped with BrahMos.
• This is because the Sukhois have a range of 1,500 km and hence can hit long-distance targets with the cruise missile.
• The Navy also has the BrahMos missiles integrated with a certain class of its warships, manufactured in India under a joint venture with Russia. (here)

DRDO tests 3 unmanned remote-controlled weaponized boats in Pune, ahead of DefExpo

• Ahead of the defense exhibition DefExpo-2022, DRDO officials in Maharashtra tested 3 remotely unmanned, remote-controlled, weaponized boats in Pune on Thu.
• The boats have an endurance of about 4 hours and currently, with a maximum speed of 10 nautical miles/hour and this can be further increased to 25 nautical miles.
• Some variants of these boats use an electric propulsion system with lithium batteries, while others have a petrol engine on board. (here)

Jaishankar takes up student visa issue with New Zealand Foreign Minister

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta on Thu and took up visa issues being faced by Indian students due to Covid.
• The EAM also appreciated the exchange of views on international concerns such as the Indo-Pacific and the Ukraine conflict.
• He also said India values its working relationship with New Zealand in multilateral forums including the UN and Commonwealth.
• In Auckland, EAM will participate in an event on Oct 6 along with PM Jacinda Ardern to felicitate members of the Indian community.
• From there, EAM will be visiting Canberra and Sydney, which will be his second visit to Australia this year.
• EAM will also be meeting Australian Dy PM and Defence Min, Richard Marles. (here)

Sonia Gandhi joins Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Karnataka’s Mandya

• Congress interim president on Thu morning joined the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Mandya in Karnataka.
• Gandhi who had arrived in Mysuru on Mon arrived at the starting point of the padayatra, which resumed today on its after a 2-day break for Dussehra.
• The Yatra entered its Karnataka leg on Sept 30. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

Taiwan foresees more Chinese coercion, intimidation in Xi’s next term

• Taiwan expects China to increase its coercion and intimidation to achieve its goal of bringing the island under Beijing’s control once Xi assumes the 3^rd term in office, a senior Taiwanese minister said on Thu.
• Beijing’s once-in-five-year leadership reshuffle is set for the Communist Party of China congress that starts Oct 16, where Xi is poised to secure an unprecedented 3^rd term.
• China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, by force if necessary.
• Beijing has ramped up military and political pressure on Taipei, including staging war games near the island in Aug after the US House Speaker’s visit.
• Speaking at a parallel session in Parliament, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau DG Chen Ming-tong said Mr. Xi was using Taiwan as a way to stay in power. (here)

China’s Xinjiang hit with severe Covid travel restrictions

• Sprawling Xinjiang is the latest Chinese region to be hit with sweeping COVID-19 travel restrictions, as China further ratchets up control measures ahead of the congress.
• Trains and buses in and out of the region of 22 million people have been suspended, and passenger numbers on flights have been reduced to 75% capacity, reports said Thu.
• The Health Commission announced just 93 cases in Xinjiang on Wed and 97 on Thu, all of them asymptomatic.
• Xinjiang leaders on Tue conceded problems with detection and control measures but offered no word on when they planned to lift the restrictions. (here)

G7 counters China’s Belt and Road Initiative to curb its global influence

• To counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative as a debt trap, G7 announced an infrastructure program as an alternative to the developing world.
• China’s debt trap diplomacy has been described by various media publications and the countries which have fallen prey to this are usually low- and middle-income countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
• Meanwhile, in Pakistan, to ensure the security of the flagship China-Pak Economic Corridor, Beijing bypassed Islamabad to reach out to the Baloch separatists.
• Yet, Beijing has been less than enthusiastic due to Pakistan’s economic stability. (here)

Pakistan Army chief will be appointed next month, says Defence Minister Khawaja Asif

• PM Shehbaz Sharif is poised to pick the new army chief ahead of the retirement of the incumbent Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa by the end of Nov.
• Last month, former Pakistan PM Imran Khan said Gen. Bajwa should be given another extension until the new government is elected while reiterating calls for early elections.

Pakistan government on defensive after IMF rebuke

• Pakistan’s minister of state for Fin said that the country had not breached the agreement with the IMF, saying “any shortfall in petroleum duties will be adjusted in coming months”.
• This statement came during the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, hours after IMF insisted on sticking to the policy committed by Pakistan.
• The committee discussed the currency manipulation case and whether the responsible department took any firm action against this.
• However, neither the central bank nor the ministry has given any satisfactory response regarding action against the banks. (here)

2 Pak soldiers, 7 militants killed during exchange of fire in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

• Two Pakistani soldiers, including 7 militants, were killed in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the militants fired at a military convoy in 2 separate incidents.
• In the militant fire on the convoy that transpired in the Hassan Khel area, the media wing’s Tue statement read that the Pakistani soldiers retaliated killing 3 militants.
• Sept witnessed 42 militant attacks with an increase of 35% compared to Aug. (here)

Myanmar junta jails Japanese filmmaker for 10 years

• Toru Kubota, 26, was detained near an anti-govt rally in commercial hub Yangon in July along with two Myanmar citizens.
• He was sentenced on Wed to 7 years in jail for breaching a law that criminalizes spreading information detrimental to state security and peace and tranquility, a junta said in a statement. (here)

Japan says no pact yet with Sri Lanka on debt restructure talks

• Reuters-Japan has not yet reached an agreement with Sri Lanka to co-chair a summit on discussions with creditor nations clearing a statement from Colombo on Thu.
• Japan is ready to fully support the Indian Ocean island nation in its credit restructuring, as the issue is a sensitive one. (here)