1. Modi shares Ukraine visit ‘insights’ with Putin, day after phone call with Biden, PM confirms participation in BRICS
2. Indian, Chinese warships dock in Colombo, send out ripples
3. Chile’s FM to arrive in Delhi yesterday, set to co-chair India-Chile Joint Foreign Affairs
4. Kolkata Nabanna protest: Police lathi-charge, use tear gas, water cannons to protesters
5. INS Arighat, India’s Second Nuclear Submarine, likely to be Commissioned On Thu

What Else

1. India inks another deal for 73,000 assault rifles from the US
2. Zuckerberg regrets bowing to Biden ‘pressure’ over Covid
3. Sunni Waqf Board claims ownership of 7 villagers’ land in Bihar’s Govindpur village
4. Pakistan: President Zardari confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Chinese General Li
5. Maldivian President Muizzu accuses opposition of attempting financial coup
6. Bangladesh forms commission to identify victims of forced disappearance
7. Five more murder cases filed against ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, so far 71
8. Chinese hackers exploited bug to compromise internet companies, cybersecurity firm says

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Modi shares Ukraine visit ‘insights’ with Putin, day after phone call with Biden, PM confirms participation in BRICS

• PM Modi on Tuesday held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• In a post on X, Modi said they discussed the Ukraine war and exchanged perspectives.
• Modi said he conveyed his insights from his Ukraine visit to Putin.
• Separately, the PM’s Office in a readout said Modi called for talks between the stakeholders to resolve the conflict.
• In that call too, Modi had discussed the Ukraine conflict and had briefed Biden about his Ukraine visit.
• The call comes a day after Modi spoke to US President Joe Biden. (here)
• PM Modi informed about his recent visit to Kyiv, emphasizing his interest in contributing to a possible political and diplomatic settlement of the situation around Ukraine: Russian readout on talks
• According to Tass, Modi confirmed to Putin that he will attend the BRICS summit to be held in Russia’s southwestern city of Kazan during Oct 22-24.
• This will be the first summit of the grouping after its expansion.
• Russia is the current chair of BRICS: On Jan 1, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE joined BRICS, making it a 10-member bloc. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and S Africa are the founding members. (here)
• Russia will not “swallow the bait” of Zelensky formula summits — Lavrov: Only wishful thinkers in the West can expect that Russia will swallow the bait of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s formula; negotiations are possible only without ultimatums, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with Yemeni FM Shaya Mohsen al-Zindani.
• Asked whether Russia was considering participation in a new meeting on the Ukrainian if it were to be held in one of the countries of the global South, Zelensky suggested, Lavrov noted that “the initiative is the same” – it started as the Copenhagen format and then was transformed into the Buergenstock conference. (here)

Indian, Chinese warships dock in Colombo, send out ripples

• The docking of a frontline Indian warship, guided-missile destroyer INS Mumbai, at Colombo on Mon morning coincided with 3 Chinese warships doing the same, generating some waves in the neighborhood.
• The ‘Great Game’ between both for strategic influence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) continues, while their troops remain locked in a military confrontation along the land borders.
• “Chinese warships, including those part of its anti-piracy escort forces, are now staying in the IOR for a much longer time than earlier,” an Indian defense official said.
• “The expanding Chinese naval presence in the IOR, along with Beijing’s hunt for an additional logistical turnaround in the region, has become a major challenge for India“
• To be sure, the 140-warship Indian Navy certainly needs adequate force levels to “take care” of Pakistan and “deter” China in the IOR.
• The Indian Navy closely tracked the 3 Chinese warships, destroyer Hefei, and landing platform docks Wuzhishan and Qilianshan, with a combined crew of almost 1,500 personnel, right from the moment they entered the IOR till their docking at Colombo.
• Sri Lanka welcomed INS Mumbai, which is commanded by Capt with a crew of 410 sailors, as well as the Chinese warships “in compliance with naval traditions”.
• INS Mumbai and the Chinese warships are scheduled to separately hold “passage exercises” with Sri Lankan warships on their departure, again coinciding on August 29.
• Amid this strategic tussle, all eyes are now on the Sri Lankan Presidential elections slated for Sept 21.
• For India, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is still a better bet than Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power, which is perceived to be pro-China. (here)

Chile’s FM to arrive in Delhi yesterday, set to co-chair India-Chile Joint Foreign Affairs

• Chile’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Alberto van Klaveren and Agreeculture Minister  Esteban Valenzuela will be on an official visit to India from Aug 27-29.
• He will co-chair the 2^nd India-Chile Joint Foreign Affairs with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Aug 28.
• Klaveren along with Valenzuela will participate in the Chile-India Business (Agri) Summit on Aug 28 and later depart for Mumbai.
• In a release, MEA stated, “Chile is a key partner of India in the Latin American region” (here)

Kolkata Nabanna protest: Police lathi-charge, use tear gas, water cannons to protesters

• Police on Tue lathi-charged and used water cannons and tear gas to disperse agitators at Howrah Bridge’s end and near Santragachhi Railway station on Kona as protesters attempted to break through police barricades to reach the State secretariat, Nabanna.
• At Santragachhi, agitators threw bricks at police, injuring several officers, while protesters claimed that police action also injured several students.
• The protesters were attempting to reach the State secretariat to demand the removal of WB CM Mamata Banerjee over the rape murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College.
• Police said they began lathicharging and tear gassing after the agitators managed to breach the barricades at some locations and attacked the security personnel.
• LoP in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari alleged that police resorted to “brutal repression” on the peaceful participants and threatened to stall WB if the “brutalities” by the State administration were not stopped. (here)

INS Arighat, India’s Second Nuclear Submarine, likely to be Commissioned On Thu

• The Indian Navy is likely to commission its 2^nd nuclear submarine INS Arighat on Thu.
• The commissioning of the second boat is expected to be done in the presence of the top defense, national security, and military officials, sources said.
• The INS Arighat is the 2^nd boat of the Arihant class indigenous nuclear submarines and will be supporting the existing INS Arihant which was inducted in 2009.
• The Navy has already developed and tested long-range nuclear missiles from the 2 boats even as it prepares to induct the 3^rd boat shortly with 2 more to be ready by years ‘35-36
• The Indian nuclear-powered ballistic submarines have been named the Arihant class which is a Sanskrit word meaning the ‘Destroyer of the Enemy’.
• The Indian govt has been planning to build both nuclear and conventional boats for its long-term submarine acquisition and capability development plan.
• India is working on having five Arihant class boats along with the 6 nuclear attack submarines to be built in 3 blocks. (here)

India inks another deal for 73,000 assault rifles from the US

• India has now inked another contract for the import of an additional 73k SiG Sauer assault rifles from the US, which will add to the 72.4k such guns bought earlier
• It is a repeat order valued at Rs 837 crore,” a source told TOI on Tuesday.
• The delay in the manufacture of Russian AK-203 Kalashnikov rifles in India had led to the import of the first lot of 72,400 SiG-716 rifles (66.4k -Army, 4k IAF and 2k Navy).
• The Singh-led Defence Acquisitions Council had given the nod for the procurement of the additional 73k SiG-716 rifles in Dec last year.
• Parallelly, the Army is also buying 40,949 light machine guns, which were cleared by the DAC in Aug 2023 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,165 crore.
• The first 35k Kalashnikov AK-203s were finally delivered to the Army earlier this year after being assembled at the Korwa under Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited. (here)

Zuckerberg regrets bowing to Biden ‘pressure’ over Covid

• Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets bowing to what he calls pressure from the Biden administration to “censor” content on fb and Insta during the Covid pandemic.
• In a letter sent to a US House committee chair, he said some material – including humor and satire – was taken down in 2021 under pressure from senior officials.
• The WH has defended its actions, saying it encouraged “responsible actions to protect public health and safety”.
• His firm briefly “demoted” content relating to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, ahead of the 2020 election, after the FBI warned of “a potential Russian disinformation” operation.
• It later became clear that this content was not part of such an operation, Zuckerberg said, and it should not have been temporarily taken down.
• He continued: “We made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.” (here)

Sunni Waqf Board claims ownership of 7 villagers’ land in Bihar’s Govindpur village

• The Sunni Waqf Board has claimed the ownership of 7 villagers’ in  Govindpur near Patna and also served a notice by the Sunni Waqf Board to vacate the land in 30 days.
• Meanwhile, the villagers approached the High Court and got interim relief.
• Govindpur is not the only one but there are many such cases.
• Earlier also, the Waqf board claimed ownership of an entire village in Thiruchendurai village in the temple town of Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. (here)

 [Neighborhood]

Pakistan: President Zardari confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Chinese General Li

• President Asif Ali Zardari awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (military) to Army Cmdr of China’s PLA Gen Li Qiaoming on Tue in recognition of his distinguished services and significant contributions to enhancing Sino-Pak defense relations.
• The award was conferred during a special investiture ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr, attended by PM Shehbaz Sharif, service chiefs, diplomats, and parliamentarians.
• The citation at the ceremony recognized General Li for his remarkable leadership, unwavering dedication to service, and exceptional professional skills.
• PM Shehbaz also warmly welcomed General Li to Pakistan and underscored that Pakistan and China are All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partners and trusted friends.
• Notably, during his decades of service to the nation, Gen Li has been recognized for his exceptional professionalism, remarkable command skills, and dedicated efforts in promoting peace and stability both within China and globally. (here)
• Gen Li praises Pakistan’s ‘concerted efforts’ against terrorism: Gen Li expressed admiration for Pakistan’s concerted efforts in combating terrorism and extremism in a meeting with Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir at the GHQ in Rawalpindi, the Inter-Services Public Relations said on Mon.
• Gen Li also acknowledged the unwavering professionalism and dedication of the Pakistan army during the meeting. (here)
• China, US double down on backing for Pakistan’s anti-terror drive after Balochistan attacks: A day after a series of deadly attacks in Balochistan rattled the nation, the US and China, two of Pakistan’s key allies, have reiterated their strong support for Pakistan in its fight ‘against terrorism’.
• A spate of deadly attacks in the southwestern province left more than 50 dead, including civilians, police, and military personnel in a single day.
• The bloodbath drew widespread concern and condemnations from the govt and abroad
• Decrying the militant attacks, China extended its support and expressed deep grief on the attacks in the SW resource-rich province, which is also home to major China-led projects such as a port and a gold and copper mine.
• Meanwhile, Washington has also mourned the loss of law enforcers and civilians in Musakhail and other regions of Balochistan. (here)
• Armed forces to be provided all available resources to eradicate terrorism: PM – In the wake of multiple terrorist attacks recently marring Balochistan, PM Shehbaz Sharif on Tue said the govt would equip the armed forces with all resources to eradicate terrorism, as it is now the time to do so. (here)

Maldivian President Muizzu accuses opposition of attempting financial coup

• Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has accused the opposition of attempting to stage a “financial coup” and said all those behind the plot to topple his govt would be brought to justice, media reports said on Tue.
• On Sun, the Bank of Maldives suspended foreign transactions for existing debit cards, as well as new debit and credit cards linked to MVR accounts.
• It also lowered the monthly standard and gold credit card limit to $100.
• However, it reversed the decision within hours, saying it was based on instructions from its regulator, the Maldives Monetary Authority.
• Speaking at a party hub meeting of the ruling PNC on Mon night, President Muizzu said that he had worked to find a resolution for the Bank issue alongside his ministers.
• He asserted that the bank’s decision had been against his advice.
• Muizzu said that many had raised questions as to why a govt-majority holding bank had made such a decision against government advice.
• However, most people were unaware that BML’s Board of Directors does not have a govt majority at this time, he said. (here)

Bangladesh forms commission to identify victims of forced disappearance

• Bangladesh’s interim govt on Tue formed a commission to trace and identify victims of forced disappearance during deposed PM Sheikh Hasina’s nearly 16-year regime
• The 5-member commission has been entrusted with the task of tracing and identifying the missing people and investigating the circumstances under which they were forcibly disappeared by various intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
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• The commission comprised 2 High Court judges (R), 2 rights activists and a Faculty.
• The commission has been asked to investigate the cases of forced disappearance between Jan 1, 2010, and Aug 5, 2024, when Hasina’s regime was ousted
• Human Rights Watch referring to Bangladesh’s rights groups alleged that the country’s security forces have committed over 600 enforced disappearances since 2009. (here)

Five more murder cases filed against ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, so far 71

• 5 more murder cases have been filed against Bangladesh’s ousted PM Hasina taking the total number of cases filed against the AL leader to 71, a media report said on Tue.
• 4 of the new cases were filed in Dhaka and 1 in Rajshahi, several former ministers and police officials.
• Over 230 people were killed in the country in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina govt, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by “students”  (here)

Chinese hackers exploited bug to compromise internet companies, cybersecurity firm says

• Researchers at the firm, Lumen Tech, said in a blog post that the hackers took advantage of a previously unknown vulnerability in Versa Director – a software platform used to manage services for customers of Santa Clara, California-based Versa Networks.
• It said four US targets and 1 non-US victim had been identified.
• Lumen did not name the victims and did not immediately respond to a request seeking further details.

Versa Networks issued an advisory on Mon admitting that the vulnerability had been exploited “in at least one known instance” by an advanced group of hackers and urged customers to upgrade their software to fix the bug. (here)