Newsletter 1 December

Sino-Indian Standoff: Despite that both sides on Deadlocked, Dragan creeping slowly

Winters Force Chinese To Rotate Troops On The Front Line Daily, Indians Staying Longer

It appears the Chinese soldiers are not being able to withstand the harsh winters of the eastern Ladakh sector as they are being rotated on a daily basis at the forward positions, whereas Indian troops are staying for longer periods at the same locations.
The Indian side has an edge over their Chinese counterparts in terms of battling the weather as a large number of them have already done duty in the Ladakh sector, including the Siachen glacier or other high altitude positions, sources said.

China crosses India's red lines, fast-tracks construction of road and 2nd village inside Bhutan's territory

The latest satellite images have indicated that China has yet again stabbed the international community in the back, especially Bhutan, by grabbing further land along the Amo Chu river.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) seems adamant to continue with the present standoff in eastern Ladakh beyond winters – or much longer – possibly to tire out India.
Satellite images suggest Beijing has continued the same stance all along the Tibet-India border.
In March-June 2017, the Chinese PLA had carried out massive incursions to grab Bhutan’s territory in and around Doklam plateau and threatened India strategically.
The latest satellite images released by space firm Maxar Technologies reveal the construction of road and civilian settlements, as claimed by China, inside Bhutan’s territory.
The Indian Army considering its own strategic interests due to the proximity of this area to Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken’s Neck, and a friendly neighbor’s concerns had intervened to stop the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) advance in Sharsingma or Yatung valley.
During Doklam, India had drawn certain red lines and conveyed them to China expecting the PLA never to cross them.
The two main red lines mutually accepted were that India will not accept crossing of Doklam Nala to the south and Amo Chu to the east by the PLA.

India test-fires anti-ship version of BrahMos, week after testing land-attack version-HT

In continuation with its recent tests of BrahMos, India on Tue test-fired an anti-ship version of the supersonic cruise missile.
“During the test held around 0925 hours, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO)-developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with a strike range of 300 km was launched from the Indian Navy’s INS Ranvijay and it successfully hit its target ship near the Car Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.”
This latest test comes as a part of a series of tests carried out by the DRDO in the last 2 months.
On Nov 24, a land-attack version of BrahMos was test-fired, also from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory.
The missile had “successfully” hit its target, located on another island, in a test that was carried out by the Indian Army.
The recent missile tests come in the backdrop of ongoing tensions with China across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which intensified in the subsequent months.
There has also been a spate of ceasefire violations by Pakistan across the Line of Control (LoC) in recent days and a fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was reportedly spotted near the LoC on Mon.
A hypersonic version, called BrahMos-II, is currently under development.

Swarm drone system work fast-tracked to take on China’s air defence

The project would take India into a select league of nations with such technology, the others being France and the US.
Sources said the initial projections make it a highly cost-effective system, with the developmental and prototype cost pegged at under Rs 1,000 cr.
India is accelerating plans to develop an air-launched swarm drone system designed to attack enemy advanced air defenses, like the ones deployed by China across the Ladakh border, thereby greatly reducing vulnerability of pilots and fighter jets to ground based air defenses.

'Indian security forces went 200 meters inside Pakistan to unearth tunnel used by terrorists to infiltrate'

Indian security forces in a recent operation went almost 200 m inside Pakistan’s side to unearth a tunnel which was used by terrorists to infiltrate inside Indian Territory, ANI reported through sources on Tue.
“Security forces went inside Pakistan for almost 200 m which was the starting point of the tunnel, used by the terrorists eliminated last week by Indian forces,” a top official said.
A 150-metre long underground tunnel suspected to be used by terrorists for infiltration was detected near International Border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba sector on Nov 22.
In the third week of Nov, security forces recovered mobile phones from the possession of terrorists killed by them which helped the forces to unearth a tunnel.
DG BSF, Rakesh Asthana didn’t say anything on the operational part of it.
The tunnel was detected in a joint operation by Border Security Force (BSF) and JnK police.

Dawood Ibrahim's property sold; no takers for Iqbal Mirchi's Juhu flat

Underworld don and fugitive Dawood Ibrahim’s property in Mumbka village of Khed taluka has been sold at Rs 11 M to Ravindra Kate, a local villager from Ratnagiri.
However, there were no takers for the property of his aide Iqbal Mirchi. Kate is also likely to use the property for commercial purposes.
Last month, 6 other properties of Dawood had been sold by SAFEMA.
These properties were bought by two Supreme Court lawyers Ajay Shrivastava and B K Bharadwaj.

Govt reaches out, invites farmer unions for talks today

The government expressed confidence that a solution would be reached after discussing issues raised by protesting farmers, as a meeting got underway between union ministers and representatives of over 30 farmer organizations on Tue.
In a fresh effort to break the deadlock with farmers’ organizations agitating against the new farm laws, the Centre has preponed the meeting today, as it was scheduled on Dec 3^rd.
The invitation from agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar came after consultations among senior BJP leaders over ways to reach farmers’ leaders in order to end the stalemate.
The protesting farmers will not talk with the Govt till all 500+ organizations, that are demonstrating against the 3 central farm laws, are called for talks, said Sukhvinder S Sabhran, Joint Secretary, Punjab Kisan Sangarsh Committee at the Singhu Border on Tue.
Sources said that for the past two days, the ministers have worked the phone lines and there have been backchannel talks to find a way forward. They said various leaders from states who gave had a good rapport with the leadership of agitating farmers were also contacted.
Interestingly, “Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protest,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, backing Indian farmers, noting that the situation is “concerning”.
Trudeau is countered immediately by ShivSena saying that India’s internal matter is not a fodder for other nations. Modi will enough to resolve it.
Trudeau is the first world leader to comment on the farmers’ protests.
The Canadian Sikhs number roughly 700,000 people and account for 1.9% of population.
‘Comments are unwarranted specially when pertaining to internal affairs of a democratic country. Best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes.’ MEA
Protest is also supported by the protestors of Shaheen Bagh, Bilkis Dadi, said on a TV channel “Farmers stood by our protest, it is our turn to stand with them”.
Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad reaches the farmers’ protest site at the Ghazipur border.

IMA Threatens to Suspend Non-COVID, Non-essential Services Over Ayurveda Surgery Row

IMA called their protest a ‘freedom struggle for modern medicine’ adding that protest would be accompanied with public demonstration activities.
The Indian Medical Association on Tue announced that it will withdraw non-essential and non-COVID services from Dec 11 in response to the Govt’s decision authorizing post-graduate Ayurveda practitioners to be trained to perform surgical procedures.
Issuing an official statement, the medical body called their protest a ‘freedom struggle for modern medicine’ adding that protest would be accompanied with public demonstration activities.
Questioning the identity of Ayurveda, National President of IMA, Dr Rajan Sharma stated that the Govt’s decision was a step towards advancing and legitimizing ‘mixopathy’, which the body saw as an ‘encroachment’ into the jurisdiction and competencies of modern medicine.

NEIGHBORHOOD/ WORLD

China wants to certified its IPR

Protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is a matter of the modernization of national governance and optimization of development, President Xi Jinping said on Mon, noting that intellectual property protection will be strengthened “on all fronts.
He further said “China will strengthen independent R&D and the protection of key and core technologies related to national security, and manage the transfer of IPR related to national security in accordance with the law.
However, US President Donald Trump has been blaming China for theft of US intellectual properties.

Khalid Khurshid takes oath as Chief Minister GB

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Khalid Khurshid on Tue has taken oath as Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister at the Governor House, during a small ceremony due to coronavirus pandemic.
Khurshid was elected as CM on Mon night after grabbing 22 votes. He won the seat from GBLA-13 constituency in General Elections that were held on Nov 15, while result was declared some 15 days later.

INDIA: COVID-19

India looking to be self-reliant in development, production of Covid vaccine

While at least five pharmaceutical companies of India are engaged in vaccine development, Serum Institute in Pune has been chosen for mass production of Covishield vaccine developed by Oxford -Astra Zeneca. A total of 10 vaccine candidates have been supported by Deptt of Biotechnology so far at both academia and industry and as on date, five vaccine candidates are in the human trials stage.