Newsletter 22 May (Weekly)

Top of the Week

Sino-Indian Standoff: Army chief MM Naravane reviews the situation along the northern border in Arunachal Pradesh, in his 2 days visit on Thu. Before leaving he said, “Army Will Have Enhanced Presence On Northern Front Till De-Escalation With China”. Meanwhile, the defense ministry clears the BRO tunnel under Shinkun La in Ladakh.
Corona Virus: While the data of the case show Plateau and appeared to be under control by end of the month, except in a few southern states. Govt is under pressure created by mainstream media and social media to vaccinate every individual, which constitutes a 1.3 billion-plus population. Govt is trying to take every possible step to ramp up production, distribution, and vaccination. It further becomes difficult while still, people have hesitancy and doubt about the vaccine especially in 45+, while youths are facing a crisis. Meanwhile, chaos is heightened while Indian media along with foreign media termed B.1167 as ‘Indian Variant” despite clarification from WHO, which reflects they are under influence.
Despite Covid, 100+ IAF personnel are in Russia on S-400 missile training as delivery nears

Army chief MM Naravane reviews situation along the northern border in Arunachal Pradesh

Naravane’s visit to the region came amid the Indian Army’s continued standoff with the Chinese military in some of the friction points in eastern Ladakh.
Army Chief Gen MM Naravane reviewed India’s operational readiness along the border with China in the Arunachal Pradesh and the security situation in the hinterland in the Northeastern region during a two-day visit that began on Thu.
On Wed, Gen Naravane said that the Army will maintain an enhanced presence on the entire northern front from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh till “de-escalation” is achieved.
Given the border row with China in eastern Ladakh, the Army last year significantly ramped up deployment of troops in all sensitive areas along the nearly 3,500-km-long LAC including in the Sikkim and Arunachal sectors. The Indian Air Force (IAF) also deployed additional fighter jets and attack helicopters in key bases looking after the airspace along the LAC in the Arunachal sector.
India and China were locked in a military standoff at multiple friction points in eastern Ladakh since early May last year but they have completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of Pangong lake in February following a series of military and diplomatic talks.
Despite the two sides are engaged in talks to extend the disengagement process to the remaining friction points, there was no visible forward movement in disengagement of troops in the remaining friction points as the Chinese side did not show flexibility in their approach on it at the 11th round of military talks with the Indian Army on April 9.
External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar on Thu, said over India-China relations: “What we saw last year was China departing from the 1988 consensus. The relationship is at a crossroads and which direction we go depends on whether the Chinese side will adhere to the consensus:”

Defense ministry clears the BRO tunnel under Shinkun La in Ladakh

Defense minister Rajnath Singh decided in favor of the shorter 4.5km tunnel proposal of the Border Roads Organisation but the order could not be issued as all the top officials involved in the project were hit by the coronavirus.
Cutting through the red-tape, the Union defense ministry has decided to ask the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to build a 4.25-km tunnel under the 5,091-m-high Shinkun La pass to make an all-weather axis from Manali to Leh via Darcha-Padun-Nimmu alignment to supply Indian Army formations in Ladakh sector. The snow-free axis is expected to be completed by 2024.
According to South Block officials, defense minister Rajnath Singh and top officials decided in favor of the BRO proposal instead of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), which was recommending an altogether new road alignment with a 13.5km tunnel under Shinkun La-ThePrint.
It is understood that the total cost of the BRO tunnel construction will be around ₹1,000 crore due to the simple design and requirement of basic electromechanical fittings. The 4.25km tunnel will have longitudinal ventilation using banana fans, which require minimum electricity and operational costs.
The Darcha-Padum-Nimmu road is 297-km long with 100km already converted into the double lane and black-topped by the BRO last year at the height of the India-China border skirmish. While the distance between Manali and Leh will remain the same with the new road, the axis will remain snow-free round the year allowing movement of both troops and equipment to feed Ladakh, Kargil, and Siachen sectors.
The present Manali-Sarchu-Upshi-Leh road goes over four high mountain passes of around 5,000-m in height even after construction of the Atal tunnel under Rohtang pass and remains snowed for at least 2-3 months during winter.
The 4 passes on the present Manali-Leh route are- Baralacha La (16500 feet), Nakee La (15547 feet), Lachung La (16616 feet), and Tanglang La (17480 feet).

Corona Pandemic: Govt is working hard to minimize the gap between demand and supply of the vaccines

Vaccination: Total 193372819 (1^st dose 15,05,01,478; 2^nd 4,28,71,341) (8 am IST on Sat.)

Covid Cases: Active (11.12%): 2923400 (104525↓); Discharged (87.76%) 23070365 (357630↑); Deaths (1.12%) 295525 (4194↑)

'Enough is enough': IMA demands prosecution of Ramdev under Epidemics Act

Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Sat lashed out at Yoga guru Ramdev and said “Enough is enough,” and added that “repeatedly taking advantage of the situation and creating fear among the public to sell his illegal drugs” for his remarks on allopathy and demanded the Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, a medical postgraduate, and prosecute him under Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 or accept his accusations and dissolve the modern medical facility.

Ramdev in a video on social media called Allopathy as ‘stupid science’. IMA has a problem with everything that they don’t practice. However, in India where 80% population tries to go for Ayurved in normal cases, will not be much affected by the IMA or any such organization, which now and then criticizes Ayurved. Of course, pharma has been expanding significantly since the 90s, but still not covered a significant proportion, as evidenced by WHO report in 2018, “1 lakh Indian trained doctors are practicing abroad”.

Procurement of Covid vaccines, the raw material to be the focus of Jaishankar’s 5-day US visit

The Ministry of External Affairs said Jaishankar will hold discussions with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and meet other senior officials of the Biden administration during his first visit to the United States, after President Joe Biden assumed office beginning Mon from 24 to 28 May.
It is learned that Jaishankar is likely to press for further speeding up of the supply of raw materials from the US to boost vaccine production in India besides exploring the option of joint production.
There is a view in India that the Defence Production Act (DPA) of the US has put some restrictions on the export of raw materials by American companies. In early February, the US government invoked the DPA to limit exports of the raw materials to expand domestic vaccine production.

India in touch with US entities for Covid vaccine procurement, says MEA

India is engaged with American entities for procurement of COVID-19 vaccines from the US and their possible manufacturing in the country subsequently, the Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi said on Thu.
Hit by a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, India has been focusing on ramping up domestic production of COVID-19 vaccines as well their procurement from abroad.
“We remain engaged with US entities on the prospect of procuring vaccines from the US and also perhaps manufacturing them in India subsequently,” Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.
“We have, of course, noted the recent announcement by the US government of its intention to make some vaccines available to some other countries,” Bagchi said.
Recently, Charge D’Affaires of the US embassy Daniel B Smith said the US was looking at joint production of Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines in India and ways to help manufacturers like the Serum Institute of India (SII) to boost production.
Pfizer says not in talks with Companies for Local Manufacturing in India, will not share Technology, and wants a complete waiver from any legal liabilities of any adverse events. And most of all, they don’t want any local trials too

The US has given over $500 million in Covid relief to India, White House says

“To date, the United States has provided over USD 500 million in COVID relief to India, including contributions from the US federal and state governments, American companies and organizations and private citizens,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told members of the White House Foreign Press Group in a virtual press conference call on Wed, adding it would soon decide on the distribution of the 80 million vaccines to other countries.
“Certainly, the plight of everything the people of India had been through is obviously on our minds but there is also a range of countries and regions around the world that have been deeply impacted that are also in need. So, these are all factors. Hopefully, we’ll have more on this in the coming days,” Psaki said.

CMs insulted, reduced to being puppets during COVID-19 meeting with PM Modi, fumes Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thu alleged that CMs had been reduced to being puppets during meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking after attending the PM’s meet on COVID-19 with district officials from 10 states where respective chief ministers were also present, Mamata said the CMs are not even allowed to speak during COVID-19 meeting with the PM.

Top Virologist Shahid Jameel Quits Covid Panel After Criticising Government

Senior virologist Dr Shahid Jameel has resigned on Fri, from a forum of the scientific advisory group, Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequencing Consortia (INSACOG), set up by the Govt to detect variants of the coronavirus, he told NDTV on Sun, days after questioning the authorities’ handling of the pandemic. Shahid Jameel had earlier said he was concerned that authorities were not paying enough attention to the evidence on COVID-19 as they set policy.

“I am not obliged to give a reason,” he said in a text message to Reuters, adding that he quit on Friday.
Renu Swarup, the secretary of the Department of Biotechnology that oversees INSACOG, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jameel had recently written a piece in The New York Times in which he had said that scientists in India are facing a “stubborn response to evidence-based policymaking.”
He had pointed out issues with India’s COVID-19 management, especially the lower testing, slow pace of vaccination, vaccine shortage, and the need for a bigger healthcare workforce. “All of these measures have wide support among my fellow scientists in India. But they are facing stubborn resistance to evidence-based policymaking,” he wrote.
“Decision-making based on data is yet another casualty, as the pandemic in India has spun out of control. The human cost we are enduring will leave a permanent scar,” Jameel wrote.
Reuters had reported earlier this month that Jameel’s INSACOG, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium, warned government officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country.
The variant, B.1.617, is one of the reasons India is currently battling the world’s worst surge in COVID-19 cases that has killed thousands.
Asked why the government did not respond more forcefully to the findings, for example by restricting large gatherings, Dr Jameel had told Reuters that he was concerned that authorities were not paying enough attention to the evidence as they set policy.
Total infections have risen by more than 20 lakh this week, and deaths by nearly 28,000. Deaths rose by 4,077 on Sunday. But experts (NDTV) say these numbers could be up to 10 times higher as few states count those who die of COVID-19 out of hospitals.
One of the few countries where vaccinations are not free, the government has also been accused of lapses in its inoculation strategy – not ordering enough doses initially and then passing on much of the burden to states.
Experts claim India’s coronavirus crisis is powered by a mix of B.1.617 strain and the B.1.1.7 strain. As a genome mapping group, the INSACOG was responsible for keeping a tab on the strains circulating in the country. However, with the coronavirus cases swelling across the country, the group which was headed by Jameel, had failed in its endeavor of predicting the seriousness of the outbreak.

In an interview in Jan 2021, to Health Analytics Asia, while speaking about the coronavirus situation in the country, Jameel had said that he broadly agrees that the worst may be over for the country.

How REUTER published on May 3rd, “Scientists (?) say India Govt ignored warnings amid coronavirus surge”

Asked why the government did not respond more forcefully to the findings, for example by restricting large gatherings, Shahid Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of INSACOG, said he was concerned that authorities were not paying enough attention to the evidence as they set policy. However, his assignment was to trace and track the genomic variation in the virus, and also he was not a member of the advisory group constituted by the Health Ministry.

Rakesh Mishra, director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, which is part of INSACOG, said the country’s scientific community was dejected.

“We could have done better, our science could have been given more significance,” he told Reuters. “What we observed in whatever little way, that should have been used better.” Nevertheless, Dr. Mishra only on May 4^th informed the media about a couple of variations in the Covid genome.

Bleeding, clotting events following COVID vaccination 'minuscule' in India: Govt report (Mon) ANI

The National Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) Committee in its report submitted to the Union Health Ministry said that bleeding and clotting cases following COVID vaccination in India are “minuscule” and in line with the expected number of diagnoses of these conditions in the country.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Health, alerts have been raised in some countries on post-vaccination “embolic and thrombotic events” on Mar 11 particularly with the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine (COVISHIELD in India).
The National AEFI committee noted that as of Apr 3, 75,435,381 vaccine doses had been administered (COVISHIELD – 68,650,819 and COVAXIN – 6,784,562), out of these, 65,944,106 were first doses and 9,491,275 second dose.
Total adverse impact reported 23,000 adverse events were reported from 684 of the 753 districts of the country through CoWIN.
Serious cases 700 cases e., 9.3/million doses administered, were reported to be serious and severe nature”. Out of 489, only 26 have been reported to be potential thromboembolic (formation of a clot in a blood vessel) which accounts for 0.61/ million, following the administration of COVISHIELD vaccine. This is much lower than 4/million in the UK, and 10/million in Germany.
“COVISHIELD continues to have a definite positive benefit-risk profile with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths due to COVID-19 across the world and in India. Over 13.4 crore doses of Covishield vaccine have been administered as of April 27 in India,” the ministry added.

P305 crew: 188 survivors (including 2 of ex-tug Varaprada) & 49 deceased recovered so far.

INS Beas at Mumbai disembarking the mortal remains of the deceased. Ships & aircraft continue to search for the remaining crew: Indian Navy
With 49 people on board a barge that sank into the Arabian Sea four days ago still missing, Indian Navy ships worked through the night, using searchlights to trace any movement in the pitch dark waters, as hopes of finding more survivors began to fade on Thu.
The Navy on Thu morning launched a fresh aerial search and rescue mission, deploying helicopters to scour the waters off Mumbai coast, where the accommodation barge P305 went adrift in Cyclone Tauktae fury before it sank Mon.
As many as 26 personnel on board the barge are dead and 49 still missing, after Navy personnel, battling extreme weather, so far rescued 186 of the 261 people who were on board the barge P305 and two personnel from tugboat Varaprada.
Mumbai police have announced they will conduct a probe as to why the ill-fated barge remained in the turbulent area despite warnings about cyclone Tauktae, an official said. They registered an accidental death report (ADR) on Wed in connection with the death of the personnel on the barge.
“The Navy’s Search and Rescue (SAR) operations entered the fourth day today. Naval ships and aircraft are presently undertaking SAR of the missing crew members of Accommodation Barge P-305, which sank on Monday 35 miles off Mumbai,” a Navy spokesperson said.
Navy ships INS Kochi, INS Kolkata, INS Beas, INS Betwa, INS Teg, P8I maritime surveillance aircraft, Chetak, ALH, and seeking helicopters are involved in the SAR operations, he said.
Another Navy ship INS Talwar was the ‘On Scene Coordinator’ off Gujarat coast and assisted Support Station 3 (SS-3) and Drill Ship Sagar Bhushan, which were being safely towed back to Mumbai by ONGC support vessels, he said.

Despite Covid, 100+ IAF personnel are in Russia on S-400 missile training as delivery nears

Over 100 personnel of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are being trained on the S-400 Triumf Air Defence System in Russia, as both countries’ eye delivery of the system by the end of this year, ThePrint has reported.
The system meant for India is already under production in Russia and is undergoing various trials, include high dust and extreme weather withstanding capabilities to suit the Indian demands of operating in the plains, deserts, and mountainous terrain, sources in the defense and security establishment said.
Sources said the team of over 100 personnel had reached Russia earlier this year and are being trained by a joint team from the Russian military and Almaz Antey, the manufacturers of the system that will become the mainstay of India’s air defense.
Despite US threats of sanction, India had in 2018 ordered 5 of the S-400 systems.
The Modi government had, however, firmly explained that the country’s armed forces have a diversified portfolio.

The S-400 capabilities

The S-400 is capable of destroying incoming hostile aircraft, missiles, and even drones from a minimum range of 2 km to up to 400 km. It also has a tracking capability of nearly 600 km.
Each S-400 system, known as a battery, consists of long-range radar, a command post vehicle, target acquisition radar, and two battalions of launchers (each battalion has 8). Each launcher has 4 tubes.
Each component of the system — command post, the radars, and the launchers — is mounted on multi-axle, multi-wheel Ural carriers that can move on uneven terrains.
This capability makes the batteries difficult to detect because they can keep changing locations, besides expanding the missile engagement zone (MEZ).

Among the best defense systems

The S-400 can be armed with 4 different types of missiles with ranges of 400 km, 250 km, 120 km, and 40 km.
The specialized radar can track more than 100 flying objects simultaneously while being able to engage a dozen targets in one go.
Considered to be one of the best air defense systems in the world, the S-400 can cover a height of up to 30 km and the minimum height of detection is 5 km.
The only other country in the region to have the S-400 is China, which, however, has the S-300, the earlier version.
The S-400 has a firing rate that is 2.5 times faster than that of the earlier generation. Incidentally, the Russians have also developed the S-500, the latest version but they’ve kept it for themselves.

INTERNATIONAL

Nepal president dissolves parliament, new election in November

Nepal plunged into fresh political turmoil on Sat as President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved parliament and fixed general elections in Nov amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak.
The surprise announcement comes after a presidential statement said neither the caretaker Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, nor opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba was able to demonstrate a majority to form a new government by the Fri deadline set by Bhandari.
“The president has dissolved the House of Representatives and ordered the 1^st phase of general elections on Nov 12 and the 2^nd phase on Nov 19,” a presidential statement issued after midnight said.
It said the decision was made on the recommendation of the cabinet headed by caretaker Prime Minister Oli, whose Dec 2020 dissolution of parliament sparked weeks of protests and was reversed by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in Feb.
There was no immediate comment from political parties about the latest move.
Nepal is battling a deadly second wave of the pandemic and is reporting 8,207 new infections on average each day.

Aung San Suu Kyi will appear soon, says Myanmar's military junta leader

Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in his first interview since the Feb 1 coup said that the country’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi would soon appear in court.
The Southeast Asian country was pushed into a violent crisis in the aftermath of the coup. On Saturday, several ethnic armed groups attacked a military post in a northwestern jade mining town.
Suu Kyi had received the Nobel Peace Prize for standing up to previous military rulers in the country. Since the coup began over 4,000 people including her have been detained. Suu Kyi faces multiple charges including illegal possession of walkie-talkies to violating the law about state secrets.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health. She is at her home and healthy. She is going to face trial at the court in a few days,” Min Aung Hlaing told a Hong Kong-based Chinese language broadcaster Phoenix Television, of which bits were released on Saturday.
The 75-year-old Suu Kyi is highly revered across the country which is home to 53 million people. Suu Kyi had brought democratic reforms to the country.
“She tried all she could,” Min Aung Hlaing said. On Mon, Suu Kyi is set to appear in court in the capital city of Naypyidaw. Until now, she has appeared only once on a video link since the coup and has been disallowed from speaking directly to her lawyers.
The military junta claimed that she was not allowed to speak to her lawyers due to security reasons while the military faces daily protests, insurgencies, and strikes across the country against military rule.