1. Amid standoff with China, Indian Air Force to hold Exercise Pralay along LAC
2. Xi Jinping addresses PLA troops stationed along India-China border
3. Twin explosions rock India’s Jammu and Kashmir, 7 injured
4. Egypt President El-Sisi’s Delhi visit to bolster focus on agriculture, defense in ties
5. India: Under new rules, influencers face fine, six-month ban for unlabelled paid promotion

What Else

6. Hindu temples attacked in Texas and Melbourne, hate crime suspected
7. Kerala: 5 ISRO employees killed in car crash in Alappuzha
8. Sri Lanka’s invite to Dalai Lama has led to an evil Chinese curse falling on Lanka’s head: Report
9. Taliban Arrest Chinese Nationals for Allegedly Smuggling Afghan Lithium
10. Chinese FM asks Taliban to ensure safety of Chinese citizens in Afghanistan
11. China “no longer comfortable” with status quo on Taiwan, says US State Secy Blinken
12. Two policemen killed in Pakistan’s terror attack
13. $1.2bn spent on import of cars, other vehicles in six months despite crisis
14. Pakistan will pay for Russian energy purchases in currency of friendly countries: Russian official

Amid standoff with China, Indian Air Force to hold Exercise Pralay along LAC

• Amid the standoff with China, the Indian Air Force officials told that Exercise Pralay would involve all of its key air facilities in the NE, plus the recently relocated drone.
• Several Air Force combat assets, including the fighter jets Su-30 and Rafale, as well as transport and other aircraft, would be activated during the exercise.
• The IAF has conducted a similar command-level drill in recent months.
• The entire NE air space along the LAC is under the control of the IAF’s Eastern Command in Shillong, which takes care of air space LAC.
• The IAF has deployed and turned on the S-400 air defense squadron in the region, which is capable of intercepting any hostile missile or aircraft from up to 400 km away.
• Chinese activities in the Doklam region have also increased, according to officials, and they are constantly being monitored by Indian security forces. (here)
• Asserting that France is a “great option” for India to diversify its defense supplies amid a heavy dependence on Russia, the French envoy to India said it’s willing to partner with India on critical projects including possible nuclear-powered submarines. (here)

Xi Jinping addresses PLA troops stationed along India-China border

• Chinese President Xi Jinping recently held a rare video conversation with the People’s Liberation Army troops stationed on the Indian border near Eastern Ladakh and inspected their combat readiness.
• Xi was at the PLA’s HQ on Jan 18 when he addressed the troops on the border defense situation in Khunjerab under the Xinjiang Military Command, said local state media.
• The Xinjiang military command troops are involved in managing border areas along Eastern Ladakh.
• In his address, Xi spoke about how “in recent years, the area has been constantly changing” and how it had impacted the Chinese army.
• So far, 17 rounds of high-level military talks have been held between the two countries and yet no significant invention has been achieved in resolving the border issue. (here)

Twin explosions rock India’s Jammu and Kashmir, 7 injured

• At least 7 persons were injured in a suspected terror attack after twin explosions rocked Narwal, Jammu city within 15 minutes in the UT of J&K on Sat morning.
• “The whole area has been cordoned off, senior police officers along with other personnel are at the spot and further investigations are underway,” reported PTI
• Hospital sources said seven people were admitted with splinter injuries and all of them are “stable”.
• An eyewitness said the 1^st blast occurred in a vehicle that was sent to a workshop for repairs, reported PTI. 
• 5 people were injured in the first blast and 2 more in the second, it added.
• Senior officials of the Army and Security Impact Analysis (SIA) teams reached the spot and a sanitization operation was carried out. 
• This has taken place even as security has been beefed up across the UT given the coming R Day celebrations and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. (here)

Egypt President El-Sisi’s Delhi visit to bolster focus on agriculture, defense in ties

• Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to New Delhi on Jan 24^th is expected to strengthen the focus on agriculture, and defense, to elevate India-Egypt ties.
• This is the first time that Egypt has been invited as a ‘guest country’ at India’s Republic Day celebrations.
• On Jan 25, Sisi is also scheduled to hold talks with India’s PM Modi.
• At least half a dozen MoUs are expected to be signed between the two sides after the meeting and ahead of the press statement by the two leaders.
• India-Egypt ties: The agriculture factor: Last year, for the 1^st time, India’s wheat exports reached Egypt after New Delhi gave an exemption for 61,000 tonnes to Cairo.
• Earlier Egypt had banned the import of Indian wheat. But after the supplies were impacted due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Cairo removed related import restrictions.
• On Defence: Egypt has shown interest in getting India’s homegrown defense know-how, such as LCA Tejas, radar technology, and missile technology.
• India, too, has been invited to Bright Star exercises in Sept.
• Bilateral trade between India and Egypt has expanded rapidly in 2021-22, amounting to $7.26 billion registering a 75% increase compared to Finance Year 2020-21.
• Seen as a moderate and influential voice in the Islamic world, Egypt has denounced terrorism several times.
• The country has chosen to not support Pakistani policies at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. (here)

India: Under new rules, influencers face fine, six-month ban for unlabelled paid promotion

• The govt in India has issued new rules, which state that sponsored content must be clearly labeled by social media influencers as such.
• Otherwise, they will have to pay a fine of up to $12,349 for the 1^st time and a repeat offender will have to pay a fine of up to $61,746 or face a ban of up to 6 months.
• India’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs issued regulations, which aim to ensure that the audiences are not deceived by influencers.
• The guidelines apply to any influencer, virtual, or celebrity and hold the power to influence related to purchasing a product or opinions about a service, product, experience, or brand. (here)

Hindu temples attacked in Texas and Melbourne, hate crime suspected

• A spate of attacks on Hindu temples in Texas, US state, and Australia’s Melbourne has triggered concerns among the Indian community, even as authorities are probing.
• The first incident took place at Shri Omkarnath Temple in the Brazos Valley, Texas, on Jan 11, KBTX-TV reported on Fri.
• According to reports, the temple was raided by burglars who stole some of the valuables from the premises, leaving the Indian community in a state of shock.
• According to a video captured by security cameras inside the temple, a person was seen going past the shrine and heading straight to the donation box.
• The suspect then used the temple’s cart to wheel it out the door.
• This is the only Hindu temple in the Brazos Valley, a place for local Hindus to worship, and find peace and community.
• The 2^nd incident was reported from Australia’s Carrum Downs city in Melbourne where the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple was vandalized with anti-Hindu graffiti.
• The devotees who came to the temple for prayer first noticed the ghastly act during the 3-day ‘Thai Pongal’ being celebrated by Australia’s Tamil Hindu community.
• It came just a week after the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in the country’s Mill Park was defaced with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti. (here)

Kerala: 5 ISRO employees killed in car crash in Alappuzha

• 5 people were killed in an accident after the car in which they were traveling collided with a lorry near Ambalapuzha in the Kerala district in the early hours of Monday.
• All 5 of them were employees at the Indian Space Research Organisation canteen in Thiruvananthapuram.
• The deceased have been identified as Prasad, Shiju, Amal, Sachin, and Sumod.
• The accident happened around 1:30 am when the lorry, en route to Alappuzha from Andhra Pradesh, hit the car heading toward Thiruvananthapuram. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

Sri Lanka’s invite to Dalai Lama has led to an evil Chinese curse falling on Lanka’s head: Report

• The news about Sri Lanka inviting exiled Tibetan Dalai Lama to visit the country has led to an evil Chinese curse falling on Lanka, according to a report in TST.
• According to TST, it is understandable that China should tremble with even a distant prospect of living incarnate of Tibet’s religious oppression visiting a foreign country as it resurrects China’s invasion and occupation of the once free mountainous Buddhist Kingdom on the ‘roof of the world’.
• A top Chinese Embassy official this week told Sri Lanka’s Malwatta Chapter’s Maha Nayaka that he should not welcome the exiled Tibetan Dalai Lama in Sri Lanka.
• He was warned that if the Dalai Lama was welcomed in Sri Lanka, then the nation will have to suffer dire consequences.
• The warning came during an audience granted to the Chinese mission’s Charge d’affaires, Hu Wei by the Malwatta Maha Nayaka at his residential temple.
• The invite was extended by a senior scholar-monk of Sri Lanka’s Amarapura Nikaya, along with many other monks, when he met him at Bodhi Gaya on Dec 27. (here)
• It is pertinent to note that China wants to strengthen its position in the reincarnation debate on the next Dalai Lama.
• China also wanted global Buddhist support during the selection of the future Dalai Lama.

Taliban Arrest Chinese Nationals for Allegedly Smuggling Afghan Lithium

• Taliban have arrested 5 men, including 2 Chinese nationals, for allegedly trying to smuggle an estimated 1,000 metric tons of lithium-bearing rocks out of the country.
• The arrests and the seizure of the rocks were made in the eastern Afghan border city of Jalalabad.
• They illegally transport the “precious stones” to China via Pakistan, said Taliban intelligence officials in comments aired Sun by Afghan television channels.
• Mohammad Rasool Aqab, a senior official in the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, estimated the rocks “contained up to 30% of lithium.”
• They were “secretly” extracted from Nuristan and Kunar, 2 of the several Afghan provinces along the border with Pakistan, he added. (here)

Chinese FM asks Taliban to ensure safety of Chinese citizens in Afghanistan

• Chinese FM Qin Gang on Sat held a phone conversation with Taliban acting FM Amir Khan Muttaqi and asked him to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in Afghanistan.
• Muttaqi said that Afghanistan prohibits any forces from using its territory for activities that sabotage the Afghanistan-China friendship and undermine China’s interests.
• Qin said China highly values cooperation with Afghanistan and always respects the choices made by the Afghan people, their religious beliefs, and ethnic customs.
• The Taliban earlier this month announced a $ 500 million deal with a Chinese company to enable oil extraction in northern Afghanistan, raising alarm bells in the west.
• This deal comes amid rising violence against Chinese nationals in Afghanistan. (here)

China “no longer comfortable” with status quo on Taiwan, says US State Secy Blinken

• Renewing alarm over Beijing’s intentions over Taipei, Antony Blinken on Fri said that China is ‘no longer comfortable’ with status quo on Taiwan, reported Taiwan News.
• During a conversation, he said the world is concerned about Taiwan now because it saw what happened to Hong Kong in the past few years.
• Voicing alarm over Taiwan, pointing to Beijing’s growing efforts to isolate the nation and the major military exercises it carried out near it in August
• According to him, the status quo has been “vital” to the US because it maintains peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, reported Taiwan News.
• Blinken is to visit Beijing from Feb. 5 to 6, a US official said, in the first trip by a US secretary of state to the rising Asian power since Oct 2018. (here)

Two policemen killed in Pakistan’s terror attack

• At least 2 policemen have been killed in a terrorist attack in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, Geo News reported citing the local official.
• As per the Geo News, the terrorist opened fire at the police checkpost on Nowshera Road in Dheri Zardad, Charsadda District, and left 3 men injured.
• Two of them succumbed to injuries while being taken to hospital. The other was under treatment, the police said.
• According to police, the terrorists escaped the site of the attack following a retaliatory fire during which one of them was also injured, search is currently underway.
• The Dheri Zardad attack comes as Pakistan fights rising terror attacks — especially by the outlawed TTP and from across the Afghan border, reported Geo News.
• According to the statistics attack in Balochistan and the KP region where the former accounting for 31% of the attacks during the last year and the latter 67%. (here)

$1.2bn spent on import of cars, other vehicles in six months despite crisis

• Pakistan amid the economic crisis has spent $1.2 billion on the imports of transport items including luxury cars, high-end electric vehicles, and their parts in last 6 months.
• Pakistan is facing an acute shortage of dollars and has less than $5 [4] billion in its reserves which is hardly sufficient to finance three-week of its imports.
• Although overall imports of these vehicles and items reduced over last year, still the heavy outflows burdened the economy.
• During these 6 months, the country imported completely built units (CBU), completely knocked down/semi knocked down of $530.5 million equivalent to 118.2 billion. (here)

Pakistan will pay for Russian energy purchases in currency of friendly countries: Russian official

• Pakistan will pay for crude oil purchases from Russia likely to begin in late Mar, in currencies of friendly countries, Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov said on Fri.
• Shulginov is in Islamabad for the 8^th session of the 3-day Pakistan-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on trade and economy between Pakistan and Russia.
• He did not specify the ‘friendly countries’ and neither of the two ministers gave details on the size of the planned purchases.
• Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik separately said Islamabad wants to import 35% of its total crude oil requirement from Russia.
• Shulginov stated that the oil and gas trade between Russia and Pakistan “will be structured in a way that is mutually beneficial for both countries”. (here)