1. Manipur: BSF jawan killed, 2 Assam Rifles personnel injured in firing between security forces, insurgents
2. PM Modi to visit Egypt this month as Delhi and Cairo firm up ties
3. Submarine deal, defense manufacturing hub: Rajnath pitches ‘Make-in-India’ to German counterpart
4. Thousands affected as Kashmir grapples with drug abuse, police begin major crackdown
5. Justin Trudeau’s NSA accuses India of meddling in Canada’s internal affairs

What Else

6. Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman to attend France’s summit on Global Financing Pact
7. India playing key role in drugs manufacturing, vaccine development: WHO chief scientist
8. Delhi-San Francisco Air India flight diverted to Russia after ‘technical issue’
9. Upon release from Adiala Jail, Qureshi says will meet PTI chief tomorrow and seek guidance
10. Pakistan: Prepare budget in line with IMF demands, PM Shehbaz directs finance ministry
11. Nepal: Demand for Nepali tea rises to fill India’s output gap

Manipur: BSF jawan killed, 2 Assam Rifles personnel injured in firing between security forces, insurgents

• A jawan of the Border Security Force sustained fatal injuries while 2 Assam Rifles personnel sustained gunshots in Serou in firing between security forces and a group of insurgents” insurgents on the intervening night of June 5-6, army officials said.
• The Indian Army along with Assam Rifles, CAPF (Central Forces), and police started its extensive area domination operations following the recent crisis in Manipur.
• Conducted under the surveillance cover of UAVs, the operations have so far resulted in the recovery of 40 weapons, mortars, ammunition, and other warlike stores. (here)

PM Modi to visit Egypt this month as Delhi and Cairo firm up ties

• PM Modi is set to travel to Egypt later this month, marking his 1^st trip to the country since assuming office in 2014, as an extension of PM Modi’s US tour
• The visit comes as India and Egypt seek to strengthen their bilateral ties, with a particular focus on defense cooperation and education.
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi visited India in Jan of this year, where he was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations.
• This upcoming visit by PM Modi can be seen as a reciprocal gesture, further deepening the relationship between the two nations.
• Egypt has expressed interest in acquiring various defense equipment from India, including the LCA Tejas, the Akash missile system, and the Anti-Airfield Weapon.
• Education is another key area of focus for both countries. (here)

Submarine deal, defense manufacturing hub: Rajnath pitches ‘Make-in-India’ to German counterpart

• Pitching itself as an industrial hub for military equipment, India Tue asked Germany to invest here as Berlin doubles its defense budget due to the Ukraine war.
• Def Min Rajnath Singh, in his talks with his visiting German counterpart Boris Pistorius, also underlined the need to avoid moving any critical equipment to Pakistan.
• Pistorius, Germany’s federal minister of defense, is on a four-day visit to India.
• Germany also discussed the Indian Navy’s Project 75 India (P75I) under which six conventional submarines are to be built under a strategic partnership.
• While S Korea and Spain are also in the race, German shipbuilding company Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems, which has a tie-up with state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited shipyard, is the front runner.
• MDL has time until Aug this year to bid for the project. (here)
• The stage is all set for a deal worth around US$ 5.2 billion, to be announced soon between India and Germany to firm up a deal to build diesel submarines at MDL. (here)
• Pistorius on Tue said during a media briefing, that a long-standing strategic partnership connects Germany and India.
• Next year, India and Germany will conduct a multi-day military exercise with the deployment of our naval units for the Pacific Program 2024, including a port visit (here)

Thousands affected as Kashmir grapples with drug abuse, police begin major crackdown

• Kashmir Valley has become one of the top Indian states fighting drug abuse, echoed by thousands of syringes being used to inject heroin in the Valley by drug abusers daily
• While the govt says most of the drugs are sent to Valley from across the border, a massive crackdown on drug peddlers has also started across the UT.
• In a recent study, Kashmir Valley recently surpassed every other state in India to be among the top 2 states in the country in drug abuse.
• It was revealed in a study that Kashmir was at the number 2 slot as far as drug abuse was concerned as the region has left behind Punjab which was considered the hub.
• Over 5,000 cases have been registered in the last few years against drug peddlers.
• The action is making a difference on the ground, but the drug mafia is so huge that it will take a lot of time for the administration to clean the mess. (here)

Justin Trudeau’s NSA accuses India of meddling in Canada’s internal affairs

• Canada’s NSA has accused India of meddling in the country’s affairs, putting the world’s biggest democracy in the league of authoritative nations such as Russia, China, and Iran.
• Canada’s NSA, Jody Thomas on Fri said, “When I talk about foreign interference and economic security, I’m now talking about several state actors and non-state proxies.”
• “This includes Russia, Iran, and India. That said, the actor that comes up most on these issues, and it’s no surprise to anybody, is China,” she added.
• “I think we would be kidding ourselves if we were not to acknowledge some of the diaspora politics and local issues here in Canada, which will have a significant impact”
• Canada’s New Democratic Party led by Jagmeet Singh, who is known for his pro-Khalistan comments, has long accused India of interfering in Canadian affairs.
• Earlier in 2020, New Delhi had accused Justin Trudeau of wading into India’s internal matters after it passed remarks on India’s farmers’ protest.
• India’s Def Min Rajnath Singh then took strong objection to Trudeau’s comments and said, “India is not any other country that someone can say anything.” (here)

Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman to attend France’s summit on Global Financing Pact

• India’s Fin Min N Sitharaman is scheduled to attend the upcoming summit on a New Global Financing Pact which will be hosted by France in Paris later this month.
• This summit, organized at the invitation of President Macron, aims to bring together leaders from around the world to discuss and establish a fairer and more solidarity-based financial system.
• The event will be participated by heads of state and govts, leaders of major international orgs, congresses of global fin institutions, and private sector delegates, etc. (here)

India playing key role in drugs manufacturing, vaccine development: WHO chief scientist

• India is playing a key role globally in the development of vaccines, manufacturing of drugs, diagnostics, and therapeutics, WHO chief scientist Jeremy Farrar said on Tue.
• Dr Farrar, who is attending the 3^rd G20 Health Working Group meeting here, said, “India is playing a key role globally in science, technology, development of vaccines, manufacturing of drugs, diagnostics, and therapeutics.”
• Farrar said that the 2 main things that are bringing the countries at the G20 meet here together are digital health initiatives, and science & tech, research and development, and manufacturing. (here)

Delhi-San Francisco Air India flight diverted to Russia after ‘technical issue’

• A US-bound Air India flight, which took off from, Delhi was diverted to Russia, on Tue after it developed a “technical issue” in one of the engines.
• The Air India flight AI173 was reported to have safely landed in Russia’s Magadan.
• The incident also comes a day after United Airlines had raised concerns about flights using Russian airspace with American citizens, which was defended by Air India.
• Air India about the incident: The flight in question which took off from Delhi and was headed to San Francisco was carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew.
• Russia had earlier said that it was ready to permit the Indian airline to land an additional reserve aircraft if needed in the country’s Far East. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

Upon release from Adiala Jail, Qureshi says will meet PTI chief tomorrow and seek guidance

• Upon release from the Adiala Jail after almost a month of incarceration, PTI Vice Chairman SM Qureshi on Tue said that he would meet party chief Imran Khan Wed
• Qureshi was arrested last month by the Islamabad police on multiple charges, including “inciting violent protests”, following PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest.
• On May 18, the Islamabad HC had ordered the former FM’s release.
• However, his release was delayed due to his apparent reluctance to provide an undertaking to refrain from engaging in “unruly” protests. (here)

Pakistan: Prepare budget in line with IMF demands, PM Shehbaz directs finance ministry

• PM Shehbaz Sharif has asked the Fin Ministry to ensure that there is no violation of parameters set by the IMF in the next budget to be presented on June 9.
• In a meeting held between the PM and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tue, there was optimism that the govt would reach an agreement with the IMF.
• Contrary to media reports that the govt will give the usual election year popular budget, the source said: “Pakistan can’t afford any budget that violates the set basics of the IMF.”
• The PM was quite optimistic about the revival of the IMF program after he had a long telephonic conversation with the managing director of the IMF a week back. (here)

Nepal: Demand for Nepali tea rises to fill India’s output gap

• Demand for Nepali tea is rising in the Indian market as production has slipped across the border.
• Nepali tea traders say Indian tea estates are going through a lean period as the tea bushes there have reached the end of their life cycles.
• Most of the plants are 80 years old, and some are more than 100 years old.
• As these bushes have been uprooted, the acreage and output have dropped sharply.
• Udaya Chapagain is the executive director of Gorkha Tea Estate in Ilam which exports Nepali orthodox tea to Europe and the United States. (here)