Category: National

This is a big concern at this point, as these run close to the 255 km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road, a vital link for the military.

India is “closely monitoring the situation and taking appropriate steps” sources said a day after Army Chief General Manoj Naravane visited the Leh-based 14 Corps headquarters to review the “overall situation on the ground,” even as reports indicated that Chinese troops remain in areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that are patrolled by India.

“Situation remains tense at Pangong Tso, Galwan Nalah and Demchok. It is being closely monitored,” sources said, as more troops are being moved into the areas of conflict in Sikkim and Ladakh.

In particular, sources told The Hindu that Chinese troops are maintaining positions at 3-4 points along the Galwan nalah, from “point 14 to Gogra mountain”.

Crucial road

This is a big concern at this point, as these run close to the 255 km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road, a vital link for the military.

According to the sources, at each of these points, the PLA has stationed troops, dug in tents and even bunkers. The situation has been escalating since initial incursions in mid-April, after Indian and Chinese soldiers exchanged blows and inflicted injuries.

Another worry, said an officer previously posted in the area, is the fact that skirmishes took place at so many points, indicating a more coordinated push by the PLA.

“Simultaneous incidents across the LAC in Eastern Ladakh at Pangong Tso, Galwan Nalah and Demchok, are a big worry” the officer said, on condition of anonymity.

Planned incursion

“Normally stand-offs happen in a local area, but are resolved at the local level,” a former Northern Army Commander, (who also asked not to be named), told The Hindu, adding that the current situation, which indicates planning at a “higher level in China” must be resolved at the diplomatic and political level.

The Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on reports of the Chinese incursions. “Established mechanisms are used to resolve such situations,” the MEA spokesperson said, when asked whether national Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, or External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had been in contact with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi.

Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang, who are the designated Special Representatives of India and China, had met last on December 21, 2019, to discuss bringing an “early settlement of the boundary question” as per talks between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi on the issue.

The situation started building up in late April and resulted in scuffles at Pangong Tso on may05/06 and at Naku La in North Sikkim on May 9 which resulted in significant injuries due to “aggressive behaviour on both sides”. Chinese troops moved in in large numbers with vehicles and equipment objecting to road construction by India and have also pitched tents, sources said. The Army has declined to comment despite repeated requests.

Chinese troops are close to Finger 2 area of Pangong Tso area and are blocking our movement forward, two sources said. The Pangong Tso is 135 km long and 5-7 km in width of which about one-third is held by India while the rest is held by China. The mountain folds are referred to as ‘Fingers’ of which India claims upto ‘Finger 8’ but holds till ‘Finger 4.’ The lake has been an area of frequent standoffs and after the scuffle on May 5, both sides moved in additional troops and are entrenched there.

Over the last decade, India has significantly augmented its infrastructure and deployments in Ladakh. For instance, in a major operational change, since 2012 the Army began deploying units on longer tenures along the LAC which prior to that were on six month short tenures before heading to or returning from the Siachen Glacier called loop battalions. This has meant availability of more acclimatized troops and also more patrols in the claim areas resulting in more face-offs.

With inputs from The Hindu

Soumitra Bhattacharya said the industry had regressed by three to four years due to the slowdown in the economy and COVID-19 had further pushed it back by 1.5 to 2 years.

The pandemic has brought the global auto industry, which was already suffering a slowdown since 2018, to a complete standstill and the recovery will take at least four to five years, said Bosch on May 22.

Bosch Ltd. managing director Soumitra Bhattacharya said the industry had regressed by three to four years due to the slowdown in the economy and COVID-19 had further pushed it back by 1.5 to 2 years. “The whole industry has been affected, and we are not an exception. The recovery will take long time,” he said.

Mobility currently accounts for 80% of the company’s revenues. “We are affected, short-term, with all four segments of the automobile industry having shown decline. However, the long-term outlook seems good and we will bounce back. We are confident of growing our share further in the mobility space also. Overall, we target to growth faster than the industry,” he said.

Bosch reported a 24% decline in its mobility business in 2019-20. It’s domestic sales declined by 26% and export declined by 6%. Within the mobility segment, the electric powertrain solutions business too declined by 30% due to slowdown in the automotive sector. Company’s other businesses declined 14%.

Bosch’s March 31 ended quarter revenues were down at 18% to ₹2,236 crore while profit plunged 80% to ₹81 crore. “The decline is due to the reduced turnover following market slowdown and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic during the last few days of the quarter,” said the company.

For the full year, operating revenue was also down by 18.1% to ₹9,841 crore while profit was ₹684 crore, down from ₹1,692 crore a year earlier.

Going forward, there would be a lot of focus on digital-technology-driven innovations, as per Mr. Bhattacharya. “Connected mobility is a growing segment. Battery, energy and sensors are interesting spaces. Artificial intelligene and internet of things are the areas where we will have more focus on.”

Bosch said it would not operate its factories at full capacity until some amount of recovery was established. “We will assess the market needs and operate our shifts. All non-essential expenditure have been put on hold with the company preparing to push all its investments into future projects like electrification.”

Mr. Bhattacharya further said, there was no direct stimulus for the auto industry in the package the government recently annonced. “Recovery depends on some direct stimulus, relaxation in GST and clearance of the scrap policy. Money in the system can quickly revive demand in the market.”

India is the second largest research and development base for mutinational engineering and technology firm Bosch, outside of its headquarters in Gerlingen, Germany. It currently has over 31,500 employees in India, including 18,000 engineers. In 2022, Bosch will have completed 100 years of its presence in India.

With inputs from The Hindu

The Civil Aviation Minister took questions from Facebook users during a live chat.

Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday that commercial international flight operation could start as early as middle of June if the situation improves and the “virus behaves in a predictable manner.”

During a live chat on Facebook, he said the Centre was in touch with State governments to solve the problem being faced by passengers who are also “taxpayers” to reach the airport and “keeping the lockdown in continuation is not the answer.”

Mr. Puri said India went into a lockdown straight and in one of the meetings he argued that “if the lockdown is going to come into effect on day X, I need two-day notice for the U.S” so that Air India planes could come back.

“As an optimist I would say why wait till August or September, if situation eases or improves, if the virus behave in a predictable manner, we get used to the idea to co-exist with the virus and make arrangements…let say we have an ambitious goal, why not start middle of June, end- June or July, I know you will say MHA lockdown is till May 31…nothing is written in stone…we are starting the domestic flights from May 25, we are prepared,” he said.

Mr. Puri said that pricing of tickets is a commercial matter between airline and the consumer and the government’s role was limited to issuing advisories.

Mr. Puri said airlines have to carry on with “minimum economic viability” and as he keeps getting suggestions and complaints on the issue, he said he once asked a Member of Parliament in a lighter vein whether the “airline operation should be handed over to the Delhi langar society.”

Air India requires Rs. 600 crore cash infusion every month and India was currently running Vande Bharat flights to evacuate stranded passengers from 50 countries. He said if private airlines are used for the Vande Bharat mission, then the price of tickets would be capped.

In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, all domestic and international flights were suspended on March 23, a day before the first phase of lockdown was imposed. Mr. Puri said 33% domestic flights will start operating from May 25 and a meeting was underway with State governments to decide the quarantine process. Some States have insisted on mandatory 14-day institutional quarantines for all incoming domestic passengers.

On being asked on testing everyone for COVID-19 before they are allowed to fly, Mr. Puri said it was not a practical solution.

“If you have an Aarogya Setu app and you are clear, do you want another test? India is conducting around 1 lakh per day…if you do not have any symptoms or did not come in contact with a COVID-19 positive person then what is the use of test? The test result will come in 7 hours…you take the test and wait for the result and then wait for another two hours before the boarding?” asked Mr. Puri. He said Aarogya Setu was preferable but airlines have not made it mandatory.

“If you check several boxes, can give a self declaration…Why will the State want to quarantine you after these facts? It is a new situation, States will get used to it. Within next day or two we will have clarity,” Mr. Puri said.

He said food will not be allowed on domestic flights and that “virus could come on the paper.”

“All domestic sectors are short duration from 40 minutes upto to 3 hours, have a good meal at home and then come. Water will be available at the point of entry and in the jacket of your seat,” he said.

As far as one-year-valid visa for outbound passengers was concerned, Mr. Puri said they were not the one prescribing it. “As long the visa is valid at the point of entry….we are trying to avoid a situation that the passenger is deported….democracies have this great ability. A visa doesn’t mean that it gives you unrestricted rights….recently four students with valid visas who wanted to board a flight to the U.S.A were stopped as the airline was informed that all college and institutions were shut over there,” he said.

On being asked, why most flights under Vande Bharat were destined for Kerala and not other States like Andhra Pradesh or Telangana, Mr. Puri said State governments will have to take the lead and some State governments were more proactive than the others.

With inputs from The Hindu

Plea says the app made users ‘vulnerable and prone to cyber threats’.

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the government to respond to a petition seeking a ban on the use of video communications app ‘Zoom’ for official and personal purposes.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde issued notice to the Centre on the plea raising privacy concerns. The court said the government should file a reply in four weeks.

The plea by Delhi resident Harsh Chugh said the app made users “vulnerable and prone to cyber threats.”

It has alleged that the Zoom app “practices data hoarding and cyber hoarding,” which include mass storage of personal data of its users and stores cloud recordings, instant messages and files.

“Zoom is reported to have a bug that can be abused intentionally to leak information of users to third parties. The app has been falsely claiming that calls are end-to-end encrypted when they are not,” the petition said.

It claimed that Zoom had apologised publicly for “mistakenly routing traffic through China” where Internet is heavily monitored by the government.

The plea has alleged that Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the nodal cybersecurity agency, has also warned Zoom users of cyber risks.

With inputs from The Hindu

A senior American diplomat says the United States wants India and Pakistan to restore a mutual truce in Kashmir to de-escalate tensions over the disputed Himalayan region.

The statement by Alice Wells, the outgoing principal deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, comes as Indian and Pakistani troops are locked in almost daily skirmishes across their de facto Kashmir border, known as the Line of Control.

On Thursday, Islamabad said it had again summoned a senior Indian diplomat to the foreign ministry to protest continued alleged cease-fire violations by India’s military forces resulting in fresh civilian casualties in the Pakistani-ruled part of Kashmir.

Intensified hostilities between the nuclear-armed rival nations over the past year have rendered ineffective a mutual 2003 Kashmir truce and raised fears the tensions could escalate into a broader conflict between Pakistan and India. The nations have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, which remains the primary source of regional tensions. Both India and Pakistan claim the region in full.

“We certainly support practical steps that India and Pakistan can take to reduce tensions such as restoring the 2003 Line of Control cease-fire while continuing to press Pakistan to take credible steps to dismantle terrorist groups,” Wells told a seminar Wednesday through video link organized by Washington-based Atlantic Council.

For its part, India alleges Pakistani troops commit cease-fire violations to help militants trying to infiltrate Indian-Kashmir to foment separatist violence there, charges Islamabad rejects.

US-Pakistan ties

Wells noted in her speech that the Trump administration’s “broader and healthier engagement” with Pakistan has encouraged the South Asian country to take “constructive” steps to counter regional terrorism.

“I welcome the important statements that Prime Minister Khan issued, that there is no role for non-state actors, that anybody who crosses the border into Kashmir is an enemy of Pakistan and an enemy of Kashmiris,” noted the American diplomat.

Wells hailed the recent prosecution and conviction of an Islamic cleric in Pakistan who is accused of masterminding the 2008 deadly attacks in Mumbai. Washington has offered a reward of $10 million to bring the cleric, Hafiz Saeed, to justice, though he denies the charges.

“I don’t term these steps irreversible, but they are important steps,” Wells said. She also noted economic regulations recently enacted by Pakistani officials to counter money laundering and curb terrorist financing to groups involved in cross-border terrorism.

A traditionally strained relationship between India and Pakistan has deteriorated since last August when New Delhi unilaterally stripped autonomy of Indian-administered part of Kashmir and imposed a strict security lockdown, coupled with a communications blockade in the majority-Muslim state to deter dissent. The restrictions have since been partially eased.

Islamabad rejected the move, saying Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute under a United Nations Security Council resolution and neither side could unilaterally alter the status. India has rebutted the criticism, describing its Kashmir-related measures as an internal matter. 

Afghan peace and FATF

Wells also praised Pakistan’s “important” role in facilitating U.S. efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, America’s longest, and promote a political reconciliation between the Taliban insurgency and other Afghan groups.

This role is believed to have given Pakistan crucial backing of Washington at global financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, in order to borrow much-needed funding for the country’s struggling economy.

Pakistani officials say U.S. support also played a role in securing much-needed relief from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The FATF has placed Pakistan on its watch list of countries with weak regulations to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. It requires Islamabad to complete all tasks in a proposed action plan to avoid being blacklisted by FATF, which would make international business dealings almost impossible for Pakistan. 

By: Ayaz Gul | Voice of America

IANS

Thiruvananthapuram: Muslims across Kerala will celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Sunday, clerics from the community said on Friday.

They said that with not sighting of the moon on Friday and the 30-day Ramadan ending on Saturday, Eid-ul-Fitr in Kerala will be celebrated on Sunday, May 24.

There will be no open prayer sessions on Eid-ul-Fitr since lockdown norms are enforced in the southern state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan extended his greetings to all Muslims and said that all lockdown norms and other rules will have to be followed.

He, however, said that in case Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated on Sunday, there would be some relaxations. For the past two weeks, on Sundays, people are asked to remain indoors and only essential shops like medical stores are allowed to open.

Muslims account for 88.73 lakh of the 3.34 crore population in Kerala.

–IANS

Border incidents are at their highest since 2015, senior Indian security officials said. The two sides held talks on Tuesday aimed at lowering the temperature between the nuclear-armed neighbors, however neither army was willing to compromise, the officials said, asking not to be identified citing rules on speaking to the media.

By: Bloomberg | HT

Talks between the Indian and Chinese military to end escalating tensions along their disputed border have ended in a deadlock as the fragile peace shows signs of breaking down.

The armies are currently on a high-alert at two locations along the Line of Actual Control — the 3,488 kilometer (2,167 mile) unmarked boundary between India and China. Additional troops have been rushed to the border by both sides, the officials said. They are facing each other at the Galwan River, which was one of the early triggers of the 1962 India-China war, and at the disputed Pangong Tso — a glacial lake at 14,000 feet in the Tibetan plateau, portions of which are claimed by both.

The inconclusive talks came as the US issued a tough statement on China. In Washington, senior diplomat Alice Wells said the clashes were a “reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical.”

“Whether it’s in the South China Sea or whether it’s along the border with India, we continue to see provocations and disturbing behaviour by China that raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power,” Wells, acting assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, said on a briefing call to reporters on May 20.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not immediately availabe for comment, however spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing on May 13: “We urge the Indian side to work with China, refrain from taking any complicating moves so as to create enabling conditions for the development of our bilateral relations and peace and stability in border areas.”

“Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the Western Sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate,” Anurag Srivastava, the spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Thursday. “All Indian activities are entirely on the Indian side of the LAC. In fact, it is Chinese side that has recently undertaken activity hindering India’s normal patrolling patterns.”

Contentious Road

According to data from Indian security officials, the India-China border has been unusually active since last year with a 64% rise in incidents since 2018. Along the sensitive “Eastern Sector” — from Bhutan, stretching east along the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh — incidents doubled last year in comparison to 2018. China claims a 2,000-sq km stretch of land in this sector, which is defended by at least 20,000 Indian soldiers along with paramilitary forces.

Border incidents in the “Western Sector” — stretching from northwestern Tibet, along the Indian state of Uttarakhand and the Union Territory of Ladakh, stretching to the critical Karakorum Pass — have witnessed a 75% rise in 2019.

The Indian officials say China is objecting to a road it’s building at the Pangong Tso that connects to disputed border. On May 5 and 6, troops clashed on the banks of the lake, leaving scores of soldiers on both sides injured. On May 9, several soldiers were injured when the two armies clashed near a three-way junction between Bhutan, China and India, close to the site of the Doklam standoff.

The Indian Army would not comment on the tensions, with spokesman Aman Anand on Thursday referring Bloomberg to a statement issued on May 12 that acknowledged incidents of aggressive behavior along the border.

”I take the current border situation very seriously,” said Ashok K. Kantha, director of the New Delhi-based Institute of Chinese Studies and a former Indian ambassador to Beijing, adding that he didn’t “see these as isolated incidents but in conjunction China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea. There is a larger pattern to border incidents.”

Informal Summits

There had been a significant dip in tensions in 2018 that followed an informal summit between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The meeting between the leaders — held after stand off of more than 70 days between the two armies on the Doklam peninsula in 2017 — was followed up with a second summit in Mamallapuram near the southern Indian city of Chennai in October last year.

At that meeting, Xi and Modi agreed to give “strategic guidance” to their respective armies. That included less aggressive patrols on the border, informing the other side of incoming patrols and more contact between local military commanders to reduce friction.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, India’s Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat said the strategic guidance was working, but noted a hot-line connecting the top leaders of the two armies that was proposed as far back as 2013 would help reduce tensions. “I think the hot-line between the two armies is required,” Rawat said. Even though the two countries are in touch through diplomatic channels, he added “we would like a military level communication as well.”

India registered a spike of 6,088 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, making it the highest single-day rise here since the start of the pandemic, according to figures released by the Health Ministry on Friday.

As many as 148 new deaths have also been registered. India’s tally now stands at 118447 cases, 3583 deaths and 48,534 recoveries.

New Delhi says People’s Liberation Army is blocking Indian patrols in Ladakh and Sikkim.

India on May 21 rejected China’s claim that troops have trespassed into Chinese territory, and accused Chinese People’s Liberation Army troops of “hindering” patrols by Indian soldiers. In a first such statement after weeks of a standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers at four points along the boundary in Sikkim and Ladakh, the Ministry of External Affairs also told China that “peace and tranquillity in border areas” is an “essential prerequisite” to developing bilateral relations.

“Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the Western Sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously,” said MEA official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava. “All Indian activities are entirely on the Indian side of the LAC. In fact, it is Chinese side that has recently undertaken activity hindering India’s normal patrolling patterns,” he added.

The remarks followed claims by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 19 that Indian troops were attempting to “unilaterally change” the status quo at the boundary between them, and “blocking” patrolling by Chinese border guards.

On May 21, the Chinese MFA issued another statement repeating the claims and said that Chinese troops “firmly” dealt with what it called the Indian troops “crossover and infringement activities,” while also telling the United States not to interfere in the dispute between India and China. “We urge the Indian side to work together with us, abide by our leadership’s important consensus, comply with the agreements signed, refrain from unilateral actions complicating the situation,” said MFA spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

With inputs from Ananth Krishnan in Chennai; The Hindu

Sagar police have filed a FIR against Congress president Sonia Gandhi over some tweets posted on the official Twitter handle of the party criticising the way in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has handled the COVID-19 situation and on utilisation of PM CARES Fund.

In the complaint, Praveen K.V., an advocate, has alleged that the tweets from the handle @INCIndia on May 11 on the initiatives by Modi government in the Centre to tackle the COVID-19 situation and on utilisation of PM CARES Fund were highly misleading. The complainant has said that, at a time when the nation was fighting against the pandemic, the Congress has tried to spread false information on the issue through social media platform and thereby has tried to mislead and provoke the people against the government. The complainant has requested for action as per the existing laws against Ms. Gandhi and those who are handling the Twitter account of the party.

Based on the complaint, Sagar police have booked a case under section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 505(1)(b) (cause fear or alarm to the public or inducement to commit an offence against State or public tranquillity) of Indian Penal Code against Ms. Gandhi.

With inputs from The Hindu