Month: July 2020

The recent telephonic interaction between Pakistan and Bangladesh amid India-China tensions has intrigued New Delhi over the next course of action Dhaka might take.

On July 22, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina wherein they exchanged greetings and discussed the flood and COVID-19 situations in both countries, Bangla News 24 quoted statements released from the prime minister’s office.

During the interaction, they also reportedly discussed strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries and boosting regional cooperation through SAARC. Khan also stated his stance on issues with India and hoped for a peaceful resolution.

Though political pundits are eagerly waiting to see the next course of action by Bangladesh, several believe that improvement of bilateral ties between Islamabad and Dhaka is highly likely to happen given their past history.

Bangla News 24 reported that if Bangladesh responds positively to Pakistan’s call, it will clear its stance on India-China clash.

“He (Imran Khan) called to talk about COVID-19 and flood situations. It was nothing but a simple courtesy call. It is good if they (Pakistan) can improve relations with us,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen was quoted as saying.

He said that the country has not forgotten Pakistan’s gruesome killing of some 30 lakh Bangladeshis and rape of hundreds of thousands of women during the Liberation War in 1971.

“However, Pakistan has not yet apologised for the genocide it committed during the 1971 Liberation War. We want to maintain friendship with everyone but how is that possible if they could not make an apology,” Momen noted.

While Islamabad may seem to be trying hard to smooth its relationship with Dhaka, it had recently adopted resolutions against the war crimes trial of Bangladesh wherein some major criminals were hanged for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.

There are also allegations against Pakistan for being involved in activities to influence Bangladesh’s internal politics and to instigate unrest.

State Minister for Shipping, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, was quoted as saying, “Both Bangladesh and Pakistan are SAARC countries. Two Prime Ministers can talk about any issues regarding South Asia.”

“However, there are still some unresolved issues between us. If they want to strengthen relations, then they have to resolve those first. Bangladesh gained independence through bloody war, not through table discussion,” he said. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘cut the clutter’ around the earlier Rafale deal and took a bold step to ensure its timely arrival in the country, said Air Marshal (Retired) Raghunath Nambiar on Monday after five Rafale jets took off for India from France.

“The Prime Minister, to put it in simple words, cut the clutter. We were engrossed in the procurement of these 126 aircraft and we were going nowhere. There was no way forward other than for the government to step in and take a very bold and correct step,” Nambiar told ANI here.

“We must consider it very fortunate that this step was taken by the Prime Minister, otherwise, today we wouldn’t have had the Rafale,” he added.

He further praised the aircraft and said it will dominate the sky after it starts operating from Ambala and other bases, and gave India an edge over Pakistan and China.

“Rafale is the best aircraft in the sky at this time. To compare it with what Pakistan has, like F-16 and JF-17, wouldn’t be anything serious. If you had to compare Rafale against Chengdu J-20, I think Rafale stands head and shoulders above them,” Nambiar said.

He, however, added that India needed 114 more aircraft to keep the Air Force strong, apart from Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mach-1A, Sukhoi-30, or MiG-29 which will be arriving soon.

In a long-awaited development, five Rafale fighter aircraft today took off for India from an airbase in France to join the Indian Air Force fleet in Ambala on Wednesday.

The fighter aircraft were flagged off by the Indian Ambassador to France from an airbase in Merignac in France where the Ambassador interacted with the India crew flying it back to India.

The five aircraft flying to India today include seven Indian pilots including the commanding officer of the 17 Golden Arrows squadron.

All the pilots have been trained on the aircraft by the French Dassault Aviation company as per the agreement signed for the biggest ever defence deal signed by India in 2016 for acquiring 36 Rafale jets for over Rs 60,000 crores.

The aircraft would make their first stopover at a French base in the United Arab Emirates on their way to India and would be refuelled by French Air Force tanker aircraft somewhere around Greece or Israel over sea before landing there.

After a stopover, they will then proceed towards Ambala from there and reach by July 29 morning. The delivery of the aircraft was earlier supposed to have been done by May end but this was postponed by two months in view of the COVID-19 situation in both India and France. (ANI)

The Ministry of Earth Sciences launched a mobile application ‘Mausam’ for the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday, which is designed to communicate the weather information and forecasts to the general public.

Using the app, the general public can access observed weather, forecasts, radar images and be proactively warned of impending weather events.

‘Mausam’ has services such as Nowcast, which will give three hourly warnings of localised weather phenomena and their intensity issued for about 800 stations, and districts of the country by the State Meteorological Centres of IMD. In case of severe weather, its impact also included in the warning.

The app will forecast weather conditions of around 450 cities, which will show the weather conditions of the past 24 hours and seven days.

Apart from this, as a warning in case of approaching dangerous weather, alerts will be issued twice a day for all districts for the next five days in colour code (Red, Orange and Yellow) to warn citizens.

The app has been designed and developed jointly by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics’ (ICRISAT’s) Digital Agriculture and Youth (DAY) team, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and India Meteorological Department. (ANI)

Siddharth Sharma

Taking a dig at the former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said that not inviting him for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would be “injustice” to him. The event is scheduled to take place in the presence of several political leaders on August 5.

On November 9, 2019, the five-judge bench headed by former CJI Ranjan Gogoi had delivered the verdict in the long-pending Ayodhya dispute case.

Speaking to ANI, Chowdhury, leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, said, “There is an atmosphere of joy and gaiety among the common people regarding the bhoomi pujan for the construction of the grand temple of Maryada Purushottam Lord Ram.”

“It is difficult to give invitations. Industrialists will come to the event, leaders of the ruling party will come, people of Ramjanmabhoomi movement will be called, so why not Ranjan Gogoi? It is important to invite him to this ceremony and it will be nice too. The organisers of the bhoomi poojan program should call him or else there will be no justice with the former Chief Justice,” he added.

Gogoi is currently serving as Rajaya Sabha MP. He was nominated by President Ram Nath Kovind to the Upper House of the Parliament, a decision which was largely criticised by the Opposition parties.

Gogoi served as the 46th Chief Justice of India from October 3, 2018, to November 17, 2019. Before leaving the office, Gogoi had said that the issue of pendency of cases in Indian courts is used extensively to “pull down the institution”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will go to Ayodhya and join the bhoomi poojan program for the construction of Ram temple on August 5. Preparations for this in Ayodhya are in full swing. (ANI)

Chinese authorities have been collecting DNA samples from across the country to develop a massive genetic database, in a bid to create a new tool for their emerging high-tech surveillance state.

In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Emile Dirks, a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Toronto, and James Leibold, an expert on ethnic issues in modern China, say dissent is a crime in China and police operations are a key part of the state’s apparatus of repression.

They estimated that the authorities’ goal is to gather the DNA samples of 35 million to 70 million Chinese males.

“Matched against official family records, surveillance footage or witness statements in police reports, these samples will become a powerful tool for the Chinese authorities to track down a man or boy — or, failing that, a relative of his — for whatever reason they deem fit,” they wrote.

The Chinese government has denied the existence of any such program. The authors said that they have continued to uncover online scattered evidence revealing the program’s enormous scale, including government reports and official procurement orders for DNA kits and testing services.

In a report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute last month, the authors said they had exposed the extent of the Chinese government’s program of genetic surveillance. “It no longer is limited to Xinjiang, Tibet and other areas mostly populated by ethnic minorities the government represses,” they wrote.

DNA is being harvested across the country: in the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou; in central-southern Hunan; in Shandong and Jiangsu, in the east; and up north, in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.

“We have continued to find photographic evidence that the police are collecting blood from children, pinpricking their fingers at school — a clear violation of China’s responsibilities under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” they say.

“And we have found fresh proof, including official documents, showing that DNA samples are also being gathered in major urban centers,” they add.

The authors say that an officials report dated June 16 which is available on a website of the government of Sichuan province explains the creation of a DNA database by the Public Security Bureau of the city of Chengdu, the province’s capital, and seeks expert opinion on the creation of a “male ancestry investigation system.”

The document explained how 17 public security offices have collected DNA samples from nearly 600,000 male residents across the city — that’s about 7 percent of Chengdu’s male population (assuming that roughly half of the city’s total population of about 16.6 million is male).

The Chengdu procurement report states that building a massive genetic database about local residents will help the police “maintain public order and stability as well as meet the needs of daily casework.” This is of no comfort.

“In China, securing the public order essentially means maintaining the uncontested rule of the Communist Party. Dissent is a crime, and police operations are a key part of the state’s apparatus of repression,” the authors say. (ANI)

In line with his “vocal for local” campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to citizens to use Indian handloom and handicrafts as much as possible as it will benefit local artisans and weavers.

“National Handloom Day is on August 7. The handloom of India and our handicrafts encompass a glorious history of hundreds of years. It should be an endeavour on part of all of us to use Indian handloom and handicrafts as much as possible and also communicate to more and more people about them,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the 67th edition of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday.

“The more the world knows about the richness and diversity of Indian handloom and handicrafts, the greater our local artisans and weavers will benefit,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that many people and institutions are campaigning to celebrate Rakshabandhan this time in a different manner.

“A few days from now, the auspicious festival of Rakshabandhan will be celebrated. These days, I am noticing that many people and institutions are campaigning to celebrate Rakshabandhan this time in a different manner. And many people are linking the festival with ‘Vocal for Local’, and this is true too,” Modi said.

“In society, if the business of a person near our home increases on account of our festivals and thus, in turn, his festival becomes merrier, then the joy of the festival increases manifold. Many felicitations to all the countrymen on Rakshabandhan,” he said. (ANI)

Siddharth Sharma

Ahead of vacating her government bungalow, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has invited BJP leader Anil Baluni, who has been allotted the premises for accommodation, along with his wife for a cup of tea.

Vadra had been staying at the 35 Lodhi State bungalow since 1997.

According to sources close to Vadra, the invitation has been sent to Anil Baluni’s office through letter and phone but he is yet to respond to it.

A source close to Vadra told ANI that it’s a positive gesture from the Congress leader and that she is ready to vacate the premises well within the stipulated time.

Following this, for the time being, she will be staying in her house in Gurugram, after which she is expected to come back to New Delhi, the source added.

It’s important to note that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had given a notice to the Congress leader to vacate the accommodation after her Special Protection Group (SPG) protection was withdrawn by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Several Congress leaders had objected to the decision and urged the Centre to revoke the decision after the order came out earlier this month.

Vadra had been asked to vacate her government accommodation in Delhi by August 1 with a government notice stating that her allotment stands cancelled from July 1.

“Consequent upon withdrawal of SPG protection and grant of Z+ security cover by Ministry of Home Affairs, which does not have provision for allotment/retention of government accommodation on security grounds to you, the allotment of Type 6B house number 35, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi is hereby cancelled with effect from July 1. One month concessional period on the same rent up to August 1 is allowed as per rules,” said the ministry’s notice.

It further added that any stay beyond August 1 by her would attract damage charges/penal rent as per rules.

(ANI)

A UN report on terrorism has pointed to “significant numbers” of ISIS terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka, and warned that Al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent, which has between 150-200 members Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan, is reportedly planning a terror attack in the region.

The 26th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIS, al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities said that Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operates under the Taliban umbrella from Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar Provinces

“The group reportedly has between 150 and 200 members from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan. The current leader of AQIS is Osama Mahmood (not listed), who succeeded the late Asim Umar (not listed). AQIS is reportedly planning retaliation operations in the region to avenge the death of its former leader,” the report read.

“One Member State reported that the ISIL Indian affiliate (Hind Wilayah), whichwas announced on 10 May 2019, has between 180 and 200 members. According tothe report, there are significant numbers of ISIL operatives in Kerala and KarnatakaStates,” it further stated.

The report also pointed out that ISIL-K is seeking to pursue “a global agenda” by implementing the ISIL core’s leadership approach, which considers Afghan territory a base for spreading terrorist influence across the wider region.

The report stated that Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is a large terrorist group present in Afghanistan, is led by Amir Noor Wali Mehsud, supported by his deputy Qari Amjad and spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani.

“TTP has claimed responsibility for various high-profile attacks in Pakistan and has facilitated others by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Lahskhar-e-Islam. Many former TTP members have already joined ISIL-K (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant-Khorasan) and member states expect that the group and its various splinter groups will align themselves with ISIL-K,” it said.

(ANI)

Over the years China has made several attempts to take ultimate control of the political and economic affairs of Pakistan, according to an article by Ali Salman Andani published in the Asia Times.

Since 2016, President Xi Jinping has pushed for China China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and a CPEC authority that would bring the country’s infrastructure and power-generation projects under his direct control.

Though the proposal was rejected by the Nawaz Sharif government, it was finally accepted by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

According to the article, Khan, a puppet of the military establishment, was able to manipulate the law to fulfil Xi’s desires to control the Planning Ministry of Pakistan.

“I consider Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives as one of the most crucial state institutions, whose senior bureaucrats could implicitly scrutinise and resist Xi’s draconian CPEC scheme, as they had access to all of the secret documents on the agreement and were involved, directly and indirectly, in the decision-making process,” Andani opined.

“So long as the reins were under the control of civilian institutions led by representatives of the people and civil servants, thorough accountability of Xi’s master plan at least at some level and at some point in time – if not at once – was possible. Sidelining the civil institutions altogether would allow Xi to play on both sides of the board,” he said.

Questioning the nature of the deal, the author said that the secretary of maritime affairs refused to show the highly confidential agreement to even the Senate Standing Committee on Finance.

The article stated that by 2050 Xi plans to have ultimate control of the majority of the emerging-market economies.

Andani said, “Xi doesn’t want the Belt and Road Initiative or any of its components to be held accountable or face resistance. He knows that his Chinese Dream of indoctrination of a majority of free people of the world by 2050 will not be fulfilled if the people of the countries victimised by the BRI come to know about his strategy to destroy their futures and those of their future generations.”

He said that the CPEC authority will be the Communist Party of China’s (CPC’s) authorised representative in Pakistan responsible for conceiving, implementing, expanding, enforcing, controlling, regulating, coordinating, monitoring, evaluating and carrying out all activities related to the CPEC.

The CPEC authority will also the constitutional power to initiate any investigation or even impose penalties against any public office holder, including the Prime Minister and President of Pakistan, or those directly or indirectly involved in CPEC-related activities wilfully resisting directions, instructions or specified orders, Andani said while adding, “Even the Prime Minister’s powers will be limited to what is specified in the CPEC Authority Bill 2020. So he too will have to obey Xi’s commands.”

“The truth is that Xi is burdening those countries in debt traps while they are already suffering from intense balance-of-payments crises. Xi will slowly poison Pakistan and other poor economies by creating extreme shortages of foreign-exchange reserves. In the end, these countries will have to accept the invasion of their political and economic systems by the Communist Party of China,” he said.

The author opined that the “selected” government of Pakistan is fulfilling Xi’s dreams at the cost of the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom of its people. (ANI)