Month: November 2020

India on Tuesday dismissed claims by a Chinese professor stating that China was using microwave weapons to defeat Indian forces in an alleged border clash in the disputed Ladakh region.

According to Indian officials, China is seeding a ‘fake news’ story about using microwave weapons, referring to a Beijing-based professor’s assertion that Chinese forces ‘turned the mountain tops into a microwave oven’ during a recent clash with India that allowed Beijing to recapture two key hilltops in the disputed border region, reported Washington Examiner.

“It’s pure and poor psyops from China,” said an Indian official.

The Indian military issued a denial on Tuesday and noted that they remain in control of the high ground.

“The claims cited by these media reports are fake,” a graphic tweeted by the Indian Army says. “No such incident has taken place in Ladakh.”

According to Washington Examiner, the Beijing-based professor claimed that Chinese forces used the weapons in order to fight while honouring a decades-old agreement that the two nuclear-armed neighbours would not use firearms in the border disputes.

“In 15 minutes, those occupying the hilltops all began to vomit…. They couldn’t stand up, so they fled. This was how we retook the ground,” said Renmin University professor of international relations Jin Canrong, as per a UK newspaper.

The professor claimed that the attack took place on August 29, but the Indian official said that never happened.

“If they got us out of the heights, why is China still asking India to withdraw from these heights?” the source replied. “Our soldiers and tanks/equipment still there, and we have not moved down from heights.”

Indian officials had acknowledged in early September that Chinese forces had taken a ‘provocative’ step on August 29, however, the Chinese officials at the time seemed to acknowledge that India remained in control of the area, reported Washington Examiner.

“We urge India to strictly discipline its border troops, stop all provocations at once, immediately withdraw all personnel who illegally trespassed across [the unofficial boundary of the disputed area], and stop taking any actions that may escalate tensions or complicate matters,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in early September.

It is not clear why the Chinese professor would make such a claim.

“It could either be just bravado or the platform to use to launch the psyops,” the Indian official said.

The Chinese and Indian troops are engaged in a stand-off since early May along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

The situation along the LAC deteriorated in June following the Galwan Valley clash in which both sides suffered casualties.

Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in the violent face-off on June 15-16. It happened as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh. (ANI)

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday said that the Congress party is not a part of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).

In a press statement on Tuesday, Surjewala hits out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over asking Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi to clear their stand if they support the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration.

Surjewala in the statement in Hindi said, “Congress party is not a part of Gupkar alliance or People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration.”

Hitting out at the BJP government in the Centre, the Congress leader said, “To spread lies, fraud and creating new illusions have become the way of the Modi government. It’s a shame that Home Minister Amit Shah is keeping aside the responsibility of the national security and is making false, misleading and mischievous statements on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.”

While asserting that Congress is fighting the DDC elections in Jammu and Kashmir and said, “The Indian National Congress favours democratic elections in Jammu and Kashmir and for this purpose the Congress Party is contesting the District Development Council elections…. in a democratic manner.”

Earlier in the day, Amit Shah said that the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration wants foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that Indian people will no longer tolerate an “unholy global gathbandhan” against national interest.

Taking to Twitter, Shah asked Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi if they support the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration which, he said, insults India’s tricolour.

“The Gupkar Gang is going global! They want foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir. The Gupkar Gang also insults India’s Tricolour. Do Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji support such moves of the Gupkar Gang? They should make their stand crystal clear to the people of India,” Shah tweeted.

“Congress and the Gupkar Gang want to take J-K back to the era of terror and turmoil. They want to take away rights of Dalits, women and tribals that we have ensured by removing Article 370. This is why they’re being rejected by the people everywhere,” he said in another tweet.

“Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always remain an integral part of India. Indian people will no longer tolerate an unholy ‘global gathbandhan’ against our national interest. Either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or else the people will sink it,” Shah said.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration will contest Dist Development Council (DDC) poll and will try to defeat those who have been forcefully implementing laws in Union Territory (UT).

“Today Farooq Saab (Farooq Abdullah) called the meeting to give final touches to the seat-sharing, and by and large we are satisfied. In politics, there is nothing that is100 per cent satisfactory, but the peaceful environment in which the whole arrangement has been finalized, gives us hope that all the parties in the alliance of will try to defeat those who’ve been forcefully implementing Acts and laws in UT and policies which don’t seem to be in favour of people here,” said Mir after the meeting called at National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah’s residence in Srinagar.

The mainstream parties, including the National Conference, PDP, Peoples Conference and CPI(M), formed the PAGD last month and are fighting the maiden DDC elections together.

The DDC elections will be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir in eight phases between November 28 and December 19, and the counting of votes will take place on December 22. (ANI)

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his ‘Gupkar gang going global’ comment.

Mufti accused the BJP of using “euphemism” and “stale tactic”, while Abdullah pointed to the “frustration” of the minister at the Jammu and Kashmir alliance’s decision to contest elections.

Taking to Twitter, Abdullah said, “I can understand the frustration behind this attack by the Hon’ble Home Minister. He had been briefed that the People’s Alliance was preparing to boycott elections. This would have allowed the BJP and newly formed King’s party a free run in J-K. We didn’t oblige them.”

“Only in J-K can leaders be detained and called anti-national for participating in elections and supporting the democratic process. The truth is all those who oppose the ideology of the BJP are labelled “corrupt and anti-national,” he added.

Abdullah said that Gupkar alliance is not a gang.

“We are not a “gang” Amit Shah ji, we are a legitimate political alliance having fought and continuing to fight elections, much to your disappointment,” he said.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using ‘Gupkar Gang’ euphemism to project Gupkar alliance as anti-nationals.

“Old habits die hard. Earlier BJPs narrative was that the tukde tukde gang threatened India’s sovereignty and they are now using ‘Gupkar Gang’ euphemism to project us as anti-nationals. Irony died a million deaths since its BJP itself that violates the Constitution day in and day out,” she tweeted.

“Fighting elections in an alliance is also anti-national now. BJP can stitch as many alliances in its hunger for power but somehow we are undermining national interest by putting up a united front,” she added.

Continuing her attack on BJP, she tweeted, “BJPs stale tactic of dividing India by projecting themselves as saviours & political opponents as internal & imagined enemies is far too predictable now. Love jihad, tukde tukde and now Gupkar Gang dominates the political discourse instead of like rising unemployment & inflation.”

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration wants foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that Indian people will no longer tolerate an “unholy global gathbandhan” against national interest.

Taking to Twitter, Shah asked Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi if they support the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration which, he said, insults India’s tricolour.

“The Gupkar Gang is going global! They want foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir. The Gupkar Gang also insults India’s Tricolour. Do Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji support such moves of the Gupkar Gang? They should make their stand crystal clear to the people of India,” Shah tweeted.

“Congress and the Gupkar Gang want to take J-K back to the era of terror and turmoil. They want to take away the rights of Dalits, women and tribals that we have ensured by removing Article 370. This is why they’re being rejected by the people everywhere,” he said in another tweet.

“Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always remain an integral part of India. Indian people will no longer tolerate an unholy ‘global gathbandhan’ against our national interest. Either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or else the people will sink it,” Shah said.

Parties including the National Conference, PDP, Peoples Conference and CPI(M), formed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration and are fighting the maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections together.

On October 24, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had said that the PAGD has been formed to ensure the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are restored. “All of us united that the pre-August 5th, 2019 position must be restored,” he added.

While Farooq Abdullah was chosen as president of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, Mehbooba Mufti was picked to play a role of vice-president.

The DDC polls will be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir in eight phases between November 28 and December 19, and the counting of votes will take place on December 22. (ANI)

As cases of coronavirus are rising in the national capital, the Delhi Government has sent a proposal to the Centre, that if needed, markets flouting safety protocols and emerging as COVID-19 hotspots, be closed for a few days, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

“Since cases are rising in Delhi, we are sending a general proposal to the Central government, that if required, Delhi Government can implement shutting down those markets for few days, where norms are not being followed and these market places are becoming a local COVID-19 hotspot,” Kejriwal said during a virtual press conference.

This comes days after local markets were seen swamped here amid the festive period of Diwali. The national capital witnessed a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases post Diwali with 40,128 active cases of the deadly virus here. The city has seen 4,41,361 recoveries and 7,713 fatalities due to the pathogen so far, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Tuesday.

Kejriwal also said that the decision to allow 200 people to attend weddings and other functions in Delhi will be withdrawn as of now and a request for the same has been sent for the Lieutenant Governor’s approval.

“When the Covid-19 situation improved in Delhi a few weeks ago, the number of people attending weddings increased to 200, according to the Centre’s guidelines. Now it’s being withdrawn and only 50 people will be allowed to attend such gatherings. The decision has been sent for LG’s approval,” CM said.

He further thanked the Central government for immediately providing 750 extra ICU beds for the assistance of COVID-19 patients in the city.

“All government and agencies have doubled their efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic but it can’t be done till people take precautions. I appeal everyone to wear masks and follow social distancing,” he concluded. (ANI)

In another move by China to curb freedom of expression, a citizen journalist from China, who has been detained since May for reporting the COVID-19 outbreak from Wuhan, is facing a sentence of up to five years in jail after she was formally indicted on charges of spreading false information.

Zhang Zhan, who is a former lawyer, is being held in a detention facility in Shanghai after being arrested for over 6 months as she reported on the virus outbreak, reported The Guardian.

Furthermore, Zhang was accused of ‘picking quarrels and stirring up trouble’. These accusations are frequently used against critics and activists in China.

According to the prosecution document, the indictment sheet on Monday claimed that Zhang had sent formal information through text, video and other media through the Internet media such as WeChat, Twitter and Youtube.

“She also accepted interviews from overseas media Free Radio Asia and Epoch Times and maliciously speculated on Wuhan’s COVID-19 epidemic,” it said.

The Guardian reported that the NGO Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) had stated that Zhang’s reports included ‘the detentions of other independent reporters and harassment of families of victims seeking accountability from the epicentre via her WeChat, Twitter and YouTube accounts’.

The CHRD further mentioned that she was also previously detained on similar accusations by Chinese authorities in 2018 and in the following year for voicing support for Hong Kong activists.

Zhang is among the several journalists who have been arrested this year after travelling to Wuhan to report on the virus outbreak and response, reported The Guardian.

Several journalists have been arrested in China after the national security law was implemented in Hong Kong this year.

The draconian law is aimed at crushing dissent in the erstwhile British colony which saw massive pro-democracy protests last year. The legislation, which came into effect on July 1, punishes what Beijing terms secession, subversion, terrorism, and foreign interference with up to life in prison. (ANI)

Amid the growing protest over the emerging election results of the Gilgit Baltistan region, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday announced a ban on rallies and gatherings.

Addressing the country following a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on the coronavirus, Imran Khan announced a ban on gatherings and rallies — particularly ahead of the campaigns during the Gilgit Baltistan polls, Geo News reported.

“We reviewed the rising cases of the COVID-19 and the second wave — which is being experienced in the entire world, especially Europe and America, where cases are rising rapidly and even more than there were before,” Imran Khan said, Geo News quoted.

As the results were seen favouring Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the illegally occupied Gilgit Baltistan, the major political parties have hit the streets claiming the polls are rigged.

The elections were held on Sunday in Gilgit Baltistan in 24 constituencies of the Legislative Assembly. Khan’s PTI won eight seats while PPP three seats and independent candidates seven, according to unofficial results

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari alleged rigging in three constituencies. Addressing a sit-in in Gilgit, he said rigging was made to snatch the mandate of PPP in Gilgit 1, Ghizer 3 and a constituency in Skardu.

Earlier in a tweet, Bilawal Zardari said that the legislative assembly election in Gilgit-Baltistan “has been stolen” and that he will be shortly joining a protest in the region.

“My election has been stolen. I will be joining the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in their protest shortly,” Bilawal tweeted.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday claimed that PTI won a few seats in Gilgit Baltistan’s elections through ‘rigging’, ‘bullying’, and with the help of turncoats.

India has slammed Islamabad for its decision to hold elections in the illegally occupied region of Gilgit-Baltistan, saying that any action to alter the status of the region has no legal basis. (ANI)

An urgent meeting of the Law Committee of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council has been convened on Wednesday in New Delhi to discuss in detail the issue of fake invoices to claim input tax credit under the indirect tax regime.

The meet will deliberate on ways of further tightening of the GST registration process and work out other legal measures including necessary law amendment required in GST Act to do away with the menace of fake invoicing, sources in the finance ministry said here on Monday.

The sources said that this meeting is part of the nationwide drive against the GST fake invoice frauds under which in last four days Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has arrested 25 persons including two professionals, identified about 1180 entities and booked 350 cases against unscrupulous elements involved in availing and passing on of ineligible input tax credit (ITC) fraudulently.

The crackdown which was carried out from November 9 to November 13 was resumed on Monday after Diwali recess.

Finance ministry sources said that the fake invoices were not only issued for availing or passing on of the ITC but were also used as a conduit for nefarious activities leading to tax evasion, massive bank loan fraud, money laundering and hawala transactions.

This has a very serious impact on the economy in the long run. These activities have been largely carried out by non-existent or fly-by-night firms and by using a network of firms game the system to usurp ITC on commission basis.

Sources acknowledged that these activities have been carried out, primarily, by those unscrupulous elements who have exploited the ease of doing business conveniences in the existing system by getting a GST registration easily and quickly and later take advantage of the liberalised norm for grant of registration in GST.

Sources said that the GST Council’s Law Committee would consider the impact of the issuances of fake invoices and strict actions/measures required under the GST law to curb these activities.

The Committee would also do some out of the box thinking on this issue as at present the only way to curb this illegal activity is to identify the chain of entities involved in the issuance of fake invoices and availment of credit and take strict action against them for preventing such fraud, including arresting the masterminds who run the whole network of firms and indulge in passing on fake credit.

The sources said that the Committee would deliberate on measures that are required to plug loopholes in the law which are being exploited by the unscrupulous elements to defraud the exchequer. It is learnt that the Finance Ministry is in the process of plugging these gaps in the GST registration process to ensure that only genuine businesses get a GST registration and those, who have intent to defraud the system, are purged out at the registration stage itself.

Sources explained that the businesses, whose owners or promoters do not have commensurate financial track record, like filing of income tax returns and payment of income tax to the Government, may require detailed physical and financial verification by tax officers, before their companies can be considered for GST registration. The provisions related to deemed registration under GST law may also be tightened to prevent misuse of such provisions by fake dealers.

Besides, the provisions related to the suspension of registration may also be streamlined to make the procedure of suspension and cancellation of registration more efficient and faster, so that such fraud operators can be prevented in time from continuing to pass on fake credit down the chain, added a source.

It is also learnt that data analytics techniques will be used to identify such taxpayers, who are suspected to be indulging in fraudulent activities and coordinated action is likely to be taken against such elements by suspending their registration, followed by detailed physical and financial verification by field officers to check the genuineness of their operations before they are allowed to reuse their registration. (ANI)

As the results go in favour of Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in occupied Gilgit Baltistan, the major political parties have hit the streets claiming the polls are rigged.

The elections were held on Sunday in Gilgit Baltistan in 24 constituencies of the Legislative Assembly.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari alleged rigging in three constituencies. Addressing a sit-in in Gilgit, he said rigging was made to snatch the mandate of PPP in Gilgit 1, Ghizer 3 and a constituency in Skardu.

He said the PPP will continue to protest till justice is done. Bilawal said PPP will install Amjad Hussain Advocate as the chief minister of Gilgit Baltistan to provide employment and other rights to the people of region.

Bilawal Bhutto said while addressing his supporters, “The election commission was having the responsibility to stop rigging, but besides stopping the ruling government, it continued to target the opposition”.

In Ghizar, PPP’s Muhammad Ayub also staged sit-in against rigging in Ghizar 4 constituency.

“We will fight against this injustice. Today, our mandate has been hijacked through pre-poll rigging. We will continue till we get justice as the authorities are aware of this rigging”, said Muhammad Ayub while addressing his supporters.

The two former chief ministers PML (N)’s Hafiz Hafeez Ur Rehman and PPP’s Syed Mehdi Shah have lost their battles.

The elections were held amidst relentless protest by the people of Gilgit Baltistan against the Pakistan government’s “illegal occupation” in the region.

India has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no legal basis. (ANI)