INDIA-CHINA MILITARY TIES ‘IMPROVING’, THANKS TO MODI, XI EFFORTS: PLA China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said on Thursday that its ties with the Indian military are “improving” with the strategic dialogue, practical cooperation and exchanges, “thanks” to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping. Defence spokesman Col Wu Qian said the joint counter-terrorism drills in India “showed the determination” of the two sides to protect the regional stability besides fighting terrorism. “For the China-India relations, military relationship is the important component of the overall relationship,” Col Wu told a media briefing in Beijing. “Thanks to the efforts of the two heads of the state, the military relationship is improving and two countries maintain strategic dialogues and conduct practical cooperation, and also strengthen their exchanges along their borders,” he said. The military ties constituted an important component of the two informal summits – Wuhan in 2018 and Chennai this year – between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi especially after the 73-day standoff at Doklam in 2017. In December, both countries also held the 22nd round of the boundary talks in New Delhi during which they agreed to intensify efforts to achieve a “fair”, “reasonable” and mutually acceptable solution to the vexed boundary issue. “The year 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between China and India, and the two militaries have plans to conduct various exchanges and celebration activities,” Col Wu said. “We are willing to work together with the Indian side to follow the guidance of our heads of state and promote the military-to-military relationship continue to develop along the right track and make more contributions to the growth of the bilateral relations,” he said. PAKISTAN PM IMRAN KHAN CLAIMS INDIA MAY CARRY OUT ‘ACTION OF SOME SORT’ IN POK Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday warned that PM Narendra Modi would “definitely” carry out an action of some sort in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in order to divert world’s attention from the recently introduced laws — Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) — by the BJP government, reported Dawn. “I have been telling the world for the past five months that the Modi-RSS government, in order to divert the world’s attention away from Kashmir and the protests against the laws, will definitely conduct some sort of action in PoK,” Khan was quoted as saying by Dawn. Khan added that both CAA and NRC laws have attracted large-scale protests and asserted that Pakistan would not need to do anything as “this system of oppression will be internally brought down by the people of India.” RAHUL GANDHI’S ‘JHOOTH’ JIBE AT PM MODI, AND BJP’S RETORT Congress and BJP are involved in a battle on social media on detention centres in the country. First, it was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who tweeted an edited video clip of a news report which has a portion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech where he says there are no detention centres in India. The former Congress president has used hashtag #JhootJhootJhoot along with the caption “The Prime Minister of the RSS lies to Mother India” in Hindi. In less than two hours, the BJP came back with a response with the party’s IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya tweeting a screenshot of Press Information Bureau’s 2011 press release with the title 362 illegal migrants sent to detention camps in Assam. Rahul Gandhi. Seen this press release from 2011 issued by the Congress govt claiming to have sent 362 illegal migrants to ‘detention camps’ in Assam. Just because India has rejected you repeatedly, are you hell bent on destroying it with your politics of hate and fear mongering?” Malviya said in his tweet accompanying the photograph. The Prime Minister also claimed that “Urban Naxals” and various opposition parties had launched a campaign of misinformation against the new citizenship law because they were angry about him winning the Lok Sabha polls and coming to power for a second term. BATTLE ON FOR DELHI ASSEMBLY POLLS Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the time is up for the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi as the AAP sought to strike direct rapport with voters with an ‘Acche Beete Paanch Saal - Lage Raho Kejriwal’ slogan. Shah accused the opposition of creating confusion over the Citizenship Amendment Act and spoiling the atmosphere in the national capital by misleading the people. Addressing an event organised by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Shah said the time is up for the Kejriwal government in Delhi and the BJP would form the next government in the national capital. Shah said it was time to defeat the “tukde tukde” gang. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal answered questions on his governance in an interaction with people in Chandni Chowk Town Hall. Answering a volley of questions on his governance, ranging from women’s safety to free health facility and subsidised power, Kejriwal, in his first Town Hall meeting, said ensuring a clean city would be his first priority, if voted to power in polls likely to be held by January end or early February. ON NPR, CONGRESS LEADERS INSIST GOVT HAS A SINISTER AGENDA Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday alleged that the National Population Register (NPR) approved by the BJP government was different and dangerous in terms of the “text and context” of the data collection done in 2010. Charging that the BJP government had a “sinister agenda”, he said if the BJP’s motives were bona fide, the government should unconditionally state that they supported the NPR form and design of 2010 and did not intend to link it to the controversial NRC. Chidambaram said he is happy that the BJP had released a video clip of the launch of NPR in 2010. “Please listen to the video. We were enumerating the ‘usual residents’ of the country. The emphasis is on residency not citizenship,” he said. Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said the government should answer categorically why citizens are being asked the NRC-related questions in the NPR’s pre-test forms. Asserting that his party would oppose the government if it tries to link the NPR with the NRC, he alleged that it infringes upon the citizens’ right to privacy. Maken also said the Congress had only taken the first step for having a national population register but the BJP is now seeking to link it to the NRC, which the Congress never wanted. “The BJP government is trying to bring in the NRC in the garb of the NPR. The BJP government wants to polarise society,” he said. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU CLAIMS WIN IN PARTY LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed a "huge win" in a vote that challenged his leadership of the Likud party. About 49% of Likud's 116,000 eligible members voted on Thursday, party figures show. Challenger Gideon Saar conceded defeat, saying he would now back Mr Netanyahu in March's general election. The internal party vote was seen as a test of Mr Netanyahu's hold on power at a time of mounting difficulties. Netanyahu, 70, faces trial on bribery and corruption charges, as well as a third national election within a year. Previous elections held in April and September saw Likud deadlocked with the centrist Blue and White party - with neither able to form a government. AFTER FRANCE, ITALY APPROVES DIGITAL TAX ON LARGE TECH COMPANIES Following in the footsteps of France, Italy has approved a new tax to be levied on large tech companies, a move that is likely to put more strain on the country's relations with the U.S. The new tax passed this week by Italy's Parliament will come into force on January 1. The Italian parliament has approved a three percent digital tax on some digital revenue of technology companies that make over $831 million in global revenue, including least $6 million in Italy. The tax is similar to the one France implemented earlier this year which has attracted severe criticism from the U.S. According to a report in The Epoch Times, dozens of countries are working on proposals to change corporate tax schemes to capture money from tech firms that have users across the world, such as Facebook and Google's parent company Alphabet. ARMY CHIEF SPEAKS ON RECENT STIR, DRAWS FLAK Army chief General Bipin Rawat kicked up a storm on Thursday when he commented on the anti-CAA protests across the country, condemning those leading the “crowds to carry out arson and violence". Speaking at an event-Six Sigma Healthcare Delhi-he said it is not leadership if people lead university and college students towards violence. “We are witnessing in a large number of university and colleges students, the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in cities and towns. This is not leadership,” he said. Gen Rawat’s comments triggered a massive row. Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas said Gen Rawat was “wrong” in making such remarks as people in the armed forces must follow the decades-old principle of serving the country and not any political force. The CPI(M), in a statement, asked the General to apologise to the nation for his “indiscretion”, holding that his remarks will have extremely adverse ramifications for the constitutional arrangement in the country. Congress Spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa too slammed Gen Rawat for his remarks. “Army Chief Bipin Rawat speaking against #CAAProtests is wholly against Constitutional democracy. If Army Chief is allowed to speak on Political issues today, it also permits him to attempt an Army takeover tomorrow!!,” he tweeted. After his remarks generated a storm, Army issued a clarification, saying the Army Chief has not referred to the CAA. “He has not referred to any political event, personality. He was addressing the future citizens of India who are students. (It is his) righteous duty to guide students on whom shall depend the future of the nation. In the Kashmir valley, youths were misguided the first, by people whom they trusted as leaders,” the Army statement said. CAA PROTESTS: SECTION 144 IMPOSED IN GHAZIABAD, INTERNET SUSPENDED FOR 24 HOURS For the second time this month, the Ghaziabad administration on Thursday suspended internet services for 24 hours from 10 pm. The development comes in the wake of violent protests against the newly amended Citizenship Act in Uttar Pradesh — even though the situation has been calm for the past two days. “Keeping in mind the law and order situation, Ghaziabad administration has ordered the shutting of internet services between 10 pm Thursday and 10 pm Friday,” the order issued by District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said. With 18 people killed so far, most of them to bullet injuries, Uttar Pradesh is the worst-affected state by the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. In at least two cases, the police have admitted to firing in “self-defence”. Public and private vehicles were burned during various protests, while several policemen were also injured. COAI COMES OUT STRONGLY AGAINST INDISCRIMINATE INTERNET SHUTDOWNS The Cellular Operators Association of India—the umbrella organisation for large mobile service providers—has been regularly writing to the Government about what it describes as a “policy for disenfranchising people” by frequent internet shutdowns but no replies have been forthcoming. Besides the huge economic fallout, the COAI has calculated the loss of internet shutdowns has gone up in 2019 to an estimated Rs 24.5 million per hour due to the high dependence on internet of several services. According to Rajan Mathew, the Secretary General of COAI, the Government has been resorting to an identical “shutdown policy”, say, for fear of examination papers leaking in Rajasthan or for fear of spiraling of violence in Jammu & Kashmir. “We do not know what intelligence inputs are being used for disenfranchising people or whether there is a real-time review process being undertaken by the Government. In fact, we are not aware of any review of the perceived dangers of connectivity and we cannot do any second guessing. The Government has to think of the cost and benefits of internet shutdowns instead of using the same shutdown policy for all parts of the country,” Mathew said. Speaking about how with almost 100 internet shutdowns have been logged in 2019, Mathew said that such a clampdown should be the “last resort” for the Government given the “cascading” economic and social impact such an action has. TAMIL NADU TOPS GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX, Tamil Nadu topped the composite ranking for Good Governance Index (GGI), with Maharashtra and Karnataka bagging the second and third spot respectively, according to a report released by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and the Centre for Good Governance on Wednesday. Chhattisgarh stood fourth, followed by Andhra Pradesh (fifth), Gujarat (sixth), Haryana (seventh) and Kerala (eighth). Madhya Pradesh bagged the ninth position, West Bengal tenth, followed by Telangana (11th), Rajasthan (12th), Punjab (13th), Orissa (14th), Bihar (15th), Goa (16th), Uttar Pradesh (17th) and Jharkhand at the eighteenth position in the big states category. Tamil Nadu has achieved excellence in sectors like public infrastructure, which measures indicators like access to potable water, towns that are Open Defection Free (ODF), connectivity to rural habitations, access to clean cooking fuel (LPG/PNG), 24×7 power supply etc. The state has also fared well in judicial and public security, which factors in indicators like conviction rate, availability of police personnel, the proportion of women police personnel, disposal of court cases, etc. However, the state was found languishing in sectors like agriculture and allied sectors, commerce and industries, social welfare and development. In the North-East and Hill states, Himachal Pradesh has topped the list with a score of 5.22 followed by Uttrakhand and Tripura. Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are the least performing states. Similarly, among Union Territories, Pondicherry, Chandigarh, and Delhi lead the ranking, with Lakshwadeep at the bottom. RAVEENA TANDON, OTHERS BOOKED FOR USE OF WORD ‘HALLELUJAH’ LIGHTLY Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon, producer-director Farah Khan and comedian Bharti Singh have been booked by the Amritsar Rural police for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Christian community in using the word “Hallelujah” on a web show. Along with a video, the police received a complaint from Sona Masih, general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and president of the Christian Samaj Front. He alleged that when the entire world was celebrating Christmas in December, three B-Town actors made a mockery of the pious word ‘Hallelujah’ (word of praise to God) in a programme called ‘Backbenchers’. “This has hurt the sentiments of the Christian community and we sought stringent action against them,” he said. Punjab Police confirmed that a case under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code had been registered at Ajnala police station in Amritsar district on Wednesday. In all six persons have been booked in this case. VOLKSWAGEN'S ROBOTS CAN TURN ANY CAR PARK INTO A FLEXIBLE EV CHARGING POINT Volkswagen provided a glimpse into the future in which the search for charging stations for electric cars comes to an end. Volkswagen Group Components introduced mobile charging robots that can drive to the electric car completely autonomously. The prototype consists of a compact, self-driving robot as well as flexible and agile energy storage devices, also known as battery wagons. When fully charged, these are equipped with an energy content of around 25 kWh each. With its integrated charging electronics, the energy storage device allows for DC quick charging with up to 50 kW on the vehicle. The robot, which can drive autonomously, is fitted with cameras, laser scanners and ultrasonic sensors. A charging robot can move several battery wagons at the same time. After it is started via app or V2X communication, the mobile robot drives itself to the vehicle that needs charging and communicates with it. From opening the charging socket flap to connecting the plug to decoupling – the entire charging process occurs without any human interaction. The mobile robot brings a trailer in the form of a mobile energy storage device to the vehicle and connects them; it then uses this energy storage device to charge the battery of the electric vehicle. Once the charging service is complete, the robot collects the energy storage device and brings it back to the charging station. PAK TEAM WAS UNFAIR TO DANISH KANERIA BECAUSE HE WAS HINDU: SHOAIB AKHTAR Danish Kaneria, the only Hindu player in the Pakistan team in the last decade, was treated unfairly by his teammates because of his faith, legendary pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar has alleged. Speaking on a cricket show titled ‘Game on Hai’, Akhtar said, “In my career, the number of times I have had to argue with people regarding the issues of Karachi, Punjab, Peshawar is outrageous. People used to ask questions like, ‘Why are you eating (with us) here?’ to Hindu players like Danish Kaneria.” Akhtar said that there were many who did not want Kaneria to be part of the Pakistan team because of his faith, that the spinner was never given due credit for his performances and that he was constantly humiliated by his teammates. He added that some players even refused to partake food with Kaneria. Akhtar added that such behaviour incensed him and he told his teammates off for behaving in that manner. Kaneria, who played for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010, is only the second Hindu player to play for Pakistan, the other being Anil Dalpat, a wicketkeeper who played in the 1980s.