INDIAN, CHINESE ARMIES APPEAR HEADING TOWARDS BIGGEST FACE-OFF AFTER DOKLAM

Indian and Chinese troops remained engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball

situation in several disputed areas along the Line of Actual Control in

Eastern Ladakh, signalling that the confrontation could become the biggest

military face-off after the Doklam episode in 2017.

Top military sources said India has further increased its strength in

Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley-the two contentious areas where the Chinese

Army is learnt to have been deploying around 2,000 to 2,500 troops, besides

gradually enhancing temporary infrastructure.

The biggest concern for the Indian military has been the presence of Chinese

troops around several key points, including Indian Post KM120 along the

Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie road in the Galwan valley.

"It is serious. It is not a normal kind of transgression," former Northern

Army Commander Lt Gen (Retd) DS Hooda said. He particularly emphasised that

Chinese transgression into areas like Galwan was worrying as there was no

dispute between the two sides in the area.

Strategic Affairs expert Ambassador Ashok K Kantha too agreed with Lt Gen

Hooda.

Sources said diplomatic efforts must be ramped up to resolve the escalating

tension between the two armies and that both sides are eyeball-to-eyeball in

several areas including Pangong Tso, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie. The

Chinese side has particularly strengthened its presence in the Galwan

Valley, erecting around 100 tents in the last two weeks and bringing in

heavy equipment for construction of bunkers.

India last week said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by

its troops and asserted that India has always taken a very responsible

approach towards border management. At a media briefing, External Affairs

Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also strongly refuted China's

contention that the tension was triggered due to trespassing by Indian

forces on the Chinese side.

India's response came two days after China accused the Indian Army of

trespassing into its territory, claiming that it was an "attempt to

unilaterally change the status" of the LAC in Sikkim and Ladakh. On May 5,

the Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and

even resorted to stone-pelting in the Pangong Tso lake area in which

soldiers on both sides sustained injuries.

LABOUR UNIONS INTERNATIONALISE LABOUR ISSUE; SEEK ILO'S INTERVENTION

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has intervened with the Union

Government to a complaint to it by the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) to ensure

proper implementation of the labour laws

These unions include the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), the

All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the Centre of Indian Trade Unions

(CITU), the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), the All-India United Trade Union

Centre (AIUTUC), the Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), the

Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), the All-India Central Council of

Trade Unions (AICCTU), the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) and the

United Trade Union Congress (UTUC).

The move to internationalise the development within the country by the

unions, which are dominated by the Left-leaning and anti-BJP outfits, is

bound to raise concerns in the government quarters.

The unions' insistence with the world panel, especially the timing of it in

the context of geopolitical developments of the Indo-China direct face-off

at borders, will rankle within the establishment.

India has just assumed the chairmanship of the executive board of the WHO,

which is pressing for probe in the provenance and spread of COVID-19, with

China in the eye of the storm.

Many believe that China was trying to wriggle out from the corona issue by

trying to deflect attention by the way of aggressive posturing through

red-herrings.

TOOK LESSONS FROM SWINE FLU OUTBREAK, DEVISED 'INTELLIGENT TESTING STRATEGY'

AGAINST COVID-19: ICMR

The government devised an "intelligent testing strategy" and scaled up its

preparedness to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, taking lessons from the 2009

swine-flu outbreak that had "exposed glaring gaps" in the country's

diagnosis infrastructure, the ICMR said on Monday.

The country now has 610 laboratories - 432 public and 178 private - which

are currently testing 1.1 lakh samples daily.

The testing capacity had been increased to 1.4 lakh samples per day, which

was being further raised to 2 lakh, it said.

Keeping in view the revised understanding of the virus and the research work

being done in India and elsewhere, testing criteria was widened to include

returnees from abroad, migrant labourers and COVID-19 frontline workers.

Most states have been working with the National Tuberculosis Elimination

Program (NTEP) to deploy TrueNAT machines for COVID-19 testing. Through this

machine, testing was done in such areas/districts where modern virological

laboratory in private or public didn't exist, the Indian Council of Medical

Research (ICMR) said.

"Due to this, the testing infrastructure is not overwhelmed in any state to

date. No state has a significant backlog of samples to be tested. More labs

are being set up and additional machines are deployed in states like Uttar

Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal as well as in the rest of the country to meet

the possible higher requirement," it said.

COVID-19 DASHBOARD - (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE)

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 1,44,939 (+6,412) / 55,88,356 (+89,779)

Total Deaths 4,172 (+148) / 3,47,873 (+1,185)

Total Recovered 60,706 (+3,014) / 23,65,719 (+63,715)

Active Cases 80,061 (+3,250) / 28,74,764 (+24,879)

Serious / Critical Cases (See below) / 53,167 (-56)

Top impacted nations so far: (And some of India's Neighbours)

Country, Total Cases / Total Deaths / Active Cases /

Serious-Critical Case

1 USA 17,06,226 / 99,805 /

11,41,751 / 17,114

2 Brazil 3,76,669 / 23,522 /

1,99,314 / 8,318

3 Russia 3,53,427 / 3,633 /

2,30,996 / 2,300

4 Spain 2,82,480 / 26,837 /

58,685 / 854

5 UK 2,61,184 / 36,914 / N/A

/ 1,559

6 Italy 2,30,158 / 32,877 /

55,300 / 541

7 France 1,82,942 / 28,432 / 89,311

/ 1,609

8 Germany 1,80,789 / 8,428 /

11,161 / 873

9 Turkey 1,57,814 / 4,369 / 33,430

/ 756

10 India 1,44,950 / 4,172 /

80,072 / 8,944

11 Iran 1,37,724 / 7,451 /

22,560 / 2,585

19 Pakistan 56,349 / 1,167 / 37,700

/ 111

24 Bangladesh 35,585 / 501 / 27,750

/ 1

100 Sri Lanka 1,182 / 10 / 477

/ 1

Top 17 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered /

Deceased

Maharashtra 52,667 / 35,186 / 15,786 /

1,695

Tamil Nadu 17,082 / 8,232 / 8,731 /

119

Gujarat 14,468 / 6,944 / 6,636 / 888

Delhi 14,053 / 7,006 / 6,771 / 276

Rajasthan 7,300 / 3,079 / 4,056 /

165

Madhya Pradesh 6,859 / 2,988 / 3,571

/ 300

Uttar Pradesh 6,497 / 2,668 / 3,660 /

169

West Bengal 3,816 / 2,124 / 1,414 /

278

Andhra Pradesh 2,886 / 938 / 1,892

/ 56

Bihar 2,737 / 1,991 / 733 / 13

Karnataka 2,182 / 1,431 / 705 /

44

Punjab 2,081 / 128 / 1,913 / 40

Telangana 1,920 / 700 / 1,164 /

56

Jammu and Kashmir 1,668 / 836 / 809 /

23

Odisha 1,438 / 782 / 649 / 7

Haryana 1,213 / 395 / 802 /

16

Kerala 897 / 359 / 532 / 6

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

VENEZUELA CELEBRATES DOCKING OF TANKER WITH IRAN GASOLINE

Venezuelan authorities celebrated on Monday as the first of five Iranian

tankers loaded with gasoline docked in the South American country,

delivering badly needed fuel to the crisis-stricken nation that sits atop

the world's largest oil reserves.

The gasoline shipments are arriving in defiance of stiff sanctions by the

Trump administration against both nations, and they mark a new era in the

burgeoning relationship between Venezuela and Iran, which is expanding its

footprint in the Western Hemisphere.

Deep gasoline shortages have plagued Venezuela for years, though the problem

had until recently largely spared the capital of Caracas.

Despite Washington's objections, the first ship arrived with no interference

from U.S. ships patrolling the Caribbean on what officials call a drug

interdiction mission.

Mr. Maduro on Sunday expressed gratitude to Iranian President Hassan

Rouhani, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ai Khamenei and the Iranian people

from "the bottom of my heart." He said Iran and Venezuela have a right just

like any other nations in the world to engage in trade.

CHINA WARNS U.S. OF RETALIATION IF PUNISHED FOR HONG KONG LAW

China on Monday threatened counter-measures against the U.S. if it was

punished for plans to impose a sedition law on Hong Kong, that the business

hub's security chief hailed as a new tool that would defeat "terrorism".

Beijing plans to pass a new security law for Hong Kong that bans treason,

subversion and sedition after months of massive, often-violent pro-democracy

protests last year.

But many Hong Kongers, business groups and Western nations fear the proposal

could be a death blow to the city's treasured freedoms and thousands took to

the streets on Sunday despite a ban on mass gatherings introduced to combat

coronavirus.

As police dispersed the crowds with tear gas and water cannon, Washington's

National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien warned the new law could cost the

city its preferential U.S. trading status.

But China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing would react to any sanctions from

Washington. "If the U.S. insists on hurting China's interests, China will

have to take every necessary measure to counter and oppose this," Foreign

Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Monday.

WUHAN USES SAMPLE POOLING TO CONDUCT 6.57 MILLION TESTS IN 10 DAYS

Wuhan, the city at the centre of China's COVID-19 outbreak, has conducted

6.5 million tests for COVID-19 in the past 10 days, officials said on Monday

following a massive citywide campaign launched on May 14.

The city launched the unprecedented 10 day-campaign to test all of its 11

million residents after a cluster of asymptomatic infections was reported on

May 9.

Between May 14 and May 23, 6.57 million tests were conducted, the health

authority said, falling a little short of the ambitious 11 million target,

which is expected to be reached this week.

The city managed to carry out such a large number by a method called sample

pooling, The Wall Street Journal reported. After individual samples are

collected, five to ten are bundled and processed in a single nucleic acid

test. The entire group is cleared if the test comes out negative.

The tests so far have not thrown up a high number of asymptomatic cases. On

Monday, 38 new asymptomatic cases were reported and Wuhan now has a total of

326 asymptomatic cases under observation.

THE REST

========

532 FLIGHTS TAKE OFF ON DAY 1: DELHI-PATNA MOST BOOKINGS

Two months after they were grounded, 532 domestic flights crisscrossed the

Indian skies Monday - the first day of resumption of air services.

Demand for non-metro routes is significantly higher than metro routes, with

the Delhi-Patna route witnessing the highest number of bookings for the

travel period between May 25 and May 31, according to information sourced

from online travel agencies. The booking pattern is reflective of a trend

which suggests bulk of the demand comprises those going to visit their homes

or travelling for health-related procedures.

The Delhi-Patna route is in highest demand, Delhi-Patna most bookings

followed by sectors such as Delhi-Bagdogra, Mumbai-Varanasi,

Bengaluru-Patna, Delhi-Srinagar, etc.

Prior to the grounding of flights announced by the government with effect

from March 25, around 2,700 domestic flights operated in the country on a

normal day. According to the standard operating procedures issued by the

Ministry of Civil Aviation, only a third of those flights can operate now.

However, curtailment of the truncated schedule following requests by state

governments led to cancellation of several flights at airports throughout

the country. At Delhi Airport, more than 80 flights were cancelled.

MAHARASHTRA INA WAR OF WORDS WITH CENTRE, UP

After Railways Minister Piyush Goyal targeted Chief Minister Uddhav

Thackeray over the arrangements for trains to take migrant workers back to

their home states, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut hit back Monday saying the Union

government must not view Maharashtra as "a state ruled by the opposition"

but as "a state only".

On Sunday, hours after Thackeray said the railway authorities were providing

only 50 per cent of the trains required to transport migrant workers back to

their homes in North India, Goyal had tweeted that the Railways would

operate 125 Shramik special trains for Maharashtra Monday and asked Uddhav

to share a list, within one-and-a-half hours, of the migrants who would

board the trains along with their details, medical certificates, and their

originating and destination stations, with the Central Railway (CR). Goyal

also said the Railways was ready to send as many trains as required to

states, provided they do not "return empty".

Raut also dismissed the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's

remarks on "ill-treatment" meted to migrant workers who have left

Maharashtra in large numbers to their villages in UP. UP chief minister had

said the state will set up a commission for migrants to provide them social

security and stated that other states should seek permission from the UP

government if they wanted manpower from the state.

"UP CM should be focus on whether the migrants have reached to their

villages and are getting food and water in UP," Raut added.

Reacting to Adityanath's remarks, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said if UP

government's permission is required for seeking workers from their state,

then the migrants entering Maharashtra would also need to take permission

from the state government. "The Maharashtra government needs to look into it

seriously. In the future, any worker coming here for work should get duly

registered with the government and the police. They should submit their

details and identity proofs," MNS chief said.

CONCERNS OVER SAFETY: WHO SUSPENDS HCQ ARM OF SOLIDARITY DRUG TRIAL

The WHO Executive Group on Monday temporarily suspended the

hydroxychloroquine arm within the ongoing Solidarity Trial while the data is

reviewed by its Data Safety Monitoring Board.

The trial is being undertaken by ten nations, including India, and is

testing four drugs and combinations against COVID-19.

Of these four drugs, HCQ drug trial has been suspended, said WHO after The

Lancet last Friday published a study that revealed greater risk of death

among COVID patients who were administered the anti malarial HCQ.

The suspension of HCQ trial by WHO comes close on the heels of Indian ICMR

expanding its use as a preventive drug in asymptotic health workers across

all hospitals and in asymptotic COVID warriors in containment zones.

MUMBAI COPS WARN AGAINST INCITEMENTS TROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

An advisory issued by the Mumbai police warning of action against social

media users who "incite mistrust towards government functionaries" trying to

control the Covid-19 pandemic has drawn flak from the opposition BJP.

Under the advisory, which came into effect on Monday and will remain in

force till June 8, admins of groups on WhatsApp, Facebook and other forms of

social media would be held responsible for posts by individual members.

MANUFACTURING OF PPES, N95 MASKS RAMPED UP: HEALTH MINISTRY

India has significantly ramped up its production capacity of PPEs and N95

masks with three lakh units each being manufactured daily and their quality

are being ensured through stringent protocols, the Union Health Ministry

said on Monday.

The statement comes following some new reports expressing concern about the

quality of personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls.

"There are some reports in a section of the media expressing concern about

the quality of personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls," the Ministry

said, clarifying that the products referred to in the reports had no

relevance to the procurement being made by the central government.

The ministry said the PPE coveralls were being procured from

manufacturers/suppliers only after getting them tested and approved by one

of the eight labs nominated by the Ministry of Textiles (MoT) for testing

the same. "It is only after their products qualify in the test prescribed by

the technical committee (JMG) of the Ministry of Health that they are

procured," the statement stated.

LOCUST SWARMS IN MP, UP AND RAJASTHAN

The scourge of locusts has been haunting farmers in parts of northern India

for weeks. The crop-destroying insects from the grasshopper family, entered

Madhya Pradesh earlier this week, in the most vicious attack in nearly three

decades. They have the potential to put in jeopardy India's food security,

experts say. In Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, the administration has kept firemen

ready to hose them down with chemicals. Locusts yesterday entered a Jaipur

residential area before moving away in search of green areas to satiate

their enormous appetite.

Desert locusts originate in East Africa and Sudan and travel in swarms

across Saudi Arabia and Iran to Pakistan and India. Then the bigger swarm

breaks into small swarms, affecting different parts of the country.

Swarms of desert locusts have been spreading through India from Rajasthan to

Uttar Pradesh, destroying crops and pastures at a voracious pace. Currently,

16 out of 33 Rajasthan districts are affected by locust swarms. The state's

Kharif crop is at risk.

Experts have warned that if the swarms are not controlled soon enough, they

can destroy the standing Moong cereal crop worth around Rs 8,000 crore.

HOCKEY LEGEND BALBIR SINGH SR PASSES AWAY

Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr was cremated with full state honours in

Chandigarh yesterday.

The three-time gold medallist at the Olympics died Monday morning at a

Mohali hospital. He was 96.

One of the greatest hockey players of all time, Balbir Singh Sr had been

battling several age-related health problems for over a couple of weeks.

One of the country's greatest athletes, Balbir Singh Sr was the only Indian

among 16 legends chosen by the International Olympic Committee across the

modern Olympics history. His world record for most goals scored by an

individual in the men's hockey final of the Olympics remains unbeaten. The

hockey great had scored five goals in India's 6-1 victory over the

Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Helsinki Games.

He was conferred with the Padma Shri in 1957 and was the manager of India's

World Cup-winning team in 1975.

INDICATORS

Indian markets were closed yesterday on account of Eid-ul-Fitr. US markets

were closed on account of Memorial Day

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

How unfortunate and how narrowing a thing it is for a man to have wealth who

makes a god of it instead of a servant. - Mark Twain

OFF TRACK

A guy claimed he quit his job because of 'illness and fatigue'. His wife

enunciated the point better when she said that his boss had got 'sick and

tired' of him.