20 INDIAN SOLDIERS DEAD IN CLASH WITH CHINA

Fragile peace along the Line of Actual Control between India and China was

shattered late Monday night. As many as 20 Indian Army soldiers, including,

a Commanding Officer, have been killed in action while battling the Chinese

at Galwan valley in Ladakh.

The Army's initial statement Tuesday afternoon said an officer and two

soldiers were killed, but late at night a second statement confirmed the

loss of 20 lives on the Indian side.

More than 900 troops on each side were involved in a physical clash, which

started Monday night, lasted several hours---in three phases---and ended on

early hours of Tuesday. Most of the deaths have occurred as soldiers

fell-off cliffs during a physical fight in the narrow Galwan valley into the

river at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Some died due to hypothermia and other

due to injuries.

Stones, Steel poles, bamboo poles with nails embed on them, were used by the

Chinese, to attack the Indian troops. The Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) of

China, have also suffered fatal casualties. There is no number to their

casualties. Indian Army categorically said "no bullets were fired in clash".

The casualty would have been manifold had bullets been fired. ANI reports

that as many as 43 Chinese soldiers have died in the clashes.

The PLA, which was in talks with Indian Army for both sides to withdraw from

the forty---day long stand-off, had built a fresh post and set up arctic

tents at vantage position on the south bank of the Galwan river. The post

gave a clear view to Chinese of the vital 255 kms Darbuk Shayok Daulat Baig

Oldie (DSDBO), India's only link to Depsang, Murgo ad Karokaram pass. This

was unacceptable to India. The post was some 5 km from the DSDBO road.

Troops of the 16th battalion of the Bihar Regiment noticed this fresh

military post near patrol point 14 and asked the Chinese to vacate. The

number of Indian Troops was greater than the Chinese on the spot, a clash

ensued. The PLA sent in reinforcements another clash ensued.

The disengagement plan decided on June 6 at the meeting of Corps

Commander-level was to ask both sides to withdraw from Galwan valley.

However, on Tuesday PLA's Western Theatre Command spokesperson Colonel Zhang

Shuili made a fresh claim on Tuesday saying "China always owns sovereignty

over the Galwan Valley region, and the Indian border defence troops are

inconsistent with their words and seriously violated the agreements both

countries have reached".

Until now the Indian side had maintained that there was no dispute at Galwan

and the LAC, which is not demarcated on ground, matched the Chinese claim

line (CCL) proposed in 1956.

"Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had

earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June 2020," an army statement said,

adding that the "Indian Army is firmly committed to protect the territorial

integrity and sovereignty of the nation".

FOREIGN MINISTRIES FROM BOTH SIDES ISSUE STATEMENTS

Accusing the Chinese government of departing from consensus on respecting

the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan valley, the Ministry of

External Affairs (MEA) said that the violent face-off happened as a result

of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo.

In response to media queries on the situation in the western sector of the

India-China border, the MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that India

and China have been discussing through military and diplomatic channels the

de-escalation of the situation in the border area of Eastern Ladakh.

"Senior Commanders had a productive meeting on June 6 and agreed on a

process for such de-escalation. Subsequently, ground commanders had a series

of meetings to implement the consensus reached at a higher level. While it

was our expectation that this would unfold smoothly, the Chinese side

departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in

the Galwan Valley,'' he said.

Given its responsible approach to border management, India is very clear

that all its activities are always within the Indian side of the LAC. We

expect the same of the Chinese side, he said.

The clashes and the first-ever casualties since 1975 may impair a

China-India-Russia Foreign Ministers' video-conference slated for next week.

The expectation was that just as the Doklam stand-off quickly de-accelerated

because of an impending summit of BRICS nations in China, this stand-off may

also end before Foreign Ministers from the three countries faced the

cameras.

"Indian troops crossed the border for illegal activities and launched

provocative attacks against Chinese personnel, and the Chinese side has

lodged a strong protest and solemn representation," the Chinese Foreign

Ministry said on Tuesday. A little later, the hawkish media outlet Global

Times alleged that Indian troops had again crossed the line of actual

control in the Galwan Valley region and "purposefully launched provocative

attacks, leading to severe clashes and casualties".

China said it had lodged a solemn representation with the Indian side and

urged it to strictly restrain its frontline troops from crossing the border

or taking any unilateral action that may complicate the border situation.

At the same time, it also reiterated the placatory statement it has made

ever since the stand-off erupted about seven weeks back. "China and Indian

side agreed to resolve the bilateral issues through dialogue to ease the

border situation and maintain peace and tranquillity in border areas," said

the Ministry. Both Foreign Offices have been making similar statements since

the stand-off began.

A WORD ABOUT THE SHARP RISE OF DEATH NUMBERS, IN COVID-19 DASHBOARD BELOW

The dashboard below shows the no. of deaths yesterday in India as 2004, a

huge jump from the last highest one day no. of 395.

This is hopefully a one-time sharp spike in death numbers. These 2,004

deaths, include 1,672 backlogged fatalities - largely in Maharashtra and

Delhi

Citing the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, it was pointed out that death of any

person testing positive for an infectious disease has to be reported as a

fatality from that disease except in three cases---death due to an animal

attack, accident/crime or suicide.

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

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 3,54,116 (+11,109) / 82,56,659 (+1,42,980)

Total Deaths 11,921 (+2,006) / 4,45,957 (+6,872)

Total Recovered 1,87,552 (+7,232) / 43,06,406 (+92,805)

Active Cases 1,54,643 (+1,871) / 35,04,296 (+43,303)

Serious / Critical Cases - N.A. / 54,595 (+27)

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

Country, Total Cases / Total Deaths / Recovered Cases / Active

Cases

1 USA 22,08,400 / 1,19,132 /

9,03,041 / 11,86,227

2 Brazil 9,28,834 / 45,456 /

4,64,774 / 4,18,604

3 Russia 5,45,458 / 7,284 /

2,94,306 / 2,43,868

4 India 3,54,161 / 11,921 /

1,87,552 / 1,54,688

5 UK 2,98,136 / 41,969 / N/A

/ N/A

6 Spain 2,91,408 / 27,136 / N/A

/ N/A

7 Italy 2,37,500 / 34,405 /

1,78,526 / 24,569

8 Peru 2,37,156 / 7,056 /

1,25,205 / 1,04,895

9 Iran 1,92,439 / 9,065 /

1,52,675 / 30,699

10 Germany 1,88,382 / 8,910 /

1,73,100 / 6,372

11 Chile 1,84,449 / 3,383 /

1,56,232 / 24,834

15 Pakistan 1,48,921 / 2,839 /

56,390 / 89,692

18 Bangladesh 94,481 / 1,262 / 36,264 /

56,955

101 Sri Lanka 1,915 / 11 /

1,371 / 533

Top 18 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered / Deceased

Maharashtra 1,13,445 / 50,044 / 57,851 /

5,537

Tamil Nadu 48,019 / 20,709 / 26,782 /

528

Delhi 44,688 / 26,351 / 16,500 / 1,837

Gujarat 24,628 / 6,004 / 17,090 / 1,534

Uttar Pradesh 14,598 / 5,259 / 8,904 /

435

Rajasthan 13,216 / 2,946 / 9,962 /

308

West Bengal 11,909 / 5,386 / 6,028 /

495

Madhya Pradesh 11,083 / 2,455 / 8,152 /

476

Haryana 8,272 / 4,406 / 3,748 /

118

Karnataka 7,530 / 2,976 / 4,456 /

94

Bihar 6,810 / 2,200 / 4,571 / 39

Andhra Pradesh 6,720 / 3,119 / 3,513

/ 88

Telangana 5,406 / 2,188 / 3,027 /

191

Jammu and Kashmir 5,298 / 2,454 / 2,781 /

63

Assam 4,511 / 2,088 / 2,412 / 8

Odisha 4,163 / 1,175 / 2,974 / 14

Punjab 3,371 / 838 / 2,461 / 72

Kerala 2,623 / 1,367 / 1,234 / 21

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

CORONAVIRUS: DEXAMETHASONE PROVES FIRST LIFE-SAVING DRUG

A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients

seriously ill with coronavirus.

The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the

fight against the deadly virus, UK experts say.

The drug is part of the world's biggest trial testing existing treatments to

see if they also work for coronavirus.

It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those

on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth.

Had the drug had been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the

pandemic, up to 5,000 lives could have been saved, researchers say.

And it could be of huge benefit in poorer countries with high numbers of

Covid-19 patients.

The UK government has 200,000 courses of the drug in its stockpile and says

the NHS will make dexamethasone available to patients.

NORTH KOREA'S MILITARY TO RE-ENTER INTER-KOREA COOPERATION SITES

North Korea says it will redeploy troops to now-shuttered inter-Korean

tourism and economic sites near the border with South Korea.

The North's military made the announcement on June 17, a day after it blew

up an inter-Korean liaison office just north of the Korean border in an

escalating of tensions between the rivals.

The North's General Staff says its military units will be deployed at the

sites of the Diamond tourism project and the Kaesong industrial complex,

both located just north of the heavily-fortified border.

Those sites, once symbols of inter-Korean cooperation, have been shuttered

amid animosities over North Korea's nuclear program for years.

The North says it will also resume military exercises and re-establish guard

posts in front-line areas and fly propaganda balloons toward South Korea.

These steps means that North Korea will nullify a 2018 tension-reduction

deal with South Korea.

THE REST

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GREEN SHOOTS EMERGING IN ECONOMY: PM MODI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, said greens shoots of economic

recovery could be seen as the country while cautioning that extreme vigil

needs to be maintained in order not to lose the advantage of the lockdown to

check the spread of COVID-19.

In his opening remarks at the start of the two-day video-conference with the

Chief Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said indications were

available to show that economic activity was picking up and suggested that

the states could share experiences of the steps taken to restart the economy

so that each could learn from others' experience.

In his first interaction with the Chief Ministers after 15 days of the

Unlock 1.0, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the first indicator of economy

restarting was the rise in power consumption, which had fallen during the

last few months. The toll collections, too, have increased while the exports

went up this month as well.

The kharif crop sowing rose by 12 per cent to 15 per cent while the

consumption of fertiliser doubled during May this year as compared to May

2019. In other sectors, he said, the production of two-wheeler had also

risen by 70 per cent in comparison to the pre-lockdown period while retail

and digital payments were almost at par with those in the period before the

country went into lockdown on March 25.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while he was eager to hear the experiences

and the views of the Chief Ministers, all states should work together to set

up value chains and step up economic activities providing assistance to take

the country on the path of self-reliance. The Centre, he said, came up with

several measures to unleash the potential.

On India's strategy to contain the spread of the virus, he said while every

death was saddening, the death rate from the disease was the lowest in the

country with the recovery rate being above 50 per cent. He said the timely

measures taken by the governments helped in controlling the situation and

prevented what happened in many countries.

GALWAN VALLEY CLASH: SURYAPET CRIES FOR ITS MARTYRED SON

A pall of gloom descended over Suryapet town of Telangana as the news of the

martyrdom of Colonel B Santosh Babu, the Commanding Officer (CO) of the 16

Bihar regiment along with two soldiers reached the city following a violent

face-off with the Chinese soldiers at Galwan Valley in Ladakh last night.

Colonel Babu had been posted on the India-China border in Ladakh for the

past 18 months and is survived by wife Santoshi and two kids, a daughter and

a son.

Talking to the media the officer's mother Manjula said: "I am both sad and

happy,". With tears in her eyes she added, "I am happy that my son

sacrificed his life for the country but as a mother, I grieve his loss. He

is my only son."

Expressing her condolences, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan

wrote, "Let us pay our homage to Col Santosh Babu. The Valiant officer made

the ultimate sacrifice today at Galwan Valley. I pray for all the martyrs

and their grieving families."

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami tweeted condolences

to the family of Palani from Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, who was

also killed in the violent face-off with Chinese soldiers at the LAC.

40-year-old Palani belonged to Kadukkalar village in Ramanathapuram.

THE 1GBPS INTERNET FROM SPACEX STARLINK SATELLITES

SpaceX is now inviting people to register their interest in the Starlink

satellites and the internet services they will provide, as the company

prepares to roll out the beta tests for the Starlink low-earth orbit (LEO)

internet service. The Elon Musk-owned aerospace company intends to provide

high speed internet connectivity from the Starlink constellation of

satellites. It is expected that there will be gigabit speeds on offer, which

for the rest of us means up to 1Gbps internet speeds, with the fairly low

latency of up to 25ms. Starlink plans to offer these internet services for

around $80 per month, which is priced at par if not lower than similar speed

broadband plans in most countries, including India.

You can head to the Starlink website and sign up for updates, which the

company says are to "get updates on Starlink news and service availability

in your area". Starlink says they target to launch the internet services

across the US and Canada this year itself, and a near-global footprint at

least covering populated areas, by the end of next year.

The most recent additions to Starlink's constellation happened on June 13,

when 58 new Starlink satellites were launched into space. That means there

are now 540 Starlink satellites in orbit. It is planned that the Starlink

constellation will have a total of 12,000 LEO satellites. Late last month,

SpaceX wrote to the US FCC for permission for 30,000 satellites as part of

the Gen2 System.

"More than 85% of this system will operate at very low altitudes below 400

km, using eight total orbital altitudes ranging from 328 km to 614 km. Just

as large deployments of new densified 5G networks are helping those in more

urban environments, the densified satellite constellation SpaceX proposes

will substantially increase capacity and drive up the number of consumers

even in rural and remote areas with access to truly robust broadband," the

company said in the application.

If you do sign up for the beta tests, you will be provided with an antenna,

which measures just 0.48 meters in diameter, which will link with the

nearest StarLink satellite and provide internet connectivity for your home

or office.

RACE FOR DIGITAL-FIRST FILM RELEASES HOTS UP ON OTTs

Shoojit Sircar's Gulabo Sitabo, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video last

Friday, has paved the way for more direct-to-digital releases across

over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

People with knowledge of the matter told Business Standard that movies like

Laxmmi Bomb (starring Akshay Kumar), Sadak 2 - which marks the return of

Mahesh Bhatt as director - and Bhuj: The Pride of India (starring Ajay

Devgn), are slated for release on Disney+Hotstar soon.

Netflix, similarly, has grabbed the rights for Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil

Girl, confirmed by producer Karan Johar last week. The film stars Janhvi

Kapoor in the titular role. The OTT platform is also in talks with Johar for

other projects like Shershaah (starring Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani).

However, the Akshay Kumar-starrer Sooryavanshi, which was earlier slated for

a Gudi Padwa release, and Brahmastra, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt,

will not release on OTT platforms.

Amazon Prime was the first to grab streaming rights for seven titles in one

go, last month, for an estimated Rs 300 crore. This included Gulabo Sitabo

and Vidya Balan-starrer Shakuntala Devi: Human Computer for Rs 65 crore

each.

While the Tamil-Telugu bilingual Penguin was acquired for Rs 60 crore by

Prime, four other regional films have been acquired for Rs 30 crore each,

said people in the know.

HOPES FADE FOR T20I WORLD CUP, BRIGHTEN FOR IPL

The Indian cricket board has again sought a quick decision on the T20 World

Cup after a Cricket Australia (CA) official said holding it this year would

be 'unrealistic'. "If that's what the host country is saying, there is

clearly a case for the ICC (International Cricket Council) to act soon. All

cricket boards and players involved are waiting for a decision," said Arun

Dhumal, treasurer BCCI, on Tuesday.

Should the World T20, scheduled from October 18 to November 15, and the

six-nation Asia Cup in September not be held, BCCI hopes it will open a

window to stage the Indian Premier League. BCCI is keen on a late September

or early October start to the T20 competition worth approximately Rs 4000

crore.

INDICATORS

Sensex 33,605 (+376), Nifty 9,914 (+100), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

60,304

Nasdaq 9,896 (+170) Dow 26,290 (+527), S&P 3,125 (+58)

US$-Rs. 75.81 GBP-Rs. 95.66, Euro-Rs. 85.65, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.63, Can$-Rs.

55.94, Aus$- Rs. 52.43

GBP 0.79 /US$, Euro 0.88 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.37 /US$, Aus$ 1.44 /US$, Sing

1.39 /US$, Bang Taka 83.23 /US$, Can$ 1.35 /US$, Mal Ring 4.27 /US$,

Pak Re 164.06 /US$, Phil Peso 50.10 /US$, Russian Rouble 69.55 /US$, NZ$

1.54 /US$, Thai Baht 31.04 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.41 /US$, Norway NOK 9.52

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 9,433

Dollar Index 97.00 Brent Crude 40.25 BDI 973

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,724 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,710 / 4,610

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 47,110

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Today the real test of power is not the capacity to make war but capacity to

prevent it. - Anne O'Hare McCormick

OFF TRACK

After examining a woman, the doctor took the husband aside, and said, "I

don't like the looks of your wife at all."

"Me neither doc," said the husband, "but she's a great cook and really good

with the kids.