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INDIA NEWS

21 Oct 2021

INDIA CRITICISES CHINA'S BRI AT U.N. SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT CONFERENCE.

 

India has voiced its strong opposition to China's Belt and Road Initiative and its flagship project -- the CPEC -- at the just concluded second UN Sustainable Transport Conference.

 

"We share the international community's desire for enhancing physical connectivity and believe it should bring greater economic benefits to all in an equitable and balanced manner. Physical connectivity is an integral part of India's economic and diplomatic initiatives,” said the Indian diplomat, Priyanka Sohoni, Second Secretary of the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

 

"There have been some references to the Belt and Road Initiative or BRI at this conference. Here, I wish to say that as far as China's BRI is concerned, we are uniquely affected by it. It's inclusion of the so-called China Pakistan Economic Corridor as a flagship project impinges on India's sovereignty,” Sohoni said.

 

India has been vocally objecting to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Beijing for its part is playing down India's objections, saying it is an economic initiative and has not affected its principled stand on the Kashmir issue.

 

"No country can support an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity," Sohoni said. "This aside there are also larger issues regarding how connectivity initiatives should be pursued. We are of the firm belief that connectivity initiatives must be based on universally recognised international norms,” she said.

 

"They must follow principles of openness, transparency and financial responsibility and be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty, equality and territorial integrity of nations. India for its part abides by these principles and stands ready to make collective efforts for sustainable development through a human-centric approach,” she said.

 

 

PAKISTAN CLAIMS IT BLOCKED INDIAN SUB

 

A claim by Pakistan that its Navy blocked an Indian submarine from entering into its waters last week was not credible as the submarine's location, as per the details that came out, was way beyond the country's territorial water limits, people familiar with maritime operations said on Wednesday. People familiar with maritime operations stated that the location of the submarine - as per details that came out - was 150 nautical miles from Karachi port which is beyond the limit of Pakistani waters.

 

There is no official comment by the Indian Navy on the Pakistani claim.

 

The Pakistan military said in a statement that the incident occurred on October 16 when an Indian submarine was detected by a Pakistan Navy patrol aircraft. The navy "detected and blocked the Indian submarine from entering into Pakistani waters", according to the statement.

 

 

DISPEL IMPRESSION THAT YOU ARE DRAGGING YOUR FEET, SC TELLS UP SIT ON LAKHIMPUR KHERI VIOLENCE

 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Uttar Pradesh SIT probing into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence to record statements of more witnesses before the Magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC to prepare a foolproof case.

 

“We get the impression that you are dragging your feet…Please do the needful to dispel that,” a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana told senior advocate Harish Salve, who represented the UP government.

 

After perusing a status report filed by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Bench repeatedly sought to know the number of accused arrested, the status of their police/judicial custody and how many witnesses’ statements had been recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC, which would make it difficult for them to retract.

 

Directing the Uttar Pradesh government to file a further updated status report, the top court posted the matter for October 26.

 

 

CONVICTIONS IN 65-70% CASES: CBI IN SC

 

Directed by the Supreme Court to present a report card of its performance as a prosecuting agency, CBI director Subodh Jaiswal told the court that the agency’s success rate in securing conviction has been 65-70% in the last decade.

 

Raising serious questions about its “efficacy” to prosecute cases, the top court had decided to appraise its performance while hearing a case in which the agency had filed an appeal after an inordinate delay of 542 days.

 

The court had directed its director to file an affidavit on CBI’s efficiency by providing details of its success rate in prosecution and also give a record of pending cases. Jaiswal filed a detailed affidavit and assured the court that remedial action is being taken to remove “bottlenecks” and improve performance. He said that delay in one case “is not reflective of the functioning of the petitioner as the premier investigating agency of the country”.

 

Jaiswal also blamed the judiciary for delays in deciding cases.

 

 

KEY COVID NUMBERS

 

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 1,72,519

 

New Cases in last 24 hours: 18,356

 

Recovered in last 24 hours: 17,560

 

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: 636

 

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 160 (4,52,844)

 

Daily Tests (Tuesday): 13,23,702

 

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.4%

 

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 52.6% / 21.8%

 

 

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

 

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AT MOSCOW MEET, INDIA OFFERED HUMANITARIAN AID, SAY TALIBAN

 

India and the Taliban had their second official meeting on the sidelines of the Moscow talks on Wednesday with the latter saying in a statement that the Indian side had “finally’’ expressed readiness to provide extensive humanitarian assistance to the Afghans. This is the first public acknowledgement of an official meeting with India by the Taliban.

 

The Taliban also said that both sides considered it necessary to take into account each other’s concerns and improve economic and diplomatic ties.

 

The Moscow talks saw participation by the Taliban and 10 countries, including India, China and Pakistan, emphasised on the need for Afghanistan to have an inclusive government that reflected, as Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said, the interests of all ethnicities and political forces for sustainable peace and national reconciliation. Apart from India, all other participants too had separate meetings with the Taliban. The talks also saw Taliban reaffirming their commitment to not allow the Afghan territory for use against their neighbours.

 

While official recognition was ruled out for now, the countries called for taking into account the new reality of Taliban having come to power “irrespective of the official recognition of the new Afghan government by the international community”.

 

 

INDIA-ISRAEL-US-UAE GROUPING ‘NOT AGAINST CHINA’

 

A new grouping that has been created among India, Israel, the US and the UAE is meant to give shape to a new level of economic cooperation and is “not against China”, according to Rony Yedidia-Clein, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israel Embassy in India. The Israeli diplomat said the possibility of a mega trade deal cannot be ruled out.  “The joint working group (a mechanism to be set up under the grouping) will take forward the discussions the foreign ministers had during the meeting. We are calling it a joint international forum for economic cooperation of these four countries who want to do business together,” she said.

 

“We are not trying to be against any country, and, to your question, this is not something against China.”

 

The foreign ministers of India, Israel, US and the UAE met Monday and decided to create a joint working group on issues concerning maritime security, infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and transport.  The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Israel, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan tuning in via video link. The meeting was an Israeli initiative.

 

 

THE REST

 

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AS RAINS EASE, UTTARAKHAND ASSESSES DAMAGE; NOW RAIN AFFECTS GANGTOK LINK ROAD

 

Torrential rains pounded the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim and the tea growing region of North Bengal, causing landslides that cut off National Highway-10, the main road linking Gangtok with the rest of the country.

 

Normal life came to a near standstill as showers triggered landslides causing damages to roads and bridges, halting or constricting traffic in various places in North Bengal's hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, while low-lying areas in the plains of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts were flooded, officials said on Wednesday.

 

Meanwhile, the death toll due to the heavy rains in Uttarakhand rose to 52 on Wednesday, revised figures published by the state government showed. At least five people are missing.

 

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Kumaon, one of the worst-hit regions in the state, to take stock of the situation. He told reporters there was “massive damage” across the state, and it would take time to return to normalcy.

 

 

CONG SAYS AMARINDER SINGH’S STATEMENT PROVES IT WAS RIGHT IN REPLACING HIM

 

The Congress on Wednesday took a swipe at former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, asking him if he had colluded with the BJP in bringing the three agriculture laws against whom the farmers are protesting since last year.

 

The comments came a day after Amarinder Singh, who resigned as chief minister in September after he had fallen out with the Congress leadership, said he would float his political party and may align with the BJP if the farmers’ protest is resolved.

 

“The way such statements are being given in public, the question is whether Amarinder Singh and the BJP were in collusion with each other over the bringing of three black agri laws,” said Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh, adding Singh’s statements vindicate the party’s decision to replace him as chief minister.

 

 

FORMER MUMBAI CP PARAM BIR SINGH NOT TRACEABLE, MAHA GOVT TELLS HC

 

The whereabouts of former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh were not known, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay high court.

 

As the IPS officer was not traceable, it did not wish to continue its assurance that no coercive action (such as arrest) would be taken against him in an Atrocities Act case, the government said.

 

Param Bir Singh's counsel Mahesh Jethmalani said he had not been declared as an absconder yet. "In this case, he was summoned twice and both the times he responded," Jethmalani said.

 

The high court was hearing a petition filed by the senior IPS officer seeking to quash the FIR lodged against him under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on a complaint filed by a police inspector.

 

The judges adjourned the hearing to next week.

 

Singh was transferred from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March after the arrest of police officer (now dismissed) Sachin Waze in the case of an SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran.

 

Singh then accused the then state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of asking Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

 

 

PM INAUGURATES KUSHINAGAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated a new international airport at Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh and said his government had taken a number of steps to instil new energy in the aviation sector.

 

Kushinagar is the final resting place of Gautama Buddha where he attained Mahaparinirvana after his death and is among the most important pilgrim spots for Buddhists. The new airport, built at an estimated cost of Rs 260 crore, is part of the government's endeavour to connect Buddhist pilgrimage sites around the world.

 

After inaugurating the airport, Modi said it would boost connectivity and tourism, while also helping develop an entire economic ecosystem in the region and create new job opportunities.

 

 

TELANGANA GOES ALL OUT TO BRING IN INVESTMENT

 

“You can mention what the other states are offering, we will meet or beat their offer,” Telangana Industries Minister K T Rama Rao (better known as KTR) told a group of visiting French investors last week. It’s a reflection of the frenzy with which TRS government of India’s youngest state seeks to transform itself into an investment destination of choice.

 

There was an interesting case of Kitex Group, the world’s second-largest children’s apparel maker. Soon after the promoter Sabu M Jacob announced plans to shift out of Kerala, officials from several states, including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, had reached out to him. But what came as a surprise was a WhatsApp message from KTR, within hours after the exit announcement.

 

It said: “Warm Greetings from Telangana! I hope you, your loved ones and the Kitex family are well and safe. I wanted to personally reach out to you to present Telangana as the next destination in Kitex’s growth journey. I am confident that the combination of policy offerings, infrastructure and ease of doing business that Telangana offers will enable Kitex to seamlessly set up and operationalise a new base outside Kerala. My Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan can take you through a detailed presentation of our strengths and offerings. Please advise how we can take this forward with you and your team.”

 

When Jacob raised concerns about travelling during Covid-19, the state arranged a chartered flight. The rest is history. Kitex has now committed investments to the tune of Rs 2,400 crore offering around 22,000 direct and 18,000 indirect jobs. “I felt like dealing with the CEO of a multinational company and not a politician,” he said.

 

 

TRADERS’ BODY OPPOSES HEALTH MINISTRY AD ENCOURAGING ONLINE SHOPPING, DEMANDS ITS WITHDRAWAL

 

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) wrote a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Wednesday, registering their objection to an advertisement campaign launched by the health ministry urging people to shop online to protect themselves from getting infected amid the Covid pandemic.

 

In the letter the traders’ body has said that the advertisement campaign is “grossly against more than 8 crore small businesses of the country who are rendering yeomen services at the time of need of the nation and contravenes the fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India which prohibits any discrimination”.

 

The organisation has further said that “the current online business of India is highly vitiated and captivated by foreign-funded e-commerce companies, which have left no stone unturned in disobeying the laws and the rules of the country and abusing the dominance”.

 

 

ARYAN KHAN’S BAIL PLEA REJECTED, MOVES HIGH COURT

 

A special court here on Wednesday denied bail to Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, observing that 'on the face of it', he was indulging in "illicit drug activities on a regular basis".

 

Aryan (23), arrested with a few others on October 3 after the NCB raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs including charas, has now moved the Bombay High Court.

 

V V Patil, special judge for the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cases, rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant (26) and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha (28).

 

The special NDPS Act court in its 21-page order noted that WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan prima facie revealed that he was "dealing in illicit drug activities on a regular basis" and therefore it cannot be said that he was not likely to commit a similar offence if released on bail. It also held that Aryan knew that his friend and co-accused Arbaaz Merchant was in possession of drugs, and hence there was "conscious possession" even though the NCB had not found any drugs on Aryan himself.

 

 

GOVT ISSUES REVISED GUIDELINES FOR INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS

 

Travellers fully vaccinated and coming from a country with which India has reciprocal arrangements for mutual acceptance of WHO approved Covid-19 vaccines shall be allowed to leave the airport and need not undergo home quarantine and testing from October 25, according to the revised guidelines for international arrivals released on Wednesday.

 

They will, however, have to produce a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR report.

 

If partially or not vaccinated, the travellers need to undertake measures which include submission of sample for post-arrival Covid-19 test at the point of arrival after which they will be allowed to leave the airport, home quarantine for seven days, re-test on the eighth day of arrival in India and if negative, further self monitor their health for next seven days.

 

These guidelines for international arrivals supersede of all guidelines issued on the subject on and after February 17, 2021, the Union health ministry said.

 

This Standard Operating Procedure shall be valid from October 25 till further orders. Based on the risk assessment, this document shall be reviewed from time to time, the ministry said.

 

 

INDIA FINISH T20 WORLD CUP WARM-UPS WITH VICTORY OVER AUSTRALIA

 

A rollicking fifty by Rohit Sharma led India to a comfortable nine-wicket win against Australia in both teams' second - and final - warm-up game ahead of their main T20 World Cup campaign. India's bowlers, led by R Ashwin's 2 for 8, had kept Australia to 152 for 5, and the batters then motored through the chase.

 

Rohit retired out after getting to 60 in 41 balls, leaving Suryakumar Yadav to apply the finishing touches to a chase that had been well set up by an opening stand of 68 between Rohit and KL Rahul.

 

Rohit had captained India in this game, with Virat Kohli sitting out of the batting innings, though he did play an active role in the first innings, being on the field and even bowling two overs.

 

 

INDICATORS

 

Sensex 61,260 (-456), Nifty 18,267 (-152), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 94,187.66

 

Nasdaq 15,121 (-7) Dow 35,609 (+152), S&P 4,536 (+17)

 

US$-Rs. 74.83 GBP-Rs. 103.28, Euro-Rs. 87.12, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.37, Can$-Rs. 60.65, Aus$- Rs. 56.11

 

GBP 0.72 /US$, Euro 0.85 /US$, Jap.Yen 114.37 /US$, Aus$ 1.33 /US$, Sing 1.34 /US$, Bang Taka 84.11 /US$, Can$ 1.23 /US$, Mal Ring 4.15 /US$,

 

Pak Re 172.64 /US$, Phil Peso 50.73 /US$, Russian Rouble 70.88 /US$, NZ$ 1.39 /US$, Thai Baht 33.34 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.00 /US$

 

Bitcoin - USD 65,103

 

Dollar Index 93.50, Brent Crude 85.75, BDI 4,751.00

 

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,786 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,749 / 4,649, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 68,700

 

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

 

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. - Lucille Ball

 

 

OFF TRACK

 

A cattle rancher went into town on a Saturday night for a sit-down steak dinner. When the waiter brought him his steak it was rare--very rare. The cow-puncher looked at it and demanded that it be returned to the kitchen and cooked.

 

"It is cooked," snapped the waiter.

 

"Cooked--nothing," replied the cow-puncher. "I've seen cows injured worse than this and recover!"

 

Comments (0)


Today
8:03am
Hi Jenna! I made a new design, and i wanted to show it to you.
8:03am
It's quite clean and it's inspired from Bulkit.
8:12am
Oh really??! I want to see that.
8:13am
FYI it was done in less than a day.
8:17am
Great to hear it. Just send me the PSD files so i can have a look at it.
8:18am
And if you have a prototype, you can also send me the link to it.

Monday
4:55pm
Hey Jenna, what's up?
4:56pm
Iam coming to LA tomorrow. Interested in having lunch?
5:21pm
Hey mate, it's been a while. Sure I would love to.
5:27pm
Ok. Let's say i pick you up at 12:30 at work, works?
5:43pm
Yup, that works great.
5:44pm
And yeah, don't forget to bring some of my favourite cheese cake.
5:27pm
No worries

Today
2:01pm
Hello Jenna, did you read my proposal?
2:01pm
Didn't hear from you since i sent it.
2:02pm
Hello Milly, Iam really sorry, Iam so busy recently, but i had the time to read it.
2:04pm
And what did you think about it?
2:05pm
Actually it's quite good, there might be some small changes but overall it's great.
2:07pm
I think that i can give it to my boss at this stage.
2:09pm
Crossing fingers then

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