SOURCE: HT

The Indian army has set its eyes on acquiring hand-launched, remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle Raven from US and state-of-the-art Israeli Spike Firefly “loitering” ammunition to add lethality to its ground infantry apart from long-range precision artillery shells with a range of over 40 kilometres.

While the army is sharpening the teeth of its infantry, the air force will get five Rafael multi-role fighter jets from Paris this month, with another four to be used for training in France. The Indian navy is all set to commission its second ballistic missile-firing nuclear submarine, INS Arighat, later this year. Continue reading →

SOURCE: THEATLANTIC.COM

On April 22, after several failed attempts, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a successful launch of what it described as a military reconnaissance satellite. That satellite joined a growing list of weapons and military systems in orbit, including those from Russia (which in April tested a missile program designed to destroy satellites) and India (which launched an anti-satellite weapon in March 2019).

Experts like Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation (SWF), a nonpartisan think tank based in Broomfield, Colorado, worry that these developments—all confirmed by the newly rebranded United States Space Force—threaten to lift earthly conflicts to new heights and put all space activities, peaceful and military alike, at risk. Researchers at SWF and at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., both released reports this year on the rapidly evolving state of affairs. The reports suggest that the biggest players in space have upgraded their military abilities, including satellite-destroying weapons and technologies that disrupt spacecraft, by, for instance, blocking data collection or transmission. Continue reading →

SOURCE: THE PRINT

The killing of 20 Indian soldiers by the Chinese in the Galwan Valley on 15 June was “barbaric”, and there was no way this could have happened without orders from the Chinese leadership in Beijing, former national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon has said.

In an interview with ThePrint, Menon said India has “no choice but to rejig the relationship”, as the Chinese have “broken the understandings of the past” which included an “effective form of deterrence on the border”. Menon also said India should “work with the US”, especially if America is “ready to work with us to help us strengthen ourselves so that we can deal with these issues”, and that he did not think the US was a declining power. Continue reading →

SOURCE: DHNS

According to a school of foreign policy, India’s stance towards China has been wrong from the word go. We lost the game, many detractors say, when in an agreement signed with China in April 1954, India officially recognised that Tibet belonged to China. Regardless of whether we gave away Tibet, as if Tibet had ever been ours to give away, the basic point is that by getting hold of Tibet, China laid a stranglehold on its enormous water resources.

Asia’s 10 great river systems including the Ganga, Indus, Mekong, Yangtse, Yellow River – fed by thousands of Himalayan-cum-Tibetan glaciers and mountain springs and flowing down from the Tibetan highlands – highlight the role played by this plateau as the continent’s ‘water tower’. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ET

A day after Indian Army, Assam Rifles and Arunachal Police in a joint operation neutralised six active cadres of NSCN (IM) near Nginu in Longding District of Arunachal Pradesh, NSCN-IM stated it is outrageous for Indian Security Forces to give vent their frustration to their humiliating encounter with Chinese PLA by targeting the Naga Army.

NSCN-IM which is engaged in peace parleys with government of India in a statement alleged this is the repeat of another state sponsored terrorism against the ceasefire party. This is the work of India, the world largest democracy which wanted to make Indo-Naga Ceasefire as the killing field to force its will on the Naga people. Continue reading →

SOURCE: TNN

India plans to push the Chinese side for an exchange of maps in the western sector after the process of disengagement and de-escalation is complete and Indian troops go back to their old patrolling posts. Government officials said this would clarify each other’s claim lines and actual control, which would make management and patrolling protocols easier.China has so far refused to exchange maps in this sector. Even after 22 rounds of talks on the boundary question, it has shown no inclination to exchange maps or clarify the LAC, having exchanged maps for only the central sector. While a resolution of the boundary question is a distance away, the Galwan clashes, India hopes, is sufficient reason to clarify this sector. China’s reluctance to exchange maps led to the suspicion that they want to keep it fluid to be able to change the situation on the ground.

High level government sources said the disengagement was currently underway to get both countries to move their troops back from the forward positions they had moved to in the past few months. This is being monitored closely, certainly by India. This is expected to be followed by a de-escalation by moving back troops and weapons from what is called ‘depth areas’. “It’s not as if we’re conceding territory to them,” an official involved in the negotiations said. Continue reading →

SOURCE: THE KASHMIR MONITOR

Democrat president nominee in US, Joe Biden will raise the issue of Kashmir with India and would also convey its concerns on Citizenship Amendment Act if he is elected president, says the Biden campaign’s foreign policy adviser, Antony John Blinken In a recent afternoon dialogue on American foreign policy at the Hudson Institute, Washington, Blinken said has been tasked with drafting the foreign policy of the Biden campaign.

Blinken is a former deputy national security adviser and deputy secretary of state. As moderator famous US Academic, Walter Russel Mead, noted that Blinken’s views have become increasingly important because former vice president Joe Biden’s victory in the November election has moved from “a possibility to a likelihood”. Continue reading →

SOURCE: HT

For the first time since 1948, there will be no holiday and official functions to commemorate martyrs’ day in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. “In December last year, the list of gazetted holidays had no mention of martyrs’ day on July 13 and December 5, the birth anniversary of former J&K Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. Therefore, the question doesn’t arise of holding any official function or declaring a holiday on Monday,” said a senior official.

Following the revocation of Article 370 on August 5 last year, the government had issued a list of gazette holidays for the newly carved union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. However, July 13 and December 5 were omitted from the list inviting an outcry by the Kashmir centric parties. Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

Suspended Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Devender Singh allegedly shared information including “sensitive” particulars with his contacts at the Pakistan High Commission which was grooming him to get some confidential details, officials have said. While probing Singh’s role, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had cracked passwords of his “secure” social media accounts which indicated his involvement with some staffers of the Pakistan High Commission, who had since been repatriated following their role in espionage activities in the national capital, officials said here.

The NIA filed a chargesheet against Singh, at present lodged in Jammu jail, and five others on July 6 in a case of allegedly waging “war against India” with the help of Pakistan-based terror groups especially the Hizbul Mujahideen. Continue reading →

SOURCE:  ZEE NEWS

The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday (July 12, 2020) apprehended two terrorists within four hours after the duo tried to hurl grenades at the security forces, that failed to explode. The incident took place around 4:10 PM on Sunday, when the two terrorists lobbed two grenades at the security forces deployment near Sail Charsoo on the National Highway.

Police got a clue that two persons were boarding on the white colour Apache bike who had lobbed grenades and were driving very fast. The area was cordoned immediately and during the search operation in the Sail village in Awantipora, the suspected white colour Apache bike was traced at about 100 meters from the place of incident. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ZEE NEWS

Security forces on Sunday (July 12) killed at least three terrorists during an encounter in the Sopore town of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. The 13-hour long gunbattle which started in the wee hours today, ended with this, whereas a search operation was underway when the latest report came in.

“Two more unidentified terrorists were killed in Sopore encounter. Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered; a search operation is underway,” Kashmir Zone Police said.  According to sources, one of the slain terrorists has been identified as Usman, affiliated with the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group. Sources added that he was involved in the recent terror attack in Sopore in which a CRPF jawan was martyred and a civilian was killed. IGP Kashmir said that the elimination of three terrorists in Sopore encounter is a big success for the police and security forces. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ENS

Nepal has sent a ‘diplomatic note’ to India, urging New Delhi to take steps against the broadcast of materials what it called “fake, baseless and insensitive as well as abusive” to the country and its leadership by a section of the Indian media, a source said on Sunday. The move came days after Nepal on Thursday stopped the transmission of all Indian private news channels except Doordarshan, accusing them of airing reports hurting the country’s national sentiment.

There was no immediate reaction from India on the issue. In the diplomatic note to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) via the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the materials disseminated by a section of the Indian media are “fake, baseless and insensitive as well as abusive to Nepal and Nepali leadership”, according to an aide of the Nepal Prime Minister. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ENS

After raising the issue of high call rates of satellite phones distributed at border areas of Uttarakhand by residents, the state government is mulling to slash the call rates.  Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the state government is aware of the problems faced by residents of border areas. “We are very much aware of the issue faced by our border residents in this regard. The matter is being handled and soon will be rectified,” said the CM.

After satellite phones were distributed in border areas Pithoragarh, Chamoli and Uttarkashi residents complained of inflated call rates per minute up to Rs 25-30.  Earlier, the state government officials said that the call charges will be fixed at Rs 12 per minute and an SMS would also cost the same amount. Continue reading →

SOURCE: HT

A private school in Ghatsila under East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand asking its lower kindergarten (LKG) and under kindergarten (UKG) students to learn and practice national anthems of Pakistan and Bangladesh triggered a furore here on Saturday and Sunday, forcing the school to withdraw the online class curriculum in WhatsApp group with immediate effect, school management said this morning.

The matter came to the fore after BJP state spokespersons Kunal Sarnagi and Pratul Shahdeo twitted the matter to chief minister (CM) Hemant Soren, state education minister, HRD officials, central BJP leaders and East Singhbhum deputy commissioner (DC) on Sunday after many parents protested the move by the school. Continue reading →