Month: August 2021

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-Top News Defence India News

India-Pakistan LoC is ‘killing fields’ for security forces, civilians: RTI

There were a whopping 14,411 cross-border firing incidents from 2010 till February 2021, claiming a staggering 267 lives…reports Asian Lite News

The India-Pakistan International Border and Line of Control have witnessed maximum casualties and fatalities due to cross-firing on both sides under the NDA government, as per the latest RTI revelations here on Monday.

There were a whopping 14,411 cross-border firing incidents from 2010 till February 2021, claiming a staggering 267 lives, as per RTI replies given to Pune activist Prafful Sarda.

This includes 1,178 firings notched between 2010-2014 during the Congress-led UPA government and a staggering 13,235 from 2015 till February 2021 under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA, according to the responses furnished by Sulekha, Director (S-JK) and CPIO in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

In the fatalities recorded on the border killing fields, a total of 138 security personnel lost their lives, comprising 20 between 2010-2014 and 118 from 2015 to February 2021, a nearly six-fold jump in seven years, pointed out Sarda.

Similar is the scenario on the 129 civilian deaths, rising from 18 (2010-2014) to 111 from 2015 till February this year, or a six-time spurt in the figures.

Indo-Pak border

Of the injuries revealed through the RTI, there were 664 on the soldiers’ side comprising 97 (2010-2014), and the rest 567 from 2015 till February 2021.

During the same period, the civilian population living around the borders suffered 132 hits (2010-2014) which shot up over four-fold to 576 under the NDA regime, as per the RTI replies.

Sarda said that under the previous UPA government, the borders were relatively safer with 38 total deaths and 229 casualties among the civilians and security personnel.

This has gone up sharply to 229 total deaths and 1,143 persons hurt among jawans and the commoners in the border skirmishes, he added.

“Since 2015, the border brawls have been continuously increasing — from 405 to 449 (2016), 971 (2017), 2,140 (2018), 3,479 (2019), and surprisingly there were 5,133 firings in 2020, which was the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown year,” Sarda told IANS.

Only in the first two months of 2021, there are 658 firing incidents already on record with four security forces personnel killed, 6 injured and another 2 civilians hurt.

Sarda says it’s “scary” to learn from the RTI revelations how the borders seem to have become “unsafe” both for the security forces and the civilian populations under the NDA Prime Minister Narendra Modi as compared with the UPA tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

ALSO READ: UNSC resolution against terrorism in Afghanistan applies to JeM, LeT: Shringla

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-Top News Afghanistan India News

UNSC resolution against terrorism in Afghanistan applies to JeM, LeT: Shringla

The resolution was adopted on Monday under India’s presidency by a divided Council where China and Russia were the outliers who abstained on the vote on the resolution…reports Arul Louis

The UN Security Council has demanded that the Taliban should not allow terrorists to use its territory for attacks against other countries and this would apply to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), according to India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

The resolution was adopted on Monday under India’s presidency by a divided Council where China and Russia were the outliers who abstained on the vote on the resolution, but refraining from vetoing it in view of the overwhelming global support for the sentiments behind it.

All the other 13 members voted for it.

India played a “constructive and bridging” role at the Council and worked to the “extent possible for consensus-based” outcomes, Shringla said and this diplomacy was evident in saving the resolution proposed by the US, Britain and France from a veto by China and Russia, even as they expressed their opposition.

“Today’s UN Security Council Resolution, therefore, is a very important and timely pronouncement coming as it does during India’s Presidency of the UN Security Council,” Shringla told reporters outside the Security Council after presiding over the meeting on Afghanistan.

The resolution also demanded that the Taliban uphold human rights, provide safe passage to those who want to leave Afghanistan and allow humanitarian aid.

Shringla said that India was “extremely happy” with the resolution as it “highlights the will of the Council to take necessary steps that are very important for the international community in its engagement with Afghanistan.”

The Council action came while the clocks 10,000 km away in Afghanistan rolled past midnight into August 31, the deadline President Joe Biden had set for his country’s withdrawal from there, and the last C-17 aircraft took off from Kabul International Airport.

“Tonight’s withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after Sept. 11, 2001,” declared General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of the US Central Command.

At UN, Shringla said, “I want to highlight the fact that the resolution makes it very clear that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any other country. In particular, it also underlines the importance of combating terrorism.”

“It also refers to those individuals and entities been designated under Security Council resolution 1267 (as terrorists)”, he said, adding, “And in that context I may mention that the LeT and the JeM, are UN Security Council proscribed entities, terror entities that need to be called out, and condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

The Council is “unequivocal” on terrorism, he said. The resolution said that Afghanistan “not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts.”

“And I think that also reflects the views of council members, as we understand it from the discussions,” Shringla said.

Although they had differences with other aspects of the resolution, Russia’s Permanent Respresentative Vassily Nenenzia and China’s Deputy Permanent Representative Geng Shuang joined in demanding in very strong terms in their speeches after their vote that the Taliban not allow terrorists to operate from its territory.

US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greefield told reporters, “The Security Council reiterates its enduring call on the importance of counter-terrorism.”

“Afghanistan can never again become a safe haven for terrorism,” she said.

While the Council expects the Taliban to allow those who want to leave, she said that “this resolution also affirms the Security Council’s enduring commitment to those who remain” adding that “we cannot airlift an entire country to safety. This is the moment where diplomacy has to step up.”

“We need to ensure Afghanistan respects the inalienable rights of its people e including women, girls, and minorities,” she said.

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-Top News UK News

UK sets out £8.6bn funding for affordable homes

“This huge funding package will make the ambition of owning a home a reality for families by making it realistic and affordable.”…reports Asian Lite News.

Thousands of people will be helped onto the housing ladder as funding worth £8.6 billion is allocated across the UK on Tuesday.

Part of the largest single investment in affordable housing in a decade, the Affordable Homes Programme funding will deliver around 119,000 homes, including 57,000 for ownership, 29,600 for social rent and 6,250 affordable rural homes.

The government said this cash injection could support up to 370,000 jobs across the country for homebuilders, SME developers, and wider businesses supporting the house building industry such as electricians and plumbers. This is expected to generate up to £26 billion of other private and public investment, it added.

Around half of the new homes from this £8.6 billion funding will be available for affordable home ownership, helping more young people and families to get a foot on the housing ladder.

The funding will also deliver nearly 30,000 homes for Social Rent, which are typically 50 to 60% of market prices, providing secure, affordable housing to people who need it most. It will also deliver new supported housing for some of the most vulnerable, providing much needed homes for older or disabled people with support needs.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP said: “Creating more opportunities for home ownership is central to this government. This £9 billion funding is a landmark moment for our Affordable Homes Programme and will ensure good quality housing for all as we build back better after the pandemic.”

“This huge funding package will make the ambition of owning a home a reality for families by making it realistic and affordable.”

He added: “We are also ensuring tens of thousands of new homes for rent are built in the years ahead, including social rent, so those on the lowest incomes can enjoy good quality, secure rented homes, built and managed by reputable providers.”

The funding allocations are taken from the £11.5 billion Affordable Housing Programme which will deliver up to 180,000 new affordable homes should economic conditions allow.

Nearly £5.2 billion of the package announced today will be delivered outside London by Homes England, the government body responsible for housing delivery. The Greater London Authority (GLA) will deliver homes within London.

Nearly 90 new partnerships – made up of councils, housing associations and private providers – successfully bid for their share of programme funding.  

CEO of Homes England Peter Denton said: “Not only does today’s announcement give our new Strategic Partners the funding, flexibility, and confidence they need to build much needed affordable homes across the country, it also establishes a large network of organisations looking to share their skills and capabilities to expand the affordable housing sector and transform communities.”

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-Top News Asia News COVID-19

True number of Covid cases in Pakistan likely to be much higher: UK

Following these allegations, the UK government has also decided to keep Pakistan in the travel ban ‘Red List’…reports Asian Lite News.

British government on Sunday claimed that the actual number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan is likely to be much higher than the reported cases in the country.

Pakistani media, Geo News citing a ‘leaked letter’ from the UK government informed that country’s testing and sequencing rates are relatively low (1.8 per 1,000 over the last seven days) and lower testing and sequencing mean it is not possible to know the full genomic makeup of their current wave.

“The national testing rate varies considerably across regions. For example, in Punjab — Pakistan’s most densely populated region — with the highest number of active cases, testing is below Pakistan’s average rate and is the second-lowest in the country,” Britain’s Health Minister Lord James Nicolas Bethell informed UK’s Member of Parliament Yasmin Qureshi.

Following these allegations, the UK government has also decided to keep Pakistan in the travel ban ‘Red List’.

Earlier on August 12, a Pakistan Minister had accused the UK government of playing discriminatory politics against Islamabad following UK’s recent decision to move India to the ‘amber list’ while keeping a ban on flights from Pakistan.

But the UK Department of Health and Social Care had said that its decision was made on the basis of an assessment of the risk to public health.

Pakistan army

The daily Covid-19 fatalities in Pakistan exceeded a 100 for the second time in August on Saturday. The country’s positivity rate now stands at 6.83 per cent.

The country last reported more than 100 deaths on August 12, 2021, according to The News International.

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported 120 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide death toll from the virus to 25,535. As many as 4,191 people tested positive for the virus after 61,446 COVID-19 tests were taken, as per the NCOC’s data. (ANI)

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Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

US withdrawal from Afghanistan completed

Over the last 20 years, more than 2,400 US service members have been killed in Afghanistan alone, reports Asian Lite News

The US Central Command announced that the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan has been completed, ending 20 years of Washington-led invasion of the war-torn nation.

“I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the mission to evacuate American citizens, third country nationals and vulnerable Afghans,” Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, announced during a news conference held by the Department of Defense on Monday midnight.

“The last C-17 lifted off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 30, this afternoon, at 3.29 p.m. East coast time, and the last manned aircraft is now clearing the space above Afghanistan,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie said while the completion of withdrawal drew an end to US military presence in the war-torn nation that Washington accused of harbouring Al Qaeda, the mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attack on American soil in 2001, “the diplomatic mission to ensure additional US citizens and eligible Afghans, who want to leave, continues”.

While paying tribute to the 2,461 fallen US service members, including the 13 troops who were killed during the August 27 Kabul bombings, and the over 20,000 personnel injured during the longest war Washington has engaged in throughout history, McKenzie also told reporters that no American citizens managed to embark on the final five evacuation flights leaving Kabul, meaning there were still Americans wishing to depart the country that were left on ground.

“We maintained the ability to bring them in up until immediately before departure,” McKenzie said.

“We would have been prepared to bring them on until the very last minute, but none of them made it to the airport and were able to be accommodated,” he added.

The General said the number of US citizens currently still stranded in Afghanistan is “in the very low hundreds”, stressing that the Department of State is now in charge of assisting those evacuees.

“The military’s phase of this operation has ended… The diplomatic sequel to that will now begin,” he said.

The General added that the US will continue trying to extract the remaining American citizens and “negotiate very hard and aggressively” to get eligible Afghans to come to Washington.

US media cited a State Department official as saying earlier on Monday that it was believed that there were fewer than 250 American citizens still in Afghanistan.

Taliban welcomes completion of US withdrawal from Afghanistan

Shortly after the US Central Command announced that the drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan has been completed, a Taliban spokesman on Tuesday welcomed the development.

The last US soldiers were evacuated from the Kabul airport at midnight on Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter.

“In this way, our country became completely free and independent,” he said.

Shortly after Mujahid’s comments on social media, Taliban members took to celebratory gun firing in Kabul, which lasted for about an hour, causing panic among residents of the capital city.

Following the firing, Mujahid said in a separate tweet that “the gunshots heard in Kabul are as a result of celebratory firing, the Kabul residents should not worry, we are trying to control it”.

The formal stance of the Taliban about the US withdrawal is yet to be made amid the absence of any statement.

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-Top News Africa News India News

INS Tabar reaches Algeria, undertakes Passex exercise at sea

Pic credits @indiannavy

The Mediterranean exercise was aimed at maritime law enforcement, regional security and project long range sustenance….reports Asian Lite News

As part of its deployment in Europe and Africa, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Tabar undertook a PASSEX exercise with Algerian Naval Ship (ANS) Ezzadjer after arriving in Algeria on Sunday.

The Mediterranean exercise was aimed at maritime law enforcement, regional security and project long range sustenance.

The Indian Embassy in Algeria had earlier announced INS Tabar’s arrival.

Pic credits @indiannavy

“Marhaban Algeria! Indian Navy frigate INS Tabar arrives in Algeria with a message of friendship and goodwill! INS Tabar is undertaking a PASSEX with ANS Ezzadjer,” it said in a tweet on Sunday.

INS Tabar is on a four-month deployment across Africa and Europe to participate in joint exercises with friendly navies and enhance military cooperation through naval engagements.

During its deployment, the Indian Naval Ship has already called on ports in Egypt, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden and France and has conducted naval exercises with the navies of these countries.

As part of its deployment, INS Tabar represented the Indian Navy at ‘Indra Navy-21’, an annual bilateral maritime exercise between India and Russia held in the Baltic Sea on 28-29 July.

A passing exercise also known as ‘PASSEX’ is an exercise done between two navies to ensure that the navies are able to communicate and cooperate in times of war or humanitarian relief.

Earlier, the Algerian Naval Ship (ANS) Ezzadjer, a corvette class of ship had visited India’s Kochi in August 2016.

Various interactions between the ship and the Indian Navy’s Southern Naval Command had ensued during the visit.

INS Tabar is a Talwar-class stealth frigate and forms part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet which is based at Mumbai under the Western Naval Command.

The ship is currently commanded by Captain Mahesh Mangipudi and has a complement of over 300 personnel. It is equipped with a versatile range of weapons and sensors and is among the earliest stealth frigates of the Indian Navy. (India News Network)

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-Top News Politics

Congress to sever ties with two ‘Mahajot’ allies in Assam

She said that at Monday’s meeting, a discussion was also held with regard to the alliance with the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF)…reports Asian Lite News.

The Congress-led ‘Mahajot’ (Grand Alliance) in Assam was on the verge of collapse with the Congress on Monday announcing that it has decided to sever the alliance with the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF and tribal party BPF.

A core committee meeting, presided over by state Congress President Bhupen Bora, observed that the AIUDF’s behaviour and attitude in relation to the ruling BJP has “baffled” his party.

“The AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) leadership and senior members continuously and mysteriously praising the BJP and the Chief Minister (Himanta Biswa Sarma) has affected the public perception of the Congress. In this connection, after a long discussion, the Core Committee members of the APCC (Assam Pradesh Congress Committee) unanimously decided that the AIUDF can no longer remain an alliance partner of ‘Mahajot’ and in this regard, will send intimation to the AICC,” Congress’s chief spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said.

She said that at Monday’s meeting, a discussion was also held with regard to the alliance with the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF).

“Since the BPF had already expressed their unwillingness in various forums to remain in the ‘Mahajot’, therefore the APCC President has been given full authority to take decision on this matter and intimate the High Command,” Sharma said.

The Congress, which governed Assam for 15 years (2001-2016), managed 29 seats in the March-April elections, three more than 2016 polls, when it lost Assam to the BJP. Of the other partners of the 10-party “Mahajot”, the AIUDF won 16 seats up from 13 last time, the BPF got four seats against 12, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist won just one seat.

The Monday’s core committee meeting also observed that inter-state border issues in the northeast have gradually increased during the tenure of the BJP government.

It expressed deep concern at the “unprecedented deteriorating relations” with neighbouring Mizoram over border dispute and condemned the failure of both Central and state governments on maintaining cordial relations with neighbouring states on the border issues.

Sharma said that the killing of five truck drivers in Dima Hasao district by the militants and the daylight murder of girl student Nandita Saikia in Dhemaji district with a machete proves that the state government has failed to control the law and order situation in the state.

She said that the Assam Congress leaders take strong exception to the state government announcement of the increase of daily wage of tea workers to Rs 205 per day which is way below the electoral promise of wage increase to Rs 351 by the BJP in 2016.

“Moreover the wage is also less than the first BJP Government’s notification of 2021 which had added Rs 50 just before the assembly elections and increased it to Rs 217.

“This notification was also withdrawn and now only Rs 38 has been increased. The APCC strongly condemned this betrayal to the tea tribe community and demanded that the state government fulfilled the daily wage increase of tea workers as promised,” Sharma said.

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News UAE News World

Erdogan Calls MBZ

Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, discussed the prospects of strengtehning relations between the two nations…reports Asian Lite News

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, Monday, reviewed the prospects of reinforcing the relations between the two nations in a way that serves their common interests and their two peoples.

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This came in a phone call between the two leaders, wherein they exchanged views over a number of international and regional issues of interest.

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-Top News India News

INS Airavat arrives in Vietnam with Covid relief material

The ship is carrying 100 Metric Tons of Liquid Medical Oxygen in 05 ISO Containers and 300 Oxygen Concentrators of 10 LPM capacity each…reports Asian Lite News

As part of the ongoing Mission SAGAR, INS Airavat arrived at Ho Chi Minh City Port in Vietnam with Covid relief material on Monday.

The ship is carrying 100 Metric Tons of Liquid Medical Oxygen in 05 ISO Containers and 300 Oxygen Concentrators of 10 LPM capacity each based on the requirement projected by the Government of Vietnam in its fight against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

INS Airavat, an indigenously built Landing Ship Tank (Large) under the Eastern Naval Command based at Visakhapatnam, is on a deployment to South East Asia for trans-shipment of COVID Relief aid.

The ship had earlier entered Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 24, 2021 and disembarked 10 Liquid Medical Oxygen Containers requested by the Government of Indonesia.

As part of the Government of India’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), the Indian Navy has been proactively engaging with countries in the region and has been at the forefront of numerous humanitarian missions spanning the entire extent of the Indian Ocean including South Asia, South East Asia and East Africa.

India and Vietnam enjoy a strong traditional bond of friendship and have been working together towards a safer maritime domain.

The two navies cooperate in various areas including a composite training programme in the fields of the submarine, aviation and technical training, and regularly carry out joint naval exercises in the form of bilateral exercises.

The current deployment of the ship aims to further strengthen the strategic relationship.

The ship will depart Ho Chi Minh City post disembarkation of the medical supplies and as part of the ongoing Mission SAGAR continue onwards to deliver medical supplies to other friendly nations in the region. (India News Network)

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Afghanistan not to join talks on INSTC, Chabahar port

Experts observed that US-led Quad, including Pakistan and Uzbekistan, has been created to counter India’s ambitious Chabahar project…reports Asian Lite News.

Afghanistan will not be able to join the meeting proposed by India, Iran, and Uzbekistan on the use of Iran’s Chabahar port in absence of any recognised or elected government there, sources said on Monday.

The new grouping’s meeting was due this month but has been delayed due to the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, and is now scheduled to take place later this year.

These three nations had, in July, invited Afghanistan to form a Quad to discuss the India-sponsored International North South Transit Corridor (INSTC) project and the joint use of Chabahar port and the then Ashraf Ghani government agreed to join the meeting.

“In July, India had invited Afghanistan to join the group. But due to the changed political situation in the country, Afghanistan will not be participating in the three nations talks on INSTC and the Chabahar port,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

The INSTC is a 7,200 km-long multimodal transportation network encompassing sea, road, and rail routes, linking the Indian Ocean to the Caspian Sea via the Persian Gulf, onwards into Russia and northern Europe and offers the shortest connectivity route between them.

This port is the only gateway for India to Afghanistan and Central Asia after Pakistan blocking its transit trade route via Afghanistan, whereas the INSTC and the Chabahar port together give an alternate to China’s “Belt and Road initiative”.

India, Iran, and Uzbekistan had held their first ever meeting on joint use of Chabahar Port but later Uzbekistan also agreed to join US-led Quad grouping which also included Afghanistan and Pakistan, and would be focusing on enhancing regional connectivity.

Experts observed that US-led Quad, including Pakistan and Uzbekistan, has been created to counter India’s ambitious Chabahar project.

“India has proposed to include the port in the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor and has welcomed the formation of the India-Uzbekistan-Iran-Afghanistan quadrilateral working group on the joint use of Chabahar port. The meeting is likely to take place in the later half of this year,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said recently.

The Afghan government had been a major stakeholder in the talks since the multi-nation trade route had been developed by India along with Iran to provide a trade route for Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. Its absence is set to effectively stop plans of goods from Chabahar port reaching land-locked Afghanistan, which was earlier set to come up as an important node of the INSTC, experts noted.

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