[🇮🇳] India---News & Views

[Saif]

Source: https://thedailynewnation.com/nepal-map-on-currency-note-stirs-up-border-row-with-india/

Nepal map on currency note stirs up border row with India
10 May 2024, 12:00 am
AFP :

The boundary dispute between India and Nepal has heated up once again after the Nepali government last week announced a new currency note featuring a map that shows three border areas claimed by New Delhi.

The dispute involves the territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which are currently under Indian control.

The new map adds 335 square kilometres of land to Nepal, and the country's central bank is expected to take up to a year to print and issue the new note.

India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar slammed Nepal's decision, saying it will not change the reality on the ground.

"Our position is very clear. With Nepal, we are having discussions about our boundary matters through an established platform. In the middle of that, they unilaterally took some measures on their side," Jaishankar told media persons.

"But by doing something on their side, they are not going to change the situation between us or the reality on the ground," he added. The boundary dispute between the two countries began to escalate after New Delhi issued a political map in November 2019 that placed the contested area within India's territory.

Relations became more strained when India inaugurated an 80-kilometer-long roadway that passes through Lipulekh, a disputed area that lies at the strategic Nepal-India-China tri-junction.

The unilaterally built motorway links India's Uttarakhand state to Tibet's Kailash Mansarovar via the Lipulekh Pass, a territory historically claimed by Nepal and considered one of the shortest and most practicable trade routes between India and China.

The small Himalayan nation challenged India's inauguration of the road by publishing a new map showing the contested areas – including the areas of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura – as lying inside Nepal's borders.

Nepal, which was never under colonial rule, has long claimed these areas in accordance with the 1816 Sugauli treaty with the British Raj following the Anglo-Nepalese (Gurkha) War.

The treaty recognized the Kali River as Nepal's western boundary with India and the land lying east of the river is Nepalese territory. However, these areas have been under India's administrative control since the early 1960s.​

 

[Saif]

Another Indian national arrested in Canada over Sikh activist murder

Canadian police have arrested another Indian national over the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) announced Saturday that they have taken Amandeep Singh, 22, into their custody over allegation of his involvement in the Nijjar's

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Another Indian national arrested in Canada over Sikh activist murder
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
May 12, 2024 10:49
Updated :
May 12, 2024 10:49

Canadian police have arrested another Indian national over the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) announced Saturday that they have taken Amandeep Singh, 22, into their custody over allegation of his involvement in the Nijjar's killing.

Singh, who resided in Brampton, Surrey and Abbotsford, was charged with the murder.

Earlier this month, Canadian police arrested and charged three Indian men in the city of Edmonton in Alberta.

Nijjar, 45, was shot dead in June outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. A few months later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited what he said was evidence of potential Indian government involvement, prompting a diplomatic crisis with New Delhi.​

 

[Saif]

US warns of ‘potential risk of sanctions’

Any country having business dealings with Iran runs the risk of sanctions, the United States has said, noting that it is aware that Iran and India have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar port.

www.thedailystar.net

US warns of 'potential risk of sanctions'
Any country having business dealings with Iran runs the risk of sanctions, the United States has said, noting that it is aware that Iran and India have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar port.

"We're aware of these reports that Iran and India have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar port. I will let the government of India speak to its own foreign policy goals vis-a-vis the Chabahar port as well as its own bilateral relationship with Iran," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

"I will just say, as it relates to the United States, US sanctions on Iran remain in place and we'll continue to enforce them," he said in response to a question on India's deal with Iran on the strategic Chabahar port.

"You've heard us say this in a number of instances, that any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran, they need to be aware of the potential risk that they are opening themselves up to and the potential risk of sanctions," Patel said.

India and Iran on Monday signed a 10-year contract for the operation of a terminal at the strategically important Chabahar port in Iran.

Under the agreement, Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL) will invest about $120 million while there will be an additional $250 million in financing, bringing the contract's value to $370 million, said Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash.​

 

[Saif]

Nepal latest to ban Indian spice brands

Nepal has become the latest jurisdiction to ban the import and sale of two popular Indian spice brands after reports that some of their products contained a...

www.newagebd.net

Nepal latest to ban Indian spice brands
Agence France-Presse . Kathmandu 18 May, 2024, 00:28

Nepal has become the latest jurisdiction to ban the import and sale of two popular Indian spice brands after reports that some of their products contained a cancer-causing pesticide, officials said Friday.

Hong Kong and Singapore last month banned products from Everest and MDH—two brands popular in India and exported worldwide—after tests detected the presence of ethylene oxide, according to media reports.

Besides its use as a pesticide, ethylene oxide is used to sterilise medical equipment and as a sterilising agent in spices to prevent illnesses caused by salmonella and E. Coli bacteria.

Regular exposure to the colourless and odourless compound increases the 'risk of cancers of the white blood cells', according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Matina Joshi Vaidya, chief of Nepal's Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, told AFP that the Himalayan country had also decided to halt the sale of the spice blends.

'It is an issue of public health,' she said. 'We have its banned import and sale from Thursday.'

Nepal has banned four products—three variants produced by MDH and one by Everest.

'We do not have the lab resources to run the tests in the country. The ban will be lifted when Indian authorities declare it safe,' Vaidya said.

Everest and MDH are India's top two spice brands with a market share of 16 and 10 percent respectively in 2022, according to consumer research monitor Statista.

Both companies have put out statements denying their products pose a health hazard to consumers after the Singapore and Hong Kong import bans.

'We clarify and state unequivocally that these claims are untrue and lack any substantiating evidence,' MDH said last month on social media platform X.

India's food regulation agency has asked for state authorities to carry out random testing of spice products, broadcaster NDTV reported.​

 

[Saif]

How is India matching China’s anti-access area denial capabilities?

India's concerns at China's increasing influence in its sphere of power and prowess, from immediate neighbors to the Indian Ocean, amidst historical clashes and territorial disputes, have led to calls for balanced military preparedness against specific threats.

en.prothomalo.com

How is India matching China's anti-access area denial capabilities?
Mohammad Abdur Razzak
Published: 30 May 2024, 10: 43

India has concerns at China's increasing foothold in its sphere of influence with political, economic and civil and military technology power and prowess. India's most accessable sphere of influence is its immediate neighbors where India has security stakes. Besides China's penetrations into India's immediate neighborhoods, India is also worried at China's gradual all-pervading presence in the Indian Ocean where China was not in sight even in the 1980s.

China and India fought on the land a brief but full scale war in 1962.The Line of Control (LoC) and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) have had always a disputed status flaring up with brawls at the border. Similar situation also prevails along the disputed McMahon line separating India's Arunachal Pradesh and China's Tibet autonomous region. The clash at Galwan River valley on June 15, 2020 was the deadliest since the end of the 1962 war. In the context of prevailing contentious conditions, Indian strategists persistently call for balanced military preparedness at sea, in the air and on the land to ward off "belligerent China and Pakistan specific threats".


Until the 1990s, India had the lone troubled land frontier with China. By the turn of the 20th Century the Indian Ocean became India's new frontier due to China's increased naval manoeuvers. India-Pakistan borders have been confrontational since 1947. They fought three declared wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971 and one undeclared Kargil War in 1999. The war of 1971 witnessed a couple of naval engagements not seen in previous wars. The most significant operations were the sinking of INS Kukri and PNS Gazi, naval blockade of Pakistan and India taking the war close to Pakistan's shore and attacked Karachi harbour on 5 December 1971.

Over the decades the advances in civilian and military technology around the world has transformed the concept, character and conduct of wars. In the maritime domain surface, sub-surface and air space are one integrated battle space. In the competition for the dominance of the battle space and defending the center of gravity, the kinetic values resulting from the dynamism of 'Anti-access (A2)' and 'Area Denial (AD)' capabilities are key indicators.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Adani suspected of fraud by selling low-grade coal as high-value fuel to Indian state firm

Reports Financial Times

www.thedailystar.net

Adani suspected of fraud by selling low-grade coal as high-value fuel to Indian state firm
Reports Financial Times

Adani Group passed off low-quality coal as far more expensive cleaner fuel in transactions with an Indian state power utility, according to evidence seen by the Financial Times that throws fresh light on allegations of a long-running coal scam.

The documents, secured by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and reviewed by the FT, add a potential environmental dimension to accusations of corruption associated with the Indian conglomerate. They suggest that Adani may have fraudulently obtained bumper profits at the expense of air quality since using low-grade coal for power means burning more of the fuel.

Invoices show that in January 2014 Adani purchased an Indonesian shipment of coal said to contain 3,500 calories per kilogramme. The same shipment was sold to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution company (Tangedco) as 6,000-calorie coal, one of the most valuable grades. Adani appears to have more than doubled its money in the process, after transport costs.

The FT has also matched documentation for a further 22 shipments in 2014 involving the same parties that indicate a pattern of grade inflation in the supply of 1.5 million tonnes of coal.

Adani sourced the coal in Indonesia from a mining group known for its low-calorie output, at prices consistent with low-grade fuel. It delivered the coal to India's southernmost state for power generation, fulfilling a contract that specified expensive high-quality fuel.

More than 2 million people are killed in India each year by outdoor air pollution, according to a 2022 study in The Lancet, while other studies found significant increases in child mortality for hundreds of miles around coal-fired power plants.

Another study a decade ago found that coal-fired power plants, which supply about three-quarters of India's electricity, accounted for roughly 15 percent of the country's man-made emissions of fine particulate matter, 30 percent of nitrogen oxide and 50 percent of sulphur dioxide.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.
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[Saif]

Priyanka Gandhi to make parliamentary debut from Wayanad

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her parliamentary election debut from Wayanad constituency in Kerala, the party announced today

www.thedailystar.net

Priyanka Gandhi to make parliamentary debut from Wayanad

This undated photo of AP shows Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary of Congress, waves to party supporters during an election campaign rally in Rae Barelli in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her parliamentary election debut from Wayanad constituency in Kerala, the party announced today.

Priyanka will be in fray in the by-election in Wayanad which her brother Rahul Gandhi has decided to give up and retain his membership of Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters after the Congress' top leadership held discussions on the issue at his residence in New Delhi, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"Rahul Gandhi won two Lok Sabha seats but as per the law, he has to vacate one. Rahul Gandhi will retain Rae Bareli and we have decided that Priyankaji will fight from Wayanad," Kharge said.

Rahul's decision to vacate sets at rest weeks of speculations as to which constituency he would retain after winning from Wayanad and Rae Bareli in recent national elections.

After the decision, Rahul Gandhi said both Rae Bareli and Wayanad "will get two MPs" while Priyanka said "I won't let the people of Wayanad feel Rahul's absence".

In 2019 parliamentary elections, Rahul had contested from two seats Amethi in UP and Wayanad but lost the north Indian constituency to BJP's Smriti Irani and won from Wayanad by a huge margin.

In the 2024 polls, he won from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad with margins of over 6.5 lakh and 3.6 lakh votes respectively.​

 

[Saif]

Railway collision in India kills 15, hurts several

A freight train smashed into the rear of a stationary passenger train in India’s West Bengal state on Monday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, police said, in an accident that railway authorities blamed on a disregarded signal. Media showed images of the pile-up, with containe

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Railway collision in India kills 15, hurts several
Published :
Jun 17, 2024 16:04
Updated :
Jun 17, 2024 16:04

A freight train smashed into the rear of a stationary passenger train in India's West Bengal state on Monday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, police said, in an accident that railway authorities blamed on a disregarded signal.

Media showed images of the pile-up, with containers from the goods train strewn nearby, and one carriage left nearly vertical after the accident, which comes just over a year after a signalling error caused one of India's worst rail crashes.

At least 15 bodies have been pulled from the mangled carriages, Abhishek Roy, a senior police official in the eastern state's district of Darjeeling, the site of the accident, told Reuters.

Nearly 30 people were injured and rescue teams from the police and national disaster response force were working with doctors and residents of the area to clear debris from the derailed carriages, Roy added.

The goods train hit the Kanchanjunga Express travelling to Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, from the northeastern state of Tripura, driving three carriages of the passenger train off the rails.

It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board at the time.

Rescuers used iron rods and ropes to free one carriage of the passenger train that had been swept upwards to lodge on the roof of the freight train by the impact of the collision.

The dead included the driver of the freight train and a guard on the passenger train, Jaya Varma Sinha, the head of the railway board that runs the countrywide network, told reporters.

The accident happened after the driver of the freight train disregarded a signal and hit the rear end of the express train, Sinha added.

Rescue work has been completed, Sinha said, while authorities were working to restore traffic, although the damage had been less extensive than initially feared.

"The guard's compartment in the passenger train was badly damaged," he added. "There were two parcel vans attached ahead of it which reduced the extent of damage to passengers."

Nearby residents heard a loud crash and saw the pile-up upon going to investigate, several told the ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences on the loss of life in the accident and said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was on his way to the site.

About 288 people died a year ago in the neighbouring state of Odisha, in India's worst rail crash in more than two decades, caused by a signal failure.​