India Narrative

Two persons died and four others took ill in a gas leak at a pharmaceutical unit in Visakhapatnam on Monday night, the second industrial disaster to strike the port city in less than two months. The incident occurred at Sainor Life Sciences Private Limited, a pharma company located at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Parwada on the city outskirts around 11.30 p.m. on Monday. However, it came to light only in the early hours of Tuesday. Revenue Divisional Officer P. Kishore told reporters at the scene that Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) leaked while it was being pumped from one reactor to the other. Initially, the leaked gas was suspected to be benzimidazole. Six people working there inhaled the gas. While two persons died, four others were shifted to a hospital, where condition of one of them is stated to be critical. The deceased were identified as shift incharge R. Narendra, 33, and chemist M. Gowri Shankar, 26. The condition of L.V. Chandrashekhar, a helper, was critical.

Security has been tightened around the famed Hotel Taj Mahal Palace near Gateway of India after a threat to blow it up, official sources said here on Tuesday. A threat call was received by the hotel around 12.30 a.m. after which the Mumbai Police was informed, the sources said, adding that the call was purportedly made from Karachi in Pakistan and the caller threatened to blow up the hotel with bombs. Not taking any chances, security has been tightened in the hotel’s vicinity and further investigation are underway. The hotel was the prime target of Pakistani terrorists during the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror strikes.

Microsoft India has indicated that it is keen to set up its campus in Uttar Pradesh, a major move that will push investment and employment in the state. In case the proposal fructifies, the campus will come up in Greater Noida. Greater Noida News This will ensure employment to about 4,000 people in the state. Rajiv Kumar, Microsoft India’s managing director and UP micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) minister Sidharth Nath Singh held a virtual meeting, in which the plan was discussed. Sources said that a team from Microsoft will soon make a visit. According to IANS, Singh said that the next step will be a site inspection by the team both in Greater Noida and along the Yamuna Expressway. “The government had earlier said that it will make it simpler for investors willing to acquire land within 1 km distance on each side of the state’s expressways. The company has said that they want to move their North India campus to Greater Noida,” the news agency quoted Singh as saying.

Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday morning. The encounter took place in the Waghma village. The police in a statement on Twitter said: “Waghama Encounter Update: 02 #unidentified terrorists killed. Search going on. Further details shall follow.” Kashmir News The Army and the police had launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) on the basis of a specific information about the presence of terrorists. As the cordon was tightened the hiding terrorists fired at the security forces which triggered the encounter. This year, so far there have been several successful anti terror operations by the security forces that has led to the killing of many terrorists and their commanders.

Chinese short-video making app TikTok on Tuesday said it is in the process of complying with the Indian government order to ban 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, and is not sharing any data of Indian users with the Chinese government. The Indian government on Monday banned apps like TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser and Xiaomi’s Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. “The government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it,” Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok India, said in a statement, adding that the company has been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. “TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not s

The Indian government on Monday banned nearly 59 Chinese apps including TikTok , WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi’s Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a list of 59 Chinese apps that are now banned in the country. “These measures have been undertaken since there is credible information that these apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order,” said a MeitY statement. The ministry received complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside In

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 4 p.m. today. The Twitter handle of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) released this information on Monday night. It is believed that Modi will share his views on Unlock 2.0, which will kick in from Wednesday. On Monday night, the government released the new guidelines for Unlock 2.0. It said the new rules will be in force till July 31. Almost all activities have been allowed outside the containment zones save a few like functioning of schools and colleges and international travel, among others. National broadcaster Doordarshan will telecast the Prime Minister’s address live. Interestingly, the address comes in the backdrop of the growing India-China border tensions. On Monday evening, the government banned 59 Chinese apps under national security considerations, a move seen as India’s response to China’s recent misadventures that resulted in casualties on both sides.

From its contested western border with India to challenging countries in the South China Sea, an inexorably common narrative is that Beijing is becoming assertive in its conduct against neighbors to settle old issues. The focus of China’s ongoing provocation includes Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Yet this narrative is overstated as China had been taking part in precisely similar types of pressure tactics against these states and others for a considerable number of years even before the pandemic. China News The targets of recent Chinese aggression – governments, militaries and activists, will need to be careful as Beijing is endeavoring to look for strategic gains under the cover of the coronavirus crisis. Beijing has been taking part in aggressive behaviour for a long time preceding the crisis, and will move in the direction of its national interest regardless of world events. Once the pandemic is over, China’s pressure strategies are pro

Even as Imran Khan tries to score some brownie points by approving a plan to build the first temple in capital Islamabad, mass conversion of Hindus and atrocities against the minority community continue to take place all over Pakistan. A video went viral on social media Sunday claiming that as many as 102 Hindus have been converted to Islam and a mandir (temple) converted to a masjid (mosque) in Golarchi, Sindh. The region which has a sizeable population of Hindus—the 1998 census reported approximately 6.5 per cent of Sindhi population to be Hindu—has witnessed mass conversions, particularly targeting the local Bheel community, in the last many decades. A report ‘Forced conversion of minority girls and women in Pakistan,’ which was jointly submitted by the World Sindhi Congress (WSC) and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights a few years ago, had highlighted the plight of Hindu minority community

Amid tension at the borders, top Indian and Chinese military delegations will meet for the third time on Tuesday in Chushul in Leh district, sources said. The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. “This time the talks will be held in Chushul on the Indian side. The last two meetings were held in Moldo on the Chinese side,” said sources, adding that the agenda of the meeting would be to take forward the proposals made by both the countries for disengagement. “All contentious areas during the current standoff will be discussed to stabilise the situation,” sources added. The last two meetings at the Corp Commander level were held on June 6 and June 22. On June 22, talks took place between Indian and Chinese military delegates for around 11 hours. The dialogue was held in a cordial, positive and constructive atmosphere and there was “mutual consensus to disengage”. “Modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in eastern Ladakh were discussed,” the I