✈INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar on 15 Jul (Thursday) called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the Tashkent Connectivity Conference in Uzbekistan. They discussed the current situation in & around Afghanistan. Dr Jaishankar reiterated India’s support for peace, stability and development of Afghanistan.
2. India-Russia support intra-Afghan talks : Russian envoy to India Nikolay Kudashev says that both India and Russia are supportive of the intra-Afghan talks.
3. India will make the best of its two-year term in the UN Security Council and underscore that it establishes the right to be a permanent member of the 15-nation body, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said, as the country prepares to assume Presidency of the Council with focus on maritime security.
4. Amid the ongoing military standoff with India, the Chinese Army is building permanent concrete structures near the Line of Actual Control few kilometres from Naku La in Sikkim, Eastern Ladakh, which will allow its troops access the disputed areas with India.
5. Calling Taliban the current reality in Afghanistan, Russia said it’s for India to decide to what extent it wants to be involved in the country. Responding to queries on the current security situation in Afghanistan.
6. Canada suspended all direct flights from India until July 21. However, passengers from India who wish to visit the country now have the option of taking a connecting flight as long as they obtain a negative Covid-19 certificate.
7. Indian airlines await official orders before restarting flights to Dubai:
Airlines have received no official word from UAE civil aviation regulator General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) despite certain airlines allowing passengers to book air tickets to Dubai starting July 15. So booking tickets to Dubai is awaiting. India to Dubai international flight was suspended due to the second wave of Coronavirus spreading across the country.
8. Indian Navy received 10th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I from US-based aerospace company, Boeing. Contract for eight P81 aircraft was signed by defence ministry in 2009. In 2016, ministry signed a contract for four additional P-8I aircraft. P-81 is a patrol aircraft and an integral part of Indian Navy’s fleet.
🌎WORLD NEWS🌍
1. The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and seemingly unstoppable march of the Taliban opens a strategic door to China that is laden with both risk & opportunity. China abhors a power vacuum, especially on its borders, and maintaining stability after decades of war in its western neighbour.
2. The United States rejects China`s “unlawful” maritime claims in the South China Sea and stands with Southeast Asian countries facing Chinese “coercion”.
3. 17 people confirmed dead in collapse of hotel in Eastern China, unauthorized construction to blame. The hotel is said to have undergone frequent renovations in recent years. “The building used to have only three floors, but over the years they have been adding extra floors.
4. US Senate passed a legislation to ban the import of products from China’s Xinjiang region. The bill must also be passed by the House of Representatives before it can be sent to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law.
5. The Taliban have offered a three-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of 7,000 insurgent prisoners with Afghanistan govt.
It was not immediately clear how the govt would react to the ceasefire offer, which comes as the United States accelerates the pace of a troop withdrawal due to be finished by 31 August.
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Ch Narmada Naveen Kumar |
