WORLD

New Delhi will not accept the proposal of Chinese military commanders that Indian troops withdraw to Finger 1, the name given to one of the 8 mountainous spurs jutting out of the Sirijap range that overlooks the north banks of Pangong Tso, people familiar with the matter said.

Chinese commanders are understood to have proposed that Indian troops move back to Finger 1 while the People’s Liberation Army soldiers go back to Finger 8 and convert the area between the two spurs as a no-activity buffer zone, or a no-man’s land. But India, before the Chinese troops violated 30 years of written agreements to maintain peace and tranquillity along the LAC on May 5, 2020, had been sitting on finger 4 and patrolling till Finger 8.

As of now, both the Indian Army and the PLA are facing each other on Finger 4 with China ramping up infrastructure upto Finger 8. The Indian Army and the PLA are deployed in proximity in the Gogra-Hot Springs area with upgradation of military capabilities in the occupied Aksai Chin area.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Kishi Nobuo on Tuesday discussed aggressive actions by China in the region and called for increase cooperation in the maritime domain.

While "free and open maritime order based on the rule of law" being discussed found mention in readouts issued by both Indian and Japanese defence ministries, the Japanese readout stated ministers, "affirmed their intention to continue exchanging views in light of the current events occurring in the region" and "concurred in sending a clear message that they strongly oppose any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by coercion or any activities that escalate tension." 

While China wasn't mentioned, nor "current events...in the region" pointed out, it is clear that Beijing's actions this year with its neighbors and beyond have changed the perception of the country drastically.

India on Monday handed over the first of 12 High-Speed Guard Boat to Vietnam under the $100 million Defence Line of Credit extended by New Delhi to Hanoi.

The handing over happened at the virtual summit, between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnam's PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc during which both sides also launched manufacturing of High-speed Guard Boats and keel laying of 7 such boats which will be manufactured in Vietnam.

While listing out the outcomes on defense at the summit, secretary east, Riva Ganguly Das said, "Both sides agreed to further intensify their defense industry collaboration building on the Indian defense credit lines extended to Viet Nam. An Implementing Arrangement on Defence Industry Cooperation was also signed to this effect."

As US president Donald Trump keeps tweeting about his win even after the US Electoral College officially certified Joe Biden's victory in the November 3 presidential election, Twitter has started flagging Trump's tweets with a new label, declaring Biden as the winner

One such label was seen on Trump's latest tweet that read: "He didn't win the Election. He lost all 6 Swing States, by a lot. They then dumped hundreds of thousands of votes in each one, and got caught. Now Republican politicians have to fight so that their great victory is not stolen. Don't be weak fools!"

The new label placed on the Trump tweet said: "Election officials have certified Joe Biden as the winner of the U.S. Presidential election".

The total number of people so far infected by the novel coronavirus in India crossed the one crore-mark, numbers coming in from states on Friday evening show. In the United States, Vice President Mike Pence received a shot of the Pfizer vaccine, becoming the highest profile world leader to be vaccinated for the novel coronavirus.

Getting vaccinated for Covid-19 will be voluntary, the Union Health Ministry has said while underlining that the vaccine introduced in India will be as effective as any vaccine developed by other countries.

The ministry further stated that it was advisable to receive a complete schedule of the anti-coronavirus vaccine irrespective of past history of infection with Covid-19 as this will help in developing a strong immune response against the disease. It also said that protective level of antibodies generally develop two weeks after receiving the second dose.