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New Delhi: Indian and Chinese troops briefly clashed at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh last week before disengaging.
The face-off on December 9 led to “minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides” and the two sides “immediately disengaged from the area”, NDTV reported.

The face-off took place at the Tawang Sector of Arunachal Pradesh. Chinese troops crossed the LAC, which was contested by Indian soldiers in a “firm and resolute manner”.

This is the first reported clash between Indian and Chinese troops since skirmishes at Eastern Ladakh.

The worst of these clashes broke out at Galwan Valley in June 2020, when 20 Indian soldiers died for the country and over 40 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured. The incident set off a series of confrontations between the two nations, including one at the South Bank of Pangong Lake.
After multiple meetings between military commanders, Indian and Chinese troops pulled back from key points including Gogra-Hot Springs in Ladakh.

According to government sources, such confrontations had been taking place since 2006 because of “differing perceptions” of the border.

“In certain areas along the LAC in the Tawang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh there are areas of differing perception, wherein both sides patrol the area upto their claim lines. This has been the trend since 2006. On 09 December 2022, Chinese troops contacted the LAC in Tawang Sector which was contested by own troops in a firm and resolute manner,” said the sources.

As a follow-up of the incident, the Indian commander in the area held a flag meeting with his Chinese counterpart to comply with “structured mechanisms to restore peace and tranquility”, the government said.

Delhi: The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) or the Delhi airport has been chosen as the best airport in South Asia and India for the year 2022 in the Skytrax World Airport Awards . Meanwhile, the Bangalore, Mumbai, and Hyderabad airports have secured second, third, and fourth positions, respectively.

As many as eight out of the top 10 airports in South Asia are Indian Airports. These include Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin, and Ahmedabad airports along with the airports in the above-mentioned cities. 

The Delhi airport also tops the chart in being the cleanest airport in South Asia and India this year and is followed by Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad airports. 

In the World’s top 100 airports category, the Delhi airport is ranked 37 while the Bengaluru airport is ranked 60, closely followed by Hyderabad at 63 and Mumbai at 65. Hamad International airport has been chosen as the best airport in the world for 2022. 

The Delhi airport has three terminals with T1 and T2 handling the low-cost carriers and domestic flights and Terminal 3 or T3 which ich was opened in 2010 and is one of the biggest terminals in the world, being able to handle up to 40 million passengers per year. All International flights and some domestic flights as well are operated from T3. 

Additionally, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is number one on the list of the best regional airports while the Hyderabad Airport has the best airport staff in India and South Aisa. 

The World Airport Awards began in 1999 when Skytrax launched its first global, Airport customer satisfaction survey. They are regarded as a quality benchmark for the world airport industry, assessing customer service and facilities across over 500 airports.(PTI)

Washington : The United States has made it clear that India will not be placed on its list of ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ or ‘Special Watch list’ this year for violations of religious freedom.
During the State Department briefing on December 6, spokesperson Ned Price, said, “When it comes to India, India of course is the world’s largest democracy. It’s home to a great diversity of faiths.”
“Our Annual Report on International Religions Freedom outlines some of the concerns we’ve taken note of when it comes to India, and we continue to carefully monitor the religious freedom situation in all countries and that includes in India,” he said during the briefing.
This statement came as the Biden administration released the names of countries designated under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
Under this act, the US government is required to annually review the status of religious freedom in every country in the world and designate each country the government of which has engaged in or tolerated “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), according to The Australia Today.

During the press conference on Tuesday, Price said the US will continue to encourage the Indian Government to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom for all.
He added the US government engage foreign officials regularly on steps they can take to advance religious freedom.
Earlier this week, the US Department of State said Cuba and Nicaragua were added to the list of countries of “Particular Concern”. Meanwhile, China, Russia, Iran, Burma, Eritrea, North Korea and Pakistan were retained on the list.
The Biden administration said that its announcement of these designations is in keeping with the values and interests to protect national security and to advance human rights around the globe.
“Countries that effectively safeguard this and other human rights are more peaceful, stable, prosperous and more reliable partners of the United States than those that do not,” the statement added. (ANI)

Washington: India is home to a great diversity of faiths and the Biden administration will continue to encourage it to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom for all, a top US official has said, days after America designated 12 countries, including China and Pakistan as “countries of particular concern”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday designated 12 countries, including China, Pakistan and Myanmar, as “countries of particular concern” for the current status of religious freedom in these nations. He said around the world, governments and non-state actors harass, threaten, jail, and even kill individuals on account of their beliefs.

Responding to a question on why India was not designated by the US government as a Country of Particular Concern on the issue of human rights, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that India was the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths.

“Our annual report on international religious freedom outlines some of the concerns we’ve taken note of when it comes to India. We continue to carefully monitor the religious freedom situation in all countries and that includes India,” Price told reporters here on Tuesday.

The Biden administration will continue to encourage the Indian government to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom for all, he said.

“We engage officials regularly on steps they can take to advance religious freedom. As the world’s two largest democracies, the United States and India, are also committed to an enduring project,” he said.

This is the project that Secretary Blinken spoke to previously. The project that as our founders put it, of striving to form a more perfect union. This is a project for both of our countries, Price said.

“We have worked together, and we can work together to show that our democracies can meet our peoples’ needs. We must continue to hold ourselves to our core values including respect for human rights like freedom of religion and freedom of belief or expression,” he said in response to a question.

“That, in turn, makes our respective democracies even stronger. Secretary Blinken, given the totality of the facts and the circumstances, determined that religious freedom concerns in India do not warrant a country of particular concern designation or placement on the special watch list. But, these are conversations that we continue to have with our Indian partners and with partners around the world,” Price said.

India has previously rejected criticism by foreign governments and human rights groups on allegations that civil liberties have eroded in the country.

The Indian government has asserted that India has well-established democratic practices and robust institutions to safeguard the rights of all.

The government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of human rights.

Ahead of the announcement of the annual designation by the State Department, there were massive lobbying efforts by groups like Indian American Muslim Council and pressures from organisations like the US Commission for International Religious Freedom to designate India as a Country of Concern.

In the US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, the India section of the report mentioned incidents of attacks on religious minorities.

India in June this year rejected its criticism in the US State Department report on religious freedom, saying it is unfortunate that “vote bank politics is being practised in international relations”.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the observation on India in the report is based on “motivated inputs and biased views”.

“We have noted the release of the US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, and ill-informed comments by senior US officials,” Bagchi said.
India’s Diversity Great, Will Urge It To Uphold Religious Freedom: US
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that India was the world’s largest democracy.

Washington: India is home to a great diversity of faiths and the Biden administration will continue to encourage it to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom for all, a top US official has said, days after America designated 12 countries, including China and Pakistan as “countries of particular concern”.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday designated 12 countries, including China, Pakistan and Myanmar, as “countries of particular concern” for the current status of religious freedom in these nations. He said around the world, governments and non-state actors harass, threaten, jail, and even kill individuals on account of their beliefs.

Responding to a question on why India was not designated by the US government as a Country of Particular Concern on the issue of human rights, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that India was the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths.

“Our annual report on international religious freedom outlines some of the concerns we’ve taken note of when it comes to India. We continue to carefully monitor the religious freedom situation in all countries and that includes India,” Price told reporters here on Tuesday.

The Biden administration will continue to encourage the Indian government to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom for all, he said.

“We engage officials regularly on steps they can take to advance religious freedom. As the world’s two largest democracies, the United States and India, are also committed to an enduring project,” he said.

This is the project that Secretary Blinken spoke to previously. The project that as our founders put it, of striving to form a more perfect union. This is a project for both of our countries, Price said.

“We have worked together, and we can work together to show that our democracies can meet our peoples’ needs. We must continue to hold ourselves to our core values including respect for human rights like freedom of religion and freedom of belief or expression,” he said in response to a question.

“That, in turn, makes our respective democracies even stronger. Secretary Blinken, given the totality of the facts and the circumstances, determined that religious freedom concerns in India do not warrant a country of particular concern designation or placement on the special watch list. But, these are conversations that we continue to have with our Indian partners and with partners around the world,” Price said.

India has previously rejected criticism by foreign governments and human rights groups on allegations that civil liberties have eroded in the country.

The Indian government has asserted that India has well-established democratic practices and robust institutions to safeguard the rights of all.

The government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of human rights.

Ahead of the announcement of the annual designation by the State Department, there were massive lobbying efforts by groups like Indian American Muslim Council and pressures from organisations like the US Commission for International Religious Freedom to designate India as a Country of Concern.

In the US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, the India section of the report mentioned incidents of attacks on religious minorities.

India in June this year rejected its criticism in the US State Department report on religious freedom, saying it is unfortunate that “vote bank politics is being practised in international relations”.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the observation on India in the report is based on “motivated inputs and biased views”.

“We have noted the release of the US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, and ill-informed comments by senior US officials,” Bagchi said.

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“It is unfortunate that vote bank politics is being practised in international relations. We would urge that assessments based on motivated inputs and biased views be avoided,” he had said.(PTI)

New Delhi : Witnessing no respite from toxic air, Delhiites on Tuesday woke up to another foggy morning with Air Quality Index (AQI) at 337, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

As per SAFAR, Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday.

SAFAR recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 340 for the national capital earlier on Monday.

The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered good, while 100 to 200 is considered moderate, 200 to 300 is considered poor, 300 to 400 is considered very poor, and 400 to 500 or higher is considered severe.

Earlier on Sunday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a Union government panel recommending steps to control air pollution in the national capital, announced a temporary ban on construction and demolition activities in Delhi-NCR as part of its Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The announcement came after the air quality in Delhi and the national capital region breached the ‘severe’ category.

The CAQM, which on Sunday chaired a meeting to review the air quality in Delhi-NCR, put out a release saying, “As the AQI in Delhi has slipped into ‘severe’ category, the sub-committee had decided that all actions, as envisaged under Stage III of the GRAP, be implemented in right earnest by all the agencies concerned, with immediate effect in the NCR, in addition to all action under Stage I and Stage II of the GRAP.”

The panel had further observed that the air quality saw a further deterioration over the last 24 hours, with Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 407 on December 4, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

In its order, the CAQM said it temporarily banned construction activities, “with the exception of Metro Rail services, including stations; airport and inter-state bus terminals; railway services/stations; national security/defence-related activities/ projects of national importance; hospitals/healthcare facilities; linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, pipelines; sanitation projects like sewage treatment plants and water supply projects; ancillary activities specific to and supplementing above categories of projects”.

Milk and dairy units and those involved in the manufacturing of life-saving medical equipment, drugs and medicines, were also exempted from the restrictions stipulated in the CAQM order. (ANI)