Category: Global Politics

No Indian visitor as Pakistan reopens Kartarpur Corridor after 3 months

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Pakistan on Monday reopened the Kartarpur Corridor more than three months after it was temporarily closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but no Indian pilgrim visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, a top official said. India temporarily suspended the pilgrimage and registration for the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan on March 16 in view of the coronavirus outbreak. “Pakistan today opened the Kartarpur Corridor. However, no Indian pilgrim visited it,” Evacuee Trust Property Board Deputy (ETPB) Director Imran Khan told PTI. The ETPB looks after the holy places…

India bans 59 China-linked phone apps, orders companies to block them: Complete list

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ In a huge move, the central government on Monday decided to ban 59 mobile applications linked to China on grounds of national security. A formal order, asking phone companies to block the applications, was issued after weeks of discussions that started much before the Ladakh border standoff with China. But government officials told Hindustan Times that the deliberations were fast-tracked after June 15 violent scrap between soldiers at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had extended his complete support to the move…

Ireland gets coalition government, Leo Varadkar to return as PM in 2022

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Leo Varadkar, the outgoing prime minister of Ireland, will now be the deputy prime minister under a new coalition government from Saturday headed by Micheal Martin, and return as the prime minister in 2022 under the power-sharing arrangement. Varadkar, 41, became a caretaker prime minister after no party won a majority in the February 8 election. The process of government formation was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Three parties have now agreed to form the coalition government. They are Varadkar’s Fine Gael party, Martin’s Fianna Fail…

China’s Xi Jinping uses trade to coerce compliance with diktats: US NSA O’Brien

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has alleged that in addition to propaganda and influence operations, China uses trade to “coerce” compliance with its diktats. The top Trump administration official, in his address to a group of people at Phoenix in Arizona, said that China’s efforts to control the mind of people residing beyond its borders is well underway. “In addition to propaganda and influence operations, the Chinese Communist Party uses trade to coerce compliance with its dictates,” O’Brien said, according to a White House transcript released on Friday.…

Satellite image: Iran blast struck by suspected missile site

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ An explosion that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites, satellite photographs showed Saturday. What exploded in the incident early Friday that sent a massive fireball into the sky near Tehran remains unclear, as does the cause of the blast. The unusual response of the Iranian government in the aftermath of the explosion, however, underscores the sensitive nature of an area near where international inspectors believe the Islamic Republic conducted high-explosive…

AstraZeneca, Moderna ahead in Covid-19 vaccine race: World Health Organisation

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ AstraZeneca’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine is probably the world’s leading candidate and most advanced in terms of development, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief scientist said on Friday. The British drugmaker has already begun large-scale, mid-stage human trials of the vaccine, which was developed by researchers at University of Oxford. This week, AstraZeneca signed its tenth supply and manufacturing deal. “Certainly in terms of how advanced they are, the stage at which they are, they are I think probably the leading candidate,” WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told a news…

US tightens the screws on Beijing, restricts visas for Chinese officials

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ The United States is imposing visa restrictions on current and former Chinese officials responsible for “eviscerating” the freedoms of Hong Kong citizens, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, signalling that the US would continue to tighten controls vis-a-vis the Chinese government officials. The move coincides with an intensified US rhetoric against China in the midst of Trump’s re-election campaign, in which opinion polls have shown voters increasingly embittered toward Beijing, especially over the coronavirus that began from China’s Wuhan. “I am announcing visa restrictions on…

Indian envoy delivers sharp message to China about ‘repercussions’ over Ladakh

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ The standoff between Indian and Chinese border troops can be resolved only if the Chinese side stops building new structures along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India’s ambassador to China Vikram Misri said on Friday. Reiterating India’s position that the standoff and a violent face-off on June 15 were triggered by China’s actions, Vikram Misri told news agency PTI in Beijing that the Chinese side has to stop the practice of transgressing. His remarks made it clear that the Indian side expects China to take steps that will…

16 vaccines against Covid-19 enter clinical evaluation stage, 125 candidates in preclinical evaluation: WHO’s draft landscape

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ With nearly 10 million Covid-19 patients across the globe and over 4.8 coronavirus fatalities, the need for a Covid-19 antidote becomes more urgent by the day. The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc.’s experimental vaccine, ChAdOx1-S, has become the first to enter the final stages of clinical trials against the coronavirus disease. But Oxford and AstraZeneca’s collaborative initiative is not the only one in the race to arrive at a potential Covid-19 vaccine. According to the World Health Organisation’s draft landscape of Covid-19 vaccines, there were 10 candidates in…

Eiffel Tower reopens after a three-month coronavirus break

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COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ The Eiffel Tower on Thursday welcomed back visitors after the coronavirus outbreak forced the Paris landmark into its longest period out of action since World War Two. Strict hygiene and safety measures have been put in place for the re-opening. Visitors can access the 324 meters high (1,062 feet) tower only via staircases until early July, with elevators off-limits for the time being because of safety considerations. In addition, visitors are not allowed to go any higher than the second floor of the tower, and anyone over…