Year: 2020

Amidst China flexing its muscles in the region, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 270 billion Australian dollars will be invested to modernise the country’s defence capabilities in the coming decade to maintain regional security and deter or respond to “aggression” in the strategic Indo-Pacific.   “The challenges and nature in the Indo-Pacific have meant we need a new approach and one that actively seeks to deter actions that are against our interests,” Morrison said.   China has been fast expanding military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region, triggering…

India is engaging in military and diplomatic level talks with China to resolve the stand-off at Ladakh. While both countries have tried to downplay the standoff and de-escalate the ongoing tension at the Himalayan border, the US has decided to recalibrate its defence commitments to counter emerging threats from China in Southeast Region. Citing Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) recently clashes with India, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned three US aircraft carrier strike groups which include other ships being deployed in the Indo-Pacific zone in a show of…

Lydall, Inc. (NYSE: LDL), a leading U.S. manufacturer of value-added engineered materials and specialty filtration solutions that create a cleaner, safer and quieter world, today announced the signing of a $13.5 million contract award with the United States Department of Defense (DOD). The contract will support Lydall’s investment in two new meltblown production lines – including one that had been announced on June 2 – in its Rochester, New Hampshire facility. This investment will significantly accelerate Lydall’s domestic production of meltblown filtration media that comprises the critical filtration layer of N95 respirators and…

Ludhiana Police has revealed that the number of suicide and domestic violence cases in the city have risen during the lockdown, with a total of 100 cases of suicide and 1,500 complaints of domestic violence being registered by the police in this duration, up dramatically from 60 and 850 respectively before the lockdown.   The police further attributed the surge in cases of suicide and domestic violence to depression, unemployment and financial issues.   Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Akhil Chaudhary says, “Suicide and domestic violence cases have increased during lockdown in Ludhiana, Punjab. 60 suicide cases and 850 complaints of domestic violence were reported before lockdown this year. During lockdown, 100 cases of suicide and 1,500 domestic violence complaints have been registered. Preliminary probe suggests that depression, unemployment and financial problems are some of the reasons behind suicides,” the officer stated further, adding that it had also been observed that suicidal…

Amid ongoing border tension between China and India following the June 15 standoff, the Indian newspapers and websites are banned in China.   Though Chinese newspapers and websites continue to be accessible in India, people in China can only access the Indian media websites with Virtual Private Network (VPN) server.   The Indian TV channels also can be accessed through IP TV as of now. And Express VPN has not been working in the Communist state for the past two days on the iPhone as well as desktops.   A virtual private network (VPN) is a powerful tool that gives users online privacy and anonymity by creating a private network…

In what is a remarkable milestone for global solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, over 30,000 people have now signed up with 1Day Sooner to be deliberately exposed to the coronavirus in a challenge trial to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development. Some epidemiologists estimate that a challenge trial could accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development by months, saving tens of thousands of lives.    Preparation for COVID-19 challenge trials has begun. On June 9, Belgium allocated $22 million for the construction of challenge quarantine facilities. On June 15, Anthony Fauci said that the National…

After the pandemic what really scared and bothered India was locusts’ attacks. It spread like wildfire and behaved like the same. The Union Ministry of Agriculture proudly said that India is the first country to control locusts by using drones. According to the information given by the ministry, all the groups of locust swarms are being tracked by teams of the state agriculture departments of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, local administrations and officials of the Central Locust Warning Organisation, and control operations are underway.   “India is the first…

Russian intelligence officers for the military intelligence GRU recently offered money to Taliban militants in Afghanistan as rewards if they kill US or UK troops there, a European intelligence official said. The official was unclear as to the precise Russian motivation, but said the incentives had, in their assessment, led to coalition casualties. The official did not specify as to the date of the casualties, their number or nationality, or whether these were fatalities or injuries. “This callous approach by the GRU is startling and reprehensible. Their motivation is bewildering,” the official said. US intelligence concluded months ago that…

As per the report from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported that recovered coronavirus cases have exceeded the active cases by 98,493 as of Saturday.   The total number of coronavirus recoveries in India exceeded active cases by over 1 lakh on Sunday, with recoveries reaching 3,09,712 and active cases reaching 2,03,051. The coronavirus recovery rate in India has reached 58.56%.     The total number of recoveries has fast outgrown the number of active Covid-19 cases, with the difference between the two nearing one lakh fast,…

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday the Chinese threat to India and Southeast Asian nations is one of the reasons America is reducing its troop presence in Europe and deploying them to other places. This news comes after the China and India were involved in violent clashes earlier this month in Eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley .   This moment  comes at the time, when there is threats from China to India and countries in Southeast Asia and the challenges in the South China Sea are going to dictate the allocation…