LIVE: India says air exercise in east not connected to China border clash

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12:52 PM

Meanwhile in Rajya Sabha, repeated disruptions and opposition uproar continue

Rajya Sabha proceedings were disrupted thrice during the first hour on Thursday as opposition members created an uproar after the chair disallowed adjournment notices given by them on several issues, including alleged misuse of probe agencies by the government.

The House witnessed two back-to-back adjournments of 15 minutes each and then again for two minutes during the Zero Hour as opposition members raised slogans demanding that their notices be admitted for a discussion.

While opposition members created uproar over not being allowed discussion on issues raised by them, BJP members were also on their feet raising the issue of the Bihar hooch tragedy.

Seven opposition members had given adjournment notices under Rule 267 for discussing various issues of importance, which were not allowed by the chair.

12:44 PM

High-level meeting called by home secy on crowding at major airports concludes

12:36 PM

China needs to revisit assumption that Indian response will remain indefinitely low: Gokhale

The developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 2020 have brought strategic clarity in India towards China, and Beijing might need to revisit its assumption that an Indian response to its military coercion will remain indefinitely low, former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale has said.

Gokhale, a former Indian ambassador to China, also said that India is now more willing and committed to enhancing military capacity in preparation for the "situation of armed coexistence" that it expects to prevail along the LAC.

"Judging India's future responses and behaviour on the basis of current capacity may not be valid," he said on Tuesday in a paper titled 'China's India Policy: Lessons for India-China Relations' for leading think-tank Carnegie India.

12:34 PM

Government focussing on last-mile air connectivity to Tier-III cities: Scindia

Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said the government is focussing on last-mile connectivity to tier-3 cities to ensure democratisation of civil aviation in the country.

Replying to a question in Lok Sabha, Scindia said India has tremendous connectivity between tier I-II cities. "What needs to be strengthened is last-mile connectivity to tier-III cities. Our government is concentrating on last-mile connectivity to make sure the democratisation of civil aviation does truly take place in the country," Scindia said during Question Hour.

The minister said the government is looking at the small aircraft scheme launched last year under which sub-20 seater aircraft are being used to provide last-mile connectivity.

12:27 PM

Gen Naravane says threat from north increasing, Chinese troops resorting to hooliganism

Former chief of Indian Army General MM Naravane has hit out at the Chinese army for descending to the level of "prehistoric times" by using "clubs and barbed wires" in clashes with Indian soldiers. He said the Indian Army would rather open fire than resort to such ridiculous tactics in warfare.

Gen Naravane also said the Indian Army has felt that the threat from India's northern borders is increasing based on assessments but it keeps evaluating threats and takes remedial measures.

In a podcast with the ANI editor-in-chief, he said, "That is how an army fights by using the weapons at your disposal and not getting into fisticuffs. Are we hooligans or mafia? We are professional. Is that the level PLA has gone down to? Hooliganism and streetfighting? Or they are a professional 21st-century army? On one side they try to show their technological prowess, on the other side they are coming with barbed wire clubs. It is ridiculous."

12:16 PM

'Chinese glasses' covering 'red eye' of Modi govt, says Congress chief Kharge

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday took a dig at the Narendra Modi government for trying to dodge a discussion in parliament over the India-China Tawang clash of December 9.

Using terms like "lal aankh" and "Chinese glasses", Kharge's tweet in Hindi could roughly be interpreted as: "The once glaring eyes of the Modi government have been covered with Chinese glasses".

The leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha also questioned the central government on whether it needed permission to speak against China in Sansad Bhawan.

The parliament has witnessed multiple disruptions this week with both houses rejecting the opposition's requests for a discussion on the India-China border situation following the Tawang clash in Arunachal Pradesh.

12:12 PM

Building body strength will make you tolerate spurious liquor: Bihar minister

Following the Chhapra hooch tragedy, Bihar industry minister Sameer Mahaseth has made a controversial statement. He has claimed that the strength of the body has to be improved to tolerate 'poisonous' liquor.

Talking to reporters in Hajipur on Wednesday, he said, "Poor quality of liquor is coming to Bihar. This is causing slow poisoning for the people." 

"If you make yourself stronger by engaging in sports, you could tolerate the liquor," he said, according to ANI.

At least thirty-nine people died in Chhapra of Saran district after consuming spurious liquor.

The incident stirred a ruckus in the Bihar assembly on Wednesday where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his temper and slammed the BJP MLAs.

11:50 AM

Big fire incident reported at skyscraper in Mumbai's Lower Parel area

11:40 AM

Shiv Sena row: HC reserves order on Uddhav Thackeray's appeal against decision freezing party name, symbol

Delhi High Court reserves its order on an appeal by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray challenging a single judge's decision dismissing his plea against an election commission interim order freezing the Shiv Sena name and election symbol.

 

Thackeray has claimed that the single judge's November 15 order, by which it had also directed the EC to expedite the proceedings, is “erroneous” and liable to be set aside.

11:05 AM

6.2M earthquake shakes Taiwan's east coast; no major damage reported

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake originating in the waters off Taiwan's eastern coast shook the island Thursday, but no injuries or major damage were immediately reported.

The earthquake struck 29 kilometres southeast of Hualien, a city on Taiwan's east coast, the island's Central Weather Bureau said. The depth was 5.7 kilometres.

Buildings in the capital, Taipei, shook for about a minute and the subway briefly paused operations to ensure passenger safety.

Taiwan sits directly on a fault line as part of the Ring of Fire, a region in the Pacific Ocean that is seismologically active.

10:10 AM

Owaisi says Centre keeping people in dark over border situation with China

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi hits out at the Centre, claiming it is kepeping people in dark over the recent border situation with China.

"The Modi government has kept the people and the parliament in dark. Why is it scared of the truth about China coming out? What is Modi's interest in hiding the facts about Chinese aggression?" tweeted Owaisi and attached a snippet of a news article regarding "Chinese aggression" along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

On Tuesday, Owaisi said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi "failed" to show his political leadership.

10:04 AM

200 fresh Covid cases in country in last 24 hours, shows govt data

India saw a single day rise of 200 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,767, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The total tally of Covid cases in the country stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,75,447).

The overall death toll has risen to 5,30,663 with five fatalities three reconciled by Kerala, and one each reported from Karnataka and Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent.

A decrease of 79 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

9:58 AM

India slams Pakistan for raking up Kashmir issue at UN Security Council

India has strongly hit back at Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council, arguing that a country that hosted slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and attacked a neighbouring Parliament does not have the credentials to "sermonise" before the powerful UN organ.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's strong remarks came after Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto raised the Kashmir issue while speaking in the council's open debate on reformed multilateralism on Wednesday.

Jaishankar said the credibility of the UN depends on its effective response to the key challenges of our times, be it pandemics, climate change, conflicts or terrorism.

"While we search for the best solutions, what our discourse must never accept is the normalisation of such threats. The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise. That certainly applies to state sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Nor can hosting Osama bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring parliament serve as credentials to sermonise before this council," Jaishankar said.

 

9:52 AM

Govt wants to discuss global warming over price rise, joblessness: Derek O'Brien

9:45 AM

Indian Air Force set for training exercise in northeast region from Thursday

With an aim to check its combat readiness, the Indian Air Force will begin a two-day consolidated training exercise in the northeast region on Thursday. The exercise is taking place soon after a face-off between Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, which was preceded by attempts to violate Indian air space.

"Indian Air Force is scheduled to carry out a consolidated training exercise this week in the eastern sector where the readiness of the aircraft would be checked. The training exercise has been planned much in advance," an official source told ANI.

"In the last few weeks, there have been two to three occasions where our fighter jets had to be scrambled to tackle the Chinese drones moving towards our positions on the LAC. The Su-30MKI jets had to be scrambled to tackle the air violation threat," the source said.