VIF Information Alerts - 11th May 2018

PM Modi on 2-day Nepal visit from today, to hold talks with Oli
Published: Business Standard
11 May 2018

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning left for a two-day state visit to Nepal. Ahead of the visit, Modi tweeted that the "visit reflects the high priority India attaches to friendly relations with Nepal". Further, Modi said that India would remain a steadfast partner of Nepal in its quest for growth and development. The prime minister is visiting the neighbouring country at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Khadga Prasad Oli.Click here to read... [2]

Bill to strengthen Indo-US defence ties gains traction
Published: Hindustan Times
10 May 2018

A key bill to accord ‘real teeth’ to India’s recently designated status as a ‘major defence partner’ and grant it the same access to defence purchases as America’s closest military allies such as NATO members, Israel, Australia and a few others, passed a crucial stage in the US Congress on Wednesday. But its route to final passage remains uncertain, according to an administration official who declined to be identified.Click here to read... [3]

India to Base its Fighter Jets on Andaman & Nicobar Islands in Bengal Bay
Published: Sputnik International
10 May 2018

In a bid to augment its resources in the Indian Ocean Region, India's newly formed Defense Planning Council has decided to build an all-new permanent airbase on Great Nicobar Island, in addition to the present Carnic air force base on Car Nicobar Island. The airbase would be able to station larger aircraft like Su-30MKI and other combat assets.

Official sources told Sputnik on Thursday that the Defense Planning Council has ordered a feasibility study for the proposed air base on the Great Nicobar Island and has also decided to expedite the process of extending the present runway and other infrastructure at the Carnic air base and the nearby Baaz air station at Campbell Bay which is located 240 km from the mouth of the Strait of Malacca — a vital geo-strategic point which connects the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean.Click here to read... [4]

China sends military plane to third South China Sea airstrip
The Straits Times
10 May 2018

China has landed a military plane on the last of its three airstrips in the disputed South China Sea, a Washington-based research institution said, amid renewed complaints about the country expanding its military presence in the busy shipping lane.

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said satellite images from April 28 showed the first confirmed deployment of a military aircraft - a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane - on Subi Reef. The structure hosts one of three runways China has built as part of a massive dredging and reclamation operation in the Spratlys chain since 2013, and was the last of three where military aircraft had been observed.Click here to read... [5]

ASEAN sets up framework to help countries combat fake news
Published: Channel NewsAsia
10 May 2018

ASEAN countries have proposed a framework which member states can refer to when coming up with their own domestic policies to counter fake news. Some of the broad strategies, which ASEAN adopted on Thursday (May 10), include having a well-informed public able to detect fake news, governments conducting regular monitoring of news, and government and citizenry cooperating with each other.Click here to read... [6]

Pashtun people power is jolting the military establishment in Pakistan
Published: The Washington Post
10 May 2018

A new movement demanding security for Pakistan’s ethnic Pashtun minority is calling for the country’s leaders to roll back destructive policies that have fomented domestic volatility, ruined neighboring Afghanistan and fueled the longest war in U.S. history. Since February, tens of thousands of young grass-roots activists of the PTM — the Urdu initials for the Pashtun Protection Movement — have been campaigning to compel Pakistan’s powerful generals to undo the destructive policies of the past four decades.Click here to read... [7]

Don’t be Alarmed but China’s Naval Footprint in Pakistan Appears to be only Growing
Published: Daily Caller
09 May 2018

A January 1, 2018 article revealed a plan for the construction of a Chinese naval base on the Jiwani peninsula in Pakistan, near Gwadar, a sea port critical to the success of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Although initially scheduled to begin in July, work on the Jiwani base was accelerated after the plan appeared in the media. That is consistent with the overall increase in a Chinese military activities in Pakistan, but particularly in regard to its naval presence.Click here to read... [8]

24 Bangladeshi youths with suspected terror links held in Tripura
Published: The New Indian Express
10 May 2018

Twenty four Bangladeshi youths were today arrested with suspected terror links from the Agartala railway station, a senior police official said. All of them were carrying fake Aadhaar cards and a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is coming from Guwahati tomorrow to interrogate the youths, the official said. Acting on a tip-off, Mobile Task Force (MTF) personnel raided the railway station and arrested the 24 Bangladeshis, who reached here from Delhi in the Tripura Sundari Express, MTF Superintendent of Police Abhijit Chowdhury told PTI.Click here to read... [9]

Connecting Northeast by 2020: Rlys has 517-km roadmap in place
Published: The Economic Times
10 May 2018

The railways has a 517-km roadmap in place to bring the Northeast region closer to the heartland by 2020, officials said today. Northeast Frontier Railway officials say in doing so the railways has to deal with difficult terrain, loose soil, inclement weather conditions and even law-and-order problems, which have delayed projects in the region for decades.Click here to read... [10]