VIF Information Alerts - 13 November 2019

Sikhs third most targeted religious group in US after Jews, Muslims: FBI report
Published: The Indian Express

13 Nov 2019

Around 60 incidents of hate crimes against Sikhs were reported to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2018, making the community the third most commonly targeted religious group after Jews and Muslims in the US, according to an annual report released by the FBI on Tuesday. A total of 7,120 hate crimes were reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies around the country last year, slightly down from 7,175 in 2017, the FBI said, adding that this involved 8,496 offenses.Click here to read... [2]

nuclear plant is safe, India tells Russia
Published: The Hindu

13 Nov 2019

After reports of a cyber attack on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, Indian authorities have apprised Russia that necessary steps have been taken to prevent similar incidents in future on the Indo-Russian joint venture, a senior Russian diplomat said on Tuesday. The Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu is a joint venture between India and Russia.Click here to read... [3]

Vietnam drops a legal gauntlet in South China Sea
Published: Asia Times

12 Nov 2019

Vietnam has signaled it may take China to international arbitration over their South China Sea disputes, a move that would inevitably exacerbate Hanoi’s maritime tensions with Beijing and shift its stance more closely in line with the United States. Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, speaking at a conference in Hanoi, said last week that Vietnam was considering alternative measures apart from bilateral dialogue, including “mediation, negotiation, arbitration and litigation measures.”Click here to read... [4]

Nepal protesters burn Xi Jinping effigies over China’s alleged border encroachment
Published: South China Morning Post

12 Nov 2019

Angry protesters in Nepal this week burnt the effigies of Chinese President Xi Jinping after a recent government report indicated Beijing had encroached on 36 hectares of Nepalese land, roughly the size of 26 football fields. The campaigners, mostly young protesters, shouted slogans and held placards reading “Go back to China!” and “Return Nepali land” in multiple districts across the country on November 11.Click here to read... [5]

China-Bangladesh to build Dhaka’s mega new town project called Purbachal
Published: Hindustan Times

12 Nov 2019

A Chinese company will play a leading role in building Bangladesh’s first smart city and the biggest planned township on the outskirts of capital Dhaka including a mega water project which upon completion will divert water from the Meghna river to the settlement. The flagship project comes in the backdrop of Beijing pumping in billions of dollars in building the populous country’s ports, power stations and roads, and a recent, violent clash between Chinese and local workers at a China-funded power station.Click here to read... [6]