Aug 31,2023:Malaysia has rejected the latest edition of the ‘standard map of China’ that lays claim to almost the entire South China Sea, including areas lying off the coast of Malaysian Borneo.
Tensions have been rising in the strategically important waters as China has become increasingly assertive in its claim despite a 2016 international court ruling that its so-called ‘nine-dash line’ was without merit and superseded by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In recent years, it has built military outposts on rocky outcrops and deployed its coast guard and maritime militia, which has sometimes led to confrontations with other claimants, including Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the sea.
Malaysia noted the new map, which clearly depicts the nine-dash line, showed China’s “unilateral maritime claims” and that they overlapped with Malaysia’s claims of its states of Sabah and Sarawak.
“Malaysia does not recognise China’s claims in the South China Sea as outlined in the ‘2023 edition of the standard map of China’ which extends into Malaysian maritime area,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday night. “The map has no binding effect on Malaysia.”
The tongue-shaped nine-dash line is based on Chinese historical records dating to the Xia dynasty, nearly 4,000 years ago.
India has already lodged a strong protest over China’s new map, which it said showed the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin plateau as official Chinese territory. The two have been in dispute over their mutual border for decades with clashes reported as recently as 2020.
“We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question,” India’s foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.
Asked about India’s criticisms, Beijing said the map reflected China’s “exercise of sovereignty in accordance with the law”.
“We hope relevant sides can stay objective and calm, and refrain from over-interpreting the issue,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told the media at a briefing on Wednesday.
TRIPOLI/JERUSALEM, Aug 29,2023: Libya’s prime minister sacked Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush on Monday in an effort to contain a growing furore over Mangoush’s meeting with her Israeli counterpart last week, which prompted protests overnight in several Libyan cities.
Mangoush had said her meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Rome was unplanned and informal, but an Israeli official told Reuters it had lasted two hours and was approved “at the highest levels in Libya”.
The meeting is contentious because Libya does not formally recognise Israel and there is widespread public support across the Libyan political spectrum for the Palestinian cause of creating an independent state in territory Israel occupies.
The dispute over the meeting has fed into Libya’s internal political crisis, giving ammunition to Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah’s internal critics at a moment when the future of his interim government was already in question.
Libya has been without a stable central government since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Dbeibah’s interim government, in office since 2021, is not recognised by some major factions and there is growing political momentum to replace it with a new unified administration aimed at holding national elections.
Shimla , August 27,2023: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said that a total of 47,390 volunteers were being provided training in disaster management by the state government.
While presiding over the 8th meeting of HP State Disaster Management Authority Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu stressed taking proactive steps in order to minimize the loss of human life and property during the disasters.
During the meeting Chief Minister emphasized suitable measures and guidelines for the release of water from the dams during rainy seasons and it should be staggered so that minimum damage is caused in the downstream areas.
“CM Sukhu stressed the capacity-building measures and said that about 47,390 volunteers were being provided training in the State so that their services could be utilized in the disaster-hit areas,” an official statement said.
He further stated that the management of muck and construction of debris points should be identified.
“A proposal to set up five automatic weather systems in snow-bound areas of the State for better forecast of climate conditions. Moraine-dammed lakes formed due to the melting of glaciers were being monitored on a regular basis. Management of muck and construction debris points should be identified,” CM Sukhu said.
“In addition to disaster helplines 1077 and 1070, helpline 1100 should also be incorporated for seeking information regarding disasters so that affected people could be provided timely help during disasters. There was a need for strengthening the civil defence structure by providing training to young generations for quick response to combat disasters,” he added.
During the meeting, CM Sukhu also directed the authorities to conduct of a study on the increasing number of cloudburst incidents.
He said that the buildings of Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools in the State would be made earthquake-resistant with ultra-modern facilities.
“Government departments should ensure safe construction practices in the State. Activities such as land-use-based planning, and retrofitting of critical infrastructure like schools, hospitals, lifeline buildings etc were essential,” he said.
Bengaluru, Aug 24,2023: Pragyan rover has ramped down from Vikram lander and has taken a walk on the moon, ISRO said after the successful and historic soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon.
“Made in India, Made for the Moon, The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon!” ISRO Xed. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre Chairman Pawan K Goenka shared the first picture of this historic event.
Before Chandrayaan-3 soft-landed on the Moon at 6.04 pm, the lander chose a safe and flat region on the lunar surface for the landing.
Pragyan will conduct a series of experiments around 500 meters on the Moon surface for the next 14 days and send the collected data to Vikram. It weighs 26kg and has two payloads.
One payload will analyse the chemical composition of the Moon surface, another will determine the elemental composition of the Moon soil and rocks around the landing site.
New Delhi, Aug 24,2023: The 69th National Film Awards for the year 2021 announced on Thursday and Rocketry: The Nambi Effect bagged best Feature Films.
The Best Non-Feature Film has been bagged by Ek Tha Gaon directed by Srishti Lakhera.
The Kashmir Files has been awarded with Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, while RRR has bagged the Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
Allu Arjun has won the award for Best Actor for his stellar performance in the movie Pushpa (The Rise Part I) while Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon have become joint winners of Best Actress Award for Gangubai Kathiawadi and Mimi respectively.
Pankaj Tripathi won Best Supporting Actor while Pallavi Joshi won Best Supporting Actress Award
Ahead of the announcement, the Chairperson and other Jury members called on the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur and presented him with the selections for the Awards.
The Minister thanked the Jury for diligently going through the entries and selecting the best for the awards.
During the interaction the Minister said, “It was a very tough competition between all the films in every category. My congratulations and best wishes are with the winners. Today India is the largest film maker in the world. We have the potential to become the content hub of the world. This is our time. Today our films are being recognised all over the world, be it BAFTA or the Oscars.”
The Jury comprised of eminent film makers and film personalities from across the Indian cine-world. The awards were announced by Ketan Mehta, Chairperson, Feature Films Jury, Vasanth S Sai, Chairperson, Non-feature Films Jury, Yatindra Mishra, Best Writing on Cinema Jury in presence of Neerja Sekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.