THE SPOKESPERSON

  People in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are compelled to fill cooking gas in plastic bags amid shortage in supply of cylinders. Reeling under the heft of a crumbling economy, the Pakistani government has failed to provide its people with basic amenities as citizens are compelled to use plastic bags to fulfil their LPG (cooking gas) needs. Appalling as it may sound, Pakistanis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are using plastic bags to store LPG as a dip in the stock of cooking gas cylinders has forced the vendors to cut short the supply. According to reports, people in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have not been provided with gas connections since 2007, whereas Hangu city has been deprived of gas connection for the last two years as the pipeline that carried the gas remains unrepaired ever since it broke down. HOW IS GAS STORED IN PLASTIC BAGS? With the help of a compressor, gas vendors fill LPG in a plastic bag before shutting the opening of the bag ti...

 Overseas Chinese nationals are buying and sending medicines to help people in China amid the massive surge in Covid cases after lifting of restrictions. The Covid situation in China has worsened after a massive spike in cases as the country lifted its zero Covid policy this month. Chinese nationals living abroad are buying and sending medicines to their loved ones back home amid this massive Covid surge. In the past few days, we have seen numerous reports and first-hand admissions by Chinese people stocking up important medicines and drugs that could possibly help those affected by Covid and shipping them to their relatives and friends inside China. These couriers have been sent from Singapore, Malaysia and even Australia China's domestic vaccines have always had a low success rate in combating the Omicron variants. Secondly, China is seeing a lot of its elderly fall prey to this latest wave simply owing to a lack of vaccine coverage. This may lead to a situation like what ...

  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has imparted nanosatellite assembly courses and relevant training to 31 delegates from 19 nations.  Conducted by ISRO's UR Rao Satellite Centre, which is responsible for designing and developing India's satellites, the two-months long training involved lessons on general satellite technology, nanosatellite design and testing. Nanosatellites are generally regarded as those weighing less than 10 kg.  Known as UNispace Nanosatellite Assembly & Training by ISRO (UNNATI), the training programme was conducted by experts and scientists from ISRO centres such as UR Rao Satellite Centre, Space Applications Centre, ISRO Headquarters, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) and ISRO Inertial Systems Unit. The foreign officers/trainees who attended the programme are those with academic qualifications in Mechanical and Electrical/Electronics engineering. The 2022 edition is the third time that India is conduct...

 NEW DELHI: With a successful record-breaking vaccination campaign, India has learned to live with Covid; the restrictions have been lifted and people are once again free to travel anywhere, with or without masks.  On the other hand, China has implemented an unsuccessful zero-Covid policy that has turned its economy upside down. The advent of the new Covid phase in China has shown that the country has been unable to tackle the Covid situation, unlike India. As a result of the widespread social protest, China now expects some ease in the national virus policies in their nation. The policies are again expected to create some disruptions between two groups: people who would welcome the ease of restrictions and people who feel are now more vulnerable to the disease. More than 20 cities have shown strong social unrest for the zero-Covid policy. As per various reports, several cities have now eased the restriction after several days of protest. For instance, Guangzhou in th...

  India is planning to explore deep sea resources with its Samudrayaan mission, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday (21 December). Under the Samudrayaan Mission, India will send three personnel to to 6,000 metre depth in a vehicle called 'Matsya 6000' for the explorationn of deep sea resources like minerals. "The mission is expected to be realised by year 2026," Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha. Singh said that ‘MATSYA 6000’ vehicle is being designed and developed by Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The vehicle has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety. Design of the vehicle is completed and realization of various components of the vehicle is in progress, the minister informed. He said that manned submersible facilitates the direct ob...

  NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy on Tuesday received the fifth scorpene-class submarine Vagir ahead of its planned commissioning next month. The submarine, built under Project 75, will boost the Indian Navy's combat capability at a time when China has been increasing its presence in the Indian Ocean region Launched in November 2020, the submarine commenced her sea trials from February 2022 and completed all the tests including the weapons and sensor trials in the shortest possible period compared with the earlier submarines. Vagir' is built to undertake multifarious missions like anti-surface, anti-submarine, intelligence gathering, mine-laying, area surveillance, operate in multiple theatres of operation, showcasing interoperability with other components of the Naval Task Force. Project-75 includes the indigenous construction of six submarines of Scorpene design. The submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai in collaboration with ...

Days after the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said that it was awaiting the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) approval to designate Indian Rupee (INR) as a foreign currency in Sri Lanka, reports have emerged saying banks from India's neighbouring island nation have opened special rupee trading accounts, called Vostro accounts.  Sri Lanka had requested the RBI to facilitate and promote trade and tourism in the SAARC region.   What does it mean? It means that Sri Lankan citizens can now hold $10,000 (INR 8,26,823) in physical form. This also means that Sri Lankans and Indians can use Indian rupees instead of US dollars for international transactions with each other. The Indian government since July this year, has been looking to bring countries that are short of dollars, into its rupee settlement mechanism. Special rupee accounts for international transactions between designated countries are called Vostro accounts.  Why Sri Lanka is keen to trade in INR? This is b...

India's NIT student developed a device called Sindhuja-1, and carried out an experiment to generate power at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu in November 2022. In February 2020, Sai Karthik Sunkara, a student of NIT- Srinagar, thought of generating power from the waves in the oceans. In December 2020, he started working with the Ocean Engineering Department of IIT-Madras, as the institution was researching the same idea of generating electricity from sea waves.Mr. Karthik had launched a startup called Virya Paramita Energy (VPE), and signed a joint development agreement with IIT-Madras to take the project forward. They then developed a device called, ‘Ocean Wave Energy Converter’, or Sindhuja-1, to generate power from the waves. In November 2022, they deployed the device 6 km off the coast of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and placed it at a depth of 20 metres.“After positive results in our maiden trials, we have set a target of generating 1 MW of electricity from the waves for commercial ...

  India successfully tested the nuclear capable Agni V missile capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres.India on Thursday successfully tested the nuclear capable Agni V missile capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with very high degree of accuracy. India successfully carried out the night trials of the Agni V nuclear-capable ballistic missile today, defence sources said. The test was carried out to validate new technologies and equipment on the missile, which is now lighter than before. The trial has proved the capability to enhance the range of the Agni V missile, if required: Defence sources

 Dmytro Kuleba, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, had stirred the hornet’s nest after he blamed India for purchasing Russian oil at the expense of the sufferings of common Ukrainians. In an exclusive interview with NDTV, he claimed, “The opportunity for India to buy Russian oil at a cheap price comes from the fact that Ukrainians are suffering from the Russian aggression and die every day.” “They are living in houses without heating, hot water and electricity. And this fact, we hope, should be appreciated by those who make decisions on purchasing Russian oil,” he further alleged. Dmytro Kuleba claimed that the Ukrainian government is equally critical of all countries that are purchasing Russian oil in bulk. Later, he contradicted his own statement by applauding the decision to put a price cap ($60 per barrel) on Russian oil imports by the European Union and G7 countries. A price cap does not imply the cessation of the supply of Russian oil but rather an agreement to ship o...

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced Friday that the joint test run of hypersonic vehicles with Headquarters of the Integrated Defense Staff (HQ IDS) was successful. A post on ISRO's official Twitter handle read: "ISRO and JSIIC have jointly conducted hypersonic vehicle trials. The trials achieved all required parameters and demonstrated hypersonic vehicle capability." What is a hypersonic vehicle? A hypersonic vehicle can be an airplane, missile, or spacecraft that has the ability to travel five times faster than the speed of sound, or greater than Mach 5. It is regarded as a cutting-edge technology, and countries like China, India, Russia, and the United States have been trying to further enhance the ability of their hypersonic weapons. The Indian space agency has been developing hypersonic missiles in collaboration with Russia. Indian scientists are also working on a project for an indigenous, dual-capable hypersonic cruise missile as part of its H...

  10. Gruppo di intervento special, Italy (GIS, Italy) Country – Italy Size – at least 100 commandos Headquarters – Livorno Popular Engagements – Operation Alba, Kosovo war, War in Afghanistan, Years of Lead Motto – Nei secoli fedele (“Faithful through the centuries”), Silenziosi come la notte veloci come la folgore (“As silent as the night, as fast as the lighting”) Current Commander – Colonel Gianluca Feroce Overview – The Gruppo di Intervento Speciale (GIS) is the special force of the Italian armed forces. They are responsible for both military and civil operations. The unit is famed for its counter terrorism operations and VIP, executive and dignitary protection security services. In addition to this, the unit has also participated in several wars including Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Horn of Africa, etc. 9. Alpha Group, Russia Country – Russia Size – Around 250 to 300 commandos Type – Spetsnaz Popular Engagements – First Chechen War, Second Chechen War, Moscow theatr...

 December 8 is commemorated as SAARC Charter Day. It was on this day, 37 years ago, that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), an intergovernmental organisation, was established by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to promote economic growth in South Asia.  Afghanistan acceded to SAARC later. However, SAARC has failed abjectly in accomplishing most of its objectives. South Asia continues to be an extremely poor and least integrated region in the world. The intraregional trade and investment in South Asia are very low when compared to other regions such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Sub-Saharan Africa. Pakistan has adopted an obstructionist attitude within SAARC by repeatedly blocking several vital important Agreements.  What is BIMSTEC? The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a multilateral regional organisation establish...