THE SPOKESPERSON

 Chinese authorities have reportedly detained a number of Uighur women who are married to Pakistani men in the South Asian country's northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. The move has angered the locals, Sattar Khan reports. Anti-China sentiments are running high in Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan area over the arrests of China-born Uighur Muslim women married to the locals. These women have reportedly been arrested inside China in the past few months over alleged links to extremists. Due to Xinjiang's proximity to Gilgit-Baltistan, the residents of the two areas have shared long historical, cultural and family ties. Many Uighurs are married to the Gilgit-Baltistan locals and vice-versa. The arrests of Uighur women from Gilgit-Baltistan could be a result of China's suspicion of their alleged association to Islamist extremists. Uighur Muslims, a Turkic-speaking minority in China's northwestern Xinjiang province, have long faced persecution by the country...

Vietnam is beefing up defenses amid China's irrational moves in the Indo-Pacific. Vietnam is eyeing the impressive Barak-8 air defense system in a $500 million deal.  Barak-8 been joint developed by India's DRDO & Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD). in 2017, India & Israel signed a $1.6BN contract for supply of the air defense system. Vietnamese sources say the nation is prioritising Barak-8 over Rafael's Spyder. Defence outposts on artificial islands; China claims almost all of South China Sea.According to recent Israeli media reports, Vietnam is looking to acquire the Indo-Israeli Barak 8 missile defense system. A delegation of top-ranking officials from Vietnam’s Defense Ministry will visit Israel in September, reported Haaretz on August 18. During their visit, the Vietnamese defense officials will discuss the potential purchase of three Barak 8 missile defense systems from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Vietnam is beefing up defenses amid China's...

  Indian researchers, in a bid to push nuclear reactors towards renewable sources, have extracted record uranium from seawater. HIGHLIGHTS Uranium reserves found naturally are on a course to reach exhaustion seawater contains 4.5 billion metric tons of uranium Indian researchers captured over 95% uranium within two hours As the world faces the effects of climate change, and pressure mounts to reduce emissions from fossil fuel-based energy sources, countries are looking at newer ways to switch to renewable, including shifting existing technologies to non-polluting methods. Now, a group of Indian researchers have demonstrated a way in which nuclear energy can go truly renewable. But wait. Isn't nuclear power a renewable source of energy? Well, kind of. Let us explain. IS NUCLEAR ENERGY RENEWABLE? Nuclear power, mostly used in the production of electricity, is widely considered to be a renewable source of energy. However, the raw material that is used to generate nuclear power t...

  The Indian Navy is expected to be able to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond with the likes of INS Dhruv in its arsenal, considering largely persisting threats from its neighbours China and Pakistan. India is all set to launch its first satellite and ballistic missile tracking ship Dhruv on Friday. The 10,000-tonne vessel will be commissioned from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in the presence of senior officials from the Indian Navy, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), among others. INS Dhruv lies at the heart of India's future anti-ballistic capabilities and the ship will play a key role in advancing the country's presence in the Indo-Pacific region.INS Dhruv, the latest addition to the Indian Navy's arsenal, was built by the Hindustan Shipyard in collaboration with the DRDO and NTRO. The ship is equipped with multiple features that make it a state-of-the-art...

  On Friday August 12, Salman Rushdie was   attacked   moments before giving a lecture in New York. Rushdie was scheduled to speak at the Chautauqua Institution about his experience as an exiled writer in the US,   according to  the event page. Although the suspect's motive is still unclear, the attack has renewed discussions over a decades-long controversy surrounding the author's book, "The Satanic Verses." In 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the deaths of Rushdie and his publishers. What is 'The Satanic Verses'? Published in 1988, "The Satanic Verses" follows two Indian Muslim actors who magically survive a plane hijacking. As they fall from the sky, one of the actors is transformed into the archangel Gabriel, while the other morphs into the devil.  T he Satanic Verses  controversy , also known as the  Rushdie Affair , was a controversy sparked by the 1988 publication of  Salman Rushdie 's novel...

  The Indian Army is set to possess advanced quantum communication technology, thereby joining an elite list of nations with indigenous quantum tech. India has joined an elite list of nations with its own indigenous, advanced quantum communication technology as the Indian Army initiated the procurement process to secure the new tech that will enable high-end secured communication with troops. The new technology will equip troops with a high-end secured defence system. The technology, developed by QNu Labs, a Bengaluru-based deep tech start-up, will help in modern-day war fare as the communication channel created using the Quantum Key Distribution (QDK) system is non-hackable, according to the defence ministry. "A QKD system allows the creation of a quantum-secure secret pair of symmetric keys between two end points, separated by a certain distance [in this case, over 150 km] in a terrestrial optical fibre infrastructure. The QKD helps create a non-hackable quan...

  National Conference president and Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah hoisted the national flag at his residence to celebrate the country's 76th Independence Day, weeks after appearing annoyed at the 'Har Ghar Tiranga campaign'. On July 6, a question about the Centre's campaign annoyed Farooq Abdullah, who replied in the local language and said, "Keep it in your house". The question about the Tiranga campaign seemingly annoyed the veteran politician, who then sat in his car and left. Abdullah, who had tested COVID positive last week, unfurled the national flag today at a function that was attended by his staff and security personnel. The Har Ghar Tiranga program envisages inspiring Indians everywhere to hoist the national flag at their home. The aim of the program is to make the relationship with the national flag a more personal one rather than just keeping it formal or institutional.  Abdullah also requested people to celebrate ‘Eid’ safely and in...