WORLD

When the armies of India and China were locked in a standoff along the Line of Actual Control last summer, People's Liberation Army (PLA) was quick to install a fibre optic network in remote areas of that region. According to a report released by the Pentagon titled: 'Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2021', the PLA installed the fibre optic for increased protection from foreign interception as well as faster communication in the remote areas of that region.

Though the world was in a state of lock-down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese PLA in 2020 was more in a rush to deploy more troops and machines and this was going on even as the two sides were engaged in military and diplomatic dialogues.

United States President Joe Biden on Thursday made it mandatory for citizens working in companies with 100 or more employees to get fully vaccinated against coronavirus by January 4 or get tested for the virus on a weekly basis.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said companies that fail to comply with the new government rules could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

Pakistan is once again rattled by India's move to operate Srinagar-Sharjah flights launched recently by Home Minister Amit Shah and has closed its air space for these flights passing through its territory. Now the planes flying from Srinagar to Sharjah will have to pass through Udaipur and Ahmedabad. Due to this, the journey will take one and a half hours more and the financial burden on the passengers will also increase.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has condemned this move of Pakistan. Taking to microblogging website Twitter, he wrote, "Very unfortunate. Pakistan did the same thing with the Air India Express flight from Srinagar to Dubai in 2009-2010. I had hoped that @GoFirstairways being permitted to overfly Pak airspace was indicative of a thaw in relations but alas that wasn’t to be."

Elon Musk's Starlink on Tuesday announced it has registered its business in India as it opened a subsidiary in the country for its satellite internet division.

Sanjay Bhargava who is Starlink's country director in India said: "SpaceX now has a 100 per cent owned subsidiary in India. The name is SSCPL - Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited and the incorporation date is Nov 1, 2021."

Bhargava announced that that SSCPL will now start applying for licenses to start its broadband services as it applies for regulatory approval.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit here and the two leaders discussed cooperation in areas like green hydrogen, renewables and clean technology, economy and defence.

This was the first in-person meeting between Modi and Johnson following the British Prime Minister's twice cancelled visit to India earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The interaction, soon after the opening ceremony of the World Leaders' Summit at COP26, was scheduled to focus on the UK-India climate partnership as well as a review of the 2030 Roadmap for stronger UK-India strategic ties  signed by the two leaders during a virtual summit in May this year.