The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) network has been operational in India for nearly two decades. The LeT is one of the earliest affiliates of the Al-Qaeda network. Apart from India and Asia, LeT operates in more than a score of countries across the globe, including in North America, Australia, Europe and Africa. Most important among a dozen or more LeT-controlled networks across India is the Indian Mujahideen (IM). The IM consists mainly of disaffected Muslim youth, induced to come to Karachi (Pakistan) and then sent for training to the Pak-Afghan border or Pakistan occupied Kashmir.A feature of IM attacks is the choice of "soft targets" such as mass transportation systems, crowded markets, court houses, and wherever people congregate in large numbers. More recently, Jewish institutions and foreign nationals have been added to this list. Most of the attacks between 2010 and 2013 have been attributed to the IM though some like the German Bakery attack, were possibly in collaboration with LeT. Bo

'Ambit of terrorist activities is steadily becoming enlarged'

Business Standard

The phenomenon of sub-State actors is among the newer challenges that India faces. Some are already operating as near-State entities. Embedding themselves within the political system, they are beginning to seriously impact the domestic stability. Sub-state actors have been present in the Northeast for years, but the phenomenon is now in vogue in other parts of the country, as well.

'India is facing new challenges to security'

Thank you for the welcome. Lion Reena Roy, thank you so much for the peace prayer.

'Build public opinion against corruption'

China&rsquo;s geostrategic focus has for long been Asia and its traditional thrust towards East and Southeast Asia. Lately, the ambit of its influence has been widening. It is building advantageous power relationships not only in contiguous territories, but even far beyond, including parts of South and Central Asia. This is happening, alongside strengthening of friendship with countries of West Asia and Africa and increasing its presence in several countries in the Indian Ocean littoral and Africa. Many of its actions go beyond what is required to ensure unhindered access and connectivity of hydrocarbon-rich Asia and Africa to the Chinese seaboard. China has been aggressive in the South China Sea, and Chinese actions vis-&agrave;-vis Vietnam and Japan border on near aggression. Several of China&rsquo;s actions, hence, smack of power projection and is leading to a clash of interest with other major countries in the region, including India.

'China emerging as a naval entity cannot be ignored'

Let me begin with our two biggest neighbours - Pakistan and China. We do have several concerns vis-&agrave;-vis Pakistan and the situation is proving more difficult than anticipated. During the years 2003-2006, India had initiated a series of dialogues with Pakistan under various labels - the most widely discussed being the &lsquo;Comprehensive Dialogue&rsquo; between the Foreign Offices of the two countries, which had several subtexts.

'China's ready for risks that most nations avoid'

India on Friday said its double taxation treaty with Switzerland may require renegotiation in view of its trade pact with the member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
The remarks by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came after the Swiss government suspended the most favoured nation status (MFN) clause in the India-Switzerland Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).
"My understanding is that with Switzerland, because of EFTA, the double taxation treaty that we have; it's going to be renegotiated. That is one aspect of it," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
He was responding to a question on the issue at his weekly media briefing.
India and the EFTA member states of Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein sealed a free trade deal in March. Under the mega trade deal, the four European countries are looking at making an investment of USD 100 billion in India over the next 15 years.
The trade pact is yet to come into force.


Switzerland flag

Israeli attacks in and around a hospital in northern Gaza wounded three medical staff overnight into Friday and caused damage to the isolated medical facility, according to its director.
Dr Hossam Abu Safiya said Israeli quadcopter drones carrying explosives deliberately targeted the emergency and reception area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where one doctor was wounded for a third time.
Abu Safiya said relentless drone and artillery strikes throughout the night exploded alarmingly close to the hospital, heavily damaging nearby buildings and destroying most of the water tanks on the hospital's roof and blowing out doors and windows.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya has been hit multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes.
We demand international protection for the hospital and its staff, Abu Safiya said in 

Israel strike

McKinsey & Company consulting firm has agreed to pay USD 650 million to settle a federal investigation into its work to help opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma boost the sales of the highly addictive drug OxyContin, according to court papers filed in Virginia on Friday.
As part of the deal with the US Justice Department, McKinsey will avoid prosecution on criminal charges if it pays the sum and follows certain conditions for five years, including ceasing any work on the sale, marketing or promotion of controlled substances.
A former McKinsey senior partner, Martin Elling, has also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice for deleting documents from his laptop after he became aware of investigations into Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin that was then a client, according to the filings. A lawyer for Elling declined to comment Friday.
McKinsey said in a statement on Friday that it's deeply sorry for its work for Purdue Pharma.
We should have appreciated the harm opioids .

McKinsey

She also recalled the previous instance, where the court handed capital punishment to the convict in Joynagar in 62 days

Mamata Banerjee, Mamata, Bengal CM

Pelosi was travelling with a bipartisan Congressional delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge

Nancy Pelosi

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest news updates from around the world here

RIL, Reliance, Reliance Industries

Markets Highlights: Friday ended in favour of the bulls, as 41 out of 50 constituent stocks ended in the green, led by Bharti Airtel, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, and UltraTech Cement

Dalal Street, Stock Market, Market, Crash, Funds, up, Stock, Gain, Lost, decline, statistic, Crisis, Capital, BSE, NSE

NMIIA operates an industrial area located in Mumbai, India's financial hub and the capital of the western state of Maharashtra.

Reliance

Stock market crash: The Indian stock market crashed heavily on Friday, with the BSE's Sensex dropping 1,207 points or 1.48 per cent to its intraday low of 80,082

bear market, stocks, sensex, nifty, loss, growth, crash, index

Allu Arjun was arrested over a stampede at the Pushpa 2 premiere in Hyderabad, which led to a woman's death and her son's hospitalisation

Allu Arjun

The company said that a draft red herring prospectus has been filed in connection to the proposed IPO with BSE Ltd

Netanyahu had further acknowledged that while the collapse presents great opportunities, it also poses significant dangers

Benjamin Netanyahu, Benjamin, Netanyahu, Israel PM

He said 20 language subjects have been discontinued and admissions to the dropped subjects can be done based on General Aptitude Test (GAT) scores

Exam

Prosecutors are urging a judge not to throw out President-elect Donald Trump's hush money criminal conviction but suggesting a willingness to end the case in a way that would preserve the verdict while avoiding punishment or a protracted legal fight.
In court papers made public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney's office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books, including asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to consider treating the case the way he would when a defendant dies.
That would effectively put the case into a permanent state of suspended animation. Trump's conviction would stand, but everything would freeze, including any appeal action. It is unclear if that option is viable under New York law.
As applied here, this Court could similarly terminate the criminal proceeding by placing a notation in the record that the jury verdict removed the presumption of innocence; that defendant was never sentenced; and that his conviction was neither

Donald Trump, Trump

Information of all departments should be integrated through Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) to monitor it all together, Naidu said during a review with officials of the Chief Minister's Office

Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra CM

Highlighting the historical presence of Hindus in Bangladesh, stating, "We are vanished from Afghanistan. We are vanished from Pakistan. This is the high time. If we are not saved now, we will be

Protest, Delhi Protest, Bangladesh Protest, Hindu Protest

Despite the growth slowdown, a rate cut-cycle is unlikely to start anytime soon

Policy

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology alleges that the essay, titled 'On Pacifism', could be interpreted as encouraging violent protests on campus

MIT University

In the absence of meaningful private investment and job creation, India is slipping back into its pre-Covid-19 rut, and its economic czars are once again publicly refusing to acknowledge the slowdown

Gold

Sitharaman said that intergenerational debt is mounting on countries, and it is important for the government and industry to work together to manage debt at the national and sub-national levels

M K Narayanan

M K Narayanan

M K Narayanan

'Ambit of terrorist activities is steadily becoming enlarged'

'India is facing new challenges to security'

'Build public opinion against corruption'

'China emerging as a naval entity cannot be ignored'

'China's ready for risks that most nations avoid'

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India may renegotiate DTAA with Switzerland over EFTA trade pact: MEA

Israel attacks hospital in northern Gaza, wounding 3 medical staff

McKinsey agrees to pay $650 mn for helping Purdue Pharma boost opioid sales

Nothing less than capital punishment for rape convict, says Mamata

Nancy Pelosi hospitalised after getting injured during Luxembourg visit

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Highlights: Reliance Industries buys 74% stake in Navi Mumbai IIA for $192 mn

Market Close Highlights: Fab Friday! Sensex ends 843pts up, soars 2050pts from low; Nifty at 24,768

Reliance Industries buys 74% stake in Navi Mumbai IIA for $192 mn

Sensex plunges 1200pts, Nifty below 24200; Why stock markets crashed today?

Allu Arjun arrested over woman's death in stampede at Pushpa 2 premiere