SOURCE: LIVE MINT

Competition from China notwithstanding, Indian warship maker Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) is making a determined bid to win orders from countries in India’s periphery, Southeast Asia, and Africa to build up its order book.

According to Rear Admiral V.K.Saxena, chairman and managing director of Kolkata-based GRSE, a defence sector public sector unit (PSU), which currently sees 7% of its total turnover from exports, aims to increase that to 25%-30% in the next five years. The company has bagged commercial orders from Guyana and Bangladesh for construction of an ocean-going passenger-cum-cargo vessel from the former, and patrol boats for the fishery department from the latter.

SOURCE: TIMES NOW

Indian security forces had been apprehending the possibility of terrorists who aided the Taliban in its battle against the Afghan government army.  Now, for the first time, with the Taliban in power, there are details of the movement of terrorists from Afghanistan.

About 200 gunmen of the Al Badr have moved out of Afghanistan and moved towards the line of control. They are currently in the terror training camps in Nikial and Kotli and are expected to infiltrate into India in small groups. The Al Badr has been strengthened by the ISI, the Pakistan Army’s intelligence wing, in recent times.

SOURCE: TRIBUNE INDIA

Even as Union Minister Jitendra Singh today told the Rajya Sabha that the North India’s first nuclear power plant was coming up at Gorakhpur village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district, locals claimed despite the acquisition of land in 2012, the work was going on at a snail’s pace.

The Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension said till now the nuclear plants were limited only to southern states. “We have now moved northwards and going to have a project at Gorakhpur,” he said. While the government is betting big on nuclear power generation, Gorakhpur villagers said the work slowed down drastically after the initial push. “We had begun to think that the government might be reviewing its decision about the project,” said Rajesh Beniwal, a villager.

SOURCE: TNN

As the threat of US sanctions looms over India’s purchase of S-400 system from Russia, India on Thursday reiterated that it follows an independent foreign policy and its defence acquisitions will continue to be guided by “national security interests”.

The remark by MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was in response to a question on whether or not the US was likely to impose the dreaded CAATSA sanctions on India for acquiring the missile defence system. He reiterated that India and the US have a comprehensive strategic partnership and India has a special and privileged strategic partnership with Russia. His remarks came ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s visit next week for the annual summit.

SOURCE: TIMES NOW

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday cornered Pakistan over the flight operations at Skardu airport in PoK calling it an interference in India’s internal matter. “I wouldn’t like to speak about it in detail. We know our stand on Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), it’s an interference in our internal matter. I don’t want to comment on any specific development except that our position over this has been clear,” ANI quoted MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi as saying.

His reaction came after the status of Skar­du Airport was upgraded and it started operating as an international airport from today.

SOURCE: PTI

India on Thursday said discussions with Pakistan are going on to finalise the modalities for the transportation of its aid to Afghanistan via Pakistani soil and insisted that no conditionalities should be attached to sending humanitarian assistance.

New Delhi had sent a proposal to Islamabad on October 7 seeking a transit facility to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines to the people of Afghanistan via Pakistani soil and it received a response from Pakistan on November 24. Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said at a media briefing that the modalities to send aid are being worked out.

SOURCE: TIMES NOW

Ahead of his visit to India, Russian President Vladimir Putin called New Delhi one of the authoritative centres of the multipolar world whose foreign policy philosophy and priorities are close to Moscow. I am convinced that, relying on strong traditions of friendship and mutual understanding, we will jointly continue to further develop Russia-India ties, he added.

“Next week, I will visit India. During talks with Prime Minister Modi, we will outline new large-scale initiatives for the further development of the specially privileged Russian-Indian relationship, the Russian-Indian strategic partnership,” he added. The Russian President further said that this partnership brings real mutual benefit to both states.

SOURCE: NDTV

Congress’s G-23 leader Manish Tewari — whose criticism of the UPA government’s reaction to the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai had so pleased the BJP — has not spared the NDA government in his new book. Overall, India’s institutional learnings on national security challenges “are at best tenuous and at worst, non-existent”, he wrote in his book “10 Flash Points; 20 Years – National Security Situations that Impacted India”.

Mr Tewari’s criticism of the UPA government’s response to the 26/11 strikes set off a huge controversy last month, making his party deeply uncomfortable.

SOURCE: PTI

India on Thursday said it continues to engage with members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for support for an early decision on the country’s bid for membership of the grouping. Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said in Rajya Sabha that the US has publicly reaffirmed its support for India’s entry into the NSG. “The government continues to engage with members of the NSG, at the appropriate levels, for support for an early decision on India’s membership by the group,” he said, replying to a question.

The 48-member NSG is an elite club of countries that deals with the trade in nuclear technology and fissile materials besides contributing to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

SOURCE: PTI

The state of the relationship between India and China will reflect the state of the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, referring to the lingering standoff in eastern Ladakh.
In an interactive session at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, he said the two countries cannot have a “tense, high-friction border” and have great relations in other areas.

Mr Jaishankar said it is not a realistic expectation to carry on with the relationship when there is a tense border and asserted that questions like why it happened and what does it reflect are completely legitimate.

SOURCE: ET

The Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday killed two Jaish-e-Muhammad militants, including an IED expert Yasir Parray, in Pulwama district.

The police said Parray and a foreign militant, Furqan, were killed in an encounter in Qasbayar area of Pulwama. Inspector General of police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said: “Terrorist commander of JeM, Yasir Parray, an IED expert and foreign terrorist Furqan neutralised.”

SOURCE: INDIA TODAY

Unidentified miscreants stole a tyre of a Mirage fighter jet from a truck that was carrying a consignment of military goods that was bound for Jodhpur airbase from Bakshi-Ka-Talab airbase in Lucknow. The theft took place in the late night hours of November 27 at Shaheed Path in Lucknow, where the truck was on its way to the Jodhpur airbase. The truck driver, Hem Singh Rawat, confirmed that he was carrying the consignment of military goods from the Bakshi-Ka-Talab airbase.

There was a traffic jam on Shaheed Path and, taking advantage of the situation, the miscreants travelling in a Scorpio vehicle, snipped off the strap used to tie the tyre and committed theft. By the time the truck driver came to know about it, the thieves had escaped. He called the police, who arrived at the spot and started investigating.

SOURCE: PTI

Security forces have busted a terror module of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir and arrested three terrorist associates involved in Palhallan grenade attack, a police spokesperson said today.

Police, along with Army and SSB personnel, established a joint motor vehicle checkpoint at Wussan in Pattan area of Baramulla district and intercepted three suspicious individuals who tried to flee from the spot after noticing the joint party, the spokesperson said.