SOURCE: PTI

The US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Canadian spy chief Daniel Rogers and Britain’s MI6 boss Richard Moore will be among top global intelligence czars converging in India this weekend to attend a security conclave, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is set to chair the conclave on March 16 which is expected to deliberate on ways to enhance intelligence-sharing to combat terrorism and various transnational crimes. Intelligence chiefs of Australia, Germany, New Zealand and several other friendly countries of India are also expected to join the deliberations to be held in New Delhi.

SOURCE: PTI

Opposition members, mainly from the Congress and the DMK, on Wednesday staged a protest in the Lok Sabha over clearance granted to a renewable energy project near the India-Pakistan border and staged a walk out after “not getting a satisfactory reply” from the government.

Asking a supplementary during Question Hour, Manish Tewari of the Congress said national security and energy security have to go hand in hand.

SOURCE: PTI

US Vice President J D Vance is likely to travel to India later this month, according to a media report. “Vance will travel to India later this month alongside Second Lady Usha Vance, a report in Politico said, citing three sources familiar with the plans.

It marks Vance’s second foreign trip as vice president after making his world stage debut in France and Germany last month, the report said. Usha Vance’s parents Krish Chilukuri and Lakshmi Chilukuri emigrated from India to the US in the late 1970s.

SOURCE: IANS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam on Wednesday expressed satisfaction over their comprehensive discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations and agreed that their special and close bilateral partnership has acquired significant strategic depth after being raised to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership.

The ‘India-Mauritius Joint Vision for an Enhanced Strategic Partnership’ released on the second and final day of PM Modi’s landmark State Visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago highlights the special and unique relationship between the two countries that remains unparalleled, given the shared bonds of history, language, culture, heritage, kinship, and values.

SOURCE: PTI

The Reliance Group’s digital services company Jio Platforms Limited has signed an agreement with SpaceX to offer Starlink’s broadband internet services to its customers in India, the company said on Wednesday.

The agreement is subject to SpaceX receiving authorisation to sell Starlink in India. The development came a day after Jio’s rival Bharti Airtel signed a similar pact with SpaceX. “Our collaboration with SpaceX to bring Starlink to India strengthens our commitment and marks a transformative step toward seamless broadband connectivity for all.

SOURCE: IANS

A soldier was injured on Wednesday in suspected sniper fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district. Officials said that the soldier sustained a suspected sniper fire injury along the LoC in the Kalsian area of the district’s Nowshera sector this morning.

“The injured soldier was immediately airlifted to the Army hospital in Udhampur town. Security forces have started a search operation in the area,” officials said. Earlier, a soldier was injured in a firing incident from across the LoC in the Krishna Ghati (KG) sector of the Poonch district.

SOURCE: PTI

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said the Centre’s ban on Awami Action Committee (AAC) and Ittihadul Muslimeen (IM) could be an arm-twisting tactic and asserted the people of Kashmir now need a healing touch rather than a “muscular policy”.

Noting that Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was being provided Z-Plus cover by the Centre, she said had he been an anti-national, he would not have been accorded such security. The Centre on Tuesday banned the AAC, headed by Kashmir’s influential cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari-led IM for five years for their alleged anti-national activities, supporting terrorism and fuelling secessionist activities.

SOURCE: IANS

The Centre on Wednesday informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the Member of Parliament from Khadoor Sahib, Amritpal Singh, has been granted a “leave of absence for 54 days” for attending the ongoing session of the Lok Sabha.

Singh, who is currently detained in Assam under the National Security Act (NSA), had approached the court seeking permission to attend parliamentary proceedings, fearing that prolonged absence beyond 60 days could lead to his constituency being declared vacant.

SOURCE: ANI

With a high-level committee having accepted the need for getting new multirole fighter jets, the Indian Air Force is looking to start induction of these planes in the next four to five years through a fast tracked global tender. Defence sources told ANI that the induction of 114 multirole fighter jets would help the Indian Air Force to maintain its squadron strength in next 10 years along with the ingenious fighter jets including the different versions of the LCA including the Mark 1A and the Mark-2.

A high-level committee headed by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh recently submitted its report to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and has accepted the need for getting 114 multirole fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force to help it enhance its combat capabilities. The sources said that the Indian Air Force would be retiring 10 fighter aircraft squadrons by the year 2037.

SOURCE: PTI

In a boost for indigenous manufacturing of planes, Sakthi Aircraft Industry will be making 150 trainer aircraft in India.

Sakthi Aircraft Industry is a joint venture between Tamil Nadu’s Sakthi Group and Austria’s Diamond Aircraft. The deal is for having 200 trainer DA40 NG planes and out of them, 150 aircraft will be assembled at Sakthi Aircraft Industry’s planned facility, which is likely to be set up in Haryana, Sakthi Aircraft MD & CEO Vaibhav D said on Tuesday.

SOURCE: REUTERS

Elon Musk’s Starlink has signed a deal with India’s No. 2 telecoms company Airtel to bring Starlink’s internet services to the world’s most populous country, intensifying rivalry with fellow billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom firm Reliance Jio.

The pact will allow the U.S. satellite internet giant to utilize Airtel’s retail store network to distribute its devices throughout India, and is conditional upon Starlink obtaining government approval to begin operations in the country.

SOURCE: ANI

Kashmir’s influential cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has questioned the Centre’s ban on the Awami Action Committee(AAC) for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. He headed the AAC. “Strongly condemn the ban on Awami Action Committee and declaring it an ‘Unlawful Association,’ Farooq, who is also the chairman of the separatist amalgam All Parties Hurriyat Conference, said in a post on X.

Farooq claimed that the AAC was advocating the aspirations and rights of the people in Kashmir through “completely non-violent and democratic methods.” “It has unwaveringly stood by the people of J&K advocating their aspirations and rights through completely nonviolent and democratic methods and calling for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict through dialogue and deliberation, for which it’s members suffered jails and incarceration and even martyrdom,” Farooq said.

SOURCE: IANS

At least three Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and nine others injured after the bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge in Manipur’s Senapati district on Tuesday, officials said.   A police officer in Imphal said that a bus carrying around 15 BSF personnel fell into a deep gorge in Changoubung village in Senapati district injuring 12 jawans. Three of them succumbed to their injuries later.

The BSF personnel were returning to their camp in a college in Kangpokpi district from road opening duty. The injured jawans are now under medical treatment in Senapati district hospital.

SOURCE: PTI

The Awami Action Committee (AAC), headed by Kashmir’s influential cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM), led by Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari, were on Tuesday banned by the Centre for their alleged anti-national activities, supporting terrorism and fuelling secessionist activities.

Mirwaiz Farooq is the chairman of the separatist amalgam All Parties Hurriyat Conference and head cleric of Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid, Kashmir’s grandest and most influential mosque, where he delivers sermons.

SOURCE: PTI

A Delhi court on Tuesday allowed Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in AgustaWestland case, to apply for a new British passport after the existing document expired.

Special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal observed one of the bail conditions imposed on March 7, required him to have a passport. “The superintendent of the jail concerned is directed to allow the accused C M James to apply for a passport online, for which they will provide him the online facility with the internet…,” the court said.