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April 17,2018 An Indian Army soldier from Kashmir who has been missing since Saturday may have joined the Hizbul Mujahideen terror group, police have said. However, local media reports say the terror outfit released a picture of the runaway soldier holding an AK-47 and claiming he had joined it. Mir Idrees Sultan is a Sepoy with 12 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI). He had arrived in his home village in South Kashmir's Shopian on April 12, and has been missing since April 14. His father, Mohammed Sultan Mir, approached the police on Monday morning and reported his son missing. Police officials said he had joined the terrorist group with two other local youths, reported news agency PTI. However, PTI noted that the cops had not made this part of the formal paperwork. The police had also informed the Army about the case it has registered. Police said they are investigating his phone records and other activities to ascertain if he was in touch with anyone with terror

April 16,2018 A 23-year-old man, who was honey-trapped by ISI, was arrested from Rohtak for allegedly passing information to the Pakistani spy agency about Indian Army camps he had visited for recruitment tests, police said. Gaurav Kumar was arrested from Rohtak's Model Town area yesterday based on information received by state and central intelligence agencies, Superintendent of Police Pankaj Nain said. Kumar has been booked under the provisions of the Official Secrets Act and under relevant sections of the IPC. A resident of Ganaur city in Sonepat district, Kumar had befriended two women, who worked for Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence, more than a year ago on Facebook, Mr Nain told reporters. "Preliminary investigations revealed that Gaurav was trying to get recruited in the Army for a long time and had been preparing for examinations conducted by the Army," he said. Mr Nain said the two women befriended Kumar after he told them he w

April 17,2018 As expected, the Indian rupee broke its prolonged sideways range below 65.3 last week. The currency fell to a five-month low of 65.51 on Monday and closed at 65.49, down 0.71 per cent for the week. Pressure points Crude oil prices surging about 9 per cent last week to $67 per barrel (WTI crude oil price) on the back of geo-political tensions was the first major trigger that applied pressure on the rupee. The missile attack on Syria by the US on Friday, coupled with weak trade data on the domestic front, dragged the rupee below the level of 65.3 on Monday. The US Treasury adding India to its watch-list for currency manipulation is also adding concerns to the rupee. India’s trade deficit widened in March. Data released by the Ministry of Commerce showed that the trade deficit widened to $13.69 billion in March. The deficit was $11.98 billion in February and $10.65 billion for the same period last year. Surging imports continue to keep the trade balance under pre

April 17,2018 By Surabhi A proposal to merge the three state-owned general insurers is likely to take some time and is expected not before early 2019, depending on the timing of the general elections. Study under way An informal committee of officials from the three general insurers – National Insurance Company, United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance Company – and from the Finance Ministry, is understood to be looking into the modalities of the process. The committee is expected to finalise the roadmap of the merger of the three companies and the functioning of the new entity. An external consultant may also be hired. “Their recommendations are likely to be finalised later in the year following which there are a lot of operational issues that have to be looked into for the merger. It is not going to be an easy process,” said a person in the know, adding that the actual merger may take place only next year. He added that it could be pushed back even further if t

April 16,2018, PTI The Russian  envoy  to India, Nikolay Kudashev, said today that  Pakistan  has taken "serious measures" to curb terror financing and shown the desire to be a part of global and regional efforts to fight the menace. His remarks come as ties between  Russia  and  Pakistan  appear to grow. In September last year, the two countries held a two-week long military exercise - DRUZBA 2017 - focusing on counter-terrorism operations to boost bilateral defence ties. Kudashev, however, said it would not be correct to say that  Russia  was getting closer to  Pakistan  as Moscow's relations with  New Delhi  "are unique and second to no one". Responding to a question on whether  Russia  sees  Pakistan  as a reliable partner to address its interest in Afghanistan, the  envoy  said the integrity of  Pakistan  was growing. "The credit (must) be given to  Islamabad.  After this country joined the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), it

April 16,2018, The Wire When India quietly  asked for the provisional arrest of Nirav Modi  in Hong Kong in March, it kicked off a lengthy legal process that experts say could last as long as a year. In early April, the external affairs ministry revealed in parliament that India had submitted a request to China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on March 23 for the  provisional arrest  of Nirav Deepak Modi. A legacy of the colonial era, Hong Kong’s legal system is similar to that of the UK. The  Fugitive Offenders Ordinance Chapter 503  is the key domestic legislation through which the territory implements its extradition agreements with foreign governments. Five years ago, Hong Kong’s extradition laws were a cynosure of worldwide interest when Edward Snowden fled there after leaking top-secret American surveillance programmes to the media. The US had also then made a request for his provisional arrest. Hong Kong authorities  claimed that  they did not get enough inf

April 17,2018 Posters of “Sikh referendum: 2020 Khalistan” in gurdwaras in Pakistan, which are being visited by Indian pilgrims, have angered India, and prompted South Block to summon Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner in Delhi, Syed Haider Shah and lodge a protest. Sources told The Indian Express that Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria was prevented from going to these gurdwaras over the weekend, and Indian diplomats were again prevented on Monday from meeting these pilgrims. The issue of Sikh referendum has been a sore point for Indian diplomats in Canada, UK, US, Germany, Australia among several countries, where pro-Khalistan groups have been calling for a referendum. “But we have photographs to prove that Pakistan authorities are trying to incite Sikh pilgrims and interfere in our internal affairs,” a South Block source told The Indian Express. These photographs have been shared with Pakistan’s deputy envoy in Delhi. This is turning out to be a potential new flas

April 17,2018 China has launched a website for the public to report on spies and those engaging in activities endangering state security and attempts to “overthrow the socialist system”. The site,  http://www.12399.gov.cn , was launched in Mandarin and English on Sunday and it promises to provide “material or spiritual reward” as an incentive to Chinese citizens to report spies. The website provides a platform for people to provide anonymous tips or reports through their real names. But the Ministry of State Security has stated that real-name reporting is recommended. The list of acts that should be reported include collusion with overseas institutions, organisations or individuals to endanger the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security of China. It has also listed using religion or organising “heretical cult organisations” to engage in activities endangering state security as acts of subversion that should be reported. It also states that any foreigner who w

April 17,2018 By Deepak Patel On August 7 last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had “strongly” recommended Biocon Limited to engage a “qualified” third party consultant (TPC) to evaluate operations at its Bengaluru facility, which had received 10 adverse observations from the regulator in June. Subsequently, on August 10 and August 16, the firm assured the USFDA that it has “already proactively engaged qualified TPCs” and will continue to bring on board additional external consultants and experts as needed. The August 7 e-mail by a USFDA official to four Biocon executives had stated: “Based on the violations we identified at your firm, we strongly recommend that you engage a qualified TPC to evaluate your firm’s operations (including your quality management system) and assist your firm in meeting CGMP (current good manufacturing practice) requirements for aseptic processing.” On November 20, 2017, the USFDA gave a clearance to the Bengaluru facility and closed

April 17,2018 By Rahul Tripathi Naxalism was once called by the government as the biggest internal security threat faced by the country. However, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Maoist influence has been gradually shrinking. In figures released on Monday, the MHA, which recently redrew the red corridor, brought down the number of districts affected with Naxal violence from 106 to 90, spread across 11 states. The list also includes the 30 worst-affected district — six down from the previous one. In 2015, the NDA government had adopted the ‘National Policy and Action Plan’, which aimed at addressing Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the country. In the last couple of years though, Maoists have managed to carry out big strikes killing scores of policemen. In Chhattisgarh, over two dozen policemen were killed in separate incidents in 2017; at least nine CRPF personnel were killed in a similar attack in Sukma last month. Which states are included in the LWE-affected ar