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The launch of the RRTS service in Uttar Pradesh is just the beginning, adding that similar services will be introduced soon in Haryana and Rajasthan as well.
This rapid rail is also made in India. Ye Bharat ki apni train hai (This is India's own train). The screen door of the platform is also made in India. Namo Bharat is a glimpse of future India.
This is also proof that when the economic strength of the country grows, the whole picture changes. This is just the beginning.
The Prime Minister flagged off the first Namo Bharat train, which will connect Sahibabad to Duhai Depot on a 17-km stretch of the RRTS.
He said the entire 82-km RRTS stretch will be completed in the next one-and-a-half years and expressed confidence that he will be present to inaugurate it.
Israel chip maker Tower makes second bid to enter India with fab unit (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Israel-based chip manufacturing company Tower Semiconductor has revived its interest in India’s chip incentive scheme for a second time, and is considering setting up a semiconductor fabrication plant in the country.
In August, Intel cancelled its plan to acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion due to regulatory issues.
If Tower’s proposal comes through, it would be the first semiconductor company with real fabrication pedigree to apply for India’s $10 billion chip manufacturing scheme, and could be a big boost to New Delhi’s chipmaking ambitions.
Asked about Tower Semiconductor’s renewed interest in India’s chip incentive plan Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told the government has invited its CEO Russel C Ellwanger to discuss its partnership with India in the chip space.
Govt & Politics
Govt not clearing all collegium picks in one go disturbs seniority, says SC (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Flagging the pendency in appointment and transfer of 21 high court judges, the Supreme Court expressed concern over the Government selectively clearing names from the list recommended by the Collegium.
A three-judge bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sudhanshu Dhulia and Manoj Misra said it leads to seniority issues, when some names from one Collegium resolution are notified and some are held back.
The bench was hearing two petitions — one filed by lawyers’ body Advocates Association Bengaluru and the other by an NGO — seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Centre for the alleged delay in deciding on the SC Collegium’s recommendations on appointment and transfer of judges.
Editorial
Middle East, middle ground (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
If there was one big idea that captured the essence of independent India’s early thinking on the Middle East, it was the preference for modern secular nationalists in the region. Delhi was uncomfortable with traditionalist and religious forces in the Middle East. The region, however, did not evolve according to India’s preferences.
The division between secular republics and conservative monarchies was too simplistic to capture the regional complexities.
Several developments in the Middle East since the late 1970s led to the rise of violent religious extremism and Islamic republicanism that today threaten both secular and conservative regimes.
Over the last few years, India has drawn closer to Arab moderates and Israel. This has been facilitated by the converging interests and expanding engagement between Arab moderates and Israel.
They have become valuable partners for Delhi in countering religious extremism, accelerating India’s economic modernisation and expanding India’s security footprint in the region.
Ideas Page
At stake for Israel (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
It has been two weeks since the deadly attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas resulted in the death of hundreds of Israelis on Sukkot — a Jewish harvest festival.
Israel has faced such situations many times in the past and it has come out stronger on each occasion. It will, this time too. However, the Hamas attack is not just another terror incident.
It has wider ramifications for Israel as well as the world — military, political, strategic and global. This was an attack on the image of “omnipotence” that Israel had cultivated over decades.
Its ability to neutralise adversaries, tackle enemies that are four or five times larger in military strength, and the almost mythical proportions its intelligence agency Mossad acquired — all stand under scrutiny today.
Of particular significance is its intelligence failure. Its well-known external agency Mossad and the lesser known but equally powerful military intelligence wing called Aman and the internal security organ called Shabak — all appear to be facing the charge of a collective failure.
World
India should take a balanced stand, demand immediate ceasefire: Palesitne Barghouti (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Mustafa Barghouti, who leads the Palestinian National Initiative, and a top politician in the West Bank spoke.
A former Information minister in the Palestinian National Authority, he is one of the most articulate voices within the Palestinian political leadership. He is neither with Fatah, which rules the Palestinian National Authority, nor does he represent Hamas.
The interview was conducted before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s phone call to the Palestinian National Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas.
My response is history did not start on the 7th of October. I do feel very sorry for the death of so many Palestinians and Israeli citizens, but at the same time, I must say that what happened on the 7th was one of the consequences of Israeli behaviour in the West Bank where the country’s army and its illegal settlers jointly conducted a campaign of terror against the Palestinian civilian population.
Xi offers to help cash strapped Lanka, buy more of its export (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
China is willing to offer assistance to Sri Lanka without political conditions and buy more of its exports, President Xi Jinping told his Sri Lankan counterpart on Friday in Beijing.
The assurances came a week after the crisis-hit island nation said it had reached agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China on $4.2 billion of debt, a fraction of the roughly $7 billion it owes Chinese lenders, both bilateral and commercial.
Explained
Questions in Parliament (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday (October 20) said she welcomes answering questions from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee pertaining to ‘cash for query’ allegations against her.
In a post on X, Moitra said: “I welcome answering questions to CBI & Ethics Committee (which has absolute majority of BJP members) if & when they call me.”
Her comment came a day after Darshan Hiranandani, CEO of the Hiranandani Group, claimed in an affidavit to the Ethics Committee that the MP gave him her Parliament login and password so that he could “post the questions” directly “on her behalf when required”.
When in session, Lok Sabha generally starts with Question Hour — a one hour time period provided to MPs to ask questions of ministers and hold them accountable for the functioning of their ministries.
Here is a look at what kind of questions the MPs can raise, what is the procedure for asking the questions, and what’s the importance of the exercise.
Economy
Rate cuts on agenda, RBI remains extra vigilant on inflation says Das (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Stating that interest rate cuts are not on the agenda of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank remains “extra vigilant” about inflation. Das said monetary policy must remain “actively disinflationary” In the current situation, adding that financial stability is non-negotiable.
Speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave, Das said there is a need for a sustained decrease in inflation and the RBI wants to reduce it to 4 per cent. Referring to the Israel-Palestine conflict in West Asia, Das said central banks “need to remain very agile” amid global uncertainties.
Therefore, central banks need to remain very agile and more than central banks, the first line of defence are the financial institutions and markets themselves, custodians of financial market infrastructure, stock exchanges, other exchanges, other regulators, financial sector entities, banks, (and) NBFCs themselves will have to remain agile.