[NEWS OF THE DAY]

1. Centre allows trade settlement for export promotion schemes in Indian rupee
2. Coimbatore car blast case: NIA raids underway at 45 locations across Tamil Nadu
3. Terror funding via fake NGO busted in Kashmir, 6 arrested; Pakistani terrorists exposed
4. Israel to open 2 centres of excellence in Jammu and Kashmir as part of agriculture project
5. India and France to conduct joint surveillance of South-West Indian Ocean

What Else

6. Indian Railways expansion plans in Northeast include laying tracks till China border
7. Top US general vows military support for Taiwan, warns Beijing against conflict
8. Controversy over Arshad Sharif’s killing deepens, American instructors present at shooting site
9. Sharif brothers vow not to come under PTI’s pressure on elections
10. Maldives: Eight Indians among 11 dead in fire incident

Centre allows trade settlement for export promotion schemes in Indian rupee

• In a bid to facilitate and ease international trade in Indian rupees, the govt of India on Wed allowed trade settlement in the Indian currency for export promotion schemes.
• With the amendment to the Foreign Trade Policy, invoicing, payment, and settlement of trade can now take place in Indian rupee.
• Accordingly, benefits/incentives/fulfillment of Export Obligations under the Foreign Trade Policy will be extended for realizations in Indian Rupees as per the RBI guidelines.
• “Given the rise in interest in the internationalization of the Indian Rupee, the given Policy amendments have been undertaken,” the statement read. (here)

Coimbatore car blast case: NIA raids underway at 45 locations across Tamil Nadu

• NIA-Six accused arrested in this case so far. Accused persons had conspired with deceased Jamesha Mubeen to procure different chemicals for the fabrication of IEDs, including a vehicle-borne IED, from online shopping.
• The National Investigation Agency has been conducting searches at 45 locations in Tamil Nadu in connection with its ongoing probe into Oct 23 Coimbatore blast on Thu.
• The NIA’s massive search occurred nearly 15 days after it registered a case following the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization (CTCR) division.
• Police so far police have arrested 6 people in connection with the case, and have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
• Those arrested are learned to be associates of decrease, who was charred to death in suspicious circumstances after an LPG cylinder inside a car he was driving.
• As per police decrease, who was an engineering graduate, has been previously questioned by the NIA officials in 2019 for alleged terror links.
• In a raid, the state police had claimed to seize 75 kgs of potassium nitrate, charcoal, aluminum powder, and sulfur which can be used to make explosives. (here)

Terror funding via fake NGO busted in Kashmir, 6 arrested; Pakistani terrorists exposed

• In Jammu and Kashmir, security forces busted a terror funding and recruitment module in Kupwara in a joint operation led by the Indian Army and police.
• Five pistols, 10 Magazines, 49 pistol ammunition, 2 grenades, and one IED were also seized.
• After receiving multiple inputs, a joint operation by the Indian Army and Kupwara Police was launched to nab the individual from the Nutnussa and Lolab localities.
• The module was being coordinated by Pakistan-based handlers to aid the operations of ‘Tehreek-e-ul Mujahideen Jammu & Kashmir’ (TuMJK) in north Kashmir. (here)

Israel to open 2 centres of excellence in Jammu and Kashmir as part of agriculture project

• Israel is all set to open two agriculture Centres of Excellence (CoE) in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project (IIAP).
• The agriculture Attache at the Embassy of Israel in India visited the agricultural farms lying near the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and the Kashmir valley.
• Attache said, “Jammu and Kashmir has a lot of potential. We are ready to share our advanced technology with the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir.” (here)
• Meanwhile, Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar e Tayyiba’s front in Kashmir/TRF issues a threat to forthcoming IIAP.

India and France to conduct joint surveillance of South-West Indian Ocean

• Post completion of the India-France Air Force exercise over the Rajasthan sector, New Delhi and Paris will further intensify their strategic engagement in the ocean.
• Indian Navy’s Boeing P8I and French Falcon50 to conduct surveillance and ocean mapping of the Mozambique Channel, Mauritius, SW Indian Ocean from Nov 9-11.
• The joint surveillance will go beyond ocean bed mapping to combat piracy, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and the presence of extraneous powers.
• Chinese surveillance, ballistic missile tracking ship Yuan Wang 6 is presently located around 90 degrees East Ridge of the Indian Ocean south of Indonesia.
• The Indian and French surveillance aircraft will be conducting the ocean bed mapping and area patrol around French Reunion Islands for the second time this year.
• The first time the joint surveillance was held on the eastern board of Africa was in March 2022.
• French Defence Minister Sebastian Lecornu is coming to India for two days from Nov 28 to hold talks with the Defence Minister and top leadership of the Modi govt. (here)

Indian Railways expansion plans in Northeast include laying tracks till China border

• Indian Railways has planned to lay railway tracks right up to the China border in Arunachal Pradesh, all state capitals, besides connecting neighboring Bhutan.
• Indian Railways will construct a tract from Bhalukpong to Tawang along the China border and Silapathar to Along via Bame, which will have strategic importance.
• According to the Railway ministry, the final location survey of these new railway projects in Arunachal Pradesh is in full swing.
• A 58 km long tract to connect Bhutan will be from Kokrajhar (in Assam) to Gelephu in Bhutan. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

Top US general vows military support for Taiwan, warns Beijing against conflict

• A top US military officer pledged to support Taiwan militarily while warning Beijing to learn from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• The remarks were made by General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an event in New York on Wed.
• “The US is committed through the Taiwan Relations Act, and President Biden has said on many occasions recently that the US will continue to support Taiwan,” Milley said.
• “We will support them militarily … We would try to help train them and equip them.”
• PLA likely ‘evaluating’ and ‘recalculating’ plans to take the island as an amphibious attack would be difficult, he says.
• “I think President Xi is taking a step back and … he’s evaluating the situation.” (here)

Controversy over Arshad Sharif’s killing deepens, American instructors present at shooting site

• The controversy over the killing of Pakistan’s journalist Arshad Sharif has deepened amid reports of the presence of 10 American instructors and US national trainees at AmmoDump Shooting Range.
• Geo News (sources)- Sharif had dinner with other guests at the site including American instructors on Oct 22 and 23.
• Kenyan officials are under considerable pressure from Pakistan and are forced to ask questions to assist the probe, reported Geo News.
• Pakistani investigators have asked in writing the Kenyan authorities to provide “names and contact details of the instructors and trainers who were getting training at Camp.
• The authorities of East African countries were working on Pakistan’s request.
• The partners at AmmoDump also trade in arms and work with several arms companies, reported Geo News. (here)

Sharif brothers vow not to come under PTI’s pressure on elections

• Geo News (sources)-Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif resolved not to come under PTI’s pressure, especially on key demand of early elections.
• PM Shehbaz and his brother met at the Avenfield flats 4 hours after the younger Sharif arrived in the British capital after concluding his trip to Egypt.
• Nawaz directs PM to continue his best to take Pakistan out of the economic crisis.
• The brothers agree that PTI chief Imran Khan’s march will be dealt with legally.
• Shahbaz will meet Nawaz and some party leaders again today. (here)

Maldives: Eight Indians among 11 dead in fire incident

• Eight Indians were among the 11 people who died in a fire incident at a garage in M. Nirufehige in the Maldives, early Thu, AVAS reported.
• Police received reports regarding the incident at 12:17 am while Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) was informed regarding the incident at around 12:30 am.
• The cause of the fire is still not known. “A full investigation is underway,” tweets Maldive’s Foreign Minister.
• According to authorities, 11 people died in the fire incident out of which 9 are Indian, while one Bangladesh.
• Fire Service Commander, said that the incident happened in a building where a large number of Indian, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi migrant workers lived, as per the report.
• At least 28 people were evacuated from the building, while 9 people were reported missing, according to the Maldives Fire and Rescue Service. (here)