Security concerns to trade via Chabahar: India and Taliban hold first top-level talks

In the first high-level bilateral engagement with the Taliban regime, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Afghanistan acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai Wednesday.

So far, an Indian official, at the level of Joint Secretary, had been meeting Taliban ministers, including Muttaqi, and Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob. But Misri's meeting is an upgrade, signalling high-level official engagement from the Indian government. 

Is setting up protest site enough to attract UAPA, asks HC

"Is setting up a protest site enough (for attracting offences under) Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act?" - the Delhi High Court on Wednesday posed the question to the prosecution as it heard the arguments related to the bail pleas of the accused in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case.

Meet new ISRO chief, key person behind cryogenic tech

From Chandrayaan to the latest Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) and the upcoming Gaganyaan missions, the ISRO is "going through a successful phase", new ISRO chairman, Dr V Narayanan, said on Wednesday. Narayanan, appointed on Tuesday to succeed S Somanath who will complete his tenure on January 14, is one of the key persons behind India's self-reliance in cryogenic technology which powers all the modern-day heavy-lift rockets being used for space missions.

ISRO postpones docking again due to more than expected drift

The ISRO has once again postponed its ambitious Space Docking Experiment (SpaDex) Mission - which was scheduled for Thursday morning - after the satellites drifted more than expected during a manoeuvre to bring them at a distance of 225m from each other, the space agency said in a statement.

Spending and growing

The first advance GDP growth estimate was keenly awaited as there were concerns around a slowdown in domestic demand, financial market volatility and global policy uncertainty. The economy had decelerated sharply to 5.4 per cent in the second quarter which had come as a jolt and dampened sentiments. The advance estimate does indeed show a moderation, with GDP growth estimated to slow down to 6.4 per cent in 2024-25 from 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. However, the positive aspect is that growth is likely to pick up in the second half of the year - the implied growth for the second half of the year is 6.7 per cent compared to 6 per cent in the first half of the year.

PRECAUTION IS KEY

He Centre Has done the right thing in asking state governments to step up surveillance for the HMPV virus. The pathogen is not new. It was first detected in the Netherlands more than 20 years ago and regularly surfaces during the winter months. In several developed countries, HMPV is the second-most frequently detected virus among infants. In India, regular laboratory tests to detect this virus are not conducted. However, studies by the ICMR and other medical research agencies indicate that it is among the common flu pathogens. Reports of increasing hospitalisation because of HMPV infections in China this year have, however, sparked concern, especially because the world has just recovered from the Covid pandemic. The Union Health Ministry has done well to allay fears. At the same time, it has advised basic precautionary measures - wearing masks, avoiding close contact with people exhibiting flu-like symptoms and washing hands regularly. It's now on state and local authorities in different parts of the country to take this information to all sections of people.

TO MOURN A LOST CONNECT

The Present Human condition is marked by a loss of faith in the permanence of the world. The continuing violence in several places, climate change and ecological crises are chipping away at the assuredness in the sheer presence of the world. What is the nature of pain we encounter in the face of this transitory world? The human condition is characterised by a distinct sense of haphazardness towards this predicament - we seem to be assured of our ability to bandage injuries. Under the moral injunction to act, we take recourse to hasty, unexamined actions, which are sometimes more band-aid than salve.

The maverick and the loyalist

Often thinkers, when they want to ex- plain how social agents act in the world, posit a pair of personality types as binaries. Arthur Koestler, the former communist intellectual and philosopher of science, wrote a book titled The Yogi and the Commissar. In the lead essay, which bears the same title as the book, he discusses the two personality types of the yogi and the commissar. The commissar seeks to manipulate social reality with scientific knowledge, changing it to make it congruent with his own ideals. The yogi, in contrast, turns the gaze inward, seeking intemal transformation. The world, as a result, fades into maya. On the spectrum between the yogi and commissar, most people are somewhere in between. In India, our genius has enabled us to breach this binary. We have a yogi commissar.

Double counting error: Official gold import figures for Nov revised down by $5 billion

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday revised the gold import figures for November lower by $5 billion to $9.9 billion from $14.8 billion narrowing the overall goods trade deficit for the month to $33 billion from $38 billion, revised official data showed. 

Govt may shortlist 7 firms as it looks to ramp up Al compute procurement

The Centre is likely to shortlist seven firms who may be eligible to offer graphics processing units (GPUs) under its ambitious Rs 10,370-crore India Al Mission, as the government looks to fast-track GPU procurement in a bid to step up compute capacity in the country. Last December, the Information Technology ministry announced that it had received bids from 19 entities as part of a tender released in August. Those that could be shortlisted include Jio Platforms. Tata Communications and Mumbai- based start-up Yotta Data Services, The Indian Express has learnt.

HOW THE POLAR VORTEX CAUSED A MASSIVE WINTER STORM IN THE US

The United States and Canada were hit with a massive winter storm over the weekend, leading to mass school closures, dangerous road conditions, and power cuts. At least five people died in the storm, which impacted some 60 million in 30 US states, and has sent temperatures plum- meting across much of the continent. Causing this extreme weather is the southward expansion of the polar vortex.

Security forces vs Maoists

A police vehicle was blown up in Bijapur by suspected Maoists, killing the driver and eight District Reserve Guards (DRG) of the Chhattisgarh Police on Monday. They were returning after an encounter in Abujhmad, where five alleged Maoists were gunned down, and a DRG was killed. 

A DRG vehicle had been similarly blown up on April 26, 2023, killing 10 people in the Maoist stronghold of Dantewada. 

Between these two attacks, security forces have pushed Maoists hard in their strongholds - 217 alleged Naxal fighters were killed last year. Monday's attack in the forests of Kutru is the Maoists' first major retaliation in more than one-and-a-half years.