Israel, Hamas reach deal on ceasefire, release of hostages

Negotiators reached a phased deal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after 15 months of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed the Middle East. Phase one entails the release of 33 Israeli hostages including all women, children and men over 50. The third phase is expected to address the return of all remaining dead bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the UN

3 warships join Navy, PM says India key to global security

The vessels that have entered the Navy are the destroyer INS Surat, the last of the four Visakhapatnam-class stealth guided-missile destroyers; the frigate INS Nilgiri, the lead ship of a new class of seven stealth guided-missile frigates being built under Project 17 Alpha; and, the submarine INS Vagsheer, the sixth and the last of the first batch of the Kalvari-class diesel-electricattack submarines. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, the Prime Minister called it a "giant leap for- ward" in the Navy's empowerment and self-reliance.

Nuclear deal in mind, US removes curbs on BARC and two others

Just over a week after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington was finalising steps to remove "long-standing regulations that have prevented civil nuclear cooperation between India's leading nuclear entities and US companies", the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) removed three Indian nuclear entities -Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) and the Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) from its 'Entity List'. The US Entity List is a list of foreign individuals, businesses and organisations that are subject to export restrictions and licensing requirements for certain goods and technologies.

Train to Kashmir soon as last leg of project gets safety nod

The rail link to Kashmir is now ready to commence operations, said officials, as the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) greenlit the ambitious project's final leg - the 17-km Katra-Reasi section. The inspection by the CRS, the railway safety audit body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is the final check before train operations can begin. Railway ministry officials said the CRS on Tuesday also approved a maximum speed of 85 km per hour for trains running between Shri Vaishno Devi Dham Katra and Reasi stations.

PMLA: SC pulls up ED for saying rigours of bail apply to women

Irked by the Enforcement Directorate's submission that the rigours of getting bail in cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) would apply equally to women accused, the Supreme Court on Wednesday cautioned that it "will not tolerate" submissions contrary to the law. "We will not tolerate conduct on the part of the Union of India to make submissions contrary to statute," a bench of Justice AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said while hearing a bail plea filed by Shashi Bala, arrested by the ED in connection with an investigation allegedly involving the Lucknow- based Shine City Group of companies. The court expressed its displeasure over the ED counsel's submission that the bail clause would apply equally to women without any exception.-

WHO LIT THE FIRE

The raging forest fires in Southern California are a moment of reckoning, not just for people of that area or the US but for policymakers across the world. An exceptional mix of environmental conditions - an extremely dry winter and near hurricane-strength Santa Ana winds-has led to the firestorm. It's worrying that Met agencies couldn't predict these compound events in time. While, historically, droughts have been a common occurrence in California and are known to last several years, severe droughts have increased in the last decade. In February last year, however, after blizzards ravaged the US state, weather bodies predicted that California would remain drought- free for at least 2025. Year-to-year variability has always been a feature of California's weather conditions. Experts believe that these have now turned to rapid swings between wet and dry conditions - hydroclimatic whiplash.-

Startup and go 

India's startup ecosystem has witnessed extraordinary growth, transforming from a fledgling stage to becoming the world's third-largest hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. With over 1,30,000 recognised startups today-up from approximately 400 in 2015- 16-India's progress is remarkable. During this period, startup funding grew 15 times, the number of investors increased nine-fold, and the number of incubators rose seven- fold.India's startup ecosystem is no longer confined to metro cities  Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi. Nearly 50 per cent of the country's startups originate from Tier II and Tier III cities, including emerging hubs like Indore, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad. With nearly half of India's urban population living in smaller cities, these regions offer immense potential for growth. Tech companies are increasingly establishing operations in cities such as Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, and Ahmedabad. Supporting these regional hubs with infrastructure, educational opportunities, and inclusivity-especially by increasing women's representation in leadership roles will unlock untapped talent and drive innovation.

A MORE OPEN ACADEMIA

The criticism of the new draft regulations by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in this newspaper's editorial ('Sarkar and Campus' January 13) takes a limited view. The regulations need to be understood along with the broader aim of the National Education Policy (2020). The NEP aims to restructure the governance of the Indian education system to address the country's developmental goals and respond to the evolving demands of society and the global knowledge economy. The provision of forming a search-cum-selection committee by the Chancellor for the appointment of VCs, and opening up the post to industry experts and public sector veterans is being vilified. It is difficult to understand how the mere formation of a three-member search-cum-selection committee by the Chancellor is an assault on federalism And how is the current provision of VC appointments by the Chancellor more democratic?-

US sanctions on Russian oil tankers to hit imports; 'Trump's stance key'

The sweeping us sanctions targeting Russia's oil trade announced, with as many as 183 tankers being placed under sanctions, could hit India's imports of cheaper Russian oil. Unlike the leeway offered by the earlier sanctions imposed on Russian entities, the new measures would effectively restrict the entry of oil tankers at Indian ports and is therefore far more targeted. Notably, the outgoing Biden administration in Washington has also sanctioned two Russian oil majors-Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas-and Russian insurance companies, among others involved in the Russian oil sector and trade. 

New US AI export law excludes India from its closest allies. What could be its impact?

In Its last few days in office, the Joe Biden administration in the United States has released an expansive regulatory framework controlling the export of artificial intelligence (Al) hardware like graphics processing units (GPUs), which could have far reaching consequences for India's Al ambitions. In an "interim final rule", titled a 'Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, the US government has proposed to create three tiers of countries, and depending on which tier a country falls, there will be specific export control restrictions of Al chips and GPUs to those territories. The US's regime envisions three tiers of countries: First is 18 of its closest allies. These countries include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.-

How US curbs on Russia shadow fleet may impact India oil imports

The outgoing administration in the United States announced sweeping new curbs on Russia's oil trade last week, imposing sanctions on 183 tankers, the bulk of the so-called "shadow fleet" that has kept Russian oil flowing to consumers such as India and China. The sanctions also targeted Russian oil companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, insurance companies, and other entities involved in the country's oil sector and trade. India is not part of the sanctions regime against Russia, but it has, like most other countries, generally tried to not fall foul of them in order to avoid secondary US sanctions.

Data from commodity freight analytics firm Kpler show 102 of the 183 sanctioned tankers transported Russian crude to either India or China or both at least once in 2024. According to Kpler's analysis, the sanctioned tankers together handled more than 530 million barrels of Russian crude exports last year-of which around 300 million barrels were shipped to China, and the bulk of the remaining exports were to India. 

Three cheers for Indian Navy

Three frontline combatants-INS Nilgiri, lead ship of the Project 17A stealth frigate class, INS Surat, fourth and final ship of the Project 15B stealth destroyer class, and INS Vaghsheer, sixth and final submarine of the Scorpene-class project - were commissioned in the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

INS Nilgiri is the first of seven frigates in Project 17A being built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. INS Surat is the Indian Navy's first Al (artificial intelligence) enabled warship, which will utilise indigenously developed Al solutions to enhance its operational efficiency manifold. INS Vaghsheer is the sixth and final submarine of the modern stealthy Kalvari class built under Project 75

How and why are plants grown in space: Takeaways from ISRO's success

Since plants release oxygen during photosynthesis, growing them in space can help keep the air aboard spacecraft breathable, Siddharth Pandey, an affiliate research scientist with US-based Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. The lack of gravity precludes plants roots from growing downwards, in addition to making nutrient delivery a difficult task. Since water tends to cling to any surface it touches in microgravity, when sprayed onto the base of a plant, it does not trickle down to the roots where it would be absorbed. For the soil-like medium, ISRO used some highly porous clay comprising tiny pellets. The porosity helped absorb and retain water.-