NIA on the cheap hampers war on militants
The National Investigation Agency, India's leading counterterrorism organisation, is poorly equipped to fulfil its role of investigating the most serious terrorism cases, cutting off funding to militants and putting suspects on trial. Full Article
India, U.S. and EU set to revive WTO talks - Times of India
- A global trade deal between India, the United States and the European Union is close to being signed, with India agreeing to sign the stalled international treaty on easier customs rules, the Times of India reported.
PM Modi to appoint new defence minister
India will appoint a new defence minister, a senior party official and another source told Reuters on Thursday, in a move that would allow the current minister, Arun Jaitley, to focus on his main job of steering the economy out of troubled waters. The new defence minister will be Manohar Parrikar, the chief minister of Goa, said Sadanand Tanavade, a general secretary of the state unit of the BJP. Full Article
Govt to set up regulator for traditional medicines
India is seeking to increase sales of its ayurvedic and other traditional therapies in the estimated $100 billion global market for alternative medicine and plans to set up a new quality control regulator, the government said on Thursday. Ayurvedic and other traditional therapies are popular in Indian rural areas which still have poor access to modern health facilities. Full Article
U.S. weighs sanctions on Libyan factions
The United States is considering imposing sanctions on Libya's combative factions to try to prevent a proxy conflict fueled by regional powers from erupting into full-blown civil war and force militant leaders to negotiate, U.S. officials said. Full Article | Related Story
Ebola surging in Sierra Leone - U.N.
The number of Ebola cases is surging in Sierra Leone due to a lack of treatment centres, the United Nations said, while scarcity of food may also be forcing some people to leave quarantined areas, risking further spread of the virus. Full Article
Amazon launches a speaker you can talk to
Do you want to talk to your speaker? Amazon.com Inc has launched "Amazon Echo", a speaker you leave on all day and give it voice directions, like Siri on an Apple Inc iPhone. Full Article
Starstruck: Half of universe's stars are orphans
You can call them celestial orphans, stars flung out of their galaxies in colossal collisions that have occurred in space for billions of years. New observations from suborbital rocket launches and an orbiting observatory show that as many as half the stars in the universe may be this kind, scientists said on Thursday. Full Article
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Reuters Exclusive
Struggling in India, Toyota asks Daihatsu minicar unit to help
Toyota Motor Corp is struggling to crack the affordable end of India's car market and has called on mini-car affiliate Daihatsu for help - a tacit admission that the Japanese autos giant doesn't always get it right in emerging markets. Full Article
How to ‘Make in India’
The economic impact of manufacturing in India will go beyond direct employment. It will create jobs in the services sector and allied services like logistics, transportation, retail etc. Since manufacturing would require free flow of raw materials and finished goods, improving logistics infrastructure would be imperative and these developments promise to transform India into a global manufacturing hub. Full Article
Sensex breaches 28,000, but BHEL, Tata Steel still down from life highs
The BSE Sensex surged to a fourth straight life high on Wednesday, breaching the psychologically important 28,000 mark. But the bull run has not benefited all stocks. Twenty six Sensex components were away from their life highs on Wednesday with some power and metals stocks trading fairly lower than their all-time high levels. Full Article
Security Threat
Officials fear al Qaeda grooming Indian militants for big attacks
Decrypted communications between Indian Mujahideen (IM) and al Qaeda and testimony from suspects have triggered alarm among intelligence officials in New Delhi: the groups appear to be working together to launch major attacks in the region. The officials told Reuters that plots they had uncovered included the kidnapping of foreigners. Full Article
U.S. Midterm Elections
One journalist’s vote for divided government
Count the Washington press corps as unintended beneficiaries of the slaughter of the Democrats. With the Republicans taking charge of the Congress, leaving them in control of all congressional committees, expect many Capitol Hill investigations into alleged fraud and perfidy by the Obama administration. Analysis
Did Islamic State really call a convention of nuts?
Has Islamic State’s use of social media and other digital propaganda, including videos of the beheadings, worked so well that the group has been able to convene a convention of all the world’s crazies, arm them and send them out to battle? We need to read and see as many different case histories as reporters can gather. That, of course, is easier said than done. Full Article
Bollywood
A Minute With: Parineeti Chopra
For someone who stumbled into acting by chance, Parineeti Chopra has done rather well for herself. The 26-year-old caught people’s attention in her debut film and was hailed by several critics as the next big thing. But things have fizzled out since then. Chopra spoke to Reuters about the criticism she faced, and why she is OK with laughing at herself. Full Article