A high powered intelligence team from Delhi including the top brass of the National Investigation Agency, Intelligence Branch, Research and Analysis Wing and the National Security Guard descended on West Bengal for a close-up view of the details unearthed so far of the jihadi terrorist network in the State. India’s National Security Adviser , Ajit Doval, who headed the team, called on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and read her the riot act. The ongoing investigation had revealed an unexpected scale of conspiracy hatched across a string of unauthorized madarasas, concealed explosives, triggering devices, inflammatory documents and much else that affected national security with international ramifications as well. Jihadi tentacles had been discovered in the Birbhum, Burdwan, Murshidabad, Malda and Nadia districts with links to networks in adjoining Bangladesh. Plans were afoot to assassinate the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a bid to overthrow her Awami League government and replace it with a jihadi grouping. This had resulted in joint anti-terror operations between the intelligence agencies of India and Bangladesh. Mr Doval spoke on behalf of the countries intelligence agencies and a visibly chastened Ms Banerjee listened quietly for a change. The message from the centre was enough was enough. The demoralization of the State police, which had started under the 34-year Communist-led Left Front dispensation, had accelerated under the present Trinamool Congress government, all with a view to furthering their vote bank politics. The rot that had set in had to be reversed, hence the previous lack of cooperation from the local police had exceeded the limits of tolerance. Ms Banerrjee and her aides grasped the implications of Mr Doval’s message. She well understood that this was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s voice and, very likely, President Pranab Mukherjee’s too. Cooperation with the Centre, hereon, was an imperative, if the Trinamool regime wished to survive. With State assembly elections due in May 2016 and the shambolic law and order situation in the rural hinterland, Ms Banerjee has been put on notice. Her support base is fast eroding, and she knows it. Telegraph, Times of India, October 27-31)
Home Minister
authorization
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, having received Ajit Doval’s report on the terror network in West Bengal, authorized him to set the ball rolling in neutralizing the modules of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen of Bangladesh and its Indian branches without delay. Doval also briefed the Special Secretary (Internal Security) Prakish Mishra and heads of the National Investigation Agency and the National Security Guard (commando unit). (Hindu October 29)
Rajnath to visit
Israel
Rajnath Singh is to visit Israel early in November, where he will be putting India’s seal to key homeland security agreements between the two countries. He may have a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and top Israeli officials. The visit follows the trip to India of Israel’s National Security Adviser Joseph Cohen, who met with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. The Indo-Israeli partnership is set to grow exponentially across a wide range of areas, from agriculture to pharmaceuticals and defence. India is Israel’s largest arms buyer. (Hindu October 27)
Time bomb,
U-turn
Doval had warned that West Bengal was sitting on a time bomb. Chief Minister Banerjee appeared to have responded by sacking a number of Trinamool Congress leaders, notably the vicious Abrul Islam; she followed this with an olive branch to the Tatas by extending a noticeably warm welcome to five of company directors of the Group’s segments, promising them every help is setting up bases in West Bengal. She went further by inviting Tata Motors to return to Singur, from which her mass agitation campaign, in 2010, had forced the company to relocate to Gujarat.
Mea culpa
Finance Minister, Amit Mitra, whose rude dismissal of Ratan Tata had come in for censure in the local media, was all smiles as he announced the arrival of a second unit of Tata Consultancy Services, the group’s software arm, to New Town, the high-tech suburb coming up on the outskirts of Old Calcutta. A belated mea culpa, maybe, but better late than never. (Times of India, Telegraph October 28,29)
Fadnavis
at helm
Nagpur-born and educated lawyer Devendra Fadnavis has been elected the head of the BJP legislators of the Maharashtra Assembly and will be the new Chief Minister of the State. He said he owed his upbringing to the RSS, which inculcated in him the values he held dear. Fadnavis is young and dynamic. The previous Congress Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan described Fadnavis as a brilliant parliamentarian. (Hindu October 29)
India to aid
Vietnam
India is to render all possible help to Vietnam in its ongoing efforts at military modernization. Calling India’s defence cooperation with Vietnam “among our most important,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a firm commitment to “modernize Vietnam’s defence and security forces” following talks in New Delhi with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The two countries signed a number of significant agreements including a Memorandum of Understanding for energy exploration in Vietnamese waters of the South China Sea by ONGC Videsh Ltd. Also, India is to give Vietnam a $100 million line of credit for the purchase of four coastguard vessels to be made in India by government or private vendors for the Vietnam navy.
Signal to
China
By making Vietnam the heart of India’s Asia-Pacific strategic policy, the Indian government has sent a clear signal to China that Indian regional interests will be vigorously pursued. India and Vietnam have also agreed to coordinate their security policies with those of Japan as part of a trilateral arrangement. Professor Srikanth Kondapalli of Jawaharlal University’s Department Chinese Studies said there would no change in the geostrategic situation. “Firstly, China has not respected Indian sensitivities - one example is Chinese transfer of sensitive nuclear technology to Pakistan. So India does not need to be concerned about Chinese sensitivities. T here is, of course, a symbolism attached these moves.” (Hindu, Times of India, Mint October 29)
India-Russia
BrahMos deal
India and Russia have agreed that the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a joint venture product, will only be exported to a list of countries mutually approved by Delhi and Moscow. The two partners will also draw up a negative list of countries that are to be barred from acquiring the missile. All requests for BrahMos are to be decided on a case by case basis, said BrahMos Corporation CEO Sudhir Mishra.
New variants
Lighter and smaller land, air and sea variants of the missile known as BrahMos-M , weighing around 1.5 tonnes, are being developed for India’s three services. The BrahMos team is awaiting user requirements before making the necessary configurations for testing and manufacture are put in place, said BrahMos CEO Sudhir Mishra. Once inducted into the Navy, the missile could be launched from submarine torpedo tubes. For the Air Force a mini version would mean Beyond Vision Range capability with future platforms, most notably the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, and the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft, believed to be among the world’s most lethal aircraft, being jointly developed by Russia and India. (Hindu October 30)
Japan firm’s
investments
SoftBank of Japan is to make investments in India worth $10 billion in the country’s IT and communications space sector, following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Tokyo several weeks ago. SoftBank is one of Japan’s largest telecom and internet corporations . The SoftBank commitment was confirmed in Tokyo by its Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Som at a meeting with India’s Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, whose ministry issued the following statement: “Mr Som today assured the Minister that SoftBank would invest about $10 billion in India in the coming years. He placed it on record that India is the top most priority for SoftBank.” He estimated India’s potential e-commerce turnover to reach $0.7 trillion in the next ten years. Minister Prasad informed Mr Som of India’s incentives such as electronic manufacturing clusters, and of the package scheme to boost the industry’s future prospects. (Hindu October 28)
India in top
three start-ups
With 3,100 start-ups, after the US (41,500) and UK (4000), India ranks third in the world. Over the last year alone, there were 850 technology products across the country; this is projected to grow four-fold by 2020 when the figure is calculated to reach 2,000. India has the fastest start-up ecosystem in the world and the total number of technology product/digital start ups is projected to reach 11,500 by 2020. “This hyper-growth, is the inflection point for the start-up ecosystem,” said Ravi Gururaj, Chairman of Nasscom Product Council. (Business Line October 30)