Once operational, Ghatak could undertake deep-strike missions, penetrating heavily defended airspace to hit high-value targets without placing pilots at risk.
'The additional Rafales will be from a vastly improved version compared to the 36 acquired for the IAF under the 2016 deal.'
500,000 tonnes of sugar exports allowed on top of an existing 1.5 mt window
'If you go by the capital expenditure, this is a good defence budget. But we will have to see if the government can keep defence spending at 2 per cent or higher in 2027-2028.'
India's marine product exports facing rough weather from punitive US tariffs are expected to get a big boost following the reduction of 26 per cent tariff as part of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but concerns over non-tariff barriers, which are a dominant aspect of marine trade to the EU, still remain.
Karan Fries is a synthetic cow breed developed by the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal.
'Some success has been achieved in raising the costs of terrorism for Pakistan.'
The Union Budget for 2026-27 is expected to sketch out a road map for trebling the cooperative sector's contribution to the Indian economy over the next decade, with the aim of bringing 500 million people within its ambit, in line with the objectives of the National Cooperative Policy, 2025.
Above-normal cold wave days are expected in some areas of central India, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during January 2026.
'Previously, contributing only 25 per cent of material costs, states now face burdens of 40 per cent to 100 per cent of total costs, ensuring poorer states will curb project approvals, directly stifling work demand.'
Civil society groups, led by the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, are planning a nationwide protest -- similar to the farmers' stir a few years ago -- starting December 19 demanding scrapping of the new Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission.
After a gap of more than three years, the central government has agreed to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) works in West Bengal with immediate effect, but subject to mandatory adherence to stringent conditions. These include a prohibition on any work valued at more than 20 lakh, compulsory 100 per cent electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) verification of all workers, and mandatory pre-estimation field visits for all works before they are undertaken.
However, these are understood to be exploratory talks, with an agreement unlikely to be formalised during the current visit.
The winters could be cooler in the plains due to the prevailing La Nina conditions though it does not have a direct relationship and also due to influence of the polar vortex.
Releasing the first advanced estimate, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that though excessive rainfall affected crops in some areas of the country, most parts have benefited significantly from a good monsoon, leading to overall good crop growth.
Amid the political push and pull, the Centre's decision to allow sugar exports and remove the 50 per cent duty on molasses exports has rekindled hope in the industry that more relief may follow.
India's leading agriculture commodity exchange, the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), has decided to acquire around a 20 per cent stake in a new commodities and financial derivatives exchange being set up in Sri Lanka, subject to regulatory and governmental approvals. The move aims to deepen NCDEX's footprint in the financial ecosystem of its neighbouring country.
HAL executives said deliveries of the Tejas Mk1A to the IAF would begin within this year, but only after the successful completion of the weapons-firing trials currently underway.
HAL has assured the IAF that 12 Mk1A aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2025-2026.
'Threat assessment, intelligence analysis, (battlefield) situation review -- what has transpired in the last three hours -- was conducted with the help of AI.'
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