New Delhi:

The Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, on Monday met the Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, and his wife Rachel Azar along with other officials, and discussed India-Israel collaboration.

In a post on X social media platform, Gautam Adani said the company remains committed to continuing to invest and expand its partnership with Israel.

“Honoured to meet with Israeli Ambassador H.E. @ReuvenAzar and Mrs Rachel Azar, along with their team. Had productive discussions on doing our part for supporting India-Israel collaboration, particularly regarding India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and defence partnerships,” the Adani Group Chairman posted.

Honoured to meet with Israeli Ambassador H.E. @ReuvenAzar and Mrs Rachel Azar, along with their team. Had productive discussions on doing our part for supporting India-Israel collaboration, particularly regarding IMEC and defence partnerships. Through Haifa Port and Adani Israel… pic.twitter.com/9BP5UFsG4A

— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) January 20, 2025

“Through Haifa Port and Adani Israel Ltd, the Adani Group remains firmly committed to continuing to invest and expand our enduring partnership with Israel,” he added.

In 2023, The Adani Group acquired the strategic Israeli port of Haifa for $1.2 billion. The Port of Haifa is the second largest port in Israel in terms of shipping containers and the biggest in shipping tourist cruise ships.

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is an important initiative that can add to India’s maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia.

The IMEC was launched during India’s G20 presidency and aims to integrate India, Europe, and the Middle East through UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the European Union.

Lower logistics costs, faster connectivity and secure movement of goods are dependent on better cooperation in this area.

Adani Ports is the largest port developer and operator in India with seven strategically located ports and terminals on the west coast and eight ports and terminals on the east coast, representing 27 per cent of the country’s total port volumes.

The company is also developing a transhipment port at Colombo and Container Terminal 2 at Dar Es Salaam Port in Tanzania.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

According to sources, the former Congress president is unwell and while his presence was earlier confirmed, it now appears that Gandhi won’t be attending the event after all.

However, the Congress party has not issued an official statement regarding Rahul Gandhi’s health as of now.

The event, one of the biggest for the age-old party this year, commemorates the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s presiding over a historic Congress session in 1924.

Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara earlier told PTI that the “entire leadership” of the Congress party would be present at the event.

Despite his absence, top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sonia Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and other senior functionaries, are still expected to attend the event.

Mahatma Gandhi’s statue unveiling, public meet at Belagvi event

The ‘Gandhi Bharat’ event will be held at Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, where a statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be unveiled by Congress leadership.

After the unveiling, a public meeting is also scheduled at the CPED grounds to mark the significance of the occasion, PTI reported.

The ‘Gandhi Bharat’ session which was originally scheduled for December 27 of the previous year, was later postponed due to the death of former Prime Minister and Congress veteran Manmohan Singh.

The event will now go ahead with the theme “Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan.”

Meanwhile, the Congress is harping on the Indian Constitution and its architect B R Ambedkar specifically to target Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Congress has been alleging that Shah has insulted Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha recently.

Considering the attendance of several high-profile political leaders, elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in Karnataka to ensure the safety of the guests and the smooth conduct of the event.

India was previously expected to get the Shinkansen E5.

It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s keen interest in the project and his excellent rapport with the Japanese leadership that saw a very positive outcome from two recent high-level official visits to Japan led by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in September and December 2024, the people added, requesting anonymity. The E5’s maximum speed is 320km/h, while the E10, which is still undergoing trials in Japan, can run at a top speed of 400km/h.

“It is the first time that a developed nation has agreed to launch its latest product simultaneously in its own country as well as in a foreign land,” one of the people said. Compared to E5, the new model is a state-of-the-art machine, safer and faster, and the US and Taiwan are also eyeing this model, he added.

India could complete the necessary infrastructure, including a special track for the bullet train, by 2026-27. Instead of keeping the infrastructure idle, the two partners have agreed that India could test and launch its two prototype bullet trains in 2027 using the same infrastructure between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the people said.

Indian Railways’ production unit Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has already awarded the ₹867 crore contract to manufacture and commission the two semi high-speed trains to BEML Ltd in October 2024. The two indigenous trains are expected to be delivered by the end of 2026. They may have a top speed of 280km/h, but can be operated at around 249km/h.

“Japan has recently given its consent to the plan where India can utilise infrastructure for its indigenously made trains,” a second person said.

This person added that it was only after this that the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), on Saturday, January 18, “floated a global tender for design, manufacture, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of signalling and train control system on Mumbai Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project.”

NHSRCL, the railways ministry, the ministry of external affairs, the government of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) did not respond to e-mail queries. MAHSR was approved by the Cabinet in December 2015.

The infrastructure construction for the bullet train project is “literally on a fast track” with the minister for railways himself supervising every development, the people said. On Saturday, he supervised construction of a 21-km long undersea tunnel, India’s first such, between Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata.

The $17 billion MAHSR project is a joint project of the Centre, Gujarat and Maharashtra. It is being executed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) , NHSRCL. The SPV has been formed with a shareholding of 50% by the Centre and 25% each by governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Approximately 81% of the cost of the project is being funded through a soft loan by the Government of Japan through JICA.

JICA’s loan to MAHSR is for a tenure of 50 years at 0.1% interest rate and with a moratorium period of 15 years. Thus, the loan repayment will be done in 35 years, according to NHSRCL. The project will launch the country’s first bullet train covering the 508 km from Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai to Sabarmati, near Ahmedabad, in about two hours and seven minutes. The train will run at 320 km per hour and have stops at Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and will terminate at Sabarmati.

As US President Donald Trump takes charge as the 47th president of the United States, all eyes are on how the Indian markets will pan out in trade today. Earlier in November, the news of his return to White House had kindled a party across the key Indian indices with the Sensex jumping over 900 points. Will there be an encore today?

US markets were shut on January 20 on account of Martin Luther Kind Junior Day but the US Stock Futures indicate a higher opening. While the initial euphoria was on the back of expectation of slew of Policy measures in favour of India, the concerns now are more about the ramifications of the Policies and overall geo-political equation going forward.

Uncertainty about policy announcement

Most market experts in India are taking a calibrated approach at the moment and believe that a wait and watch approach is the need of the hour. They see Budget as the bigger catalyst in the near-term. Ace Investor, Vijay Kedia does not see, “Trump taking charge as a big driver for the market at the moment. We will have to wait and watch and see the policy announcements that he brings about. Moreover, I don’t anticipate Trump policies to be completely anti-China either. I do not expect any big policies in favour of India either. We will have to calibrate the ramifications once Trump announces his policies.”

Also Read: Trump’s inauguration: Vladimir Putin welcomes Donald Trump’s presidency, calls for restored US-Russia ties

Arun Kejriwal, Market Veteran explained that “Donald Trump has made lot of statements during his campaign on raising Tariff yet to see exact extent. There are indications of 3-fold increase in tariff. Our markets in the current scenario are already dealing with FII selling, economy being under stress and slowdown concerns. The Budget is around the corner and there are expectation of cut in tax rates. That would be a big driver for the markets.”

He added that if there is an upmove in the markets after Budget, “the one single factor that can drive is the potential cut in tax rates. If the forthcoming Policy announcements from US are more damaging for markets like China, it could be indirectly a positive for our markets.”

Key levels to watch in the near-term

The benchmark indices ended on a muted note on Monday-January 20. The Nifty is hovering around the 23,300 levels.

Also Read: Donald Trump Inauguration, Swearing-in Live Updates: Putin congratulates Trump, expresses hope for better US-Russia relations

Deven Choksey, Founder and MD of DRChoksey FinServ says, “The Nifty on the downside is well protected at 22800 and the rally to as much as 24800 is possible. Don’t think Trump would be a big driver for markets but overall if the Dollar Index moves significantly lower, the rupee’s outlook is what will decide the course of the market going forward.”

The dollar has plunged significantly in overnight trade. GIven the fact, the rupee has seen significant weakening, the dollar- rupee trade is also something that the market will be watching out for.

According to IMD, a cyclonic circulation is likely to cause isolated light to moderate rainfall over Puducherry, Karaikal, Kerala, & Mahe till the 23rd of January and scattered light to moderate showers over Lakshadweep on 21st January. Read the full story here

Police personnel take the accused, arrested in connection with the alleged attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, to a hospital for medical examination before producing him at a court, in Mumbai, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Kannal Mozhi K _11759@Chennai

The Bangladeshi national arrested for the January 16 knife attack on Saif Ali Khan entered the country illegally seven months ago and used a West Bengal resident’s Aadhaar card to procure a SIM before moving to Mumbai, police said on Tuesday (January 21, 2025).

Police on Sunday (January 19, 2025) arrested the accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir (30), from neighbouring Thane city for the stabbing incident at the Bollywood star’s residence in Bandra.

Who is the accused in Saif’s attack case?

Saif Ali Khan’s wife and actress Kareena Kapoor Khan has informed the police that the intruder who entered their house in Mumbai got aggressive during the scuffle but did not touch jewellery kept in the open, an official said on Saturday (January 18, 2025).

According to the police, Fakir, who changed his name to Vijay Das, crossed the Dawki River to enter India illegally seven months ago.

An official said the accused stayed for a few weeks in West Bengal and used the Aadhaar card of a local man to procure a SIM card before moving to Mumbai in search of a job.

He said the preliminary probe revealed that the SIM card used by the accused was registered in the name of one Khukumoni Jahangir Sekha of West Bengal.

The official said Fakir also tried to get an Aadhaar card for himself but failed.

He said in Mumbai, the accused chose to work at places where he didn’t need to furnish documents, and labour contractor Amit Pandey helped him get housekeeping work in pubs and hotels in Worli and Thane.

On examining Fakir’s cellphone, the police found he had made several calls to Bangladesh and used mobile applications to make calls to his family in the neighbouring country.

A Mumbai court on Sunday (January 19, 2025) remanded the accused in the Saif Ali Khan attack case in police custody till January 24 after observing that the police’s contention of an international conspiracy cannot be ruled out.

Khan (54) was stabbed repeatedly by the intruder inside his 12-floor apartment in the building on January 16, necessitating surgery. The metropolitan magistrate’s court in Bandra has remanded the accused in five-day police custody.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a pledge to make India a developed country by 2047. He has been an NCC cadet himself. So, if an ex-NCC cadet has seen a dream, it becomes the biggest responsibility of all other cadets to fulfill it. Viksit Bharat does not mean development of a piece of land; it means the progress of 140 crore Indians who live in unison despite social and cultural diversity,” Singh said, during a visit to the NCC (National Cadet Corps) Republic Day camp.

He said India’s achievements were the result of everyone’s hard work, especially the youth. Youth power is one of the themes that will be highlighted at the upcoming Republic Day parade during a cultural performance by around 5,000 folk and tribal artistes.

“Whenever I meet NCC cadets, I don’t just see a cadet in them. I see the reflection of India, which has many bodies but one soul, many branches but one root, many rays but one light. These cadets hail from different regions, speak different languages and follow different customs and traditions, but the one thing which is common is unity. Their energy and enthusiasm is proof that India’s future is bright,” the defence minister said.

Singh said that several countries became independent around the same time as India but only those nations with the values of discipline, integrity and national unity were developing today. “While those who did not are in chaos,” he said without naming Pakistan.

In his address, Singh explained the meaning of leadership to the cadets, citing the sacrifice made by Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. “Major Unnikrishnan’s words to his team ‘Don’t come up, I will handle them’ were not only a testament to his winning attitude and charitable nature, but also his ability to lead from the front. Such extraordinary moments make an ordinary person a leader.”

He asked the cadets to never stop learning and keep upgrading their skills. Singh also reviewed a guard of honour presented by the cadets.

Sources said Jaishankar carried a letter from the PM for the newly sworn in US President, Donald Trump.