&nbsp;The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested another Afghan national in connection with the 3,000-kg heroin seizure by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Mundra port in Gujarat in September.
The accused has been identified as Sobhan Aryanfar (28). The agency arrested him from Neb Sarai in south Delhi.
According to the NIA, Aryanfar has been found to be involved in the conspiracy to transport narcotic drugs concealed in the import consignment of semi-processed talc stones, which had originated from Afghanistan.
The agency has registered the case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Indian Penal Code, on the basis of the findings of the DRI.
The NIA officials suspect that the same network had been used to smuggle in another consignment in the past.
Some of the accused persons are said to be linked to a drug trafficking case registered earlier by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.
Based on the inputs, the NIA had conducted searches in different parts of the country, including in and around Delhi, in October. It collected samples of suspected drugs from a warehouse.
Earlier, the DRI arrested 10 persons, including six Afghan nationals and an Uzbek woman, for their alleged involvement.
The DRI probe revealed that the contraband had been packed in Afghanistan and sent through Kandahar-based Hassan Hussain Limited. The consignment was declared as that of talc stones for export to Aashi Trading Company in Vijayawada, via Bandar Abbas port in Iran.
The drugs were meant to be brought to Delhi for further transportation and distribution.
The NIA will be contacting the authorities in Iran for gathering information about the persons who had booked the consignment at Bandar Abbas port.

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NIA arrests one more Afghan national in 3,000-kg drug haul case 

During President Xi Jinping&rsquo;s trip to Europe this week, he must have discovered some parts of Europe have become an entirely different place since his visit five years ago.&nbsp;
Gone are the heydays of economic globalization, when China was viewed as an indispensable investment destination. Instead, the mood among European leaders is to &lsquo;de-risk&rsquo; &ndash; moving investments and supply chains away from the world&rsquo;s second largest economy.
Judging from his statements in Paris, Beijing&rsquo;s assessment of Europe has also shifted. This is certainly a renewed charm offensive, hoping to tempt Europeans to continue to invest in China.&nbsp;
But equally Xi gave the EU tough warnings on Europe&rsquo;s trade protectionism and its current diplomatic stance. In his own words, he expects &lsquo;<a class="external-link" title="Opens in new window" href="https://www.mfa.gov.cn/zyxw/202405/t20240506_11293511.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EU institutions to have a correct view on&nbsp;China</a>&rsquo; which is an unprecedented line for China to take on the EU.
Despite a sense of bonhomie from all three countries he is visiting, it will be far from straightforward to effect a reconciliation on either the economic or diplomatic fronts. This is largely due to the development of China and Europe&rsquo;s domestic politics and economies &ndash; and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The main purpose for Xi&rsquo;s European tour is therefore damage limitation, preventing ties with Europe worsening even more, as they have with Washington. He is also seeking to exploit divisions within Europe on Ukraine and US relations, working towards China&rsquo;s vision of a more multipolar world.
<h2>Economics</h2>
On economic matters, China has decisively pursued industrial policies that will enable Beijing to move up the export value chain and establish itself as a high-end manufacturing powerhouse: instead of producing cheap toys, Beijing wants to lead exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar panels.&nbsp;
This is also the moment where the Chinese economy is at a painful, if necessary, transition, changing its growth model from an over-reliance on the property sector into counting on high value-added manufacturing exports. Europe will be a critical market for those goods.&nbsp;
But Chinese companies are also in brutal competition with European peers, both in Europe and developing countries, partly boosted by state subsidies.&nbsp;

During his trip to Europe Xi could find it hard to address the damage wrought by COVID-19 and Beijing’s stance on Ukraine. But he may exploit existing tensions with Washington

Xi Jinping hopes to improve EU–China relations – and drive a wedge between Europe and the US

It is a time of experimentation and uncertainty for the US as shown by developments in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal, and relations with the European Union, Russia and North Korea.
But many issues such as trade, climate change, nuclear weapons, and terrorism prevention loom large and suggest the United States still has a vital role to play in ensuring peaceful growth and prosperity.

US global influence remains strong but is seen as being in decline - especially economically - as China, India and Russia begin to exert more influence.

US foreign policy

On a day when the Special Investigation Team probing the Lakhimpur violence that claimed eight lives submitted that the entire incident was a &ldquo;pre-planned conspiracy&rdquo;, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi demanded the resignation of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra and sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He alleged that the Minister tried to kill farmers and the Prime Minister knew as he was a member of his team.
&ldquo;A Minister has tried to kill farmers. The Prime Minister knows as he is in his team. We raised the issue but we were not allowed a discussion on it even then. We were all silenced at the time after we wanted to discuss the issue,&rdquo; Mr. Gandhi said. He was speaking at the conclusion of the joint Opposition march protesting against the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.
Asked if the Congress would raise the issue in Parliament, the former Congress chief said, &ldquo;We will certainly raise the issue in Parliament but they will not allow us to raise it.&rdquo;
To another question, he said, &ldquo;When they ran their jeep over farmers, which forces were behind them? Who gave them the liberty and which force kept them out of jail?&rdquo; He alleged that there are two or three capitalists who want to steal the farmers&rsquo; income who are backing Mr. Modi.&nbsp;

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Lakhimpur Kheri case | PM Modi should apologise, fire Ajay Mishra, says Rahul Gandhi 

According to the reports, Ms. Nair, in her new position with the French luxury group Chanel, will be based in London.
Leena Nair, the first female and youngest-ever Chief Human Resources Officer of Anglo-Dutch FMCG major Unilever has stepped down to join French luxury group Chanel as its Global Chief Executive.
She was a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE), which is responsible for delivering Unilever&rsquo;s business and financial performance.
&ldquo;Leena Nair, CHRO, has decided to leave the company in January 2022 to pursue a new career opportunity as Global Chief Executive Officer, Chanel Ltd,&rdquo; Unilever said in a statement while announcing change to its Leadership Executive.
According to the reports, Ms. Nair, in her new position with the French luxury group Chanel, will be based in London.
&ldquo;I would like to thank Leena for her outstanding contribution over the last three decades. Leena has been a pioneer throughout her career at Unilever, but no more so than in her role as CHRO, where she has been a driving force on our equity, diversity and inclusion agenda, on the transformation of our leadership development, and on our preparedness for the future of work,&rdquo; Unilever CEO Alan Jope said.
She has played a critical role in building our purpose-led, future-fit organisation, which is now the employer of choice in over 50 countries globally, he added.
Ms. Nair, an alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, had joined HUL, Unilever&rsquo;s Indian subsidiary in 1992 and worked for 30 years.
Ms. Nair took to twitter to express her gratitude and recall her long association with the company.

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Chanel appoints Unilever executive Leena Nair as CEO 

India has entered discussions to join the International Energy Agency (IEA)&nbsp;as a full member &mdash; a move that would recognize the world&rsquo;s most populous country as a key player in tackling global energy and climate challenges.
If successful, India would become the first country from outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to join the highest ranks of the IEA. Its acceptance would formally recognize India&rsquo;s role as an economic leader with tremendous potential as a buyer and seller of energy, a leading producer of renewable energy, and a model for other countries with emerging economies.
&ldquo;India kind of has an outsized role in the global energy dialogue right now, being an energy demand giant. IEA needs India to be at their table,&rdquo; said Mohua Mukherjee, an independent senior energy expert working at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
For the last half-century, full membership in the IEA &mdash; an intergovernmental organization that promotes energy security and the world&rsquo;s transition to clean energy &mdash; has been limited to the 31 members of the OECD. These are mostly high-income countries situated in the West.
India will first have to be accepted as an accession country &mdash; a designation given to countries on the way to full membership. Currently, Chile, Colombia, Israel, Latvia, and Costa Rica are recognized as accession countries.
But India holds unique power as an emerging energy giant: it is poised to see the largest energy demand growth of any country because of its rapid progress toward industrialisation and urbanisation, combined with sharply rising per capita incomes.
&ldquo;Having India as an advocate for the rights and the needs of energy consuming countries will be a good signal to have such a big player from the Global South as central to the energy conversations,&rdquo; said Kaushik Deb, senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
<h3>India&rsquo;s participation is necessary.</h3>
The IEA was established in 1974 during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/oil-shock-of-1973-74">energy crisis</a>&nbsp;that arose when Arab countries stopped selling oil to the West. Its original purpose was to promote the energy security of OECD countries.
Over time, the IEA mandate expanded to include analyzing global energy trends, advising member governments on transitions to sustainable energy and fostering multinational cooperation. In 2016, the IEA broadened its concept again to add climate change into its vision of energy security.
Over the last decade, the IEA has sought to engage key non-members in its activities &mdash; particularly large economies important to the global energy transition. These countries were given a designation as associate countries and include Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore and Morocco.
Today, the IEA&rsquo;s 31<a href="https://www.iea.org/about/membership">&nbsp;member countries</a>&nbsp;and 13 associate countries represent 75% of global energy demand.
In recent years, IEA has realized that India is an energy giant, Mukherjee said. Without India&rsquo;s participation in efforts to reduce emissions, the pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius would not be possible, she adds.
India &mdash; which now, with 1.4 billion residents, has surpassed China as the world&rsquo;s largest country by population &mdash; is undergoing a period of growing energy demand, urbanization and industrial growth, making it a key player in efforts to hit global climate change targets.

Meeting a growing energy demand can go hand-in-hand with the green transition. This is what India could show the world.

Can India be a global role model for climate-friendly energy growth?

Mumbai: Eighty-five percent of about 12,000 State Bank of India freshers set to join the country's largest lender SBI in FY25 are engineering graduates, its chairman Dinesh Khara has said. The bank is in the process of onboarding up to 12,000 After training the over 3,000 POs and over 8,000 associates with some banking knowledge, they will be freshers in the roles of channelized into various business roles probationary officers and associates in FY25, and there is no bias towards onboarding engineers in the ranks, Khara said, stressing that this is not by design.&nbsp; After training the over 3,000 POs and over 8,000 associates with some banking knowledge, they will be channelised into various business roles.

It can be noted that this comes at a time when the banking sector is increasing its
dependency on technology as it looks for newer ways of enthralling the customer

SBI's 85% hires to be engineering graduates in FY25

Senior citizens seeking work opportunities can now get a job from the SACRED employment exchange portal.&nbsp;
New Delhi: Starting from October 1, senior citizens seeking work opportunities will be able to bag jobs from the Indian government&rsquo;s first-of-its-kind dedicated employment exchange. &nbsp;
The portal known as Senior Able Citizens for Re-Employment in Dignity (SACRED) will help Indians above 60 years of age to find jobs easily, right at the comfort of their homes. The portal is operated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&amp;E&rsquo;s)&nbsp;
In a statement, the ministry said that any job provider - individual, firm, company, partnership, and voluntary organisation - can also register on the portal. &ldquo;The job provider will specify the task involved and the number of senior citizens that are required to complete it," the ministry said.
The ministry will spend Rs 10 crore to fund the platform development while a maintenance grant of Rs 2 crore has been approved as well. Moreover, additional Rs 10 crore will be spent annually for the publicity of the portal so that more people know about the initiative.&nbsp;
For registration purposes, senior citizens will have to share their relevant education, past experience, skills and areas of interest. The ministry pointed out that the individuals on the platform can also add select keywords related to their expected job roles, which will enable job providers to find them automatically.
"Therefore, the Employment Portal will serve not only the senior citizens seeking employment, but also the employers, the Self Help Groups (SHGs), the senior citizens gaining skills, and other agencies or individuals," the ministry said.

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