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By D Raja The Twenty-Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of India will convene in Chandigarh from September 21, 2025, at Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy Nagar (Kisan Bhawan). We gather at a moment of extraordinary circumstances. Punjab is reeling under devastating floods. Fields are submerged, homes are damaged, and livelihoods are disrupted. Yet, our comrades in […]

The article Why The 25th Congress Of CPI On September 21-25 In Chandigarh Is Significant In Indian Politics? appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack.

Boston Consulting Group’s latest analysis shows that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are at the heart of civil space investment across MEA. The UAE led with roughly $443 million committed for civil space in 2024, capturing nearly half of governmental spending in the region. Saudi Arabia and Qatar followed with approximately $220 million each.

The report highlights downstream services—satellite communications, earth observation—as the fastest-growing segments. UAE is projected to grab over 50 per cent of that downstream services market, while Saudi Arabia is set to hold over 20 per cent, and Qatar remains just under 5 per cent.

In the upstream sphere, where spacecraft design, launch facilities, and ground operations are concentrated, the Gulf countries are boosting capacity. Saudi Arabia has stepped up partnerships with foreign agencies such as NASA and commercial firms like Axiom, and domestic players including Neo Space Group are increasingly involved. Qatar’s Es’hailSat is cited as a key actor in satellite communications. The UAE’s Hope Mars Probe is named as an example of both international cooperation and technical achievement.

Growth rates projected through to 2033 are in line with, or exceed, the expected global compound annual growth rate for the space economy, which BCG estimates at about 5 per cent. Analysts point to policy support, institutional frameworks, public-private partnerships, and investment in human capital as enablers.

Opportunities in downstream services are being amplified by trends in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. These are reshaping data collection, processing and applications for earth sensing, environmental monitoring, agritech, and disaster response. The Gulf states are working to consolidate their roles not only as financiers but as centres of innovation and regional service provision.

The report also situates the MEA region’s space efforts within broader economic diversification agendas, particularly in the Gulf. For the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, space is not merely symbolic ambition but a sector being leveraged to build scientific ecosystems, boost high-tech employment and attract international collaboration.

Emaar Properties has confirmed that it will not sell a stake in its Indian subsidiary, instead shifting its strategy to explore joint ventures with major real estate players, including the Adani Group. The clarification was issued through a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where Emaar is listed.

Earlier this year, Emaar acknowledged talks with Indian groups such as Adani over a possible stake sale of Emaar India. Those negotiations had garnered attention amid reports that Adani Realty was close to acquiring a majority share for around $1.4 billion.

Emaar’s latest statement emphasised that no sale is under consideration. Instead, the company is evaluating joint venture opportunities with several large real estate firms in India. Adani Group is named among those potential partners.

The real estate firm’s move comes after the earlier sale discussions faltered due to disagreements over valuation. Adani Realty and Emaar were unable to reach a consensus, leading to a stall in the effort to finalise transaction terms.

Financially, Emaar India posted net losses after tax for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2024, amounting to about ₹1,340.8 million. That compares with total revenues of approximately ₹29,137 million for the same year; in the previous year revenues had stood at roughly ₹18,319 million.

Meanwhile, Emaar Properties globally has reported strong operational performance. For 2024, it achieved property sales of nearly Dh70 billion, a rise of some 72 per cent over 2023. Revenue backlogs—sales booked but not yet recognised as revenue—exceeded Dh110 billion, providing a cushion for future earnings. Net profit before tax grew by about 25 per cent to Dh18.9 billion.

The new connectivity will enable AD Ports to introduce advanced tools such as real-time vessel tracking, predictive maintenance, dynamic route optimisation and automated cargo tracking. At sea, such applications are expected to aid smarter voyage planning, improved fuel efficiency and heightened safety monitoring—capabilities previously constrained by intermittent connections or high latency.

On land, the LEO backbone will support terminal operations by ensuring resilient communication even in remote or critical locations. It is set to enhance cargo monitoring, streamline emergency response coordination and boost business continuity during high-demand operations or network disruptions. Integration with existing Internet of Things sensors, smart port platforms and artificial intelligence analytics will underpin these improvements.

Mohamed Jamal-Eddine, Chief Information Officer at AD Ports Group, stated that this step lays the foundation for “a smart, resilient infrastructure” capable of supporting continuous operations even under challenging conditions. He emphasised that connectivity is not solely about speed but about enabling constant visibility and control across the supply chain.

Importantly, the rollout aims to deliver operational savings. With enhanced connectivity, the company expects reductions in fuel consumption via optimised routing, lower maintenance costs due to predictive modelling, and fewer delays linked to communication failures. These gains form part of a broader agenda of digital transformation already underway at AD Ports, which includes smart port platforms and integrated supply chain systems.

While the service providers involved remain unnamed, the agreements point to AD Ports Group’s strategy to secure multiple vendor relationships to ensure redundancy and avoid single points of failure. The phased model also allows for company-led pilots on select vessels before full fleet implementation.

Analysts observing maritime and logistics industries interpret this move as part of a larger trend: ports and shipping companies are increasingly adopting LEO and other satellite-based technologies to overcome gaps in connectivity, particularly in less accessible sea routes and remote terminal locations. Such capabilities are seen as essential for the adoption of automation, green technologies, and stringent environmental regulations requiring greater transparency in operations.

Gulf Cooperation Council central banks have lowered key interest rates across the region after the United States Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark rate by 25 basis points. The move marks the Fed’s first rate cut this year, and Gulf economies have quickly aligned their monetary policy to maintain currency pegs, apart from Kuwait, which pegs its dinar to a basket of currencies rather than solely to the dollar.

Saudi Arabia cut its repo rate to 4.75% and its reverse repo rate to 4.25%. The UAE lowered its overnight deposit facility rate to 4.15%. Qatar reduced its deposit, lending, and repo rates each by 25 basis points. Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait also followed suit with 25 basis point cuts to their key rates.

The rationale driving these moves lies in the Gulf states’ monetary frameworks. Most GCC currencies are pegged to the US dollar, meaning their central banks generally mirror US monetary policy to preserve exchange rate stability. Kuwait stands out as it links its currency to a basket of currencies, weakening the direct link to Fed actions.

Economic analysts note that easing borrowing costs could help stimulate sectors beyond oil, such as real estate, tourism and manufacturing—areas that have strong roles in GCC diversification plans. The UAE expects its non-oil economy to grow by 5.1% this year, while inflation remains modest, easing pressure on rate cuts.

In the United States, the Fed’s decision also signalled expectations of further cuts before the end of the year, setting a stage for global monetary easing. Chair Jerome Powell emphasised that although inflation remains above target, the labour market has weakened enough to justify the cut, but that future reductions will be measured.

/India Press Agency/

By Nitya Chakraborty Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stepped into his 75th year on Wednesday, September 17.His birthday is being celebrated by the BJP nationally. The significance is much more as PM’s 75th birthday celebrations have coincided with the centenary programmes on the founding of the RSS in 1925.On October 2 this year, Vijaya Dasami […]

The article Decoding Prime Minister Narendra Modi As A Political Leader On His 75th Birthday appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack.

Government officials in New Delhi have unveiled a secure integrated circuit solution, fully developed within India, designed to underpin future digital identity systems including e-passports. All intellectual property is said to reside domestically, marking a significant milestone in the nation’s tech self-sufficiency drive.

The secure IC is embedded with a “smart OS”, enabling secure authentication, encryption, and identity verification. It is intended for deployment in identity credentials issued by federal authorities. Verification features include tamper resistance, cryptographic protection of stored data, and interoperability with global identity verification standards. The OS is modular, allowing updates and extension of features such as biometric modules, NFC, and remote authentication.

The development is part of the broader India Semiconductor Mission and Semicon India Programme, with an investment outlay of ₹76,000 crore supporting chip fabrication, assembly, display fabs, and design projects. The pilot line for this secure chip is being hosted in Gujarat at an OSAT facility.

Sources indicate that ten semiconductor manufacturing projects have been approved across six states—Gujarat, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh—with total investment commitments exceeding ₹1.60 lakh crore. These projects include multiple fabs, ATMP/OSAT facilities, and chip design initiatives.

Among recent achievements is the development of Vikram-3201, a 32-bit space-grade processor by the ISRO Semiconductor Laboratory, presented to the Prime Minister at Semicon India 2025. It has been validated in the PSLV-C60 mission and is said to be robust under extreme launch-vehicle conditions. It was fabricated using a 180 nm CMOS process.

The secure IC is expected to be somewhat different in specifications from Vikram-3201: targeted more towards identity and citizen services rather than space applications. Performance metrics are likely less extreme, but security requirements—such as resistance to physical tampering, side-channel attack mitigation, secure boot, and cryptographic module certification—are being prioritised. Implementation of secure OS standards is underway.

In tandem with hardware development, the government has accelerated IP and design ecosystem support. Under the Design Linked Incentive scheme, 23 design projects have been approved to foster startups, MSMEs, and academic participation. Skill development in VLSI design, packaging, EDA tools, and fab-operations is being emphasised.

Policy observers note that global supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical shifts have provided a backdrop that intensifies India’s push for technological sovereignty. External partnerships—for example in materials, equipment, packaging technologies—are being pursued to fill gaps in the domestic ecosystem.

Challenges remain. Process node maturity is one area—while the 180 nm node is proven and reliable for many applications including space, more advanced nodes dominate consumer electronics and high-performance identity solutions globally. Also, certifications for security standards, supply of trusted materials, secure hardware lifecycle management, and scaling production to volumes needed for national identity issuance will test capacity. Ensuring interoperability with international identity verification frameworks will also be essential.