A team of "selectors" from Israel visited India last week and another senior delegation will leave for India next week to start the process of recruiting thousands of workers to be brought to the country to fill in the acute shortage faced by its construction industry

Israel urgently needs workers to continue with construction projects and the contractors have made a strong plea with the government to bring in hundreds of thousands of people from abroad to meet the needs.

The largest group of about 80,000 workers in the construction industry come from the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank and another 17,000 from the Gaza Strip, a huge majority of whom had their work permits revoked following the Hamas attack on Israel in October.

Another group of about 7,000 have come from China and some 6,000 from Eastern Europe. The ongoing war has created a shortage of workers.

About 18,000 Indians are working in Israel, mostly as caregivers.

Israel and India also inked an agreement in May during Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's visit to New Delhi that will allow 42,000 Indian workers to work in the Jewish state in the fields of construction and nursing, a move that was then seen to help deal with the rising cost of living and assist thousands of families waiting for nursing care.

A statement released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry then said that 34,000 workers would be engaged in the construction field and another 8,000 for nursing needs.

Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo on  Dec 20  for talks on the war in Gaza, part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at securing another cease-fire and swap of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at a moment when Israel's offensive shows no signs of slowing.

Hamas militants have been putting up stiff resistance, even as the Israeli army claims to be making great progress in eradicating them.

Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization, saying it must be removed from power in Gaza in the wake of its Oct. 7 rampage across southern Israel that triggered the war.

Ziad Nakhaleh, the leader of the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which took part in the Oct. 7 attack and is also holding hostages, said he would also be going to Egypt in the coming days to participate in the talks.

The European Union on  Dec 20  agreed to an overhaul of its asylum system that includes more border detention centres and speedier deportations, prompting migrant charities to slam the changes as "dangerous".

But EU governments, officials and MEPs hailed the preliminary accord on the bloc's new pact on asylum and migration as "historic", saying it updated procedures to handle growing irregular arrivals while maintaining respect for human rights.

The legislative reform reached after lengthy negotiations between EU member countries and bloc lawmakers, has yet to be formally adopted by the European Council and European Parliament.

That is expected to be done before June 2024, when EU elections will decide the next parliament.

Nationalist, anti-immigrant parties are forecast to win more seats in the parliament, reflecting a harder stance among EU voters struggling with a high cost of living.

Many EU countries, including France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands also hailed the accord.

France's health minister Aurelien Rousseau  resigned as the government of President Emmanuel Macron on Dec 20  sought to quell a party revolt over the passing of tough new immigration legislation backed by the far-right.

Following 18 months of wrangling over one of the flagship reforms of Macron's second term, both chambers of parliament backed the controversial legislation on Dec 19  with Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) endorsing the bill in a move some media dubbed a "kiss of death".

Around a quarter of the 251 lawmakers in Macron's camp voted against the bill or abstained and several left-wing ministers have registered their opposition to the bill.

Republican lawmakers Pete Sessions and Elise Stefanik on Dec 19  announced the inauguration of a Congressional Hindu Caucus to protect the interests of this religious minority and raise their issues in the US Congress.

Originally established during the 115th Congress, the caucus continues its pivotal role in forging a vital connection between the Hindu-American community and policymakers.

    Chennai-based commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland has received an order for 552 low-floor buses from Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) for Rs 500.97 crores.

Ashok Leyland will deliver BS VI diesel fuel type rear engine fully built buses for city operations.  It will be ultra-low entry 12-meter buses. This project is funded by the German Development Bank (KfW).

Ashok Leyland will commence the delivery of these buses in April 2024 and expect to complete by July 2024.

Mumbai-based business couple Harihara Mahapatra and Preeti Mahapatra will together acquire a 19% stake in SpiceJet for Rs 1,100 crore in the cash-starved airline. The funding by the Mahapatras comes soon after SpiceJet reached out to its shareholders to vote on a proposal to raise Rs 2,254 crore through the issue of up to 130 million convertible warrants and 320.8 million fresh equity shares at an issue price of Rs 50 each to more than 60 investors. 

The funding will mainly be used to meet various debt obligations, increase its operational fleet size, clearing jet fuel payments, among other things. The funding comes at a time when SpiceJet has shown interest in acquiring the grounded and bankrupt Go First airline.

Lok Sabha on  Dec 20 passed the Telecommunications Bill, 2023, which replaces the three existing legislations. The bill was introduced in the lower house on 18 December 2023 as a Money Bill by telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The Bill that will replace three existing legislations including the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 and the Telegraph Wires Act, 1950 proposes many changes in the sector. It includes provisions like the direct allocation of satellite spectrum, the prohibition of companies from using devices that are not from trusted sources, mandating biometric identification by telecom companies (telcos) before issuing SIM cards to consumers.

The government also moved away from the licensing regime, now as per the bill, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) only need authorisation for telecom service, telecom network and radio equipment in the country. It also prescribes punitive consequences for damaging the telecom infrastructure. Its provision of allocating satellite spectrum directly to the companies will benefit satellite communication players such as Sunil Mittal-led OneWeb,  Jio Satellite and Elon Musk-led-Starlink.

The bill was hailed by the industry players and policy experts. Vodafone Idea, India’s third largest telecom operator, applauded the clause which prescribes punitive consequences for damaging the telecom infrastructure while Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI), in its statement liked the provisions that the Bill prevents coercive actions like sealing/shutdowns without due permission from the Central Government. However, it received flak from civil rights organizations as it called it the bill may allow mass surveillance.