For the first time, the Border Security Force is deploying laser-equipped anti-drone technology and anti-drone guns along the Intentional Border (IB) with Pakistan at 30 spots in Punjab.

The new system can shoot down and jam the intruding drones that are being increasingly used to drop weapons and drugs. BSF has identified sensitive areas where such anti-drone measures are being activated.

The Assam Police on Sep 27 launched another operation against the Popular Front of India (PFI) in various districts of the state.

Police has arrested 25 PFI activists in fresh crackdown in Assam. Hiren Nath, ADGP (Special Branch) of Assam Police  said that several people have been detained by police in various districts. Hitesh Ch. Roy, Superintendent of Police of Kamrup district said that the Kamrup District Police  has detained four persons linked with PFI from the Nagarbera area.

Continuing the crackdown on the organisation, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police arrested a man on  Sep 26 in connection with the nationwide crackdown on PFI. The arrested accused has been identified as Mohd Abed Ali.

The UP Police Special Task Form (STF) also arrested one person Sep 26 . The STF arrested a person identified as Abdul Majeed from the Vibhutikhand bus stand from Lucknow under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) when he was trying to leave the city, police said.

Earlier, the Karnataka unit of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a political wing of the Popular Front of India has  condemned the raids conducted by the National Investigation Agency against its members, and asked why the central agency had not yet conducted raids on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliated organizations for "acts of communal hatred".

The NIA had arrested over 106 members of the PFI during its largest-ever raids spread across 15 states on September 22.

The PFI was launched in Kerala in 2006 after merging three Muslim organizations floated after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 - the National Development Front of Kerala, Karnataka Forum for Dignity and Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil Nadu. After the demolition of the Babri mosque, many fringe outfits had surfaced in south India and PFI was formed after merging some of them.

Veteran Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and MLA from Rampur Azam Khan, on sep 26 , returned the ‘Y’ category security provided to him by Yogi Adityanath government. His son Abdullah Azam, an SP MLA from Suar Tanda in Rampur district also surrendered his security.

In the month of July, this year, Azam Khan had urged the state government to provide him ‘Z’ category security in the wake of the looming threat to his life since he was facing a series of cases pending in the court of law.

Azam Khan was released from Sitapur jail in May after 27 months of incarceration. 

President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former US security contractor Edward Snowden.

Snowden is one of 75 foreign nationals listed by the decree as being granted Russian citizenship.

Snowden, a former contractor with the US National Security Agency, has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the US after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programs.

He was granted permanent residency in 2020 and said at the time that he planned to apply for Russian citizenship, without renouncing his US citizenship.

Japan expressed grave concern about Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine as the top government spokesman on  Sep 26 announced an additional ban on exports of chemical weapons-related goods to Russia.

The government has extended the foreign trade policy (FTP) for another six months with effect from October 1, 2022, said additional Commerce secretary Amit Yadav.

The decision was taken following the requests from Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and exporters in view of global uncertainties and currency fluctuations, he said. In April, the Centre had given the extension to the existing policy till September 30. It was slated to announce the new FTP by the end of September. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will issue a notification in this regard soon.

Earlier this month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had met to discuss new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) (2022-27). The Board of Trade in the meeting suggested various measures to the government related to foreign trade policy  so that trade can be given further boost.

S&P Global Ratings on Sep 26 projected India's economic growth at 7.3 per cent in the current fiscal with downside risks and said inflation is likely to remain above RBI's upper tolerance threshold of 6 per cent till the end of 2022.

In its Economic Outlook for Asia Pacific, S&P said India's growth next year will get support from domestic demand recovery after the coronavirus pandemic.

Other agencies have cut India's GDP growth forecast amid higher inflation and rising policy interest rates.

Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings slashed the growth estimate to 7 per cent for the current fiscal from 7.8 per cent pegged earlier.

India Ratings & Research too had reduced its projections to 6.9 per cent from 7 per cent earlier. Asian Development Bank has cut the projection to 7 per cent from 7.5 per cent earlier.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects the Indian economy to grow 7.2 per cent in the current fiscal (April-March). The growth last year (2021-22) was 8.7 per cent.

Virat Kohli on  sep 25 surpassed Rahul Dravid to become the second highest run-scorer for India in international cricket.

The star batter accomplished this feat in the third T20I against Australia in Hyderabad.

Now, Kohli has a total of 24,078 runs in 471 matches across 525 innings at an average of 53.62. His best individual score in cricket is 254*. 71 centuries have come from his bat along with 125 half-centuries.

He has surpassed Indian great Rahul Dravid, who has scored 24,064 international runs for the Indian cricket team. Though Dravid's international cricket run tally stands at 24,208, the rest of his 144 runs have been scored as a part of teams like Asia XI, and ICC World XI.

The leading run scorer for Team India in international cricket is none other than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. In 664 matches across 782 innings, Tendulkar has scored 34,357 runs at an average of 48.52. 100 centuries and 164 half-centuries have come from his bat, with the best score of 248*.

These batters are followed by former skipper Sourav Ganguly (18,433), MS Dhoni (17,092) and Virender Sehwag (16,892).