PM inaugurates RBI data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar

On 25 October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India's ₹169-crore data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He said wars are no longer fought only with weapons and that a country can be weakened by attacks on its economy. Protecting the banking system from cybercriminals and cyberterrorists is therefore a national priority.

Defence Acquisition Council clears proposals worth ₹2.12 lakh crore

On 26 October, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to capital acquisition proposals worth about ₹2.12 lakh crore for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Around 82% of the value is to be sourced from Indian industry.

India slams Pakistan at the UN, calls the military its “real ruler”

On 24 October, India hit back at Pakistan in the UN General Assembly's Third Committee during a dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues. Raghoo Puri, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to the UN, accused Islamabad of painting a "propagandist" picture of India. He said Pakistan's "Form 47 government" dare not override instructions from the military, which he called the country's real rulers.

Karnataka SIR: poll officials filed 61,000 Form 7 applications, none citing a reason

The Hindu reported on 26 October that about 61,000 Form 7 applications in Karnataka, roughly one-third of all such forms in the State, were filed by poll officials themselves. None of them records a reason for deletion. The finding comes amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and an ongoing row over bulk Form 7 filings.

RAF rushed to Arunachal Pradesh amid protests against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project

The Ministry of Home Affairs said on 24 October that two Rapid Action Force (RAF) companies of the CRPF, about 250 personnel, would be airlifted from Navi Mumbai to Pasighat on an IAF aircraft. Violence broke out in Pasighat after a 12-hour bandh in Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts against the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). The bandh itself had been peaceful.

Operation Trident: 18 held, ₹100 crore hawala traced in Northeast drug raids

The Union Home Ministry said on 25 October that "Operation Trident" busted a narco-hawala network running drugs from Myanmar into the Northeast. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) led raids at 38 locations in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur with State police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Eighteen people were arrested and about ₹100 crore of hawala transactions were detected.

Protests in Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision and the CEC

On 23 October, civil society groups, students and farmers' organisations marched towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters in New Delhi. They protested against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Police detained more than 100 protesters.

Full text of Pakistan–Saudi–Turkey ‘Mecca’ defence pact released

The full text of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey is out. It became public after Turkey submitted the agreement to its Parliament for ratification on 20 October. The 16-article pact focuses more on military capacity-building than on NATO-style mutual defence.