Morning Brief: D-Street Indices Plunge To Five-Month Low; Trump Taps Tulsi Gabbard As Director Of National Intelligence; Sri Lanka Votes In Snap Election Today

Dear reader, make sense of the day’s news with Swarajya's roundup of what’s making headlines this morning. 

D-Street Indices Plunge to 5-Month Low 

India's key stock indices tumbled about 1.3 per cent each on Wednesday, hitting their lowest point in nearly five months, with the Sensex falling by 984 points to 77,690 and the Nifty dropping 324 points to 23,559. Both indices have fallen 10 per cent from their September peaks. Nifty is now at risk of dropping below 23,500, with analysts warning of a potential fall past 23,000 if the trend continues.

Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 2,502 crore on Wednesday, contributing to a net outflow of Rs 23,570 crore in November, following a record offloading of Rs 1 lakh crore in October. In contrast, domestic investors bought shares worth Rs 6,145 crore. A rise in consumer inflation to 6.2 per cent in October, the highest in 14 months, has further dampened investor sentiment.

Trump Taps Tulsi Gabbard As Director Of National Intelligence

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday his selection of Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic representative and vocal critic of the Biden administration, as his choice for Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent and was previously considered a possible vice-presidential pick for Trump, is set to replace Avril Haines as head of the US intelligence community when Trump begins his second term in January.

As Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard would oversee the US intel community and direct the implementation of the National Intelligence Program. The DNI also serves as the principal intelligence advisor to the president, as well as to the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council, on matters affecting national security.

Sri Lanka Votes In Snap Election Today

Sri Lanka is set to hold a snap parliamentary election Thursday, marking the second national vote in as many months, following the defeat of the opposition in the presidential polls. The election was called by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the country's leftist leader, who won the presidency on a promise to tackle corruption and recover stolen assets. Dissanayake’s party, the JVP, is widely expected to dominate the parliamentary vote, with analysts noting the opposition's disarray.

The 55-year-old leader is aiming for a two-thirds majority in the 225-member legislature to push forward with reforms after the country’s economic crisis in 2022. Dissanayake’s National People's Power coalition, which includes the JVP, held just three seats in the outgoing assembly. Despite his party's violent past, Dissanayake, who has served as an MP for 25 years, assumed power peacefully after winning the September 21 election.

Other Developments

Italian Torpedo Back In The Running For Indian Navy Contract

The Italian-made 'Black Shark' torpedo, manufactured by Leonardo, which faced allegations of corruption over a decade ago, is back in the running for a heavy-weight torpedo requirement for the Navy's Kalvari-class submarines. The torpedo is being considered for a requirement of 48 units, following the removal of the Italian company from India's blacklist. Other contenders for the Rs 3,000 crore contract include German and French options, which were tested in a competition two years ago.

The Black Shark was previously the frontrunner in 2008-09 but was dropped in 2013 after allegations of corruption. The Navy has been seeking new heavy-weight torpedoes for over a decade. The defence ministry has now approved a two-pronged approach, involving the acquisition of 48 torpedoes from foreign vendors and an indigenous 'Make in India' initiative, likely involving the private sector.

The escalating violence in Manipur has led the Home Ministry to deploy an additional 2,500 paramilitary personnel, mostly in Jiribam, a new flashpoint in the ongoing ethnic conflict that has claimed 13 lives since November 7.

This brings the total number of central armed police forces (CAPF) personnel in the state to over 29,000, with 218 CAPF companies now stationed across Manipur, apart from the support from the Indian Army and Assam Rifles.

Jiribam has been in turmoil since June, with the situation escalating to a horrific incident on November 7, where a mother of three was allegedly raped and burned to death. The violence further intensified last Monday when 10 militants were killed in a reported CRPF-police counteroffensive after attacking two security posts.

From The States

Andhra Govt Launches Mega Crackdown On Opposition

The Andhra government, led by the Telugu Desam Party, has launched a crackdown on social media activists and supporters of the opposition YSR Congress Party, accusing them of crossing boundaries with derogatory posts targeting TDP leaders’ wives and daughters. Between November 6 and 12, the state police issued 680 notices, registered 147 cases, and arrested 49 individuals, as reported by The Indian Express.

Many activists face charges under sections related to promoting enmity, defamation, public mischief, criminal conspiracy, and IT Act provisions covering image morphing and derogatory content. Police across various districts scrutinised social media posts allegedly aimed at prominent women, including Home Minister V Anitha, TDP MLA and actor N Balakrishna's wife Vasundhara, CM Chandrababu Naidu's wife, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan’s daughters, Andhra Congress chief Y S Sharmila, and her mother.

Yogi’s Remark On Razakars Leaves Priyank Kharge Seething

During a rally in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath referenced a traumatic incident from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s childhood, claiming that the Hyderabad Nizam’s Razakars burned down Kharge’s village and brutalized his family. This left Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge seething, prompting him to launch into a tirade about how every community has bad elements.

At the time of Independence, Hyderabad, under Nizam rule, was one of over 500 princely states in India. While the state’s Hindu-majority population favored integration with India, the Nizam resisted. His militia, the Razakars, an armed wing of the Majlis-e-Itthadul Muslimeen, was tasked with crushing pro-India dissent and often used violent tactics to enforce the Nizam’s stance.

Delhi Chokes On Toxic Smog For Second Consecutive Day, AQI Hits 432

Delhi woke up to another smoggy morning as a thick layer of white blanket engulfed the city, with the air quality index (AQI) reaching 432 at 6 am, falling into the "severe" category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This dense smog is causing low visibility, which could disrupt flights to and from Delhi, with airports in Amritsar and Pathankot in Punjab reporting zero visibility by 5:30 am. By 7 am, visibility at Gorakhpur airport in Uttar Pradesh also dropped to zero.

In the past 24 hours, air pollution in Delhi spiked sharply, with 30 out of 36 monitoring stations recording severe AQI levels. The nearby cities of Ghaziabad (AQI of 378), Noida (372), and Gurugram (323) also saw air quality fall into the "very poor" category, while Chandigarh, 250 km away, reported a severe AQI of 415.

Stay tuned for more insights throughout the day.