UK Spy Leak Exposes MI6 Agents, Afghan Allies; £7 Billion Fallout Sparks Political Firestorm
/ Jul 20, 2025, 10:32PM IST
A catastrophic UK security breach has exposed over 100 MI6 agents, special forces operatives, and nearly 19,000 Afghan allies who worked with British troops during the Afghanistan war. The leak occurred in 2022 via a misdirected email but was suppressed by a court gag order. The breach surfaced in 2023, reportedly leaking onto Facebook. The UK government responded with a secret relocation plan now costing up to £7 billion. Watch
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Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
India-UK free trade pact gets cabinet nod, signing set for 24 July in London
New Delhi: The Union cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved the India-UK free trade agreement, paving the way for the much-awaited formal signing of the pact during Modi's visit to London on 24 July, said two government officials, asking not to be identified. Advertisement The agreement, aimed at boosting goods and services trade between the two countries, will be signed by commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart Jonathan Reynolds in the presence of Modi and British prime minister Keir Starmer, as per the first official, who is involved in preparations for the signing ceremony. Modi begins a four-day trip on Wednesday that will take him to the UK and the Maldives, with the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) in London expected to be a key highlight. India and the UK had concluded negotiations for the deal on 6 May after more than two years of talks. Also read | India-UK FTA sets precedent with dedicated anti-corruption, anti-bribery chapter The FTA—formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement—seeks to double bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030 by eliminating or significantly reducing customs duties on a wide range of products. Advertisement India is set to benefit from a zero-duty regime for crucial labour-intensive exports such as textiles, leather goods, and footwear, while the UK will see tariff reductions on luxury items such as Scotch whisky and premium cars. UK Parliament must ratify The pact, which also includes chapters on services, innovation, government procurement, intellectual property rights and anti-corruption, will come into effect after it is ratified by the UK Parliament, which may take another six months. As per practice, the agreement will be signed by the commerce ministers of both countries, but officials said the Prime Minister's presence will add political significance to the event. The pact will mark India's first major bilateral trade agreement with a developed Western economy since the Modi government accelerated its FTA agenda -- part of a wider strategy to diversify export markets and attract investments. Advertisement Also read | India-UK FTA talks likely to resume only next year to resolve pending issues 'This deal has a strategic significance beyond trade, especially at a time when India is recalibrating its global economic partnerships and the talks with US for a bilateral trade agreement is in progress,' said the first officials, who was involved in the talks. Separately, India and the UK have also concluded negotiations on a social security agreement—called the Double Contribution Convention—that will allow Indian professionals working in Britain on short-term assignments to avoid paying into both countries' social security systems. The FTA does not include the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) —the so-called carbon tax—at this stage, but both officials said it will be taken up for discussions later. Advertisement India's merchandise exports to the UK rose 12.6% to $14.5 billion in 2024-25, while imports grew marginally by 2.3% to $8.6 billion. The total bilateral trade stood at $21.34 billion in 2023-24, up from $20.36 billion in the previous year.
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Comrade's glory and folly: VS Achuthanandan's century-long life mapped the state's social revolution
Agencies Representational Veteran communist leader and former Kerala CM V S Achuthanandan died on Monday. He was 101. VS lived 23 years longer than the average life expectancy in Kerala. Which, at 78, is the highest among all states - and nine years longer than in UP. The increase in the average lifespan of a Malayali is but one example of the social transformation the state underwent, driven by people like VS. That a tea seller could rise as a political leader seems remarkable to many. But not in Kerala. Pinarayi Vijayan started life as a weaver. VS started off as a tailor, joined a coir factory, and became a trade union worker at the factory, commencing the political career that took him to the CM's office, and into the hearts of millions of Malayalis. Communists of Kerala came out of Congress Socialist Party. Their leaders were ordinary people who organised mass movements, taking forward the dynamic of emancipatory change that decades of social reform, including socio-religious reform, had set in motion in the princely states of Travancore and Cochin, and, to a lesser extent, in Malabar, directly under British control. Kerala's communists were the most radical of the freedom fighters, in the forefront of championing interests of peasants and workers against landlords and their overlords, the British. They spoke of socialism, Marx and the Soviet Union. But by organising people to break the resistance of entrenched authority, Kerala's communists effectively ushered in democratic modernity. This was in line with the official goals of Congress and other political formations. By going farther than other parties in using organised strength to secure the people's rights, the communists hegemonised the state's other parties as well - so much so that there is little to distinguish the actual political imagination of any party in Kerala from that of the communists, except, of course, in the case of BJP, and some fringe Muslim is true that Congress led the Opposition to the radical land reforms Bill brought by Kerala's first elected government, of communists, and the Congress government at the Centre used Article 356 to dismiss the government. But Congress was part of the coalition government that subsequently implemented provisions of the of Kerala were a force for democracy, abolishing pre-capitalist property relations in the primary form of property of the time: land. They carried forward the tradition of Kerala's social reform movements that had identified education as the key to social empowerment and universalised primary education. Adult literacy movements, a library movement that established at least one library and reading room in every village, and substantial investment in the expansion of healthcare - all these were not all done by communists, true. But the ideas of equality and empowerment of the common man that inspired all such activity were championed most effectively by the communists. They got a disproportionate share of the resulted from the ordinary people's political empowerment. Adult franchise remains a formal ideal in those parts of India where a dalit can still be attacked for riding a horse, or showing other uppity challenges to traditional hierarchy. In Kerala, adult franchise universalised human dignity because all the state's political formations bought into the ideology of progress towards equality through the organised strength of the is not what an enlightened state dishes out to grateful subjects. It's the consequence of popular of Kerala adored the initial generation of communist leaders - who changed them from powerless, assetless, unlettered bits of labour at the disposal of those who owned land or factories, into citizens with entitlements, to political power and what power could do to allocate resources in a pro-people as one of Kerala's foremost communists - who had been jailed and tortured, had to go into hiding when the party was banned, led an austere lifestyle, and was incorruptible - was adored, like A K Gopalan and E M S Namboodiripad. But his active political life extended to the time of 24x7 TV, and later, into that of celebrity, promoted by social his long stints as leader of opposition, and one term as CM, VS dominated the public discourse as other leaders had not. He championed environmental causes and acted against overt misogyny. But he shaped and reflected the limitations of Kerala's communist movement as well. Women hold up half the sky, said Mao. Labour force participation rate for Chinese women is 60%. While Kerala women are as educated as men, their presence in the workforce is low. Patriarchy governs norms of acceptable conduct. Reform of culture and caste ossified in Kerala. Not so much despite, as because of communists. After having laid the ground for rapid capitalist growth - removing pre-capitalist restraints on deployment of labour and creating an educated workforce - opposition to capitalism stunted the economy and aborted social and cultural changes associated with growth. Only of late has pragmatism allowed the communists to promote private was decisive, and could rally public support. But limitation of his party's appreciation of the emancipatory potential of broad-based capitalist growth curtailed his legacy short of prosperity. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Apple has a new Indian-American COO. What it needs might be a new CEO. Central banks' existential crisis — between alchemy and algorithm What if Tata Motors buys Iveco's truck unit? Will it propel or drag like JLR? Paid less than plumbers? The real story of freshers' salaries at Infy, TCS. Stock Radar: HDFC AMC gives a breakout from Cup & Handle pattern to hit fresh highs – time to buy or book profits? These large-caps have 'strong buy' & 'buy' recos and an upside potential of more than 20% Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus Stock picks of the week: 4 stocks with consistent score improvement and return potential of more than 19% in 1 year
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Cabinet clears UK FTA ahead of PM's London visit; deal text expected this week
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK this week, where he is expected to formally sign the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with his counterpart Keir Starmer, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved the deal. While the deal was announced on May 6, the text of the agreement was due to be released as legal scrubbing was ongoing. The formal signing is expected on June 24 in the UK, where PM Modi will be accompanied by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. The Cabinet decision, PTI reported, comes ahead of Modi's four-day visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives from Wednesday. However, the agreement will come into effect only after it is also passed by the British Parliament. The signing of the deal comes after a period of significant political turmoil in the UK over the past three years, during which London saw three different Prime Ministers. The deal was finally announced after the Starmer-led Labour Party secured a landslide election victory. For India, the UK deal is the first major trade agreement with a Western country since New Delhi decided to quit negotiations to enter the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019. While the agreement is expected to open the UK market for Indian textile and leather products, the deal text will reveal how India addressed the looming concern over the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is expected to significantly impact India's metal exports to the UK. The UK deal assumes significance as it marks the beginning of integration between the advanced services sector in the UK and that of India. India has also opened its doors to high-end British cars and whisky, albeit in a phased manner. The India–UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) ensures comprehensive market access for goods across all sectors, covering all of India's export interests. India will gain from tariff elimination on approximately 99 per cent of tariff lines, covering nearly 100 per cent of trade value — offering opportunities to boost bilateral trade between India and the UK, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said. The pact includes chapters on goods, services, innovation, government procurement, and intellectual property rights. The two countries have also concluded negotiations on the Double Contribution Convention Agreement, or social security pact. It would help avoid double contributions to social security funds by Indian professionals working for a limited period in Britain. However, talks on the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) are still ongoing. Government officials have pointed out that the India-UK trade deal is also significant as it is one of the most comprehensive free trade agreements that India has entered into so far and could serve as a template for future engagements, including the multiple trade deals currently under negotiation — such as the complex agreement with the European Union. The Ministry had said that the UK FTA will ease mobility for professionals, including contractual service suppliers; business visitors; investors; intra-corporate transferees; partners and dependent children of intra-corporate transferees with the right to work; and independent professionals such as yoga instructors, musicians and chefs. India's exports to the UK rose by 12.6 per cent to $14.5 billion, while imports grew by 2.3 per cent to $8.6 billion in 2024–25. Bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to $21.34 billion in 2023–24 from $20.36 billion in 2022–23. Ravi Dutta Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, covering policy issues related to trade, commerce, and banking. He has over five years of experience and has previously worked with Mint, CNBC-TV18, and other news outlets. ... Read More
