NewsBytes

Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Thursday stressed on capacity building programmes to enhance the cyber resilience and incident response capabilities of professionals in the securities market. Speaking at a Cybersecurity Training Programme for Sebi-regulated entities at the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), he said capacity building is not a one-off event or a box to be ticked, but a continuous process of learning, upgrading, and adapting, as the threat landscape never stands still. Highlighting that small glitches can have big consequences, Pandey noted that a minor fault in a trading algorithm can trigger market disruptions in milliseconds, while a misconfigured server or compromised account can lead to severe reputational and financial damage. He referred to the 2012 Knight Capital incident in the US, where obsolete code in a new software rollout caused faulty trades worth billions within 45 minutes, leading to losses of $440 million and the company's collapse. Cyberattacks, he said, are no longer isolated incidents and rank among the top-five global risks by likelihood over the next decade. Given the high-value transactions and interconnected systems of financial markets, greater vigilance and preparedness are essential.

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, a move his office said would "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian government, allies and campaign groups condemned the scheme, calling it illegal and saying the fragmentation of territory would rip up any internationally backed peace plans for the region. Standing at the site of the planned settlement in Maale Adumim on Thursday, Smotrich said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 development, though there was no immediate confirmation from either. “Whoever in the world is trying to recognise a Palestinian state today will receive our answer on the ground. Not with documents nor with decisions or statements, but with facts. Facts of houses, facts of neighbourhoods," Smotrich said. Israel froze construction plans at Maale Adumim in 2012, and again after a revival in 2020, because of objections from the U.S., European allies and other powers who considered the project a threat to any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish details of 65 lakh deleted names from the voters list with reasons of non-inclusion to enhance transparency in Bihar's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral roll. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order while hearing pleas challenging the June 24 ECI decision to conduct the SIR of electoral roll in Bihar. The list comprising names of those who have died, migrated or moved to other constituencies was directed to be displayed along with reasons at the panchayat level office and the office of district level returning officers. The bench further stressed on giving wide publicity via newspapers including vernacular and English dailies aside from television news channels and radio to the public informing the people about the places where the list would be available. The top court further allowed people aggrieved by the deletion of their names to approach the poll officials along with their Aadhaar card. The bench while posting the matter for August 22, asked the poll panel to file a compliance report of its direction.

India is engaging with Chinese authorities on the issue of restrictions on rare earth magnet exports, and domestic firms have received visas to visit China as part of efforts to ensure the supply chain remains unaffected, a senior official said on Thursday. The Chinese government in April imposed restrictions, mandating special export licences for seven rare earth elements and related magnets. "Efforts are on. In fact, when we last approached the Embassy of China , they had also issued visas to our companies, and they are in touch with Chinese authorities, and they are also finding means and ways by which the supply chain does not get impacted. So efforts are on in that direction," the official said. The automobile industry has sought government support in expediting approvals from the Chinese government for importing rare earth magnets used in various applications, including passenger cars. Critical materials include samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, and lutetium, which are essential in electric motors, braking systems, smartphones and missile technology.