ED attaches Rs 750cr AJL assets, including Herald House in city
 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth over Rs 750
crore, including Herald House in Delhi, belonging to Associated Journals Ltd
(AJL).
 AJL is the publisher of National Herald and other Congress party mouthpieces.
 The attachment is part of a money laundering case against Sonia Gandhi,
Rahul Gandhi, and Young Indian, which now controls AJL.
 The Congress party criticized the ED's action, labeling it as "shameful
vendetta politics" and a "frivolous case."
 The National Herald case involves the alleged takeover of AJL and its assets,
estimated at Rs 750 crore, by Young Indian for Rs 50 lakh.
 The attached properties are located in prime locations in Delhi, Lucknow, and
Mumbai.
 The Gandhis, accused in the case, have been questioned multiple times, and
Young Indian is registered as a charity majority-owned by them.
 Young Indian's CEO is Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
White House Condemns Musk, but the govt is addicted to him.
 The White House criticized Elon Musk for endorsing what it called an
"abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate."
 Despite the criticism, the US government has become more dependent on
Musk and his companies, particularly SpaceX and Starlink.
 The US government has agreed to as much as $12 billion worth of SpaceX
launches next year for crucial Pentagon assets.
 In September, the Pentagon agreed to pay millions for Starshield, a secure
communications system set up by Musk's company for defense and
intelligence systems.
 Starlink satellites, provided by Musk, are considered critical for deterring
China, as they are more resistant to Chinese efforts to disable them than the
Pentagon's own satellites.
 The federal government acknowledges Musk's controversial views but states
it has no viable alternatives currently.
 Concerns have been raised by some members of Congress about the national
security implications of depending heavily on a single technologist.
 A group of 27 US lawmakers, all Democrats, wrote to Musk expressing
concern that the X platform seemed to be profiting from premium accounts
glorifying violence against Israelis.
New coal-fired power plants may see easier lending norms
 The Indian government considers easing lending norms for new coal-fired
power plants to meet rising electricity demand.
 Discussions in the power ministry suggest removing the requirement for
power purchase agreements (PPAs) to facilitate funding for new coal-based
power stations.
 The move aims to make the market more responsive by delinking funding
from PPAs.
 Power Minister R K Singh emphasizes the need for India to start work on
30,000 MW of new thermal generation capacity to prevent future electricity
shortages.
 The estimated construction cost for new coal-fired power is Rs 8.3 crore per
MW, requiring almost Rs 2.5 lakh crore in investments for 30,000 MW.
 The government aims to expand coal-based generation capacity in response
to a 20% annual growth in power demand from August to October.
 Despite healthy green power production, the rise in demand necessitates more
coal-based power for grid stability as the share of renewable power increases.