New Delhi, Jan 09: Silver rebounded by Rs 6,500 to Rs 2,50,000 per kg in the national capital on Friday, while gold advanced to Rs 1,41,700 per 10 grams on renewed demand for the safe-haven asset amid global uncertainty, according to the All India Sarafa Association.

In the previous session, the white metal had tanked by Rs 12,500, or nearly 5 per cent, to Rs 2,43,500 per kilogram, due to profit booking by the traders. It had touched a record Rs 2,56,000 per kg on Wednesday.

Gold of 99.9 per cent purity jumped by Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,41,700 per 10 grams (inclusive of all taxes) compared to the previous close of Rs 1,40,500 per 10 grams.

“Gold advanced on Friday, buoyed by renewed haven demand and positive inflow from exchange-traded funds,” Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst – Commodities at HDFC Securities, said.

He noted that markets were weighing threats from US President Donald Trump against Iran, while traders also positioned themselves to hedge against key event risks and anticipated volatility ahead of US Supreme Court rulings on tariff decisions.

“These factors combined to strengthen hedging demand for gold, reinforcing its role as a preferred haven amid rising uncertainty,” Gandhi added.

However, an expert said that “if the court rules against the tariffs, concerns over an intensifying global trade war could ease, potentially limiting further upside in gold and silver prices in the near term.”

On the global front, spot gold was marginally trading higher at USD 4,479.38 per ounce while silver went up by USD 1.37, or 1.79 per cent, to USD 78.38 per ounce.

The white metal had plunged by USD 4.32, or 5.53 per cent, to hit an intraday low of USD 73.83 per ounce before settling at USD 76.92 per ounce in the international trade.

Kaynat Chainwala, AVP Commodity Research, Kotak Securities, said the safe-haven demand for gold and silver was supported by reports that US President Trump is considering imposing steep tariffs, potentially as high as 500 per cent, on countries that continue to buy Russian oil.

Meanwhile, US Senator Lindsey Graham said such sanctions would give Trump leverage over major buyers such as China, India, and Brazil, pressuring them to halt purchases of discounted Russian crude that helps finance the war in Ukraine.

Given the potential impact on key Russian energy customers, the move could escalate US-China trade tensions, thereby supporting the safe-haven appeal for bullion prices, Chainwala said.

Praveen Singh, Head of Commodities, Mirae Asset ShareKhan, said gold prices have held firm so far despite index rebalancing-led selling and encouraging US ISM services data.

New Delhi, Jan 09: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah today inaugurated the National IED Data Management System (NIDMS) of the National Security Guard (NSG) in New Delhi through video conferencing. The event was attended by the Union Home Secretary, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Director General of NSG, the Director Generals of Central Armed Police Forces, and the Director Generals of Police of various states.

Addressing the program, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in the last six years, significant work has been done to generate various types of data and collect it in a systematic manner. He said that NIDMS will prove to be extremely important in the coming days for the investigation of all types of terrorist incidents occurring in the country and for the analysis of their various aspects. Further, NIDMS will become the next-generation security shield against terrorism. Shah said that the Ministry of Home Affairs has generated various types of data in the past years, but until now they were in silos, i.e., separate from each other. Now, we are making efforts to connect all these data sources with one another and to develop an advanced Artificial Intelligence-based software for their analysis. He said that today’s launch of NIDMS will accelerate this process and prove to be an important milestone in the direction of making the country safe from terrorism.

Amit Shah said that with the NIDMS being launched today, a two-way comprehensive, integrated and online data platform will become available to NIA, Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) across the country, state police forces and all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). He said that data related to any explosion or IED incident occurring at any location can be included in this system. By utilising this data, necessary guidance can be obtained during investigations in every state. He said that NIDMS will prove extremely important in investigating terrorist activities, understanding trends in explosions, and formulating effective strategies against them.

Union Home Minister said that the database available with NSG contains data related to all bomb explosions from 1999 till now. He said that through NIDMS, this data will now be made available to police forces across the country and relevant agencies. NIDMS will become a robust platform for accurately analysing the patterns of bomb explosions that have occurred in the country so far, the modus operandi (MO), and the explosives used. Shah said that it will provide significant help in establishing inter-linkages between incidents—based on MO and circuit methods—as well as in understanding overall trends and insights.

Amit Shah said that NIDMS is a secure national digital platform through which accurate and organized analysis of bomb explosion-related incidents across the country can be conducted. This platform will strengthen the process of collecting, standardizing, integrating, and securely sharing IED-related data. He said that NIDMS will serve as a single-click access window for data scattered across different case files for investigation agencies and anti-terror organizations. This will enable immediate access to the data for central and state investigation agencies, anti-terrorism organizations, and all CAPFs. Shri Shah said that this platform will benefit the country’s internal security system in three major ways.

The Home Minister said that through ‘One Nation, One Data Repository’, the data scattered across different departments will now become available to every police unit as a national asset. This will bring about a very positive change in both the speed and quality of prosecution, and we will also be able to easily identify patterns. He said that understanding patterns will enable scientific evidence-based prosecution. Moreover, coordination between agencies will be established in a much better way. Shri Shah said that this will be an extremely important effort to deliver the right information to the right place at the right time.

Amit Shah said that NSG is a strong pillar of our country’s internal security. Due to the valour, unique skills and unwavering dedication of NSG personnel, our citizens are able to sleep peacefully. He said that whether it is responding accurately and swiftly to an attack anywhere, maintaining constant preparedness for anti-hijack operations, conducting bomb disposal operations, or facing any other challenge—in every field, NSG has not only delivered outstanding performance but has also achieved successful results every time.

Union Home Minister said that the NSG is a world-class and zero-error force of India. The NSG was established in 1984, and since then, irrespective of the nature of any incident, it has continuously analyzed terrorist incidents across the world and has kept itself fully prepared to deal with every type of situation. He said that counter-terrorism operations, anti-aircraft hijacking missions, advanced systems for bomb disposal, and now the creation of a platform to share its data with all agencies are all important responsibilities being carried out by the NSG. The Home Minister said that for their valour, NSG officers and commandos have been honoured many times at various levels. These include three Ashok Chakras, two Kirti Chakras, three Shaurya Chakras, 10 Police Medals, and 44 Sena Medals.

Amit Shah said that over these four decades, the NSG has continued the process of transforming itself in line with the constantly changing security landscape. NSG’s regional hubs operate from different parts of the country—Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. In addition, a new hub is also being set up in Ayodhya. This will significantly reduce the time taken by the NSG to reach any location. He said that after the Ayodhya hub becomes active—the NSG will be able to reach any corner of the country within one to one-and-a-half hours in an emergency. The Home Minister said that there are Special Action Groups in Delhi, which have been established as counter-terrorism and anti-hijacking groups. In a way, the NSG remains on its toes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the country has certainly benefited from this.

Union Home Minister said that nearly 100 per cent of the country’s police stations—around 17,741—are connected to CCTNS, making their online data available. ICJS-2 is emerging as a next-generation data-sharing system based on the concept of ‘One Data–One Entry’. He said that, in addition to data from about 22,000 courts, records of approximately 2 crore 20 lakh prisoners through e-Prisons, data of 2 crore prosecutions through e-Prosecution, results of 31 lakh  samples through e-Forensics, and records of 1 crore 21 lakh  fingerprints through NAFIS are now available at the click of a button. NIDMS will also be added to this system. The Home Minister said that with the help of AI, NIDMS will connect with other data sources to create a strong security grid in the country.

New Delhi, Jan 09: Maternal use of antibiotics during pregnancy may raise the risk of babies developing Group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease — a common bacterial disease, according to a study.

While the bacteria usually live harmlessly in the gut or genital tract, they can cause serious infections, especially in newborns, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals, leading to sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia.

The study led by an international team from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, University of Antwerp in Belgium, showed that prenatal antibiotic exposure was associated with an increased risk of neonatal GBS disease, within four weeks of delivery. Early third-trimester exposure showed the strongest association.

“Prenatal antibiotic exposure can raise GBS risk within four weeks postpartum, especially in neonates not covered by risk-based intrapartum prophylaxis, with the early third trimester being a critical window of susceptibility,” said the researchers in the paper in the Journal of Infection.

The team conducted a population-based cohort study including all singleton live births in Sweden from 2006 to 2016, using national registers.

Among 1,095,644 liveborn singletons, 24.5 per cent were exposed to antibiotics.

GBS incidence was found to be higher among exposed neonates than unexposed (0.86 vs. 0.66 per 1,000 live births), particularly among neonates without GBS risk factors.

According to the researchers, the study is the first to examine prenatal antibiotic exposure in relation to the risk of neonatal GBS disease. However, it aligned with previous Nordic studies, which reported a 16-34 per cent increased risk of infections during early childhood (ages 1-5 years) following prenatal antibiotic exposure.

The study found that GBS-active antibiotics given close to delivery (within four weeks) offered no protection.

The association of prenatal exposure to any antibiotics with neonatal GBS disease appeared to depend on the presence of clinical GBS risk factors, with a positive association observed only among pregnancies without such risk factors.

This suggests that neonates without established GBS risk factors may benefit more from limiting prenatal antibiotic exposure, the team said.

Calling for more research, the team also underscored the need for increased vigilance in monitoring neonates who fall outside existing GBS prevention guidelines, particularly those exposed to antibiotics in utero during the early third trimester.

Gurugram, Jan 09: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched a national digital IED data management platform that will act as “next generation security shield against terror” and a comprehensive deterrence against all forms of bombings that take place in the country.

The national IED data management system (NIDMS) has been developed by the federal counter-terrorist commando force NSG with the help of Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gandhinagar, IIT-Delhi, National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Indian cyber crime coordination centre (I4C).

It is armed with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools for “accurately” studying all types of bombings.

Improvised explosive device (IED) blasts in the country have been categorised as one of the “most challenging” threats in the internal security domain, killing thousands of civilians and security personnel, and critically injuring many others over the years.

Shah inaugurated the facility through a video conferencing link that connected the platform, housed at the National Security Guard (NSG) garrison in Manesar here.

The minister said the NIDMS will act as a “shield” and “national asset” against terrorist incidents, as it will provide a “comprehensive” data to the police, various investigative agencies, state Anti-Terrorist Squads, federal agencies like the NIA and central forces to analyse the patterns and modus operandi of various types of bombings.

In his address, Shah said, this platform will act as a ‘one nation one data repository’ for IED blasts, help to speed up prosecution by adding quality to the forensic evidence gathered and enhance inter-agency coordination.

NSG Director General (DG) Brighu Srinivasan said the NIDMS is a “real-time” exchange of information platform, for government agencies in the anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency domain, that will collect, analyse and disseminate data on all bombing incidents of the country.

The platform is “unique” as during its preparatory stage, 26 “friendly” countries were approached and they did not have such a facility, he said.

According to NSG, the database has 800 users (various agencies) and will also be able to capture ‘signature linkages’ among different bomb blast incidents, conduct post-blast investigation and can also perform “predictive” analysis to thwart certain bombing incidents.

The ambitious project has been in the works for some time and is part of the NSG’s National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC), which analyses all types of bombings that occur in the country, apart from major explosions that take place globally.

The NBDC, established in the year 2000, has a database of all bombings that took place in the country since 1999.

Raised in 1984, the NSG’s ‘black cat’ commandos are tasked to undertake specific counter-terrorist and counter-hijack operations besides protecting select high-risk VIPs.