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For a country struggling to fight brutal poverty, internal conflicts, political instability, and bureaucratic inefficiency, the 1990s was a breath of fresh air. The economy was liberalised, the IT industry started booming, a telecom revolution was underway, a successful nuclear test was conducted, and the emergence of strong regional parties gave voice to the politically weak sections. But on May 3, 1999, as Pakistani intrusion was reported at the Kargil borders, India was on the cusp of losing a decade-long progress to an unprovoked war. Over the next three months, the Indian <keyword id="19903970" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="armed-forces" source="keywords">armed forces</keyword> fought with all might not just to defend the borders, but to show to the world that its preference for peace is not a sign of weakness. <keyword id="21429298" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kargil-Vijay-Diwas" source="keywords">Kargil Vijay Diwas</keyword>, commemorated annually on July 26th, stands as a testament to India's indomitable spirit and the unwavering courage of its armed forces. This day marks the culmination of the <keyword id="20143432" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kargil-War" source="keywords">Kargil War</keyword>, a conflict that tested the nation's mettle and forged a legacy of heroism. Addressing the 25th celebrations of the Kargil War victory, <keyword id="6354814" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="prime-minister-narendra-modi" source="Orion">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</keyword> said that the Kargil War win is neither the victory of any government in power nor of any political group, it is the heritage and the victory of 140 crore people of India. <h2>The genesis</h2>Despite signing the Lahore Declaration in February 1999 for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue, a covert infiltration by Pakistani troops into the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir in May 1999 triggered a crisis. Disguised as militants, they occupied strategic positions along the Line of Control (LoC), aiming to disrupt the Kashmir-Ladakh link. The <keyword id="19908736" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Army" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Indian Army" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Indian Army">Indian Army</keyword>, upon discovering the intrusion from local shepherds, launched Operation Vijay, a counter-offensive to reclaim the occupied heights. <h2>Battling against nature and the enemy</h2>The Kargil War was a gruelling ordeal, fought in the unforgiving Himalayan terrain. Soldiers battled not only the enemy but also the harsh, high-altitude conditions. The covert movement of the Pak army helped them position themselves at strategically advantageous, high-altitude positions. As temperatures plummeted and oxygen levels dwindled, the rugged mountains posed immense logistical challenges to the ground forces. Yet, the Indian Army, driven by patriotism and a relentless determination to protect the nation's sovereignty, pressed on. <h2>Heroes of the Kargil War</h2>The Kargil War produced a pantheon of heroes whose bravery continues to inspire generations. Captain <keyword id="20211435" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vikram-batra" source="keywords">Vikram Batra</keyword>, with his iconic battle cry "Yeh Dil Mange More," led his troops to capture Point 4875, a pivotal victory. Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey, displaying exceptional courage, made the supreme sacrifice while defending his post. These brave soldiers, among many others, epitomized the indomitable spirit of the Indian Army. The Kargil War galvanized the nation. People from all walks of life came together to support the armed forces. The collective outpouring of patriotism and solidarity fueled the soldiers' resolve. Nearly 500 Indian soldiers lost their lives battling the enemy in unforgiving Himalayan terrains. The war also highlighted the sacrifices made by the families of the martyrs, whose courage and resilience were equally inspiring. <h2>A legacy of valour</h2>Kargil <keyword id="21992554" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vijay-diwas" source="keywords">Vijay Diwas</keyword> is more than just a commemoration; it is a reaffirmation of India's commitment to peace and security. The sacrifices made by the brave soldiers who fought in the Kargil War will forever be etched in the nation's memory. Their unwavering courage and determination continue to inspire future generations to serve the country with dedication and honour. As India celebrates the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas today, it is essential to remember the heroes who laid down their lives for the nation. Their supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten by a country on its path to glory on a global stage. <h2>A continued tragedy</h2>The Kargil War left behind a deadly legacy along with long-term trauma among the local residents and the defence personnel who fought valiantly. As per a TOI report, unexploded bombs scattered across the region continue to pose a significant threat to the local population. In 2023 — 24 years after the tragic war — a total of around 336 such unexploded bombs were reportedly neutralised by the Army. Residents live in constant fear of accidental detonations, especially during construction or excavation work. These incidents have resulted in multiple casualties in the past several years, including the tragic death of a young child. Despite the passage of 25 years, the Army remains actively engaged in defusing these dangerous remnants of war. Even this year, as many as 103 such bombs were defused by the Army. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112016324" title="Ex-army officer runs 160 km, 40 km per day, to mark Kargil Vijay Diwas anniversary" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"><payload><![CDATA[seealso]]></payload></div> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112031216" title="Families of soldiers pays tribute to soldiers who lost lives in 1999 Kargil War" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"><payload><![CDATA[seealso]]></payload></div>

Kargil Vijay Diwas: A tale of valour and sacrifice

<ul><li>Despite releasing mid-week on a non-holiday, <keyword id="12756474" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="pathaan" source="Orion">Pathaan</keyword> grossed ₹106 crore in worldwide box office collections on its first day. </li><li>Pathaan is the best opening that an SRK movie has ever seen, says YRF. </li><li>YRF added new shows at midnight to meet the unprecedented demand, said trade analyst Taran Adarsh. </li><li>SRK shared that Pathaan led to the reopening of 25 single screens in India. </li></ul>Over the last few years, many Indian movies have set new box office collection records like ₹1,000 crore earnings and more. But Shah Rukh Khan’s <keyword id="10335079" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pathaan-movie" source="Orion">Pathaan movie</keyword> set another spectacular record – of collecting ₹100 crore on the opening day. It’s the best-ever opening for an SRK film, said Yash Raj Films (YRF). Despite releasing mid-week on a non-holiday, the film <a href="https://twitter.com/yrf/status/1618607980173459456?s=20&amp;t=pOuBNaJF5iRWdWmxhWvLew">grossed </a>₹106 crore in worldwide box office collections on its first day itself, the highest ever for a Hindi film. Moreover, the film's worldwide collection on day two reached ₹219.6 crore, the makers announced on Thursday. “The theatrical business is here to stay, provided we make films that entice people to come to the cinemas to witness a never seen before experience that entertains them thoroughly,” said Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films. YRF also shared that the film minted ₹55 crore nett in India, which is the highest collection for a Hindi film. Overall, the film’s first-day collection stood at ₹57 crore, with ₹2 crore attributed to dubbed versions. The film's nett day two collection (domestic market) stood at ₹70.5 crore - with ₹68 crore amassed in Hindi, and dubbed formats bringing in additional ₹2.5 crore. It's the first Hindi film to breach the ₹70 crore nett collection on a single day. The film, which was released on January 25, 2023 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, is a spy thriller. Along with Khan, it stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in pivotal roles and is directed by Siddharth Anand. Needless to say, it’s a record for all the other top actors as well. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="New midnight shows added" comment="subhead2" text="New midnight shows added">New midnight shows added</cmsannotation> Pathaan has been shattering records even before its release - with an <a href="https://twitter.com/taran_adarsh/status/1617554191739940864">advance booking </a>at national chains (PVR, INOX, and Cinepoli) of 3.9 lakh tickets for the opening day itself, reported trade analyst Taran Adarsh. Khan, who has made a comeback to the silver screens after four years, too <a href="https://twitter.com/iamsrk/status/1617866805850279936?s=20&amp;t=rPpOTtCUnMEr8Zjl8DlM5Q">shared </a>that Pathaan led to the reopening of as many as 25 single screens across India. Ever since its release, social media has been flooded with videos of excited fans rejoicing in theatres, and YRF <a href="https://twitter.com/taran_adarsh/status/1618231468630900737?s=20&amp;t=pOuBNaJF5iRWdWmxhWvLew">added new shows at midnight</a> to meet the unprecedented demand, reported Adarsh. The film, which falls under Anand’s YRF spy universe, has also recorded the widest Hindi release of all time in India. It’s also the third YRF Film to cross ₹50 crore in net box office collections on the first day. The other two films were Hrithik Roshan starrer War (₹53.35 crore) and Aamir Khan starrer Thugs of Hindostan (₹52.25 crore). For Pathaan, multiplex chain INOX Cinemas also <a href="https://twitter.com/INOXMovies/status/1618647917891579904">observed </a>a housefull show in Kashmir after 32 years. According to YRF, "Pathaan" has broken some 21 box office records. “Pathaan is the fourth film of our YRF Spy Universe and we are thrilled that we have been able to elevate the cinematic experience of audiences with each film from this franchise. We humbly share this moment with all the stake-holders of the film who have given their blood, sweat and tears to give people a movie-going experience like never before,” shared Widhani. In 2022, the Indian film industry recorded a gross box-office collection of ₹10,637 crore, according to a GroupM-Ormax Media report. But the majority of collections came from non-Hindi films. The report stated that Hindi and Hollywood movies underperformed in 2022 and 32% of Hindi box office collections actually came from dubbed versions of South films like K.G.F: Chapter 2, RRR, Kantara, etc. (With inputs from PTI) SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-enterprises-tata-motors-bajaj-finance-among-stocks-in-focus/articleshow/97363686.cms">Sensex, Nifty50 likely to open on a positive note amid positive global cues: Adani Enterprises, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance among stocks in focus</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/avatar-2-surpasses-avengers-infinity-war-to-become-the-fifth-biggest-grosser-ever/articleshow/97365926.cms">Avatar 2 surpasses Avengers: Infinity War to become the fifth-biggest grosser ever</a>

SRK’s Pathaan sets a new record — over ₹200 crore collections in two days

What is the right time to make a <keyword id="20224622" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="motor-insurance" source="keywords">motor insurance</keyword> claim? While there are no right answers, you generally make a claim if your car or bike has suffered serious damages in an accident, which will cost a bomb to repair! But did you know that you could also make a claim if your car or bike was damaged by, well, a coconut? Surprised? <keyword id="20081892" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digit-Insurance" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Digit Insurance" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Digit Insurance">Digit Insurance</keyword>, which is backed by ace Indian cricketer Virat Kohli, recently released some interesting data in this regard. Per the company, by the end of FY24, it had paid out almost Rs 1.68 crore in claims related to over 1,500 cases where the damage was caused by an innocuous coconut! <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Monkeys go coconuts!" comment="subhead" text="Monkeys go coconuts!"><keyword id="20243262" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monkeys" source="keywords">Monkeys</keyword> go coconuts!</cmsannotation> Well, if you don't believe a coconut can wreak this kind of havoc, think again. The company reported receiving more than 350 cases of <keyword id="19986918" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vehicle-damage" source="keywords">vehicle damage</keyword> in just 2023, where the good old coconut was the culprit! The maximum claims stemmed from Maharashtra. The average claim amount was around Rs 10,000. If you’re away from the coast, you’ll have to battle your neighborhood's dogs and monkeys! Monkey’s seem to have a special liking for motorcycles, given that Digit reported setting over 1,200 claims worth Rs 40 lakh towards damage to 2-wheelers caused by monkeys in FY 2023-24. The cases saw a 40% jump on a YoY basis. Since Digit’s inception in 2017, the company has seen more than 85,000 claims where the primary cause of vehicle damage was an animal. Out of these, dogs were the main reason behind 7% of such claims in FY 2023-24, triggering payouts of over Rs 30 crore. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The mayhem of dogs and goats" comment="subhead" text="The mayhem of dogs and goats">The mayhem of dogs and goats</cmsannotation> As per the company’s internal claims data, Indira Nagar in Lucknow seems to be the epicentre of dogs unleashing damage on vehicles. The company reported paying more than Rs 6.7 lakh towards 110 claims received from this location. If, on an unfortunate day, your bike ever gets in an accident, how much do you imagine the damage payout would be? Well, in some cases, like of a luxury bike, which was damaged upon accident with a goat, the <keyword id="22121817" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="accidental-damage-payout" source="keywords">accidental damage payout</keyword> went as high as Rs 6.75 lakh. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Motor Insurance on the rise" comment="subhead" text="Motor Insurance on the rise">Motor Insurance on the rise</cmsannotation> As per data from the annual report of insurance regulator <keyword id="6361421" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IRDA" source="Orion">IRDA</keyword>, the motor segment saw a YoY growth of about 15.4% in <keyword id="21608709" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="premium-collection" source="keywords">premium collection</keyword>, from Rs 70,433 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 81,280 crore in 2022-23. The average <keyword id="19989676" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="claim-settlement-ratio" source="keywords">claim settlement ratio</keyword> of India’s motor insurance industry has also been on a steady rise, going from 81.3% in 2021-22 to 84.48% in 2022-23. Additionally, the incurred claims ratio, or the proportion of claims paid as against premium received also noted a marginal rise, from 81.30% in 2021-22 to 84.48% in 2022-23. All in all, save your precious cars or bikes from the terror of monkeys, dogs, coconuts and more. If you are yet to get a comprehensive vehicle insurance for your two or four wheeler, do so at the earliest!

Dogs, coconuts and monkeys: Insure your vehicles from their mayhem right now!

<keyword id="6357861" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ranbir-kapoor" source="Orion">Ranbir Kapoor</keyword> and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer romantic-comedy "Tu Jhoothi <keyword id="15975342" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="main-makkaar" source="Orion">Main Makkaar</keyword>" has crossed Rs 200 crore mark at the global box office, the makers said on Friday. In a post on Twitter, <keyword id="3815339" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="luv-films" source="Orion">Luv Films</keyword> said the Luv Ranjan-directed movie has raised a total of Rs 201 crore worldwide since its release on March 8. "#TuJhoothiMainMakkaar crosses a love worth more than 200 Crore! Thank you for your immense support," the studio tweeted. In a press note, the makers said the film's net domestic collection stood at Rs 161 crore. "Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar" is produced by Luv Films and Ankur Garg and presented by <keyword id="17091" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="gulshan-kumar" source="Orion">Gulshan Kumar</keyword> and <keyword id="24468" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bhushan-kumar" source="Orion">Bhushan Kumar</keyword> of T-Series. The movie also features Dimple Kapadia, Boney Kapoor and stand-up artist Anubhav Singh Bassi. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/apple-music-classical-app-offers-five-million-high-brow-tunes-for-classical-music-enthusiasts/articleshow/99088948.cms">Apple Music Classical app offers five million high-brow tunes for classical music enthusiasts</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/cheetah-translocated-to-india-from-namibia-gives-birth-to-four-cubs/articleshow/99088665.cms">Cheetah translocated to India from Namibia gives birth to four cubs</a>

Ranbir Kapoor's film Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar collects over ₹200 crore worldwide

Director <keyword id="25777" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="mani-ratnam" source="Orion">Mani Ratnam</keyword>'s magnum opus '<keyword id="13253666" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ponniyin-Selvan-1" source="Orion">Ponniyin Selvan 1</keyword>', which is based on eminent writer Kalki's literary classic by the same name, has grossed a whopping sum of Rs 200 crore worldwide so far, its makers announced on Monday. Lyca Productions, which has jointly produced the critically acclaimed superhit film along with director Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies, on Monday, along with a poster that said the film had grossed Rs 200 crore worldwide, tweeted: "Marching on and making history! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the audience who've been showering us with love! Catch #PS1 in theatres near you!" The film has managed to rake in this huge amount in just three days. The film has already entered history books by becoming the film with the biggest ever opening in Tamil cinema. The film grossed a worldwide sum of over Rs 80 crore on its very first day. '<keyword id="524706" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ponniyin-selvan" source="Orion">Ponniyin Selvan</keyword> 1', which had triggered huge expectations, released on Friday much to the delight of fans and received a thunderous welcome from audiences. The film seems to have struck a chord with audiences of all age groups. The film has caught the attention of senior citizens in particular, as it is based on the literary classic by Kalki. Several senior citizens who had given up the practise of going to theatres are now making an exception in the case of this film as they are eager to watch the classic on screen. 'Ponniyin Selvan', the first part of which released on Friday, is a story based on the early life of prince Arun Mozhi Varman, who later went on to be known as the great Raja Chozhan. Called by Mani Ratnam as his dream project, the film features a host of top stars including actors <keyword id="1091" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vikram" source="Orion">Vikram</keyword>, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Parthiban, Lal, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prabhu and Prakash Raj. The film is among the most expensive projects ever undertaken in the country and is based on the Tamil classic 'Ponniyin Selvan' by eminent writer Kalki. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/house-of-the-dragon-surprises-even-book-readers-with-final-shot-of-sunday-nights-episode/articleshow/94609664.cms">'House of the Dragon' surprises even book-readers with final shot of Sunday night's episode</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/bruce-willis-is-allowing-himself-to-be-deepfaked-so-his-digital-twin-can-continue-to-act-after-his-aphasia-diagnosis/articleshow/94586579.cms">Bruce Willis is allowing himself to be deepfaked so his 'digital twin' can continue to act after his aphasia diagnosis, report says</a>

Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan-I' box office collections at ₹200 crore

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A box of old crockery stored in an attic turned out to be Chinese porcelain worth $200,000.</li><li>Owner Gill Stewart found the box while searching for holiday decorations last year.</li></ul>A box of tableware stored in an attic for decades with the label "broken porcelain" sold at auction for more than $200,000 last week.The owner, Gill Stewart, had been looking for Christmas decorations during the holiday season last year when she stumbled across the box, which she had inherited from her grandfather, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ww459per9o">according to the BBC</a>.She said she almost threw it away."Every time I went up to get the Christmas decorations, I thought 'I must do something with that box,'" she told the outlet.However, she eventually took it to an auctioneer in Louth, a town in England.The auctioneer, James Laverack of John Taylors Auctioneers, told the BBC the items looked "quite unassuming" — the sort of thing people might find in yard sales and thrift stores.<div type="image" title="A pair of white porcelain Chinese tea bowls, each delicately decorated with a green and white nature design, part of a collection of 16 which in June 2024 sold at auction for $75,000." height="2971" width="5010" msid="111494635" hostid="261" sizebytes="504342"></div>He initially divided the collection into lots, giving an initial total valuation of a couple of thousand dollars.'We expected the Chinese ceramics to sell well — however, they achieved prices way beyond our dreams," Laverack told Business Insider.Interest picked up quickly after the items were listed, and at the sale last week, the lots sold for a total of $204,000, including fees.According to the BBC, when Laverack called Stewart to tell her, he first asked her: "Are you sitting down?"<div type="image" title="A set of five Chinese ceramic saucers, three white with a delicate multicolored depiction of a group of people in a countryside scene, and two white with a bold red pattern and dragons design. The set sold for nearly $45,000 in June 2024." height="3240" width="4362" msid="111494637" hostid="261" sizebytes="829108"></div>One lot — <a target="_blank" href="https://bid.johntaylors.com/past-auctions/srjohnt10133/lot-details/8348e2e5-67d5-4276-9cea-b19300ee0f77">a set of five Chinese saucers</a> that had been valued at under $100 — ended up going for nearly $45,000.<a target="_blank" href="https://bid.johntaylors.com/past-auctions/srjohnt10133/lot-details/a521fe30-6252-4cf3-af86-b19300f1f4a4">Another set of 16 teacups</a>, valued at no more than $100, sold for $75,000.Even <a target="_blank" href="https://bid.johntaylors.com/past-auctions/srjohnt10133/lot-details/149579f1-4b28-4d75-b533-b19300ee9e90">a broken bowl</a> went for $6,300.Stewart was "flabbergasted" by the news, Laverack told BI.Stewart told the BBC that her grandfather had picked up the items in China, where he had been stationed before World War I.Many of them date back hundreds of years, and her grandfather had kept detailed notes on their provenance, she said. He also kept a note of who was responsible for breaking some of the pieces — which was often her grandmother, she said."She had broken the most valuable ones!" Stewart told the BBC.

A box labeled 'broken porcelain' stored for decades in an attic turned out to be Chinese antiques worth $200,000

New Delhi, Indian-Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa-backed <keyword id="20847043" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fairfax-india" source="keywords">Fairfax India</keyword> on Wednesday announced its commitment to provide up to USD 200 million (about Rs 1,650 crore) liquidity support to IIFL Finance after the <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> barred the non-bank lender to disburse gold loans. The RBI's embargo has raised liquidity concerns among the company's investors and lenders, Fairfax India Holdings Corporation said in a statement. In response to these concerns, Fairfax India has agreed to extend up to USD 200 million of liquidity support on terms to be mutually agreed and subject to applicable laws, including regulatory approvals (if any), it added. "We have been long-term investors in the IIFL group of companies and have full trust and confidence in the company's strong management team led by Nirmal Jain and R Venkataraman. We are confident that Nirmal and Venkat will take corrective actions to meet and exceed RBI's compliance standards," said Fairfax India chairman <keyword id="20146567" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="prem-watsa" source="keywords">Prem Watsa</keyword>. Commenting on the development, IIFL Finance Managing Director Nirmal Jain said at this crucial juncture, Fairfax India's and Prem's generous offer to provide liquidity support is very timely and motivating. "We are committed to complying fully with RBI's directives and growing the business under the regulator's guidance on the strong foundation of compliance, risk management, and fair practices," Jain said. Earlier this week, the <keyword id="19922074" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank" source="keywords">Reserve Bank</keyword> barred <keyword id="20849308" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iifl-finance-ltd" source="keywords">IIFL Finance Ltd</keyword> from disbursing gold loans, with immediate effect following multiple supervisory concerns, including serious deviations in assaying and certifying the purity of the yellow metal. IIFL Finance offers a range of loans and mortgages. The latest directions from the RBI pertain to only the gold loan business. The RBI in a statement had said certain material supervisory concerns were observed in the gold loan portfolio of the company. The concerns include serious deviations in assaying and certifying purity and net weight of the gold at the time of sanction of loans and at the time of auction upon default; breaches in loan-to-value ratio; significant disbursal and collection of the loan amount in cash far in excess of the statutory limit; non-adherence to the standard auction process; and lack of transparency in charges being levied to customer accounts.

Prem Watsa-backed Fairfax India commits up to $200 mn to IIFL Finance

<keyword id="6354563" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hrithik-Roshan">Hrithik Roshan</keyword> and Tiger Shroff-starrer "War" has crossed the ₹200 crore-mark at the box office in its first week, the makers announced on Thursday. Directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by <keyword id="36603" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yash-Raj-Films">Yash Raj Films</keyword>, the movie opened countrywide on October 2. Hrithik said he is overjoyed and humbled about the number of records the film has created so far. "We wanted to make a film that raises the bar of action films in India and could truly compete with the best of action spectacles being made in the West. We are all delighted that 'War' has done just that and is getting incredible love and appreciation from audiences across the world. "'War' is a genre-defining action film and I'm extremely happy for the entire cast and crew of 'War' because we all have given our all and more to make this film a cut above. I'm delighted that YRF has again done something completely out-of-the-box and given India a new action franchise," the actor said in a statement.

Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff-starrer War enters the ₹200 crore club

<keyword id="60356" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fundraising" source="Orion">Fundraising</keyword> through the issuance of shares to <keyword id="68968" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="institutional-investors" source="Orion">institutional investors</keyword> skyrocketed, as companies raked in Rs 50,218 crore in 2023, marking a six-fold surge from the previous year and indicating a positive outlook among investors. Apart from <keyword id="48708" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="qips" source="Orion">QIPs</keyword>, fund mobilisation through rights issue of shares and OFS (<keyword id="1498312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="offer-for-sale" source="Orion">Offer-for-Sale</keyword>) route too surged in 2023, as compared to last year. Market experts attributed the primary reason for the increase in Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) fundraising to the market and <keyword id="470493" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investor-sentiments" source="Orion">investor sentiments</keyword> that play an important role in their success. As long as positive market vibes persist, and investors continue to reap returns, listed companies lean towards opting for fundraising through QIP as this avenue ensures swift access to funds, they added. According to data by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), companies collected Rs 50,218 crore through QIPs in 2023, which was way higher than Rs 8,196 crore raised in the preceding year. Bajaj Finance Ltd spearheaded the largest QIP, securing about Rs 8,800 crore. Following suit, Union Bank of India and Bank of India raised around Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 4,500 crore, respectively. In addition, there was one QIP of a REIT of Brookfield India Real Estate Trust that garnered Rs 2,305 crore this year. Other noteworthy contributors to the fundraising spree included Cholamandalam Investment &amp; Finance, Federal Bank, IDFC First Bank, Aditya Birla Capital and Bank of Maharashtra. Listed companies that need funds either to meet their capex requirements or to comply with Sebi's 25 per cent minimum public shareholding norms generally opt to raise funds through the QIP route. Further, as compared to rights issues or follow-on public offers (FPOs), the QIP route takes less time and fewer compliance norms. QIP is one of the quickest products to raise funds from institutional investors. It is designed only for the listed companies, which allows them to mobilize funds quickly from institutional investors without the need to submit any pre-issue filings to market regulators. The NSE data indicates a substantial rise in capital raised through rights issue route, reaching Rs 8,017 crore this year compared to Rs 3,646 crore in 2022. Furthermore, fund mobilization through the OFS route increased 44 per cent to Rs 15,959 crore in 2023, up from Rs 11,110 crore in the previous year.

QIP fundraising shines, cos garner Rs 50,200 cr in 2023

Filmmaker-actor Rohit Shetty's latest release 'Kantara' collected Rs 170 crore in India and Rs 18 crore overseas, for a worldwide gross of Rs 188 crore, becoming the second highest-grossing Kannada film of all time beating Yash-starrer 'KGF'. Due to the Diwali weekend, the film got a boost at the collections. The total box office collections of the film have reached Rs 170 crore. It will be crossing the Rs 200 crore mark before the end of the fourth week, according to pinkvilla.com. 'Kantara' has raked in Rs 111 crore approximately so far in Karnataka, with Rs 14 crore fourth weekend, which is double of the full fourth week of 'KGF 2'

Kantara beats KGF with its ₹188 crore box office collections

Images of the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza capture similar scenes: Crowds of Palestinians gathering outdoors to stare at the craters where their roads had been, at the heaps of rubble that minutes or hours before had been their houses, apartment buildings, shops, schools, and mosques.After more than two months of war, the tiny enclave resembles the shattered European and Japanese cities of World War II. Researchers <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/JamonVDH/status/1734945402536038625?s=20">estimate</a> that at least a third of Gaza's housing is damaged or destroyed. Already over 18,700 Palestinians are dead and 50,500 injured, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and roughly 90% of the population have fled their homes and face food shortages, no electricity, sanitation problems in overcrowded homes and shelters, and spreading disease.Israeli society has mobilized to support the war and is largely united in the conviction that Hamas, the terror group that launched a murderous rampage from Gaza on October 7, must never again be allowed to threaten Israel. That paramount goal justifies and necessitates the use of maximum force. If Israeli leaders have a theory of what comes after, it is that Israel's retaliatory fury can serve as a wrecking ball to create the rubble from which a new social and political order in Gaza can arise.But there are few signs Israel can achieve anything like this, and a growing chorus of international leaders and military experts are warning that Israel is pursuing a half-baked strategy that is forged from a national trauma and premised on a flawed assumption — that massive air power and ground battles can defeat a militancy that blends into the population. In fact, these experts say, it's much more likely that these tactics will simply create more enemy combatants and play directly into Hamas' hands.Hamas' "very identity is based on the destruction of Israel and not working with Israel, so the notion that collective punishment is going to convince the population of Gaza to push Hamas to come to the negotiating table with Israel is just not going to happen," said Paul Poast, a University of Chicago professor specializing in international security. "If anything, they're able to use these very actions to say, 'Look, this is who we're dealing with. We're dealing with Israel. We've long told you that they don't care about you as people, and look.'"A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told BI in a statement: "In response to Hamas' barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities. In stark contrast to Hamas' intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm." The IDF has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/swords-of-iron-faq-6-dec-2023#2">said</a> that the elevated level of Palestinian casualties are due to Hamas using them as human shields.So far, Israel's efforts are not bearing much fruit. Hamas's top leaders remain at large, hiding in their extensive tunnels or among the 1.9 million refugees who have fled the violence. Israel's military estimates it has killed 5,000 Hamas militants, or just about 16% of Hamas' armed wing.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-12-13-2023-10a0370b7b320d73def6b6a2a137f16a">vowed</a> that "we will continue to the end" on Wednesday, the day it was disclosed that nine Israeli troops died in an urban ambush; the IDF has lost at least 444 troops in the 10/7 attacks and the ground invasion. Israel's defense minister said Thursday that "it is not easy to destroy" Hamas' infrastructure and that Israel needs months more for its war.One of the US' most influential former diplomats to the Middle East believes the conflict is likely to continue for at least three to four more weeks."There's a certain tension in objectives even from our own standpoint," said former Ambassador Dennis Ross, the lead envoy for peace negotiations in two US administrations, in a Tuesday phone call from Israel. "On the one hand, we want the Israelis to get this over as soon as possible. On the other hand, we want them to limit the way that they're doing it."Asked if the military destruction of Hamas is achievable, Ross told BI: "I think the Israelis are going to do it, period. And in the end, whether they will do it on a timeline that we want — I don't know yet."<div type="image" title="Palestinians stand on the edge of a crater after an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2023." height="1333" width="2000" msid="106048067" hostid="261" sizebytes="492108"></div><h2>The bombing 'trap'</h2>Israeli leaders frequently use World War II, which saw massive civilian casualties in bombing campaigns against large cities like Dresden, Berlin and Toyko, as a reference point in justifying a bombing campaign that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1mjsi7ua">struck</a> 22,000 targets in the war's first two months. Historians call it "strategic bombing" — the practice of systematically striking a nation's economy and urban areas to try to damage its ability to wage war.Netanyahu's office said in late October that accepting a ceasefire with Hamas was akin to the US's refusal to do so "after the bombing of Pearl Harbor," the surprise 1941 attack by Imperial Japan that plunged America into war. Similarly, Netanyahu parried questions about rising civilian deaths by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/01/israel-historical-comparison-world-war-two-ii/">referencing</a> a WWII British raid that bombed a school in Nazi-occupied Copenhagen.Biden appears to have gotten similar treatment. He said Netanyahu <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/biden-israel-starting-lose-support-over-indiscriminate-bombing-gaza-2023-12-12/">told</a> him in a private discussion: "You carpet bombed Germany, you dropped the atom bomb, a lot of civilians died.""Hamas conducted the massacre in a way that even the Nazis did not allow themselves to do," former Israeli ambassador Ido Aharoni told BI in a phone interview. "The Nazis were trying to hide their crimes. We don't have footage of Jews dying in the gas chambers, but Hamas did it enthusiastically, and they recorded themselves and they shared it with the world."Aharoni, a career diplomat who is now a senior faculty member at Tel Aviv University, said that Israel must use its full force to shatter Hamas so it can never again threaten Israel, and if this imperative requires leveling swaths of Gaza and straining the access of its two million residents to food and water, then that's what is going to happen."What do you do philosophically when you deal with an enemy that doesn't value life? It's a big philosophical debate. So 10/7 helped us to rewrite the rules of how we fight Hamas. And we made a decision in this philosophical debate that we need to go all the way to take them out. And if the collateral damage is going to be dramatic, just as the collateral damage in Germany and just the collateral damage in Japan was dramatic, then so be it."Aharoni continued: "It's unreasonable to expect Israel to go to war and expect Israel not to win the war at the same time."<div type="image" title="U.S. Troops of the 3rd Armored Division, 1st U.S. Army, advance through the ruins of the city of Cologne, Germany on Mar. 8, 1945. Cologne was one of the German cities the Allies targeted in their strategic bombing campaign." height="2325" width="3000" msid="106048068" hostid="261" sizebytes="545940"></div>The bombing campaign against Hamas-run Gaza is on pace proportionally with the destruction delivered in the strategic bombing of Nazi Germany. Yet our collective hazy memories of the so-called "Good War" may obscure the fact that, at best, the Allied strategic bombing of Germany didn't work — it likely led to the death of more Allied troops.The common fallacy of the so-called "bomb the shit out of them" approach is that enough death and destruction creates a breaking point where the populace cracks and refuses to support its government or overthrows it. In Nazi Germany, for example, the Allies pursued a devastating bombing campaign against 92 cities and towns with the aim of fomenting dissent against dictator Adolf Hitler and degrading Germany's will to fight."That never happened, and the Wehrmacht fought hard all the way to the very end," said Robert Pape, a University of Chicago professor and scholar of military power. "There's really no case to make that the killing of German civilians in World War II by the Allied bombing hastened the end of the war. It did not produce political effects and, if anything, it stiffened the morale of the German fighters."Pape is the author of "Bombing to Win," a landmark study of 40 strategic bombing campaigns in the 20th Century. Pape's research identified what he called an air power "trap" of mistaken thinking by military leaders, who often believe massive bombardment leads those bombed to capitulate."When you bomb the civilians, the local population gets more angry and more fearful at the same time," Pape said. "And what they're fearful of is being then occupied militarily by this country and military force that bombed them so mercilessly."Nazi Germany's defeat may also be instructive for Israel's goal of a post-war Gaza free of Hamas, which the Israeli prime minister has vowed to "eliminate." The military defeat of the Nazis required a naval blockade, air power, and enormous armies closing in on Germany from two sides — and in its wake only about 200 of the top Nazi leaders were tried, leaving many responsible for atrocities untouched. Many Nazi Party members held positions of authority in postwar Germany, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/from-dictatorship-to-democracy-the-role-ex-nazis-played-in-early-west-germany-a-810207.html">including</a> 25 cabinet ministers and a chancellor. In other words, the new government was hardly de-Nazified.Massive bombardment has had a checkered track record in the wars since. For instance, Poast, the University of Chicago professor and a colleague of Pape, said Israel's campaign in some ways resembles the US's expansion of strategic bombing into Laos and Cambodia, which ultimately failed to strangle North Vietnam and the Vietcong's supply lines and came at an estimated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/cambodia/tl02.html">cost</a> of hundreds of thousands of civilian lives.<div type="image" title="Smoke rises after bombing of Israeli forces with warplanes in Gaza City, October 7, 2023." height="683" width="1024" msid="106048069" hostid="261" sizebytes="39536"></div><h2>'Pumped up'</h2>Israel faces long odds. Very few terror groups are defeated purely by military force; it's many times more likely they become part of a legitimate political process — an outcome that Israel has ruled out. In the throes of its war, Israel has struggled to define who will rule Gaza in Hamas' absence, or persuade its residents why this would be any better for them.Aharoni, the former Israeli ambassador, said that the time for Israeli leaders to lay out that roadmap is only once Hamas' leaders are killed and its forces defeated. He said the end of the military campaign will likely spell the end of the Netanyahu government as well, but for now "the Israeli public is pumped up, united, high spirits. Everybody wants to help. I've never seen anything like it. The entire society is galvanized."Even under mounting international pressure, the war is almost certain to continue. The thought of Hamas remaining in power, if diminished, is untenable to Israelis, an <a target="_blank" href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/11/israel-internal-displacement-hamas-terror-attacks-oct-7-kibbutz/">estimated</a> quarter million of whom fled their homes after 10/7 and have not returned."If Hamas still looks like it's able to fire rockets into Israel, that's not an outcome that Israelis are going to accept," said Ross, the veteran US diplomat and peace negotiator who's also a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.<div type="image" title="Residents and civil defense teams search for victims in the rubble of Israeli attacks on the Jabalia Camp in Gaza on Dec. 6, 2023." height="1354" width="2000" msid="106048072" hostid="261" sizebytes="543142"></div><h2>'Payback' time</h2>Another clear motive in Israel's war also motivated the strategic bombings of World War II — vengeance. Israel has an entire category of targets chosen for their significance to Hamas and whose destruction inflicts "tactical and mental damage," an anonymous Israeli military intelligence officer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.israeldefense.co.il/node/37949">told</a> the magazine IsraelDefense; the Israeli left-wing outlet +972 Magazine and the Hebrew language news site Local Call have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/">reported</a> that the IDF has expanded its targeting and tolerance of civilian casualties. Israel relies on an AI-driven target factory that is able to rapidly produce recommended targets, as BI's Jake Epstein has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-lets-ai-decide-what-it-should-bomb-increasing-the-number-of-targets-2023-12">reported</a>, and its air force is dropping both <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israeli-air-force-photos-fighter-aircraft-armed-unguided-weapons-2023-10">unguided munitions</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-pounding-gaza-massive-spice-kit-bombs-2023-12">2,000-pound guided munitions</a> that can be expected to bring death and destruction beyond their targets in Gaza's dense urban environment. Targeting videos publicized by the Israeli Air Force show it shattering buildings in Gaza it claims were used by Hamas, including their homes. Israel's intelligence minister has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-773713">argued</a> that Palestinians who wish to leave Gaza should be resettled in other countries, a move that would further erode Palestinian claims for a state of their own. For these reasons, Palestinians who flee the Israeli onslaught into Egypt <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/palestinians-fear-leave-northern-gaza-may-never-able-return-rcna120950">fear</a> they won't be able to return.Collective punishment may serve to instill fear towards deterrence from a future attack, but in an ongoing campaign it often has the adverse effect of steeling an opponent's will to resist. In 1940, Nazi bombers blasted London and other British cities, but the Battle of Britain backfired. It failed to stall Britain's industries critical to the war and actually strengthened the public's will to fight."The British wanted payback," said Pape. Britain's air plans for Germany from the 1930s had focused solely on striking German economic centers, Pape said. But after the blitz, British leaders added population centers to their targets and began to bomb them with a goal of killing 900,000 German civilians. Over the next three years, Allied bombers would damage or destroy an average of half of the buildings in the 92 cities and towns targeted. And yet that campaign also failed to achieve its aims.Rage is also an essential element for Israel's sworn enemy. Hamas relies on perceptions that Israel cannot be collaborated with, that it is a deadly enemy of Palestinians that must be destroyed by force, and that its civilians are legitimate targets. A <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-12-13-2023-10a0370b7b320d73def6b6a2a137f16a">recent poll</a> shows that Hamas' support has risen in Gaza and soared in the West Bank since the 10/7 terror attacks.The challenge for Israel is that this ideology is fueled by the hatred for Israelis that's simmering across Gaza and the West Bank."That's why Hamas is actually so willing to have civilian casualties occur in Gaza," said Pape, who has also <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=8aa0e420f8051ddb0782e56b5f0a6222541dd9d9b3f9804bd7ddfba923f3e140&amp;postID=657b7d21b5ceb3ceac8baf91&amp;postSlug=what-is-israel-trying-to-achieve-in-gaza-bombing-2023-12&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDying-Win-Strategic-Suicide-Terrorism%2Fdp%2F0812973380">studied</a> the demographics and motivations of suicide bombers. "It's because each time Israeli bombs kill Palestinians, those Palestinians have family. They have friends who are ripe recruits for Hamas in the future."He added: "The real issue here is that very likely Israel is creating more terrorists than it's killing."

What is Israel trying to achieve in its brutal Gaza war? 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Palmer Luckey's startup Anduril is producing futuristic weapons of war.</li><li>But the billionaire founder has his own Bond-movie-esque collection of military vehicles.</li></ul>The defense-tech startup Anduril is making some of the most <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anduril-palmer-luckey-us-air-force-contract-defense-tech-startup-2024-4">futuristic autonomous weapons</a> on the market as it tries to reinvent the military's wheelhouse.But the company's forward-thinking vision hasn't stopped its founder, Palmer Luckey, from amassing a personal collection of older military-grade vehicles and boys toys.The billionaire's collection includes a boat bought from the US Navy, six helicopters, and a 1985 ex-Marine Corps Humvee, he revealed in the latest episode of Bloomberg's "<a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/the-circuit">The Circuit</a>."That's land, sea, and air covered.Luckey's Mark V Special Operations Craft, which he purchased from the Navy, is the fastest boat ever built by the force, with a little over 5,000 horsepower, he told the reporter Emily Chang as he took her for a ride on the vessel around Newport Beach, California."It was designed specifically for Navy SEAL insertion and extraction missions," he said. "It runs really fast, and it's a lot of fun."<div type="image" title="A Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC) assigned to Special Boat Team (SBT) 20 navigates the MARK V Special Operations Craft for a scene in the upcoming Bandito Brothers production 2009" height="1848" width="2784" msid="110249391" hostid="261"></div>He still has the real M2 heavy-barreled 50 BMG machine gun that came with the boat but keeps fake ones fitted "most of the time," he added."Most of my neighbors like it, and a handful hate it," he said.Luckey first made a name for himself in 2012 when he founded the virtual-reality company <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-meta-rebrand-kills-oculus-brand-vr-headset-quest-2021-10">Oculus</a>. Two years later, he sold the company to Facebook, now known as Meta, for $2 billion in cash and stock. In 2017, one year after he was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/palmer-luckey-blasts-facebook-terrible-metaverse-product-oculus-2022-10">fired from Facebook</a>, Luckey founded Anduril. It's since risen to the top of Silicon Valley's defense-tech boom.But his passion for the military started when he was young, Luckey told "The Circuit.""I grew up watching the Marine Corps practice right offshore in their helicopters," he said. "Watching Navy ships do exercises gets in your brain, and it doesn't leave."<div type="image" title="UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter" height="1000" width="1500" msid="110249393" hostid="261"></div>He's now the proud owner of six helicopters, including a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-black-hawk-helicopter-photos-tour-2018-3">UH-60 Black Hawk</a>.In addition to military-grade vehicles, Luckey owns a 1967 Disneyland Autopia car, used in Disney theme parks, designed by the legendary park designer Bob Gurr and Walt Disney himself."As far as I know, mine is the only complete Autopia that is outside of the parks. Mine has the original mechanicals, original gearboxes, original wheels, the whole deal," Luckey told Chang.The small vehicle, typically seen tearing up Disneyland racetracks, suffered a minor breakdown midinterview and had to be fixed with a flathead screwdriver.<div type="image" title="Walt Disney, daughter Diane Disney Miller, and grandson Christopher Miller ride in an Autopia car at Disneyland in 1957. The Walt Disney Foundation is opening a museum dedicated to the life of Walt Disney later this fall in San Francisco's Presidio." height="3300" width="3473" msid="110249394" hostid="261"></div>The founder also took cameras into his 1980s-designed home in Los Angeles. With a 2-inch-thick teal shag carpet and a 6,500-gallon aquarium, Luckey's home has "some good 'Miami Vice' vibes," he told Chang.His coffee table is fitted with a map of his Dungeons &amp; Dragons campaign, in which he plays as a "chaotic-neutral wizard named Nilrim V."The billionaire founder poked fun at himself, saying, "I am a little bit of a caricature."But where to keep the world's largest collection of video games?"I put that in one of my missile bases, 200 feet underground," Luckey told Chang. Correction: May 20, 2024 — A previous version of this story's headline misstated where some of the items are stored. Some are in an undisclosed location, not at Palmer Luckey's home.

Billionaire defense entrepreneur Palmer Luckey has a collection of items worthy of a Bond villain &mdash; including helicopters, a giant fish tank, and an underground missile base filled with video games 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Israel declared war against the Palestinian militant group <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-hamas-2023-10">Hamas</a>, after violent attacks in Gaza.</li><li>More than 300,000 Israelis have been called to military service, including many tech workers.</li></ul>Oren Kandel picked up the phone at 10:12 pm Israel time, in a daze. "I'm not sure if it's Wednesday today," he said when Insider reached him by phone, pausing to check how long it had been since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-hamas-2023-10">Hamas</a> attacked his country. "Yeah, four days. We're not really running on regular hours right now."Kandel, 46, is the CEO and cofounder of Munch, an Israel-based startup that uses AI to find and edit the most compelling clips in video footage. In the early hours of October 7, he said he was jarred awake by the ominous <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-hamas-fighters-attack-israel-using-motorized-paragliders-2023-10">sound of sirens</a>. He lives in Gedera, a small town about 25 miles north of Gaza, so these warnings happen from time to time. As is standard safety procedure, he moved to shelter. "Then we heard another siren, and another, and we realized this was unusual," Kandel recalled. "Then the pictures started to unfold. So many inhumane acts taking place. It's beyond understanding."By Sunday, October 8, Kandel was ready to volunteer and support Israel's military, the Israeli Defense Forces. He said hundreds of thousands of Israelis are doing the same, including other startup founders and CEOs. Insider spoke with 15 startup founders, investors, and employees whose lives changed overnight when Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel. The next day, Israel had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-formally-declares-war-on-hamas-seeks-full-control-gaza-2023-10">declared war on Hamas</a> after one of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-is-there-fighting-in-israel-and-what-caused-the-conflict-2023-10">deadliest days in its history</a>. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died in the days following <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-drones-take-out-comms-towers-ambush-israel-2023-10">the initial Hamas attack</a>, as the war intensifies.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israeli-entrepreneurs-leaders-in-tech-startups-due-to-national-character-2019-10">Startup founders and employees</a> have traveled back to Israel from their homes abroad to take up arms and defend their country. Others have halted or stepped away from business operations for now, dedicating their energy to fundraising and other support for the military and Israelis affected by the ongoing war. "You have to be super sensitive," said Isaac Gili, the CEO of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-and-generative-ai-guide-to-most-talked-about-technology-2023-june">generative AI</a> video startup Shuffl, who reported for active duty with the Israeli army after the Hamas attack. "People lost relatives and friends. You can't just go back and work on stuff, you can't code when someone died." <h3>The call to serve </h3>In Israel, military service is mandatory for all citizens over 18. Men are required to serve with the IDF for 32 months and women must serve for 24 months. Afterwards, most Israelis are then enrolled in the military reserves until they turn 40 and can be called on in cases of emergency, like the current war with Hamas.Due to the high concentration of tech workers in Israel, many of the more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-hamas-gaza-weapons-troops-us-reserves-ground-offensive-palestinian-2023-10?_gl=1*6z449y*_ga*MTUzODE1MjY4MS4xNjU1MTUzNDc2*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY5NzE3MzQ5MC4zMjkuMS4xNjk3MTczNTg2LjMzLjAuMA..">360,000 reservists</a> who have come to the front lines usually spend their daily lives <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hottest-israeli-startups-of-2020-insiders-2020-3">building and investing in tech companies</a>. But because tech workers in Israel tend to be younger, they are the reservists being called up for active duty, said Jon Medved, the CEO of Israeli VC firm OurCrowd. "The reality in Israel is that at least one person in every company has been called up," said David, a venture capitalist based in Israel who asked to not share his last name for his family's safety. When the attack occurred on Saturday, David responded to his unit commander's call that morning, and arrived at the base by 1 pm to serve as a medic, he said. "You realize this is not ordinary," David said. "You understand something is going on. The response from my unit commander was do nothing for an hour, stay put. That quickly changed to get onto base within less than an hour. The way it escalated was so fast." That same day, 32-year-old Noy Leyb was in New York, busy building his early-stage startup BachPlace, a platform for planning bachelorette parties, alongside his cofounder and longtime business partner, Danielle Eisenberg. By Saturday afternoon, Leyb was on a plane back to Israel to join the effort to fight. "It's pretty weird going from working every hour that you're awake to just not caring about anything else in the world," he said. His two brothers have also answered the call to serve as combat soldiers. While Leyb has been called to serve, Eisenberg paused all company operations for the week in order to fundraise and seek donations for Israeli soldiers and citizens that were affected by the attacks. "I have a pitch competition next week that I told them I'm going to withdraw from, because I mentally can't be there without him," she said. "The amount of support I've gotten from strangers, it brings me to tears honestly." Eisenberg plans to resume working on her startup next week, and will host a fundraiser alongside 12 other startup founders on October 21, calling their work the Israel Relief Project. <h3>Operating companies from a war zone</h3>For other startups, business has continued even as some employees head to the front lines. "The average company has gotten between 10% and 25% of their people called up," said Medved. These startup founders and employees are using the skills they use every day like problem solving, multitasking and leading during the war effort. Some are even taking Zoom calls in between their time on duty."Some of these people are super people because they go to fight and then on their breaks, they're writing to their company or doing their coding or talking to customers," Medved said. Even those not on active duty are finding ways to help. Kandel, who served in the Israeli military when he was young, decided to volunteer. "I called everyone I know and asked to join up. Staying home, you just can't concentrate on your work so you need to help out," he said. "When I arrived, there were a lot of other people in the same situation. This is the Israeli way. We're fighting for our home."Kandel has worked at Microsoft in Israel for a decade, then joined one of the country's government agencies. His LinkedIn profile lists a major stint as a CTO in the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel. Three years ago, he left to try startups. <div type="image" title="Oren Kandel, cofounder and CEO of Munch" height="6048" width="4024" msid="104398907" hostid="261"></div>Kandel and other volunteers, including another startup CEO and a VC firm partner, had five different projects up and running to support Israel's military in the field.He declined to share specific projects, because he didn't want to give away sensitive military information. However, he said the work involves technologies such as complex data processing and cyberdefense."We are known to be advanced in terms of tech – in cyberintelligence and tech data gathering. You can imagine. We are taking advantage of everything we can lay our hands on and it's a lot," Kandel said. While he's supporting Israel's military response, Kandel is relying on his cofounder to lead the Tel Aviv-based company, which has 15 employees, all of them in Israel."I'm lucky to be a cofounder not a sole founder, so I'm relying on my cofounder," Kandel explained. "They are running it and I am taking backseat"At the end of every day this week, before Kandel falls asleep, he said he gets updates on everything that's been done at Munch that day, and he gives feedback and makes any decisions that have to be made.For Or Shoval, the cofounder and CEO of healthtech startup Remepy, the decision to answer the call to fight was easy. "We're called a startup nation, and one of the facts is that we're playing a dual role — we're like normal people, but at the same time we're defenders of Israel, we have this responsibility," he said. While Shoval heads to the front lines in southern Israel, his teammates back in Tel Aviv are working "day and night" to make sure that operations continue to run smoothly. OncoHost, a biotech startup based in Binyamina, has had multiple employees deployed already, including the team's head of research and development, Ben Yellin, according to its CEO Ofer Sharon. "The fact that we have a US-based team helps us greatly, but here in Israel we have taken a decision to continue with our mission," he said. "Between the sirens and rockets, and despite the atrocities we are seeing and hearing about every day." <h3>Life continues during wartime </h3>While families mourn the loss of loved ones lost and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israeli-couple-hid-for-days-during-hamas-attack-until-found-alive-2023-10">search continues</a> for those who remain lost, there was a stark reminder that life goes on. Itamar Friedman, the 41-year-old cofounder of CodiumAI, had already answered the call to serve in the military when he heard that his wife was going into labor with their third child. He was given special permission to leave his unit for the birth of his son, who was born early in the morning on Thursday, he said. "We had our first smile since Saturday, a baby boy born this morning," he said. "I think the physician said I was the first ever to go with a weapon, a gun, into a delivery." No one can predict how long this war will last or to what extent the conflict will affect <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-tech-startups-venture-capital-funding-war-tough-hamas-2023-10">Israel's tech sector</a>. But since Saturday, the international venture capital community has shown an outpouring of support for the country. Over <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTc_OIs8MSVxqz0To2diHiDd_UIQBg_wBHLnmIQNtoTRQaFrC2ZcUWiOqR7dHMe2KnfnU-Bi7n-1XpW/pub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200 VC firms have signed a joint statement</a> in support of Israel, and several others have signaled their support on social media, including Lightspeed Venture Partners. GGV Capital, Insight Partners, and other large firms started collecting donations as well. "It's amazing to see how people rally together," Eisenberg said.

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