Jaishankar, Rubio talk: Trade to rare minerals, nuclear to defence

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio spoke over phone Tuesday and discussed bilateral trade negotiations, critical minerals, defence, nuclear cooperation, energy and a possible meeting next month.

Trump's 25% Iran tariff: Not much India impact given low trade volume

US President Donald Trump has warned that any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff of 25 per cent on any trade with the US.

"Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a tariff of 25 per cent on any and all business being done with the United States of America. This order is final and conclusive,"

SC delivers split verdict on prior approval clause in anti-graft law

The Supreme Court Monday delivered a split verdict on the Constitutional validity of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which mandates prior approval by the competent authority for investigating public servants in the discharge of their official functions and duties.

China's activity in Shaksgam Valley illegal: Ladakh L-G

Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta on Tuesday asked China to stop its infrastructure construction projects in the Shaksgam Valley, saying the Chinese activity in the area "is illegal and cannot be tolerated".

Panel on digital arrests formed; DoT, RBI gave detailed inputs: Centre to SC

The Centre in a status report has informed the Supreme Court that it has constituted a high-level Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC), headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security), Ministry of Home Affairs, "to comprehensively examine all facets" of digital arrests across the country.

Kuki-Zo insurgent groups, MLAs from Manipur press for separate UT assurance

At a key meeting of Kuki-Zo insurgent groups and MLAs from the community held in Guwahati on Tuesday, participants resolved on a set of "pre-requisites" for participation in a new popular government in the state, primarily a written "political commitment" by the state and central governments on a separate Union Territory for Kuki-Zo-majority areas of the state.

Delhi and Berlin seek common ground

India and Germany may differ on several issues, not least in their respective approaches to Russia in the wake of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Yet amid the geopolitical disruptions unleashed by the American president nearly a year into his tenure, both New Delhi and Berlin recognise the need to find common ground. For Germany, the challenges range from phasing out its energy dependence on Russia to the US role in Europe's security architecture vis-à-vis Ukraine. India, meanwhile, has to contend with high US tariffs, sustained Western pressure to curb its purchase of Russian oil, and the problems posed by China in the neighbourhood and with respect to critical minerals and supply chains.

In a volatile world, Germany and India move towards a stable Indo-Europe

As Europe's leaders prepare to deepen engagement with India, the challenge will be to give the Indo-European idea concrete meaning. The Modi-Merz talks have taken an important step in that direction.

Mahasweta Devi's questions still resonate

Mahasweta Devi's work began where official histories fell silent. Her fiction and reportage veered out of drawing rooms towards forests, quarries, railway embankments and police outposts, places where India's development story frays and exposes its human costs. Her writing insisted on giving voice to the dispossessed, shaped by history, humiliation and the burning embers of resistance. Paring Bengali down to its most elemental, it made room for the cadences of tribal speech and oral memory, wielding it as a tool of confrontation, forcing the literary centre to reckon with lives it preferred to keep peripheral. In short stories such as 'Draupadi' (1978) or novels like Hajar Churashir Maa (1974) or Aranyer Adhikar (1979), she rendered suffering with a hard, almost documentary clarity that refused consolation.

Greenlanders are not chess pieces on a board

Dismissing US interest in Greenland as mere bravado is to miss the tectonic shift underway in geopolitics. The Arctic thaw has awakened power politics.

Pakistan, Indonesia close in on jets and drones defence deal

Pakistan and Indonesia have discussed defence cooperation amidst reports about Jakarta joining list of nations interested in buying JF-17 Thunder jets.

Syria declares military Zoen east of Aleppo as tensions with Kurds rise 

The Syrian army on Tuesday declared an area east of the northern city of Aleppo a "closed military zone," potentially signalling another escalation between government forces and fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Greenland PM prefers Denmark ties over US ahead of Vance meeting

Greenland's Prime Minister said on Tuesday his nation would rather remain part of Denmark than become a territory of the United States, amid President Donald Trump's push to take control of the sprawling Arctic island.

World Bank retains India FY27 GDP growth forecast at 6.5%

The World Bank on Tuesday retained its GDP growth forecast for India at 6.5 per cent for 2026-27, predicting a marked slowdown from its estimate of 7.2 per cent for the current fiscal ending in March on the assumption that the US' 50 per cent tariffs stay in place.

Economic growth strongest form of financial inclusion, says CEA

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Tuesday said economic growth itself is the strongest and most sustainable form of financial inclusion.

"When an economy is generating jobs, incomes, markets and demand, people do not need to be forced into the financial system.

After 2 decades, RBI proposes reopening UCB licences, favours large credit societies

Two Decades after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stopped granting licences for new urban co-operative banks (UCBs), the central bank has proposed reopening the licensing window, with a move that would favour granting UCB licences to co-operative credit societies.

India's assertion, Pakistan's cession: How China took Shaksgam Valley

Shaksgam Valley, or the Trans Karakoram Tract, is part of the Hunza-Gilgit region occupied by Pakistan. It lies to the north of the Siachen glacier. Spread over more than 5,000 sq km, its terrain and climatic conditions make it difficult for habitation. While India has claimed Shaksgam Valley, Pakistan exercised control over it until 1963. China, for its part, has attempted to assert itself in the larger region even earlier. In the 1950s, it built a highway connecting Tibet with Xinjiang through Aksai Chin, over India's territorial claims.