Iran undecided on talks; Trump to keep blockade

Tehran said on Monday it had yet to decide on joining a new round of peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, citing "bad faith" and "historical mistrust", while U.S. President Donald Trump said the naval blockade imposed on Iran would remain in place "until a deal is reached".

SC to seek report on functioning of tribunals for SIR

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed initial reluctance to entertain a plea quoting media reports that the Election Commission has infused nearly seven lakh new voters through the Form 6 route into the West Bengal electoral roll long after it has been frozen, saying it did not want to embark on a "fishing inquiry".

The strategic vulnerability in India's LPG supply model

India's Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) problem is not a passing shortage. It comes from a gap that has grown too wide to ignore. India consumed about 33.15 million tonnes of LPG last year, but domestic production met only about 40% of that need. The remaining 60% had to be imported. Put plainly, India's total LPG demand is now about 250% of indigenous production, while annual LPG imports are equal to about 150% of domestic LPG output.

The price of a war far above the ground

The Iran war and geopolitics will reshape global aviation economics.

U.S. power, Latin American resistance

• The approach resembles an older pattern of U.S. policy, justified by the Roosevelt Corollary and the exercise of an "international police power".

• Across Latin America, movements from student organisations, labour unions, and leftist political parties put forward sharp critiques of U.S. power.

• Over time, deep divergences over strategy and principle pitted revolutionaries against democratic reformists, shaping politics in the region.

A day before inauguration by PM Modi, fire breaks out at Rajasthan refinery

A fire broke out in a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan's Baltora district on Monday afternoon, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to inaugurate it.

The HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) refinery, located in the Balotra district of Rajasthan, is a greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex with an overall capacity of 9 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) with 2.4 MMTPA accounting for its petrochemical production capacity.

HRRL is a ₹79,459 crore joint venture between HPCL and the Government of Rajasthan, with the latter holding an equity stake of 26%.

India's forests could nearly double carbon storage by 2100, study finds

India's forests could store nearly twice as much carbon by the end of this century as they do now if current green-house gas emission trends continue, according to a new modelling study published this week in the journal Environmental Research: Climate.

The findings, involving researchers from multiple Indian institutes, present a granular forecast of how climate change will reshape the country's forest carbon stocks. Significantly, they diverge in important ways from official estimates compiled by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) the official source of tree and forest cover data in India.

Doval's Riyadh visit on PM's instructions, part of govt. outreach to Gulf, says MEA

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's surprise one-day visit to Riyadh was part of an outreach by the government amid a tense phase in the West Asian conflict, and took place, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions.

Core sector activity contracts 0.4% in March on war impact

Activity in India's eight core industrial sectors contracted by 0.4% in March 2026, the first month after the war in West Asia broke out, according to data released by the government. This was the poorest performance for the sectors in 19-months.

Draft rules for roll-out of Ethanol 85 fuel to be notified soon

The government will "very soon" issue draft rules on the roll-out of Ethanol 85 (E85) as vulnerabilities in oil exports exposed during the West Asia crisis sharpen the focus on alternative fuels, a senior government official said. While a final date is yet to be decided, the official said the roll-out is expected "in a couple of years".

E85 is a fuel blend made of up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol (gasoline).

FY26 pharma exports up 2% even as March saw dip

India's pharmaceutical exports rose more than 2% year-on-year to $31.11 billion in FY26 despite a 23% slide in March amid the fallout of the West Asia war.

A new record, the exports bettered the $30.47 billion registered in 2024-25. March incidentally had played a crucial role in shaping the overall FY25 performance as shipments to the all-important U.S. market surged in the face of an impending higher tariff regime.

'Upgrading India-Korea trade pact for balanced partnership'

The decision by India and South Korea to upgrade Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is aimed at moving towards a more balanced economic partnership and one not defined by huge trade deficits, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said.

Tamil parties in Sri Lanka seek sustained Indian push to fulfil Indo-Lanka Accord

Sri Lanka's Tamil parties have sought sustained Indian engagement to ensure the implementation of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, signed during the early years of the civil war to address the aspirations of Tamils for equal rights and greater political power.

Canada's economic ties with U.S. a weakness, says Carney

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a video address released on Sunday that Canada's strong economic ties to the United States were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected.

China objects as U.S., allies begin drills with Philippines

The United States and the Philippines kicked off one of their largest combat exercises on Monday in an annual display of allied military might aimed at deterring aggression in Asia, despite Washington's preoccupation with the war in West Asia.