Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Israel is facing political complications as opposition leader Yair Lapid threatens to boycott his parliamentary address unless the Supreme Court chief is invited, adhering to standard protocol.
The MiG-21 episode demonstrates that procurement is always strategic.
Choices about what aircraft to acquire, who builds them, who supplies the spares, who trains the pilots and technicians are decisions with political consequences lasting for decades.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added another 102 metric tonnes to the domestically held gold in the April-September period, as per a disclosure made on Tuesday. The overall quantity of the precious metal stored in local safes stood at 510.46 metric tonnes as of September 30, which was up from over 408 metric tonnes as on March 31, 2024. The central bank said it added another 32 metric tonnes of gold reserves in the six-month period to take the overall tonnage to 854.73 metric tonnes, as per the half yearly report on management of foreign exchange reserves.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
The era where nations thrived through rigid alignments is giving way to an age where the connective State defines power. For India, that era has arrived, points out Dr Nishakant Ojha.
"No petrol, no gas, no milk powder, no electricity", "Go home Gota", placard carrying protestors were then seen walking towards the Rajapaksa private residence in Colombo at Pangiriwatte Lane.
'Only four or five original companies remain; the rest have been replaced every decade as sectors evolve or leadership shifts.' 'Companies that fail to adapt -- like many textile mills from the 1970s and shipping firms from the 1980s -- disappear.' 'Benchmark indices reward those who reinvent themselves in line with economic demands.'
India has moved 100 metric tonnes of its gold stored in the UK to domestic vaults in FY24, sources said on Friday. This is one of the biggest movements of gold undertaken by the country since 1991, when pledging a substantial part of the gold holding to tide over a foreign exchange crisis resulted in its movement out of vaults. The country's overall gold holding increased 27.46 metric tonnes in FY24 and it stands at 822 metric tonnes, as per official data.
LinkedIn experts and real-life stories offer hope that Indian tech talent can still thrive globally, even as the $100,000 H1B fee reshapes onsite opportunities.
Amid US-China trade tensions and economic vulnerabilities, India must seize the 'China +1' opportunity, deepen reforms, secure FTAs, and globalise its firms for long-term growth, suggests Ajay Shah.
'Could the impending new crisis, vibe coding, similarly create not a disaster like what befell Indian handlooms during the Industrial Revolution but another opportunity like what the Y2K crisis created?' asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
In response to the panic triggered by Trump's trade policies, the RBI net sold approximately $43 billion in the second half of FY25 to curb volatility, as the rupee plunged to a low of 87.95 per dollar in February this year.
'This marks a turning point for Paytm, with the regulatory environment looking much clearer than it has been in the last two years.'
Ppolitical experts in Colombo said the ministers came under intense pressure from the public over the government's alleged "mishandling" of the economic crisis, triggered by the shortage in the foreign exchange reserve.
Domestic exporters on Monday expressed concerns over the crisis in Bangladesh and said the developments in the neighbouring country would have implications on bilateral trade. However, exporters expect that the situation may normalise soon. According to exporters, they are already facing disruptions in exports to Bangladesh due to a shortage of foreign exchange in that country.
As India and China continue to face off across the Himalayas six decades later, the echoes of that earlier conflict remain unmistakable. The core of China's sensitivity lies not in maps or mountain passes, but in its perception of sovereignty over Tibet, points out Dr Kumar.
The Reserve Bank of India has brought 100 metric tonnes of gold reserve from the UK to India as there is enough domestic storage capacity, and nothing more should be read into it, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday. The RBI moved 100 metric tonnes of its gold stored in the UK to domestic vaults in FY24.
Basil had negotiated the Indian economic relief package to help Sri Lanka tackle the current foreign exchange crisis.
The massive buyers of gold in the past two years have not been the distressed farmers or the manual scavengers, writes Ajit Balakrishnan.
Several mutual funds (MFs) have recently approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as they renew efforts to increase their overseas investment limit. In June 2022, the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) permitted MFs to invest in foreign stocks within the aggregate mandated limit of $7 billion after a correction in stocks. One of the proposals shared with the RBI is to link MFs' foreign investment limit to the country's foreign exchange reserves.
United States Charge d'Affaires Natalie Baker on Wednesday met Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as part of efforts to de-escalate tensions with India following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 in which 26 people were killed.
Banks and companies in India are taking a cautious approach towards Sri Lanka, which, reeling from a financial crisis, has sought a $1-billion loan from the country to import essential commodities. A senior State Bank of India (SBI) executive said the bank was committed (to Sri Lanka) for the long term. "As far as exposures (are concerned), the bank will be cautious on its dollar exposure to Sri Lankan entities till the situation improves," he said.
The rupee tumbled 3 per cent against the US dollar in 2024 as concerns over slower economic growth and a stronger greenback in global markets weighed, but it was among the least volatile currencies in the world and the headwinds may be less intense in the coming year.
Democratic Left Front politician Nanayakkara was among the 42 members who declared independence in Parliament from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition.
Sri Lanka has also imposed a police curfew in Western Province for six hours.
The 17 rare earth elements that are at the centre of the current crisis are critical components of everyday products -- from cars to jet engines to electronics like smartphones and flat-screen TVs.
In July, the Pakistan government's debt swelled to USD 2.44 billion, including USD 2.07 billion in non-guaranteed debt owed to China, as per Geo News.
Sri Lankan government on Monday admitted that it has run out of cash to buy fuel as pumps in most filling stations across the country have run dry, exacerbating the deepening foreign-exchange crisis that has crippled the island nation's economy.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday fired Basil Rajapaksa from his post and invited the Opposition parties to join a unity Cabinet to tackle the raging public anger against the hardships caused by the economic crisis.
'We remain in touch with the Chinese side, in Beijing as well as in Delhi, to bring predictability in the supply chain.'
Sections in the US State Department and Pentagon have always felt more comfortable dealing with all powerful Pakistani generals instead of elected civilians, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Twenty years of economic reforms later, the Indian elephant has morphed into a tiger, averaging 8.5 per cent growth in the last decade. . .
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to help find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis.
The dissidents, led by former president Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party, would leave the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna coalition with its 14 Members of Parliament, party sources said after their meeting with the President on Monday.
'No respite from economic pain is worth the loss of dignity and self-respect,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
As the export-driven growth model is fraught with extreme risks caused due to a multiplicity of factors, a revisit to Swadeshi economics is inevitable, says M R Venkatesh.
'For 40 years, India valued only technical skills. IITs, coding -- that became everything.' 'Soft skills were sidelined. But those are the skills that will keep you employable now, not technical skills.'
Sri Lanka on Tuesday deployed military personnel at State-run petrol pumps to monitor and manage fuel distribution amidst a shortage that led to serpentine queues of consumers outside filling stations.
Red Square and VDNKh easily rank among the most striking places I've visited -- both for their historical significance and architectural splendour.
My admiration for Russian culture, vision and ambition grew with every step as I clocked the miles, Nitin Sathe tells us after a visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
The emergency was imposed because of the mass scale protests planned for April 3 against the current economic hardships faced by the people.
