Israel has for more than two decades and several US presidencies worked to draw the United States into a full-scale war with Iran. Having finally achieved that, the last thing it wants is Trump declaring victory and going home, as he is prone to do. Ali Larijani was the figure most capable of handing Trump a negotiated exit with something to show for it. Without Larijani, the road to an exit gets considerably narrower. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Stock market is gearing up for an eventful week ahead where key triggers such as quarterly earnings from corporates, the US Fed interest rate decision and the upcoming Union Budget for 2026-27 would grab the limelight, analysts said.
India has been on an FTA-signing spree of late. Since 2021, it has signed eight trade agreements, three of which -- with the UK, Oman and New Zealand -- were finalised in 2025 alone.
'...but I would not like to put a timeline to it'
The artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem is opaque and needs to be made transparent and accountable, said Competition Commission of India's (CCI) Chairperson Ravneet Kaur at the Business Standard Manthan Summit on Wednesday.
India on Monday announced closure of negotiations for a free trade agreement signed with New Zealand, its 18th deal so far as the country aims to boost bilateral trade and investments. The India-New Zealand FTA is expected to be signed in the next three months and it is likely to come into force next year.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded on Thursday after three sessions of losses, tracking gains in global markets after US President Donald Trump struck a conciliatory tone on Greenland. In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 397.74 points, or 0.49 per cent, to close at 82,307.37.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised the issue of the Indo-US trade deal soon after the zero hour ended and alleged that the information about the deal was being received from Washington instead.
'I don't think we should ever negotiate with deadlines or hard stops because we tend to make mistakes then.'
Trade deals ease risks for Indian equities, but weak demand and stretched valuations raise questions over whether optimism -- especially in smallcaps -- can turn into a sustained bull run, points out Debashis Basu.
India may have to abide by a series of international standards and regulatory practices in the healthcare sector, if it agrees to some proposals that are part of the ongoing India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
The Budget reflects a clear focus on strengthening India's long-term prospects by leaning on nation-building sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and technology while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
With the worst in terms of pricing pressures behind Tata Steel, its outlook is expected to improve. Europe has seen hot rolled coil prices rise this January after the European Union's (EU's) carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) kicked in and further price improvements may be on the cards once import quotas come into play in June.
The agreement provides for extensive cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector including in research and development for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, they said.
The European Union on Wednesday said there would not be any dialogue with India on the World Trade Organisation issues when their political heads meet at the India-EU summit this weekend, even though trade issues will figure in the summit.
As part of their joint efforts to fight terrorism, India and the European Union today decided to work towards blocking access to terrorist financing and to cooperate in the fight against money-laundering
India's luxury auto market is rebounding after a slow start to 2025, with GST 2.0 emerging as the main catalyst.
Around 100 artistes heralded the parade, on the theme 'Vividata Mein Ekta (Unity in Diversity) that featured a grand presentation of musical instruments, demonstrating the nation's unity and rich cultural diversity.
For decades, the Siliguri Corridor was treated as a geographical vulnerability to be quietly managed. Today, it has emerged as a focal point of eastern geopolitics.
The nations dominating the world's milk output...
Banks are depending more heavily on the market for certificates of deposit (CDs), whose worth climbed to a record Rs 5.75 trillion in the fortnight to January 15, owing to deposit tightness in the system.
China has filed a complaint against India in the World Trade Organization (WTO) over New Delhi's subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries. Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that the ministry will look at the detailed submissions made by China.
'Our endeavour will be that we identify these products, put them in the public domain so that the manufacturers can look at them and give a boost to Make in India.'
India and European Union will discuss issues of mutual interest during the first joint industrial energy conference in New Delhi next month.
While the move may give a competitive edge over rivals like Bangladesh in the global market, several industry bodies raised concerns that many state governments may not implement it on the ground.
Indian private sector and State-run refiners continued to receive crude oil from Russian suppliers even after November 21 -- the winding-down date for US sanctions on supplies from leading Russian oil producers imposed in October -- as new intermediaries sprung up in West Asia to sell the oil, according to senior refining sources and ship tracking data.
The India-European Union summit which was slated to be held later this month will now be rescheduled in view of the coronavirus outbreak, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday.
The matter has now been escalated and the ministry has written to Customs, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to investigate it thoroughly.
"We expect to host the India-EU summit under the UK presidency in New Delhi and welcome the British Prime Minister to our country later this year," External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said.
Rubio voiced "appreciation" for New Delhi's continued engagement on bilateral issues, including trade, defence and energy.
China has made serious inroads into Latin America, which the US may now be hinting is simply not ok: Stay in your lane, Xi! In simple terms, China will no longer have access to Venezuelan oil, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
The government has no say in where the country's refiners source oil from because these are commercial transactions.
New Zealand has taken a binding commitment under its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India to amend its laws within 18 months of the pact's implementation to facilitate the geographical indication (GI) registration of Indian goods besides wines, and spirits in the island nation. The current GI law of New Zealand only allows India's wines and spirits to be registered.
After a fresh round of human rights dialogue, India and the European Union on Friday concurred on the importance of safeguarding freedom, independence and diversity of civil society actors, including human rights defenders and journalists.
'Trump does have a master plan in mind to put pressure on India with the additional tariff of 25 per cent to get Modi to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the Ukraine war.' 'It has not worked so far. By end-September only we'll know for sure the future trajectory of India's oil purchases from Russia,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India is aiming to become a global hub for green hydrogen exports, eyeing nearly 10 per cent of the worldwide demand by 2030, Union Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said on Tuesday. Addressing FICCI Green Hydrogen Summit 2025, the minister said 8.62 lakh tonne annual hydrogen production capacity has been awarded to 19 companies.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday expressed hope that India will conclude the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US by the fall or November this year. He said that "a little bit" of geopolitical issues overtook the trade matters in the negotiations for the pact between the two countries.
Microblogging platform X has implemented technological measures to prevent its Grok AI chatbot from generating images of real people in revealing clothing in jurisdictions where it is illegal, following government pressure over obscene deepfakes.
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.
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