The Indian government has convened an all-party meeting to discuss the ongoing crisis in West Asia, following Prime Minister Modi's address to Parliament on the situation and its potential impact on India.
Trump has made it clear: the US will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is signed.
Real GDP growth surprised on the upside in 2025, but weaker nominal growth, trade uncertainty, and soft demand signal a bumpier road ahead.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
The bank said in its 'Global Development Horizons 2011 - Multipolarity: The New Global Economy' report that Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Russia will help drive growth in lower income countries through cross-border commercial and financial transactions. It said the international monetary system will no longer be dominated by a single currency.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju criticises Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's parliamentary conduct, accusing him of being unduly influenced by advisors and questioning his casual attire in the House.
Indian stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty experienced a significant drop in early trade due to rising crude oil prices, bearish global market trends, and continuous foreign fund outflows.
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The IRGC said the barrage targeted several US military facilities in the region, including bases at Sheikh Isa in Bahrain, Juffair in Bahrain, Ali al-Salem in Kuwait and Al Azraq in Jordan.
The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar due to a strengthening dollar, high crude oil prices, and foreign fund outflows amid geopolitical uncertainties.
The clock on the ceasefire is running out. But everyone's already whispering about round two, possibly as soon as this weekend.
'This Budget has a one-year agenda, which you can call the sprint, and the marathon is towards Viksit Bharat.'
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has proposed immediate demand-side measures, including remote work, lower speed limits, and reduced air travel, to mitigate the impact of a global oil supply shock caused by Middle East disruptions.
Israel wishes to continue its bombing campaign until Iran's military and industrial infrastructure are degraded to a point where it ceases to pose a threat to Israel. Iran, for its part, has learnt from its experience in the 12-day war of last June. Any ceasefire, it believes, will only be a prelude to another attack on itself. It is determined to convey that any attack on Iran will impose heavy costs on Israel, the US, America's allies in the Gulf -- and on the world at large, points out T T Ram Mohan.
Goldman Sachs has materially lowered its earnings growth forecast for Indian companies by a cumulative 9 percentage points over the next two years.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
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.
Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha criticised the Modi government's economic policies, citing the LPG crisis, lack of energy security, and concerns over the Economic Stabilisation Fund.
The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched an artificial intelligence and computational thinking curriculum for classes 3 to 8, aiming to integrate structured AI education into the school system.
By all available indications, the White House drafted a face-saving note and handed it, ready-made, to Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to then post it in the guise of a plea urging Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks 'to allow diplomacy to run its course'. Trump would then graciously accept Pakistan's 'request' and declare a ceasefire. Sharif dutifully posted the message on X. Except that he, or whoever was handling the account, forgot to delete the tell-tale first line visible in the edit history: 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X'. Prem Panicker's must read blog on the Iran War.
The ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran intensified sharply with attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf, even as US President Donald Trump said he had cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against targeting Iran's key South Pars Gas Field.
The Indian government has extended the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) mandate to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent, with a tolerance band of 2 per cent on either side, for another five years until March 2031.
The Trump administration has announced a temporary authorisation for countries to purchase Russian oil stranded at sea, aiming to stabilise global energy markets amid rising oil prices and tensions with Iran.
The International Monetary Fund has said the global economy in 2009 is likely to contract for the first time since the Second World War.
India's real GDP grew 8.2 percent in the second quarter of 2025-26, up from 7.8 percent in the first quarter and 7.4 percent in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal.
Fitch Ratings on Friday said persistently higher oil prices could cause India's retail inflation to rise faster than the expected gradual pace, and lead to a slowdown in economic growth in the first half of financial year 2026-27 (FY27).
Foreign investors pulled out Rs 21,000 crore (around $2.3 billion) from Indian equities over the last four trading sessions amid deteriorating global risk sentiment triggered by the West Asia crisis.
The Congress party has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diplomatic efforts following the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, facilitated in part by Pakistan. The party claims this development undermines Modi's strategy and exposes his perceived failures in foreign policy.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that it is premature to comment on the tariff changes announced by the United States, adding that the commerce ministry is currently reviewing the situation.
Migration from Kerala has become a significant issue in the upcoming Assembly elections, with political parties promising to create more opportunities within the state to discourage emigration for studies and jobs. Experts suggest focusing on 'brain gain' strategies to attract talent back to Kerala after gaining experience abroad.
Kerala's 2026 assembly election will see a three-cornered contest where religion and communalism have emerged as central themes for the first time, challenging the state's long-celebrated secular fabric.
The United States, which entered this war in expectation of a short, sharp win along the Venezuela model, is now preparing for deeper involvement in a conflict it does not fully control, without the allies it typically relies on, against an adversary that is not behaving as expected, in a global environment that is already absorbing economic shock. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces increased domestic LPG production to offset import disruptions caused by Middle East tensions, alongside assurances of fertiliser availability and the clearing of UPA-era oil bonds.
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 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) rates has increased the momentum in India's economic activity both on the supply and demand sides, while robust agricultural activity - reflected in the strong onset of rabi sowing and adequate reservoir levels - has reinforced the outlook for food supply and rural incomes, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
"It is quite possible that the rates will remain low in the near to medium term, but that will depend on how conditions evolve," said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra.
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