What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that state Director General of Police K Ramanujam was "rudely accosted and prevented" from approaching the PM's aircraft by an Special Protection Group official during his visit to the state and demanded appropriate action against those responsible for it.
India has managed high government debt-to-GDP, a slowing domestic revenue engine, lower household savings and a more hostile geopolitical environment separately in the past. But together, they threaten to undo the growth narrative on which today's optimism rests, warns Debashis Basu.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
The fiscal tilt towards capex benefits companies in investment-related sectors like capital goods, defence equipment, engineering & construction and metal & mining. The planned cut in revenue expenditure will weigh on companies in consumption sectors like FMCG, consumer durables and retail.
The theatres will start functioning from Friday with the ticket prices set to go up from the present maximum of Rs 120 with the addition of 28 per cent of Goods and Services Tax.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Pamban sea bridge, providing rail link between Rameswaram island and the mainland and flagged off the new Rameswaram-Tambaram (Chennai) train service. The bridge is India's first vertical sea-lift bridge, spanning 2.08 kilometers, and includes a 72.5-meter-long vertical lift span that can be raised up to 17 meters, allowing the smooth passage of large ships while ensuring seamless train operations. Built at a cost of over Rs 550 crore, the bridge features stainless steel reinforcement, high-grade paint, and fully welded joints, enhancing durability while reducing maintenance requirements. The bridge is a remarkable blend of tradition and technology.
This was perhaps a missed opportunity for India to spotlight a core domestic challenge: The scale of workforce preparation required for a young, populous, rapidly growing country seeking to reach net zero, points out Radha Roy Biswas.
Tamil Nadu is set to protest against the National Education Policy (NEP) on February 18, with the ruling DMK and its allies announcing a demonstration. The state government has been at odds with the Centre over the implementation of the NEP and the three-language formula proposed in the policy. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan dismissed the state's opposition as "politics" and asserted that the Centre is committed to implementing the NEP across the country. The DMK, however, accused the Centre of encroaching on the state's rights and using the office of the Governor to push the NEP.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam might have been pushed into a corner to come up with a prohibition policy of its own, if only to create the right atmosphere for talking about an Opposition coalition in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy
Amit Shah seemingly encouraging AIADMK dissident Sengottaiyan after party boss Edappadi K Palaniswami had removed his one-time mentor from all party posts has not gone down well with party cadres. They are now ready to buy Team EPS' theory that the BJP and Amit Shah are out to liquidate the AIADMK, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) adoption rate has risen to over 4.35 per cent, with more than 100,000 people out of 2.3 million eligible individuals opting for it, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman S Ramann said in an exclusive interview with Business Standard on Monday. He also said that six states had approached the PFRDA for help in adoption of the scheme.
State after state has imposed an alcohol ban, and has had to retreat, unable to address the financial and administrative fallout. Are we set for more of this cycle, asks Aditi Phadnis.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday expressed anguish over not being allowed to learn Hindi in Tamil Nadu as a student and was even mocked on the streets for attempting to learn the language.
'Previously, contributing only 25 per cent of material costs, states now face burdens of 40 per cent to 100 per cent of total costs, ensuring poorer states will curb project approvals, directly stifling work demand.'
Reaffirming his unflinching loyalty to his jailed leader All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Jayalalithaa, newly sworn in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Monday chose not to enter the designated chamber for the head of state at the secretariat but function from his erstwhile Minister's office.
The Supreme Court has directed the CBI to conduct a pan-India investigation into digital arrest scams and questioned the RBI about its lack of AI usage in detecting and freezing accounts used by cybercriminals.
'Karur could still impact Jana Nayagan's box-office success if Vijay and the TVK do not get their act together,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'All governments are scared of a negative image.' 'Somehow, this government has a tendency to create a narrative that things are improving.' 'When the real data gives a different picture, they are upset.'
There is no alternative for the party and the state to wait for CM Jaya to return home as CM Jaya, and make her call, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
The 18 year old from an impoverished family in Chennai won the Carrom World Cup, but the title has not changed either her or her father, an autorickshaw driver.
The two weeks that EPS took fending off the Sengottaiyan rebellion has since become lost time for the AIADMK as that was also the time Vijay took to go all-out against Stalin and the DMK, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Centre has proposed exempting life and health insurance policies for individuals from GST, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and convenor of insurance GoM Samrat Choudhary said on Wednesday. Currently, health and life insurance premium attracts 18 per cent GST.
BJP MP and actor Ravi Kishan has been awarded the Sansad Ratna for his outstanding performance in the Lok Sabha, becoming the first actor-turned-politician to receive the honour.
'Only because of the absence of a dedication record in writing, how can such properties be treated as located on misappropriated government land?'
The Tamil Nadu government is set to unveil a housing initiative for 18,720 women employed by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, a key supplier to iPhone-maker Apple, this Saturday. The project, located at Vallam Vadagal near Chennai, marks the first time an Indian state government has constructed a hostel of this scale for a private firm - a model that's been successful in China and Vietnam.
He will succeed incumbent Rajiv Gauba, who completes his unprecedented five-year term in the top bureaucratic post this month-end.
Polling to elect representatives to the 140-member Kerala assembly, 232-member Tamil Nadu assembly and the 30-member Puducherry territorial assembly began at 7 am on Monday.
Radical Islamist networks are deliberately targeting Muslim youths embedded within the country's professional and academic ecosystems, leveraging their skills, mobility, and digital reach to quietly strengthen operational capabilities. This trend highlights a dangerous evolution in terror recruitment -- one that exploits ideological faultlines, online echo chambers and transnational radical Islamist influences to attract individuals who outwardly embody India's modern and aspirational narrative, points out Dr Kanchan Lakshman.
The next generation GST reforms would 'absolutely' set an economy open and transparent with further reduction in compliance burden and benefiting small businesses, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
After his recent stand-up act that caught everyone's attention, Kunal Kamra now faces trouble from a source he probably didn't expect.
'Our vision is to innovate as many products as we can and solve as many problems as possible.'
'States should be compensated for the revenue loss for at least five years or beyond till the revenue stabilises.'
Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowri Shankar is a familiar name across the country. With over 1,500 employees, it is renowned for its filter coffee and Keerai Vada throughout Tamil Nadu. Its operating revenues range from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore.
Students who are selected for Federal Bank Hormis Memorial Foundation Scholarship 2024-25 will receive 100 per cent reimbursement of tuition fees and certain other educational expenses.
TVK cadres are worried, the leadership looks weak, and the party is not fully prepared for the 2026 elections, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Retirement fund body EPFO recorded a 13.46 per cent year-on-year growth in net member addition of 21.89 lakh in June, according to the latest payroll data released on Wednesday. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) provisional payroll data for June 2025 showed a net addition of 21.89 lakh members, marking the highest recorded addition since payroll data tracking began in April 2018, a labour ministry statement said.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
"L2: Empuraan", the second part of the "Lucifer" movie, a trilogy planned by the Prithviraj-Mohanlal team, has become a topic of hot debate over its critique of right-wing politics and the covert mention of the Gujarat riots.
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