The US Congress has paid tribute to the late Indian-American entrepreneur Sivaramakrishnan Somasegar, known as 'Soma', for his significant contributions to Microsoft and the broader technology sector. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene highlighted his impactful career at Microsoft, his role in fostering new startups, and his community involvement, including co-founding the Seattle Orcas cricket team.
The US Supreme Court is poised to rule on the legality of state laws in West Virginia and Idaho that ban transgender student athletes from female sports teams. This contentious issue, deeply embedded in the nation's culture wars, challenges federal anti-discrimination laws and the Constitution's equal protection clause.
India too can rise to the top if the 1.4 billion Indians back home are given better opportunities to use their innate talent and capacity to work hard, with right incentives in a more meritocratic rules-based system, asserts Ajay Chhibber.
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.
'Actual implementation of the 14-point agreement is proving hard to achieve let alone striking and sustaining a long-term treaty or deal.'
Beijing clearly intends to extend the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor to Bangladesh as part of its larger Maritime Belt and Road Initiative to boost its Indian Ocean presence.
If we really want to curb the further depreciation of the rupee and make the rupee appreciate, we want to come out of the mindset that the exchange rate is merely a number, bring policy corrections to help reduce the outflow of foreign exchange by imposing suitable tariffs to discourage imports and bring self reliance, discipline FPIs, and correcting rules governing royalty outflows, suggests Dr Ashwani Mahajan, National Co-Convenor, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz declared that the Israeli military will not withdraw from its security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, directly opposing the newly announced American-led diplomatic framework with Tehran. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir further asserted Israel's sovereignty, stating, "Trump's agreement does not bind us. Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation!"
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.
The 42-year-old, who has had stints at Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter, made the announcement of leaving his role as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence in a post on X on Saturday.
Climate change has increased the likelihood of temperatures high enough to affect player performance at 97 of the 104 tournament matches.
Iran's World Cup campaign has left many Iranian-Americans torn between supporting Team Melli and opposing the country's leadership, highlighting deep divisions within Los Angeles' influential Iranian diaspora.
Pramila Jayapal, founder and former executive director of One America -- the largest immigrant advocacy organisation in Washington State -- is running for State Senate from the 37th District.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, is set to be football's largest tournament but will unfold against a backdrop of significant geopolitical tensions, including conflicts, strained alliances, and complex immigration policies, challenging its traditional role as a symbol of global unity.
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed marginally lower due to profit-taking, following the Reserve Bank of India's decision to keep the repo rate unchanged while lowering its growth expectations for the current fiscal year and forecasting higher inflation.
India emerged reasonably well from 2025. But now, the oil shock and war-related supply disruptions have again driven funds out of India and significantly weakened the rupee, points out Ajay Chhibber.
Nineteen United States states have sued the Trump administration over its 'unlawful' decision to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, warning that the move will worsen labour shortages in key sectors such as health care, education and technology.
India has expressed serious concerns about the West Asia crisis and its potential impact on energy supplies and maritime stability, urging BRICS nations to find practical solutions to geopolitical challenges and unilateral sanctions.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that the country has held no "direct" talks with the United States as of now and added that it has received messages through some mediators regarding the US' desire for negotiations.
'Once the currency goes out of the hand, then possibly your major challenge is that it will not come back.'
China has established a new county in Xinjiang province near Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Afghanistan border, a move seen as strengthening security along the Wakhan Corridor and addressing concerns about Uyghur separatist militants.
A new study reveals that human cells, including cancer cells, possess the ability to sense their environment far beyond their immediate point of contact, potentially influencing cell movement and cancer spread.
A new study reveals that human cells, including cancer cells, possess the ability to sense their environment far beyond their immediate point of contact, potentially influencing cell movement and cancer spread.
Chaffing under public ridicule in the US as well as internationally for having 'lost' the war, Trump is under immense pressure to do something, cautions Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Both sides have now revealed a preference for escalation over strategic defeat, and each new provocation narrows the space for the next pause. The Touska seizure, Iran's refusal to negotiate under blockade, Israel's strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure -- all of these add up to an increasingly untenable situation. This makes the wild card -- Trump and his motormouth -- more consequential than ever, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
...reopen for up to six months. Until then, the Strait stays nearly closed. The world pays. And no one, including the man who started this, can say when it ends, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Nobody takes Pakistan seriously and therefore Pakistan's sudden mediating with almost immediate results of a ceasefire seems more contrived than real, points out Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
The question is whether the clocks allow enough time for two deeply mistrustful sides to get there, and whether the surface calm holds long enough for the paddling to produce something before the ceasefire ends on April 22, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
India has rejected a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that criticised India's record on religious freedom and called for linking US security assistance and trade to improvements in this area.
'It was diminishing even before Trump came to power.' 'The US was at the centre of the global economy. That position is going to become less and less important and less central.'
Trump seems to have estimated that Ghalibaf is a pragmatic politician who is receptive to close relations with the US and is enthusiastic about fostering business and economic ties in particular, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The logic of war plus the gathering storms in US politics as the midterms loom large leave him with no real alternative but to negotiate, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'As result, Netanyahu 'convinced' Trump to go to war with the help of overoptimistic Israeli intelligence assessments, essentially explaining to him that they only need to bomb Iran for 3-4 days, and the regime would then collapse.' 'Rather unsurprisingly, Netanyahu is ever since blaming his own intel service for the entire operation failing.'
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
Neal Katyal, an accomplished Indian-American lawyer, triumphed in a landmark Supreme Court case against Donald Trump's tariffs, championing the Constitution and the rights of American small businesses.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
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.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
'We need to give Pakistan something serious to think about on its eastern front -- that is the only way to actually help Afghanistan right now.'
