Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam has proposed creation of "World Space Council" for global cooperation in the planning and implementation of space exploration and security missions.
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.
India's defence sector is on the cusp of a 'super cycle' of growth, driven by escalating geopolitical conflicts and a strong policy push towards indigenous manufacturing, with major players like BEL, HAL, and BDL poised for significant order inflows and technological advancements.
The International Cricket Council confirmed that stranded players from the South Africa national cricket team and West Indies cricket team have finally left India after Gulf airspace closures during the West Asia conflict disrupted travel following the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
The conflict may disrupt Budget 2026-2027 projections, squeezing revenues and raising subsidies, prompting fiscal adjustments and potential reforms, echoing lessons from the Covid-era shock, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Trump has made it clear: the US will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is signed.
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.
'The West Asia or the Gulf crisis has shown that what we develop as national infrastructure when things are not as bad as they could be, we forget to plan for adversities.'
The ICC said the South African contingent had begun departing for home on Wednesday with "four players and five family members having boarded the flight".
Jos Buttler, who travels to India this week to join Gujarat Titans ahead of the new Indian Premier League season, which begins on March 28, hopes to return to the England side despite a poor T20 World Cup, backing the team's leadership and targeting the India series.
The inauguration of Noida International Airport (NIA) is set to significantly increase property values in micro-markets along the Yamuna Expressway, with projections indicating a 28 per cent rise for plots and 22 per cent for apartments over the next two years, according to Colliers.
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 White House lunch that Trump hosted for Munir last year came just after Munir returned from a visit to Iran, at a moment when Israel and Iran were at war.' 'Trump said after that lunch that the Pakistanis know Iran very well. He likely views Munir as a useful interlocutor that can give helpful insights on Iran.'
India is already a heavyweight in global farm trade in pockets such as rice exports, but experts are urging a pivot from a subsidy- and procurement-driven mindset to a productivity and nutrition strategy that still shields farmers from volatility.
By appearing to privilege ideological affinity over strategic balance, India risks eroding the trust painstakingly built across West Asia. Once the perception takes hold that India's friendship is conditional and transactional, rebuilding credibility will be difficult, warns Amberish K Diwanji.
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.
Restoring weighted tax deductions and adopting a petty patents regime can foster firm-level innovative activity critical for competitiveness, points out Nagesh Kumar.
Domestic gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw their holdings jump 65 per cent to 95 tonnes in 2025, elevating Indian ETFs to sixth place globally, going by holdings of the yellow metal. At the end of 2024, they ranked eighth with 57.5 tonnes of holding, according to an analysis of data from the World Gold Council (WGC).
'Trump says India will buy over $500 billion of US goods.' 'At present, India's annual imports of goods and energy from the US are under $50 billion.' 'Reaching $500 billion would likely require more than 20 years, suggesting the figure refers to a long-term aspiration rather than a near-term commitment.'
In the Indo-Pacific's new era -- where perception shapes reality faster than treaties -- the real entrapment is not of China or the United States. It is the test Japan has set for itself -- and whether partners like India, acting as balancers rather than accelerants, can help ensure that the story ends in stability, points out Varun Arya.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
If Lockheed Martin gets the opportunity, then it will set up a mega hub in India to produce the "iconic" aircraft and it will be the first such global facility outside of the US, top officials of the company told PTI.
Lockheed Martin plans to establish a C-130J Super Hercules co-production facility in India, the first outside the US, as the IAF seeks to procure new transport aircraft.
They also used YouTube extensively to learn how to create Improvised Explosive Devices for carrying out terror attacks. Digital footprints analysed during the interrogation identified the primary handlers as 'Ukasa', 'Faizan' and 'Hashmi'.
'There are very few issues and a political call needs to be taken about some of them.'
'It's fitting that we're coming together on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. The ideals he championed, the equality and dignity of every person, are foundational to the work we do.'
Two modules published by the NCERT, Swadeshi: Vocal for Local (for middle stage) and Swadeshi: For a Self-Reliant India (for secondary stage), carry excerpts from the prime minister's Independence Day address in which he stressed that self-reliance would drive India's journey towards a Viksit Bharat.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has called on Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) to defend the multilateral trading system amid increasing protectionism and tariff volatility during a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.
India's new climate pledge to the UN could be weakened by its growing use of coal, even as the country plans a 2035 roadmap to cut emissions and boost clean energy.
'Did you see the ICC video?? Meant to be celebrating the WTC final -- but instead has 11 shots of Jay Shah in it.'
'The heat shield technology for re-entry vehicles was first mastered in DRDO for the Agni missile.' 'This is why the Americans were so opposed to Agni in the 1980s, unlike other missiles -- it was a re-entry vehicle.'
Glimpses from around the world that will make you smile and cry.
India ended an 11-year-long ICC Trophy drought, beating South Africa by seven runs to claim the ICC T20 World Cup title for the second time on June 29 last year, in Barbados.
He stressed the need to 'ignite the minds' and attract the imagination of young students in order to inspire them to make discoveries relevant to the World Space Vision 2050. Kalam called for all space-faring nations to optimise their space capabilities by contributing substantially in technology and resources.
With the rise of wellness tourism and experiential travel, specialised jobs are being created in spa management, event planning and local experience curation, besides social media management.
What has surprised the industry is that the Bill has been tabled without any consultation. Critics warn the ban on real-money gaming could fuel black markets, endanger 200,000 jobs and billions in tax revenue.
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.
'One Chinese interlocutor said India should realise that "China can do without India, but India could not do without China", pointing to its inability to do without Chinese intermediates and components,' former foreign secretary Shyam Saran discovers on a visit to China.
Jaishankar said the UN Security Council condemned the attack and underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of the reprehensible act and bring them to justice.
Prof Anantha Chandrakasan has been named Massachusetts Institute of Technology's new provost, the first Indian-American to serve in this leadership role.
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