The dissidents, led by former president Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party, would leave the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna coalition with its 14 Members of Parliament, party sources said after their meeting with the President on Monday.
Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for a dialogue with the military establishment, saying the country is currently governed by "jungle law." Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, also said that rumors of a deal being made with him are entirely false. He criticized the government's handling of the economy, terrorism, and India's alleged attacks, and warned that Pakistan's moral and constitutional framework has been destroyed.
'Things may get much worse before they get better,' predicts Ajay Chhibber.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Sri Lanka, where he will hold talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and strengthen ties through agreements on defence, energy security, and digitalisation. This visit aims to further bolster the already strong relationship between the two nations and is expected to include several outcomes, including a defence cooperation agreement, debt restructuring, and a currency swap. This visit comes at a time when Sri Lanka is recovering from an economic crisis, where India played a significant role in providing financial assistance.
'Famine in Gaza is not a failure of logistics or aid. What is to blame is deliberate starvation caused by a brutal war.' 'Any child dying in a war zone is a vote of no confidence against humanity.'
'This is how it works in Delhi. Step One: Wait for a shortage to develop. Step Two: Run around squawking until the deafest trader on the global markets has had the message drummed into his ears. Step Three: Engage in panic buying from abroad at suitably inflated prices.'
'Granting the country's highest civilian honour to Prime Minister Modi was surprising as it indicated the government was going out of its way to have India as a close partner.'
Victory wrested from regime that only listens when forced, the TMC said on GST exemption on insurance.
'There are still plenty of jobs out there -- but not enough people with the right skills to fill them.'
'I realised why the farmers and the rural folks are going for Trump. They are so insecure and vulnerable that anybody who is throwing a line of hope to them, they seize it.'
The PM's speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort today was " stale, hypocritical, insipid, and troubling", the Congress general secretary said.
Ordinary folk, every newspaper and TV channel in the country, Congressmen (including the ones who were screaming for bank bailouts during 2008) and even people on the Wall Street (what an irony!) are furious that AIG should be paying some of its executives handsome bonuses while on the dole. The details of the AIG bailout that have been made public, reluctantly, by the government focus the spotlight more clearly on the faults of the system as a whole.
His remarks came in response to several European nations announcing their decision to recognise a Palestinian state during a summit at the UNGA on Monday. While the move was largely symbolic, it added to Israel's diplomatic isolation. Washington, however, has made clear it does not support the step.
Women, men and children waiting in long queues to buy kerosene are a common sight in Colombo and other Sri Lankan cities after the nation's severe economic crisis cut off supplies of petroleum products to the island.
Embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had declared a state of emergency with effect from May 6 midnight, the second time in just over a month amidst growing countrywide anti-government protests over the economic crisis.
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.
'These efforts by Beijing can be weaponised one day with economic, security and political implications for India.'
'You are a guest in the US. It's not your home, you're a guest. If they don't feel comfortable, you have to step out.'
Sri Lanka's new Finance Minister Ali Sabry on Tuesday resigned, a day after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him after sacking his brother Basil Rajapaksa amidst the island nation's worst economic crisis.
Breaking his silence after nine years, Vijay Mallya said he may return to India if assured a fair trial.
GST 2.0 may cushion consumers against US tariffs, but like the 2019 corporate tax cut, it risks being another tactical fix rather than a structural growth strategy, expects Debashis Basu.
Glimpses from around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Industry leaders urge India to pursue diplomatic talks with the US, strengthen manufacturing, and consider China ties to gain leverage against tariff pressures.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office on Monday said that Mahinda Rajapaksa intends to propose a new Constitutional Amendment to the cabinet in order to fulfil the people's aspirations.
The deal fell through over unresolved disagreements over contentious issues, mainly on agriculture and automotive sector tariffs.
'But that was not our aim. Our objective was already achieved.'
The 17 rare earth elements that are at the centre of the current crisis are critical components of everyday products -- from cars to jet engines to electronics like smartphones and flat-screen TVs.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that some Congress leaders pressured individuals to donate funds to the Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) on instructions from senior party functionaries. The ED's chargesheet in the National Herald case claims that these individuals made payments to the company "under the influence" from senior leaders who promised them "certain favours" in party politics. The chargesheet, filed on April 9 before a local court, names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused, along with five others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that these donations were not made voluntarily but in expectation of political benefits. The ED also found that YI and AJL received funds from various entities through "quid pro quo" arrangements, where individuals were asked to make payments for advertisements in the National Herald in exchange for past favours from Congress leaders.
The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged UN member nations to extend cooperation for it.
'No respite from economic pain is worth the loss of dignity and self-respect,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The bench said, given the pressing nature of the crisis, particularly in cities like Kota, Jaipur, Sikar, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad, and Delhi, where students migrate in large numbers, immediate interim safeguards are the call of the day.
All essentials are in short supply due to import restrictions forced by the forex crisis.
'...they always address problems superficially, never tackling root causes.' 'Currently, the policy response will focus on immediate relief -- getting people to safety, providing facilities, clearing debris.' 'This is necessary, but once immediate relief operations end, everything returns to 'normal' without addressing underlying vulnerabilities.'
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet in the Associated Journals Limited-Young Indian-National Herald money-laundering case, seeking confiscation of assets worth Rs 661 crore and appending statements of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The agency has accused the Gandhis of orchestrating a conspiracy to illegally obtain the underlying assets of AJL by the beneficial owners of YI (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi). Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have denied any wrongdoing and said the takeover of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian (YI) was not for commercial purposes. The Congress has slammed the chargesheet, alleging that the ED action against its leaders shows panic and moral bankruptcy of the "despotic" government, while the BJP has continued to call out the role of the Gandhi family in the matter.
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
'What the US appears to be doing is to force India to be "the buyer of last resort", on whom their products can be dumped, 1.4 billion people have to eat something, so why not eat American corn?' 'What is exercising the Trump lot is the fact that most of the farms are in solidly Republican Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
Rajapaksa said he took the best steps like trying to form an all-party government to counter the economic meltdown.
Amid uncertainty over trade talks with the US, Prime Minister Modi asserts India's commitment to protecting the interests of farmers and fishermen, vowing no compromise on their behalf.
Glimpses from Sri Lanka's presidential election, the first polls since the island's economic crisis, in Colombo and Jaffna, September 21, 2024.
The free fall of economies could be arrested only after a massive coordinated effort by world leaders from the G-20 nations.
