The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained its key policy rates for the fourth consecutive time, keeping the repo rate at 5.25 per cent, while the benchmark BSE Sensex closed 152 points higher in a volatile session, recovering from an intraday dip.
The Congress party is set to challenge the Modi government on a range of critical issues, including alleged theft of Ram temple donations, 'systemic corrosion' of the education system, and constitutional amendment bills related to delimitation and dismissal of ministers, during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
"Our endeavour is to bring headline inflation in line with the target over the medium term," said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, addressing concerns about the central bank's policy stance and economic outlook.
In her address to the nation on the eve of the country's 80th Independence Day, the president stressed that just as government and society remain united to ensure national security, everyone must contribute through joint and concerted efforts to safeguard the present and future of students.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's planned visit to the United States has been denied political clearance by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), citing non-conformity with laid down norms, forcing him to cancel the US leg of his 'TelanganaRising' delegation tour and return to Hyderabad earlier than planned.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said there are some parties that have expressed their inability to attend this particular meeting for their own reasons.
Indian benchmark indices closed marginally higher, with the Sensex gaining over 43 points and the Nifty remaining flat, as a spike in crude oil prices due to geopolitical uncertainties tempered risk appetite.
The major driver of Mod's foreign policy can be gauged from his economic priorities such as creating employment opportunities for the youth bulge. Related to this is emphasis on manufacturing, and infrastructure development, which in turn raises the issue of FDI. He has already articulated his views on all these issues, says Rup Narayan Das.
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.
P V Narasimha Rao strongly felt that the reforms would have to be mindful of Indian concerns and would have to protect the interests of our poor and our working people, he said.
Sonia Gandhi criticised PM Modi's Israel visit, calling it a "bewildering strategic decision" amid the regional conflict.
Not a single retail outlet ran dry. Every household that wanted a cylinder got one. India faced neither a 1991 moment nor a 2013 one. Macroeconomic stability held. This was not an accident, and it was not luck alone. It was the work of a government that chose to act as it had during the pandemic -- deliberately and gradually, building one measure upon another rather than reaching for a single dramatic lever, explains V Anantha Nageswaran, chief economic advisor to the Government of India.
Sonia Gandhi has criticised the Modi government's silence on the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader, arguing it raises doubts about India's foreign policy direction and credibility.
The BJP today said if voted to power, it would pursue a "muscular and far-sighted foreign policy" to secure India's interests, which the party alleged had been "substantially compromised" by the United Progressive Alliance government.
The Pakistani military has ousted the civilian government from the role making strategic decisions and has taken virtual control of the foreign policy, a noted and award-winning Pakistani journalist said on Tuesday. "Pakistan's military has virtually taken control of foreign policy and strategic decision making from the civilian government.Thus Pakistan's foreign policy reflects the military's obsession with India," wrote Ahmed Rashid in The Washington Post.
The Supreme Court is reviewing a plea challenging the 2025 SHANTI Act, which caps liability at Rs 3,000 crore for nuclear plant incidents, raising concerns about victim compensation and operator accountability.
We present the highlights of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address at the annual conclave of Indian ambassadors/high commissioners abroad in New Delhi on Monday.
Despite decades of efforts towards energy transition, oil will remain the critical energy source for all nations for some decades. We can hope for peace opening the Strait of Hormuz, but must prepare for war closing it, points out former foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai.
Polish envoy Piotr Antoni Switalski stated that Poland stands with India in the fight against terrorism, asserting his country's support for India's right to pursue terrorists globally, while also highlighting strong cultural and defence ties between the two nations.
The statement by United States president-elect Barack Obama regarding American intervention in Kashmir is his first foreign policy mistake, a leading expert on South Asia said on Tuesday. A Kashmir initiative by America, however veiled, can undermine improving India-US ties, Selig S Harrison, director of Asia Programme at the Center for International Policy and a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International, said an opinion piece published in The Washington Times.
'The big power struggle in faraway Europe erupted at a most critical juncture when India has been increasingly sceptical about American policies and statesmanship,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Slamming government's foreign policy as "hazy and directionless", the BJP on Tuesday said India cannot become a super power by "riding piggy back" on the US and wondered why efforts were not being made to counter China's attempts to attain dominance in South Asia.
India is navigating a complex diplomatic landscape, attempting to balance its 'forever honeymoon' with the Israel-UAE-Bahrain axis against its historical ties with Iran, as evidenced by recent high-level visits and evolving geopolitical realignments in the Middle East, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US foreign policy under President Donald Trump would put "America first" and would be based on the principle of "peace through strength," the White House said today, hinting at massive military expansion under the new administration to maintain "unquestioned" US military dominance.
Through his commitment to democratic norms, debate, dissent and constitutionalism, Jawaharlal Nehru helped ensure that parliamentary democracy took deep root in independent India. Utkarsh Mishra evaluates Nehru's 17 years as India's first prime minister, examining his role in nation-building, democratic institution-building, economic planning, scientific advancement and foreign policy.
A US federal judge has permanently dismissed the criminal securities-fraud case against Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, closing nearly two years of prosecution without a trial. Gautam Adani stated, "Truth has prevailed," in response to the ruling.
The challenge thrown by the youth movement creates the opportunity for a more consequential debate on India's economic trajectory because it must remain centered on India's youth as its driving impulse, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
India's foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows are projected to surpass $90 billion in 2025-26 (FY26), driven by robust policy reforms, free trade agreements, and strong economic growth, according to DPIIT Secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia.
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty saw a significant rebound in early trade, driven by softer-than-expected US inflation data which has reinforced expectations of a less aggressive monetary policy stance from the Federal Reserve, providing relief to global risk assets.
The Indian stock market is poised for a volatile week, influenced by the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision, crucial global macroeconomic data, and the escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia, according to market analysts.
Why the industry's public position changed is difficult to say. What the developments did establish, though, is that ethanol-blended petrol has become one of the country's most politically and commercially sensitive policy issues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that any attempts to undermine India's sovereignty through 'threats of sanctions' would 'boomerang immediately' under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, highlighting India's sovereign decision-making and strong national interests.
The policy unveiled by the home ministry is based on seven key pillars to counter the terror threats emanating from India or abroad -- prevention, responses, aggregating internal capacities, human rights and "Rule of Law"-based processes.
Top leaders of opposition parties including Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC's Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal and Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, besides Left leaders and those from smaller parties, are likely to attend the meeting at the Constitution Club in the national capital.
'The prohibition regime has been accompanied by concerns regarding the expansion of the illicit liquor trade, increased enforcement challenges and corruption, and the growing use of alternative intoxicants, including illicit drugs.'
Analysts predict that the US-Iran geopolitical conflict, upcoming quarterly earnings announcements, and fluctuations in crude oil prices will be the primary drivers of investor sentiment in the Indian equity markets.
Pakistani envoys posted in key world capitals, including New Delhi and Beijing, gathered in Islamabad on Monday with top political and military leaders for a meeting that will provide inputs for a proposed foreign policy revamp.
India is "very important" for America's foreign policy and crucial for the stability and peace in the region, an influential US lawmaker said on Thursday. "India is a very important part of the United States foreign policy," Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who is co-chair of the Congressional caucus on Pakistan and heads the Afghan caucus said at a panel discussion in Washington.
