The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday upped India's GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.5 per cent, citing lower crude prices, monetary easing and normal monsoon, and said the ongoing geopolitical tensions are unlikely to put a "significant pressure" on the rupee or inflation.
Trump couldn't care less anymore about the Israeli demand for Iran's 'de-nuclearisation' and 'de-militarisation.' Trump pins hopes on a grand bargain with Iran as a partner in America First, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'With the US having entered the war, raising the risks of a wider conflict, those impacts could be even more damaging.'
Oil prices rose following Biden's suggestion that United States and Israeli officials were considering a possible Israeli strike on Iranian oil facilities, as reported by the Washington Post.
India on Monday evacuated 290 Indian nationals and one Sri Lankan citizen from Iran amid an escalation in hostilities between the Persian Gulf nation and Israel following the United States bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was taken over by Russian forces last month, has stopped transmitting data to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations atomic watchdog has said, expressing deep concern for the staff working under Russian troops at the nuclear site in northern Ukraine.
'If they can be duplicitous, we can be equally duplicitous.' 'If they offer friendship, we reciprocate.' 'If they choose hostility, we respond with equal hostility.'
India has abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that demanded that Russia immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The US intelligence assessment highlights Pakistan's near-certain procurement of weapons of mass destruction-applicable goods from foreign suppliers, primarily through Chinese support.
Zahra said that while the university officials visited the students and advised them to remain calm, they did not offer clarity on which areas might be safer.
US President Donald Trump has cut short his visit to Canada, where he was to attend G7 Summit meetings, to return to Washington, DC, a day earlier amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.
US strikes on Iran's three main nuclear facilities have once again raised concerns that Tehran might shut down the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most critical chokepoints, through which a fifth of global oil and gas supply flows.
In an interaction with PTI Videos in New Delhi, Iran's deputy chief of mission to India Mohammad Javad Hosseini also said Americans should "put pressure" and bring the other side back to the negotiating table.
How to conduct the mock exercise with active public participation of people was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan. Top civil and police officers of the country participated in the meeting, official sources said.
Air India on Friday announced that several of its international flights were either diverted or sent back to their origin due to the emerging situation in Iran and the closure of its airspace.
At least four people were killed and 516 others were injured on Saturday in a massive explosion and fire at the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, more than 1,000km south of capital Tehran, according to officials and state media, Al Jazeera reported.
The highlight of Tuesday's debate on Operation Sindoor was the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the rebuttal by Congress's Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi coming a close second.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday questioned the safety of nuclear weapons in the hands of Pakistan, and said they should be taken under monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
One Iranian woman, who is the wife of an Indian national has also been evacuated, he added.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
Notably, India has been calling for dialogue and diplomacy since the war began between Russia and Ukraine.
India on Tuesday evacuated over 1,100 citizens from Iran and Israel amid ongoing tensions between the two countries, taking the number of evacuees under Operation Sindhu to 3,170.
'The condition was getting worse here every minute'
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
India on Tuesday said cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear technology is an important pillar of the multifaceted cooperation with Russia, which offered help in building small tropical nuclear power stations.
The exchange of the list took place under the provisions of an agreement on the prohibition of attack against nuclear installations and facilities, the ministry of external affairs said.
India's strikes on Pakistan damaged runways and structures across at least six airfields, according to a visual analysis by The Washington Post, which experts said were the most significant attacks of their kind in decades of simmering conflict between the two nations.
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'
India is at war with terrorists and will bring justice to victims of the Pahalgam attack by holding the perpetrators accountable, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra has said. He underscored that India launched 'Operation Sindoor' on May 7, striking terror factories at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. Kwatra also criticized Pakistan for its continued support of terrorism and said that the world should be concerned about this.
Some of the suggested strategies include making thoughtful trade-offs between career choices and family responsibilities to avoid the guilt of not spending adequate time with elders and children at home; resisting the pressure to be a 'superwoman' by trying to manage everything alone; demanding, negotiating, and selecting jobs with flexible working hours; exploring work-from-home options; choosing an appropriate time for a career break; upskilling to re-enter the workforce after a break; and communicating openly with family members -- including spouse and in-laws -- about the support needed to grow professionally and the challenges faced at work, highlights N Ravichandran.
'We will see whether there were losses or not, and whether the war aims were achieved. When the truth comes out, some may well be surprised,' says Dassault CEO.
'We should not just react when a terror attack happens on our soil.' 'Our approach should be continuous and a launch pad should be destroyed the moment it comes up.'
While a giant, it's a nimble-footed one, and is growing at a speed that even some of its private sector peers find enviable.
Between FY18 and FY24, it doubled its balance sheet. Despite being a late entrant in some segments, it has been able to grab market share, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Apple products if the tech giant does not shift iPhone production from India to the United States. Trump said he expects iPhones sold in the US to be manufactured in America and not India, or anyplace else. He also said that he had a "little problem" with Apple CEO Tim Cook for building manufacturing facilities in India. Cook had previously said that the majority of iPhones sold in the US would have India as their country of origin. Experts say that shifting production to the US would be more expensive than assembling iPhones in India.
New Delhi is said to have given back the blueprint saying it was capable of going about on its own.
The blast at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) facility at Kahuta, near Islamabad, occurred when the technician was handling conventional explosives and there had been no damage to the nuclear facilities, said Army spokesman Shaukat Sultan.
With the spectre of nuclear terrorism growing, the international community is concerned about the security of India's nuclear facilities. The worry has grown since 2010, when radioactive Cobalt-60 surfaced in a New Delhi scrapyard, killing one person and hospitalising eight others.
'He was deeply committed to nurturing young talent and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration.'
'Would any other nuclear power allow its sensitive installations to be inspected?' he asked.
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