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.
Aseem Mahajan, Additional Secretary (Gulf) in the Ministry of External Affairs, on Saturday informed that five Indians have been killed and one is missing due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia. He added that Indian missions remain open round the clock and are constantly working to provide assistance.
Sensex and Nifty post steepest weekly loss in over a year, falling nearly 3 per cent.
Although extensive air attacks have been carried out to destroy most of Iran's defence capabilities, the latter's resilience and sustenance during the war clearly indicate that the US landing force would encounter severe resistance in the operation, explains Commodore Venugopal Vengalil (retd).
JSW MG Motor India will launch four new models this year, and is planning to invest between 3,000 crore-4,000 crore in the country over the next couple of years. The new models include a plug-in hybrid, an electric vehicle, the Majestor SUV and one additional model yet to be disclosed.
Specifically, military experts are assessing if the 'Octopus' interceptor anti-drone system, produced in the UK to support Ukraine in countering Russian threats, could be repurposed to strengthen British protections against Iran's Shahed drones.
Benchmark indices tumbled about 2 per cent on Friday, capping one of the most turbulent weeks for domestic equities as investors fretted that the West Asian conflict could drag on for weeks or even months.
There are hopes of a turnaround in overall corporate earnings after six quarters of single digit growth.
A fire broke out in huts near the Harbour line tracks in Mumbai's Dharavi area, leading to temporary suspension of train services. No injuries were reported.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
India must act decisively to fully leverage the vast opportunities that exist in India for developing the entire rare earth magnet ecosystem, SIAM president Shailesh Chandra said on Thursday. The government is considering incentives for the production of rare earth minerals and magnets in response to China's restrictions on its global supply, which have disrupted the supply chain.
India should resist knee-jerk responses to tariff volatility in the US and instead use the current geopolitical churn to build manufacturing scale at home, former G20 Sherpa and former chief executive officer of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.
Is the parabolic rise in silver running out of steam or just getting started? Ramalingam Kalirajan offers his take on if you should invest in silver now?
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
Two Indian ships carrying liquified petroleum gas (LPG) from the Gulf countries crossed the Strait of Hormuz early on Saturday morning, raising the number of Indian vessels safely passing through the war-hit, narrow shipping lane to three.
'Why are the political leaders saying everything is normal?'
Traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway resumed at 1.46 am after the damaged gas tanker was shifted from the accident site, an official said.
At the heart of this debate is Section 3(d) of the Patents Act, a safeguard designed to prevent drugmakers from extending monopoly protection through trivial modifications to existing medicines.
'The impact will be minimal and it will only increase compliance cost on consent, data flows, localisation timelines, internal audits, data mapping, and new tooling.'
This year's Economic Survey and the Union Budget were more closely followed for more reasons than one.
India's handling of the Iran crisis reflects a growing strain between strategic autonomy and geopolitical alignment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'I suspect that Bangladesh being given permission stuck in India's official craw, and this story was an attempt to balance the scales by giving the impression that a similar waiver had been given to India as well.'
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
India's decision to import LPG from the US helps it to diversify sources as it reduces almost full reliance on West Asian countries for supply of the country's primary cooking fuel.
For weeks, the war skirted the edge of catastrophe without tipping over. Missiles flew, there was much destruction, commanders were assassinated, cities across the Gulf and even in Israel struggled to absorb the shock. But one line held: Energy infrastructure, the arteries of the global economy, remained largely untouched. That is no longer true. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
When everyone has footage and no one can verify it, the loudest voice wins, notes Prem Panicker who begins a daily blog on the War in the Middle East.
'Credit growth in India remains in double digits, even though corporate borrowing is subdued.' 'Corporate credit is weak because companies are cash-rich and cautious amid global uncertainty.'
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asserted that Uttar Pradesh enjoys a clean environment, unlike Delhi, which he likened to a 'gas chamber' due to its pollution levels.
Pune-based two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto posted its highest ever quarterly revenue and profit after tax (PAT) in Q2FY26. Even as consolidated revenues were up 18.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 15,734.7 crore, PAT zoomed 53.2 per cent to Rs 2,122 crore.
Thousands of farmers and tribal residents are marching towards Mumbai from Nashik to demand land rights and other concessions from the Maharashtra government. A delegation has been invited for talks.
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.
Bajaj Auto is planning a slow, calibrated push to take the Chetak, its electric scooter, to more than 100 countries on the strength of its distributor network and market-specific localisation rather than an aggressive global rollout, reports Sohini Das.
'Without ground troops the US will not be able to oust the Iranian Islamic regime. Political change does not happen just by using bombs or planes.'
'The entire US ecosystem built over decades at the bases in the Gulf region, especially the UAE, costing trillions of dollars have been decimated, dealing a mortal blow to the US Central Command's war capability,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Instant home services act as an on-demand household support system, bridging the gap between informal domestic help and structured service platforms,'
Automobile retail sales rose nearly 18 per cent year-on-year to over 27 lakh units in January, led by continued post-GST momentum, healthy rural cash flows on the back of harvest and weddings, and sustained demand visibility across freight, dealer's body FADA said on Tuesday.
GSM, which is potentially eyeing a Hong Kong listing and was recently valued at $20 billion, operates on a distinct model -- it owns the e-taxis and employs the drivers, while also supplying cars to independent drivers or fleet operators.
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
A 500 per cent tariff would effectively shut out India's goods and services exports to the US.
