The Hindu - International
SC blames NTA for leak of 2026 NEET paper
The Supreme Court on Monday squarely blamed the National Testing Agency (NTA) for the National EligibilitycumEntrance TestUndergraduate (NEETUG), 2026, paper leak, saying the exam body sadly had not learnt its lesson even two years after the previous...
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U.S. and India call for ‘unimpeded’ sea trade
The United States works with many countries at a “tactical” level, but those relations will not disturb the strategic partnership with India, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said here on Sunday. Addressing a joint press conference at the Hyderabad...
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Larger, poorer States set for higher funds under new rural employment scheme
Larger, poorer States are set to get higher funding under the Centre’s new rural jobs scheme, with draft rules for the Viksit BharatGuarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VBG RAM G) proposing to use the 16th Finance Commission’s horizontal...
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SC refers UAPA bail curbs issue to larger Bench
The Supreme Court on Friday granted six months of interim bail to two accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case while referring to a larger Bench the question of whether prolonged incarceration and delay in trial can override the stringent bail curbs under...
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Ebola crisis: India-Africa summit postponed
The Ebola public health emergency in Africa cast its shadow on India’s diplomatic calendar on Thursday, with the Ministry of External Affairs and the African Union announcing the postponement of the IndiaAfrica Forum SummitIV that was scheduled to...
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India, Italy seal defence pact, elevate their bilateral ties to a ‘special strategic partnership’
India and Italy have been in continuous contact over the conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, reiterating his call for “dialogue and diplomacy” to resolve the festering wars. Delivering a press statement...
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Delhi Police ask SC to review UAPA bail terms
The Delhi Police on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the question of whether prolonged incarceration and delay of trial could override the statutory restrictions on bail under antiterror laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967,...
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SC has ‘reservations’ on its own bail decision
The Supreme Court on Monday voiced “serious reservations” about “various aspects” of its January judgment refusing bail to former JNU student leader Umar Khalid and coaccused Sharjeel Imam in the Delhi riots ‘larger conspiracy’ case, including the...
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Ordinance increases number of SC judges to 37
President Droupadi Murmu has promulgated an ordinance increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court to 37 — excluding the Chief Justice of India. The May 16 Gazette notification says “Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied...
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Manipur stir on; Kukis want President’s Rule back
Thousands of KukiZo people took to the streets in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts of Manipur on Saturday, demanding the unconditional release of Kuki hostages and justice for three church leaders killed in an ambush by extremists on May 13. In a...
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Petrol and diesel prices hiked by ₹3 per litre
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by ₹3 a litre across all variants on Friday, in the first major increase in more than four years. The move will help staterun oil marketing companies (OMCs) stem some of their losses caused by global price and...
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Efforts on to release Kuki, Naga people held hostage in Manipur: Ministers
A day after four persons were killed in separate incidents in Manipur, the State’s Home Minister, Govindas Konthoujam, said on Thursday that at least 38 people from the Kuki and Naga communities are being held hostage by different groups. While some...
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Centre doubles the import duty on gold, silver; move is criticised as retrograde
The Centre has doubled the effective tax paid on the import of gold and silver to a total of 18.4% from the previous 9.2%. The changes, which came into effect on Wednesday, were made through two separate notifications issued late on Tuesday...
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NEET-UG 2026 is cancelled after paper leak
The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday cancelled the National EntrancecumEligibility TestUndergraduate (NEETUG) conducted on May 3 after evidence emerged that the paper was leaked. The NTA is expected to announce the schedule for the retest...
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India has sufficient stocks of fuel, commodities: govt.
India faces no shortage of petroleum products and commodities despite the escalating conflict in West Asia, the fifth meeting of the Informal Group of Ministers (IGoM), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Kartavya Bhavan in New Delhi, was...
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Vijay sworn in as CM, promises transparent, clean governance
Ushering in a change in Tamil Nadu’s bipolar Dravidian political landscape that has been in existence since 1967, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president and actor C. Joseph Vijay, 52, was sworn in as Chief Minister at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in...
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Vijay to take reins today; T.N. set for coalition govt.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of a coalition government in Tamil Nadu on Sunday, putting an end to almost six decades of alternating rule by the State’s two dominant Dravidian parties —...
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Uncertainty continues over T.N. govt. formation
Uncertainty prevailed over government formation in Tamil Nadu on Friday night as the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) remained undecided on backing actor C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), though the Communist Party of India and the...
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DMK mulls backing AIADMK in T.N. Assembly
The postelection political climate in Tamil Nadu turned upside down on Thursday after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leadership began toying with the idea of extending outside support to its archrival, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam...
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T.N. Governor asks Vijay to give proof of majority
Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is learnt to have asked Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay, who on Wednesday evening staked claim to form the next government, to produce letters demonstrating support of 118 MLAs,...
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Won’t resign as we did not lose, it is a forcible attempt to defeat us, says Mamata
A day after her party suffered a massive setback in the Assembly election in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday she would not resign as Chief Minister as “we did not lose the election”. “The question does not...
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NDA secures a record third term in Assam
BJPled National Democratic Alliance on Monday scripted a record victory in Assam, bagging 102 of the 126 Assembly seats to retain power for a third straight term. The BJP won 82 seats, which is 18 more than the majority mark of 64, while its regional...
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Parties set for verdict; EC vows transparency
The Election Commission on Sunday said it would uphold the “highest standards of transparency, security and efficiency” when votes polled in the elections to the Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry and the bypolls in...
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SC backs EC circular on counting staff
The Supreme Court on Saturday called it a “fallacy” nursed by the Trinamool Congress that West Bengal Government services’ employees owe allegiance to it and Central employees were loyal to or controlled by the party ruling the Centre. They are...
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Govt. hikes price of commercial LPG, 5-kg cylinders, bulk diesel
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Friday sharply hiked the price of commercial LPG by ₹993 per cylinder and that of 5kg free trade LPG by ₹261 per cylinder. Further, the price of bulk diesel was raised from ₹137 to ₹149 per litre. Whilst the OMCs did...
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Iran vows to protect its nuclear programme
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday that the country would “safeguard” its “nuclear and missile” capabilities and lay down new rules for managing the Strait of Hormuz, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said a blockade of...
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Heavy polling in Bengal Phase 2
There was a record turnout of 92.6% in the second and final phase of polling for the West Bengal Assembly election on Wednesday, amidst isolated incidents of unrest and violence. This is in tune with the record turnout in the first phase, where 93.19%...
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UAE announces exit from OPEC group weakening cartel’s bargaining power
The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) effective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its thirdlargest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and...
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India, New Zealand sign ‘historic’ trade deal
India and New Zealand on Monday signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that Prime Ministers of both the countries hailed as a “historic” step towards deepening trade, investment, and peopletopeople ties. The FTA, signed by Commerce Minister Piyush...
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Trump unhurt as gunman attacks press event
Aman armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attended by U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday night, charging toward the ballroom in a chaotic encounter with Secret Service agents as...
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U.S. envoys not to travel to Pakistan, says Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had ordered his envoys not to travel to Pakistan to continue talks with Iranian officials on ending the war. “I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with...
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IsraelLebanon ceasefire extended by 3 weeks
Israel and Lebanon have extended their fragile ceasefire by three weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday after meeting representatives from both countries in Washington. “The Meeting went very well! The U.S. is going to work with...
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T.N., Bengal see massive turnout
Tamil Nadu made electoral history on Thursday as it recorded its highest polling percentage in an Assembly election — 85.15%. According to provisional figures, over 4.85 crore people voted from 7 a.m. in all the 234 Assembly constituencies to elect the...
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Iran seizes two ships hours after Trump extends truce
Iran has seized two vessels, one of them claimed to be affiliated with Israel, in the Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was extending the ceasefire with...
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U.S-Iran talks in doubt; truce expiring today
With the twoweek truce in the U.S.Israel war on Iran due to expire on Wednesday, Iran said on Tuesday the U.S. blockade of its ports and the seizure of a tanker in the Gulf of Oman amounted to violation of ceasefire. Iran added that it has yet to...
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Iran yet to decide on fresh round of talks; Trump to keep blockade
Tehran said on Monday it had yet to decide on joining a new round of peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, citing “bad faith” and “historical mistrust”, while U.S. President Donald Trump said the naval blockade imposed on Iran would remain in...
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23 people killed in explosion at a firecracker factory near Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu
In one of the deadliest accidents at a fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu in recent times, 23 workers were killed and eight injured in an explosion at Vanaja Fireworks Unit at Kattanarpatti near Virudhunagar on Sunday. A second explosion at the unit...
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NDA will remove hurdles before women’s reservation, says PM
Aday after the government failed to secure passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Act and the Delimitation Bill — which sought to implement 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies — Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the...
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United Opposition defeats Delimitation Bill
Aunited Opposition on Friday defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to redistribute Lok Sabha seats on the basis of the 2011 Census to expedite the implementation of women’s reservation. Union Home Minister Amit Shah...
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South’s share of seats will not be cut, PM and Shah tell Lok Sabha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that the Bills to amend the women’s reservation law and carry out a fresh delimitation exercise will keep current proportional representation of southern...
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States’ seats will rise 50% after delimitation: Centre
All States will have their number of Lok Sabha seats increase by half after delimitation, and no State will lose its current proportional strength in Parliament, a senior government functionary told The Hindu on Wednesday. He said Union Home Minister...
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Centre moots inter-State redistribution of Lok Sabha seats based on 2011 Census
States that have stabilised their populations could see their share of representation in Parliament shrinking if proposals in the drafts of a Constitution Amendment Bill and a Delimitation Bill circulated by the Centre become law. The Budget Session...
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SC tells EC that voting is a sentimental right
The Supreme Court on Monday told the Election Commission of India (EC) that the right to be on the electoral roll and to vote in one’s own country is not only constitutional but sentimental. The top court was referring to lakhs of voters excluded for...
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Iran, U.S. blame each other as talks fail
The United States and Iran ended facetoface talks in Pakistan on Sunday without an agreement, each side keeping the onus on the other without narrowing their differences and leaving a fragile twoweek ceasefire in the war in West Asia in doubt. U.S....
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U.S., Iran hold direct talks in Pak. as truce holds
The United States and Iran began facetoface negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday, days after a fragile, twoweek ceasefire was announced in the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets. The White House confirmed the direct...
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10 killed as overcrowded boat capsizes in Yamuna
Aboat carrying devotees from Punjab capsized in the Yamuna river in Mathura district in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, leaving at least 10 dead and several others missing. About 18 people were rescued and efforts were being made to locate the others,...
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Huge turnout in Assam, Puducherry and Kerala
There was record poll participation in the Assembly elections on Thursday, with the highestever voter turnout of 85.91% in Assam and 89.87% in Puducherry, crossing the previous highs of 84.67% for the State in 2016, and 86.19% for the Union Territory...
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Fragile ceasefire takes hold between U.S., Iran
The twoweek ceasefire announced by the U.S. and Iran hung in the balance on Wednesday with each side offering divergent accounts of its terms and Israel launching one of its heaviest air strikes on Lebanon since the war began, drawing swift...
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West Bengal voters shrink 12% after reviews
Over 27 lakh West Bengal voters who were put under adjudication were excluded from the electoral rolls following the completion of the judicial reviews on Tuesday, with over a quarter of such deletions occurring in two Muslimdominated districts. In...
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SC denies Bengal plea to stay voter roll freeze
The Supreme Court on Monday declined the West Bengal government’s appeal to wait for a few more days before freezing the electoral roll so that many of the over 20 lakh voters, who could not pass the verification by judicial officers after being...
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Trump hails rescue; Iran says U.S. lost planes
AU.S. Air Force officer whose F15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down in Iran on Friday was rescued by U.S. Special Operations forces in “one of the most daring search and rescue operations in U.S. history” on Saturday night, President Donald...
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T.N. CM, Union Minister clash over threelanguage formula
With the Tamil Nadu Assembly election around the corner, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s announcement that it will implement the threelanguage formula in a phased manner from 202627 kicked off a war of words between the DMK...
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Plan to relocate Great Nicobar’s tribal communities stirs fresh concern
A draft plan outlining the “relocation” of Nicobarese tribal communities affected by the Union government’s Great Nicobar Island (GNI) megainfrastructure project “to their ancestral lands” has created confusion and is exacerbating existing...
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Gherao of judicial staff a challenge to SC: CJI
The Supreme Court on Thursday said a mob gherao of seven judicial officers, confining them without food or water for more than nine hours at a government office in Malda district of West Bengal, reportedly after several voters were struck off the...
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Commercial LPG, jet fuel rates hiked amid war
Staterun oil marketing firms hiked the price of commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders by more than 10% in major metro cities on Wednesday, while the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) was more than doubled for international air travel...
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Trump blasts allies, tells them ‘get your own oil’
U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at allies on Tuesday telling them to fend for themselves regarding oil supplies, adding to the pressure within the Western military alliance, NATO, whose members have not joined the U.S. and Israel in their war on...
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Trump threatens Iran’s oil, power sites over deal
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration was engaging in talks with Iran and threatened to strike its oil, power, and water infrastructure if Tehran did not quickly agree to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran denied...
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Iranians warn U.S. against ground invasion
Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever”, Iranian state media reported Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as saying on Sunday while warning...
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Early March economic data shows slowing growth
Economic indicators are beginning to show signs of slowing growth in response to the constraints created by the war in West Asia, the Ministry of Finance has said in a new report. The Monthly Economic Review for March, released on Saturday by the...
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Petrol, diesel excise duty cut; prices won’t drop
The Union government on Thursday reduced the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on petrol and diesel by ₹10 per litre each, effectively bringing the duty on diesel to zero and on petrol to ₹3/litre. The move will not, however, translate into lower...
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Iran grants India, 4 others Hormuz passage
India and four other “friendly nations” were allowed to move their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, adding that Tehran has established its “sovereignty” over the waterway connecting the Persian Gulf...
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Tehran dismisses U.S. attempt to end conflict, sets own terms
Iran on Wednesday dismissed a U.S. proposal to end the war and set out its own terms for peace, even as it continued trading fire with Israel. The U.S. proposal offered a ceasefire and sanctions relief in return for the Islamic Republic abandoning its...
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SC status ‘only for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs’
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held in a judgment that a person professing any religion other than Hinduism, Buddhism, or Sikhism should not be considered a member of a Schedule Caste community. The court concluded that conversion to any other religion...
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Trump pauses Iran strikes, says deal is likely
U.S. President Donald Trump, who issued a 48hour ultimatum to Iran on Saturday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power infrastructure, said on Monday that he would postpone the attacks for five days after “very good and productive”...
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Will completely close Strait of Hormuz : Iran
The Iranian military on Sunday threatened to completely shut down the strategic Strait of Hormuz and attack U.S. infrastructure, including energy facilities in the Gulf, if U.S. President Donald Trump acts on threats to target the country’s power...
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Trump mulls ending war; U.S. eases curbs on Iran oil
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is considering “winding down” the war on Iran, adding that securing the Strait of Hormuz — now under Iran’s control — is the responsibility of other nations, even as Washington temporarily eased...
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Iran steps up attacks on Israel, Gulf energy sites
Iran defiantly insisted on Friday that it would deny its enemies their security and that it was still building missiles nearly three weeks into U.S.Israeli strikes that have killed a slew of Tehran’s top leaders and hammered its weapons and energy...
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Israel won’t hit Iran gas facility again: Trump
Distancing himself from an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said Tel Aviv would not target the “extremely important and valuable” site again and warned Tehran against attacking Qatar’s energy...
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22 India-bound ships on Hormuz evacuation list
Twentytwo Indiabound vessels in the Persian Gulf region have been identified for evacuation for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz by the Indian government. Of these, 20 vessels have been assessed as critical to India’s energy security,...
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Afghanistan says 400 killed in Pak. airstrike on Kabul hospital
Rescuers recovered more bodies from the rubble of a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul on Tuesday after officials said an overnight airstrike killed more than 400 people, in a dramatic escalation of the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan that...
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India to sign U.S. deal only after clarity on rates
India will sign a trade deal with the U.S. only after the country settles its “tariff architecture” and clarifies countrywise tariff rate, sources in the government have said. “Any deal that we finalise and sign has to be seen against the tariff...
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Assembly polls for 4 States, 1 U.T. begin on April 9
The Assembly elections will be held in a single phase in Assam, Puducherry, and Kerala on April 9 and in Tamil Nadu on April 23, while West Bengal will vote in two phases on April 23 and 29, the Election Commission of India (EC) announced on...
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U.S. bombs Kharg Island; Iran hits back
Amissile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad and debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hit an oil facility in the UAE, while U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that the U.S. destroyed military sites on an island vital to...
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Centre sets aside ₹57,381 crore to address ‘global headwinds’
Amid the $100perbarrel oil shock and fears of energy shortage and supply chain disruptions arising out the West Asia conflict, the Centre has allocated ₹57,381 crore for an Economic Stabilisation Fund that would provide it fiscal space to address...
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India’s crude supply secure, no fuel shortage, Minister tells LS
There is no shortage of petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation turbine fuel in the country, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday, adding that India’s crude supply has been secured amid the conflict in West...
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Global energy concerns mount as Iran hits ships
Iran attacked commercial ships across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport in the UAE on Wednesday, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oilrich region as global energy concerns mounted and American and Israeli airstrikes pounded...
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