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Trump says team led by Vance heading to Pakistan for talks with Iran

Trump said the team would include Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner

Core sector contracts 0.4% in March amid fall in coal, power output

The core sector output contracted by 0.4 per cent in March, marking the first decline in five months as production of coal, crude oil, fertiliser, and electricity fell, according to official data released on Monday. In February 2026, the eight core infrastructure sectors had expanded by 2.8 per cent. In 2025-26, these sectors recorded a growth rate of 2.6 per cent as against 4.5 per cent in 2024-25.

SC dismisses Umar Khalid review plea in Delhi riots case, denies bail again

The Supreme Court has dismissed activist Umar Khalid's plea seeking a review of a verdict denying him bail, while observing that there are reasonable grounds to believe the allegations levelled against him in connection with a conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria also rejected the plea seeking an oral hearing of the review petition. "Having gone through the review petition and also the documents enclosed, we do not find any good ground and reason to review the judgment dated January 5, 2026. Accordingly, the review petition is dismissed," the bench said in its April 16 order. According to the Supreme Court's rules, review petitions are considered by judges who delivered a judgment or passed an order in chambers to remedy an apparent error or a resultant grave injustice that was a consequence of a decision of the apex court. Parties seeking a review can request judges for an open-court hearing to rectify the grave injustice caused

The architecture of autonomy: How 'Muskism' is remaking the global order

A new book frames "Muskism" as a system blending tech power, state dependence and libertarian rhetoric, shaping a disruptive and unequal political economy

Lenskart publishes store style guide after row over religious expression

Company releases guidelines outlining inclusion of faith symbols following employee allegations and social media posts

Stop lying to the nation: Congress slams PM's address, cites MCC violation

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Saturday said a "desperate and frustrated" PM turned an official address to the nation into a political speech despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force. The party also challenged him to bring a bill in Parliament to implement women's reservation within the existing set-up of the Lok Sabha, soon after Modi's address to the nation, in which he attacked the opposition parties for not backing the government's Constitution amendment bill. In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said a "desperate and frustrated" prime minister with nothing meaningful to show for the last 12 years, turned an official address to the nation, into a political speech, full of "mudslinging, and outright lies". "The Model Code of Conduct is already in place, and it was very clear how the prime minister misused official machinery to attack his opponents. This is a travesty of democracy and the Constitution," Kharge said. "Modi j

Odisha bets on Niti modeled SITI-Odisha for future planning, reforms

A separate State Monitoring and Evaluation Office (SMEO) will function under SITI-Odisha, similar to the performance-tracking systems associated with Niti Aayog

Govt responds to West Asia shipping insurance spike with ₹13k cr pool

The pool would cover all maritime risks like Hull and Machinery, Cargo, P&I and War risk, a statement by the cabinet said

Biting Off More Than: A culinary rebel's multi-course life story

Rahul Akerkar's candid memoir serves up a rich mix of chaos, craft and reinvention, tracing the journey of a chef who helped shape India's modern dining culture

RBI asks state oil refiners to curb spot dollar buying, says report

The state-run refiners have been asked to access the credit line via the State Bank of India, the sources said. SBI is India's largest bank and is state-backed

The Future Is Peace: Finding common ground in the Israel-Palestine journey

An Israeli and a Palestinian journey through Israel and the West Bank, crafting a powerful, humane book that makes you believe a path beyond revenge must exist

SC plea seeks to declare forced religious conversion as 'terrorist act'

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday in the aftermath of allegations of religious conversion and sexual harassment at a multinational company (MNC) in Nashik seeking directions to control deceitful religious conversion. It was filed in the backdrop of charges of sexual harassment and allegations of forced religious conversion levelled by eight female employees at TCS' office in Nashik. The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay contended that deceitful religious conversion is not only a serious threat to sovereignty, secularism, democracy and liberty but also a menace to fraternity, dignity, unity and national integration. The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, has sought directions to the Centre and the state governments to take stringent steps to control religious conversion. "The organised religious conversion in Nasik has shaken the conscience of citizens throughout the country. Therefore, petitioner is filing this application for direction seek

Starlink outage hit drone tests, exposing Pentagon's reliance on SpaceX

If there was no Starlink, the US government wouldn't have access to a global constellation of low earth orbit communications

US says its forces ready to restart combat if Iran doesn't agree a deal

As part of a campaign to pressure Tehran to sign an agreement, US military forces are mounting a blockade on all ships seeking to enter or leave Iran

Iran proposes letting ships exit safely through Oman side of Hormuz: Report

The US-Israeli war with Iran has resulted in the largest-ever disruption of global oil and gas supplies due to Iran's interruption of traffic through the strait

India, New Zealand to sign FTA on April 27, aim for $20 bn investments

India and New Zealand will sign a free trade agreement (FTA) on April 27 here, an official said on Thursday. The free trade pact aims to provide tariff-free access to the island nation's market for domestic exporters' goods and will bring in USD 20 billion in investment over the next 15 years. The two countries on December 22 last year announced the conclusion of negotiations for the trade deal which aims at doubling bilateral trade to USD 5 billion in the next five years. The official said that the pact will be signed on April 27 in Bharat Mandapam after a meeting of the India-New Zealand Business Forum. While India will get zero-duty market access on 100 per cent of its exports, the agreement will eliminate or reduce tariffs on 95 per cent of New Zealand's exports to India, including items ranging from wool, coal, wood, wine, to avocados and blueberries. However, New Delhi has made no duty concessions on imports of dairy products like milk, cream, whey, yoghurt, and cheese; onio

Why India's AI ambitions demand a reset in virtualisation strategy

AI adoption accelerates across sectors, India must rethink virtualisation models to ensure cost efficiency, flexibility, and secure infrastructure capable of supporting scalable and inclusive growth

India's domestic urea production likely to jump over 11% in April

IPL tender receives urea import offers totalling 5.6 million tonnes

TCS slows dividend tap to fund AI push, cuts payouts for second year

The company cut dividend payout and increases retained earnings as it seeks to make new investments in AI space and data centres

Cyber resilience is a mindset, says Rubrik co-founder on AI risks

Rubrik co-founder Arvind Nithrakashyap discusses cyber resilience, AI-driven risks, India's cybersecurity landscape, and how organisations are preparing for future quantum computing threats