IPA Webdesk
6107 stories by IPA Webdesk
Rupee slide squeezes household budgets
Household budgets across India face a fresh strain as the rupee’s slide to record lows threatens to raise the cost of fuel, imported electronics, overseas education, foreign travel and daily essentials over the coming months. The currency weakened to around 96.96 against the US dollar on May 20 before...
Sami rejects nationality jibes over Bhagwat meeting
Adnan Sami has pushed back against online attacks questioning his nationality after his meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat drew criticism from sections of social media and political commentators. The singer-composer, who became a citizen of India on January 1, 2016 after the Home Ministry approved his...
Delhi transport strike strains daily commute
Delhi-NCR commuters faced longer waits, costlier rides and patchier last-mile connectivity on Thursday as a three-day transport strike by cab, auto-rickshaw and goods vehicle unions began across the capital region, intensifying pressure on Metro services, buses and private mobility networks. The stoppage, called from May 21 to 23, brought...
FBI tightens net on call-centre fraud
Federal investigators have dismantled a call-centre fraud operation linked to India after hundreds of elderly victims in the United States and abroad were allegedly cheated of millions of dollars through fake technology-support schemes. The case has widened beyond front-line callers to the telecommunications infrastructure that helped route victims to...
Bengal clears border fencing land
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced the transfer of land to the Border Security Force for fencing a 27-km stretch along the Bangladesh border, marking one of the first major security decisions of the new Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state. Adhikari said the state was...
Oath row sharpens Vijay cabinet expansion
Tamil Nadu’s expanded Cabinet under Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay was sworn in on Thursday at Lok Bhavan in Chennai, but the ceremony briefly turned contentious when Congress legislator S Rajesh Kumar departed from the prescribed oath and invoked Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and K Kamaraj, prompting Governor Rajendra...
Trump holds fire as Tehran pivots east
US President Donald Trump has halted a planned military strike on Iran, saying negotiations with Tehran had become “serious”, while warning that force could return swiftly if talks fail to produce an agreement. The decision has temporarily eased fears of a wider regional escalation, but it has not removed...
Vijay coalition faces early stability test
Actor-politician C Joseph Vijay’s fledgling government in Tamil Nadu has entered its first major stability test, with the CPI warning that it will reconsider support if the AIADMK or any faction of it is brought into the ruling coalition or Cabinet. The warning has sharpened the political uncertainty around...
Cartoon row shadows Modi’s Norway visit
Norway’s largest newspaper has come under sharp criticism after a cartoon portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a snake charmer surfaced online during his Oslo visit, adding a charged cultural dispute to a diplomatic trip already marked by questions over press freedom in India. The illustration appeared in Aftenposten...
Bengal reworks OBC quota after court order
West Bengal’s BJP government has restored reservation benefits for 66 communities that were on the state’s Other Backward Classes list before 2010, marking a sharp policy reset days after scrapping the wider OBC framework shaped under the previous Trinamool Congress administration. The Suvendu Adhikari-led cabinet’s decision returns the state...
Mamata sharpens attack after Bengal rout
Mamata Banerjee has sought to rally Trinamool Congress legislators after the party’s heavy West Bengal election defeat, telling them that the BJP-led Central government would be “removed from power” in Delhi in the days ahead. Her remarks at a closed-door meeting at her Kalighat residence marked one of her...
Bhojshala prayers draw heavy turnout
Devotees gathered in large numbers at the Bhojshala complex in Dhar to offer prayers to Goddess Saraswati after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling changed the legal and administrative position around worship at the contested monument. The prayers, held under tightened security arrangements, marked the first major public mobilisation...
Fuel price rise deepens household strain
Petrol and diesel prices have climbed for the second time in less than a week, adding fresh pressure on households, transporters and small businesses already facing higher energy costs linked to global crude volatility. The latest revision raised fuel rates by about 90 paise a litre across major markets...
Gwadar offer exposes Pakistan’s deterrence dilemma
Pakistan’s reported attempt to seek Chinese help for a survivable nuclear second-strike capability in return for expanded military access to Gwadar has sharpened scrutiny of Islamabad’s strategic calculations after last year’s four-day confrontation with New Delhi. The claim, contained in an investigative account based on alleged confidential exchanges, says...
Hormuz cable threat widens Tehran pressure
Iran’s warning that it could impose fees on submarine internet cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz has opened a new front in the contest over one of the world’s most sensitive corridors, extending Tehran’s pressure tactics from energy shipping to digital infrastructure. The proposal, promoted by state-linked outlets...
Road prayers face tougher curbs
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has warned that namaz will not be permitted on public roads, saying religious observances must be confined to designated places of worship and organised in shifts where space is limited. Speaking ahead of Eid-ul-Adha, Adityanath said roads were meant for public movement and...
Bengal rewrites welfare and quota rules
Bengal’s Suvendu Adhikari-led government has moved to end state assistance linked to religious categorisation from June and overhaul the Other Backward Classes reservation framework, marking one of the sharpest policy shifts since the change of power in Kolkata. The decisions were cleared at the state cabinet meeting chaired by...
Court weighs faith in Ganga case
Allahabad High Court has granted bail to five men accused of throwing non-vegetarian food leftovers into the Ganga during an iftar gathering on a boat in Varanasi, while observing that such an act could hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community. Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla passed the order...
