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Fuel shock forces Air India schedule retreat
Air India is preparing to cut nearly 100 flights a day as surging jet fuel costs and longer international routings squeeze the economics of a network already under strain. The planned reduction, covering domestic and overseas services, would amount to roughly a tenth of the airline’s daily schedule. Air...
Court backs poll counting safeguards
Supreme Court scrutiny has left the Election Commission’s counting arrangements for West Bengal undisturbed, dealing a legal and political setback to the Trinamool Congress days before votes are to be counted on May 4. A special bench declined to issue further directions on the party’s challenge to the deployment...
Mamata raises EVM alarm in Kolkata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s late-night visit to a Bhabanipur strong room has sharpened the confrontation between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of vote counting, with allegations of electronic voting machine tampering adding a volatile layer to an already tense Assembly contest. Banerjee reached...
Vijay poll surge unsettles southern rivals
Actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam has been projected as the surprise frontrunner in Tamil Nadu by the Axis My India exit poll, while the National Democratic Alliance is forecast to sweep Assam and the Congress-led United Democratic Front is tipped to edge out the Left Democratic Front in Kerala....
Oil rally deepens on Iran supply fears
Global crude prices pushed higher on Thursday as Washington’s hardening stance on Iran intensified fears that disrupted Middle East supplies could remain locked out of the market for longer, extending a rally that has placed energy traders, refiners and importing economies on alert. Brent crude for June delivery rose...
UAE oil shift tests OPEC cohesion
Abu Dhabi will leave OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance on 1 May 2026, ending nearly six decades inside the producer bloc and opening a new phase in its energy policy, oil diplomacy and economic strategy. The decision marks one of the most consequential changes in the global petroleum...
Hengli sanction deepens oil supply strain
Washington’s move to sanction Hengli Petrochemical’s Dalian refinery has widened the economic fallout from the West Asia war, adding fresh pressure on energy markets, petrochemicals and global manufacturing chains already strained by disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The measure targets one of China’s largest private refiners over...
AAP battles widening Rajya Sabha rupture
Aam Aadmi Party has moved into crisis-management mode after seven of its Rajya Sabha members, led by Raghav Chadha, broke ranks and aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, creating the sharpest organisational challenge for Arvind Kejriwal’s party ahead of next year’s Punjab Assembly election. Senior leader Manish Sisodia cut...
Modi condemns Washington attack on Trump event
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the security scare at a Washington hotel after US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance were moved to safety when gunfire disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Modi said on Sunday that he was relieved to learn...
Kejriwal overture fails as AAP MPs defect
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s attempt to contain a revolt in his parliamentary ranks collapsed after seven of the party’s 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit and moved to the Bharatiya Janata Party, leaving the party facing its gravest organisational crisis since its rise from the anti-corruption movement. Kejriwal...
Turnout surge redraws poll mood
West Bengal’s opening phase and Tamil Nadu’s single-day Assembly vote produced participation levels that broke long-standing records, with updated turnout figures rising to about 92.28 per cent in West Bengal and 85.05 per cent in Tamil Nadu after polling closed. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar thanked voters and described...
Tehran turns on Islamabad’s peace role
Pakistan’s bid to position itself as a go-between in the US-Iran war has run into a sharper challenge from Tehran, with commentary carried in Iran’s media space openly questioning Islamabad’s neutrality and putting unusual focus on Field Marshal Asim Munir’s role in shuttle diplomacy. The criticism has emerged at...
Poll panel sharpens scrutiny of campaign rhetoric
The Election Commission has moved to intensify scrutiny of campaign language after issuing a show-cause notice to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his description of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “terrorist”, marking one of the sharpest interventions yet in the conduct of the current Assembly election campaign. The...
Bengal rift deepens over Rahul trip
Ties between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress in West Bengal sharpened on Tuesday after Rahul Gandhi’s planned April 23 campaign visit to Kolkata and Serampore was called off, with the Bengal Congress alleging that permission for public meetings had been denied and the Trinamool camp pushing responsibility towards...
Fire throws Pachpadra launch off course
A major fire at the Pachpadra refinery complex in Rajasthan’s Balotra district has forced the postponement of a high-profile dedication ceremony that had been scheduled for Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, casting a shadow over one of the country’s biggest downstream energy projects. Reports on Monday said the...
Clouds gather over Islamabad talks
Suspense continues to hang over a proposed new round of United States-Iran diplomacy in Islamabad after Tehran signalled that no follow-up meeting has been agreed and no timetable has been settled, injecting fresh uncertainty into an already fragile process. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said there was no...
Top court seeks Bengal tribunal report
India’s Supreme Court on Monday said it would seek a report later in the day from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court after complaints that appellate tribunals set up under West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, were not functioning properly, sharpening scrutiny of a process already...
Opposition resets bid against poll chief
Opposition parties are preparing a fresh parliamentary move to seek the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after their earlier notices were rejected, opening a new front in a confrontation that has sharpened around the conduct, credibility and autonomy of the election process. Leaders from Congress, Trinamool Congress,...
