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Lok Sabha setback jolts quota push
A Constitution amendment bill that sought to expand the Lok Sabha and accelerate one-third reservation for women was defeated in the lower house on Friday after the government failed to secure the required two-thirds majority, handing the National Democratic Alliance its first legislative defeat on a government bill since...
Opposition plots line on quota bill
Opposition parties in the INDIA bloc were due to meet in Parliament on Friday to firm up a common floor strategy over the Constitution Bill, after a heated Lok Sabha debate in which the government said women’s reservation and a fresh delimitation exercise would not reduce the proportional weight...
Lok Sabha clash over quota redraw
Tempers flared in the Lok Sabha on Thursday after Congress MP K C Venugopal objected to the introduction of three government bills tied to women’s reservation and delimitation, accusing the Centre of mounting “a fundamental attack on the federal structure” and setting off a sharp confrontation with the Treasury...
Hormuz squeeze deepens India’s shipping strain
Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz sharpened again on Monday after the United States moved from a fragile ceasefire framework with Iran to a naval blockade focused on Iranian ports, a step that has added fresh uncertainty for vessels serving India’s energy trade even as one LPG carrier, Jag...
Bengal row deepens over Kabir tape
West Bengal’s election battle sharpened on Sunday after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of striking a Rs 1,000-crore deal to unseat the Trinamool Congress, using a viral video linked to Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir to press her charge of a covert effort to split...
Tehran says call shook truce hopes
Tehran has alleged that a phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to US Vice President JD Vance interrupted a diplomatic opening that might have brought the Iran-Israel-US war closer to an end, adding a new layer of dispute to already failed negotiations in Islamabad. The claim, carried...
Hormuz lifeline shows first signs of flow
Three fully laden oil supertankers moved through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, offering the clearest sign yet that crude shipments may be starting to recover after weeks of disruption triggered by confrontation between the United States and Iran. Vessel tracking data cited by multiple reports showed two China-flagged...
Iran sets terms before US talks
Iran has hardened its position ahead of talks with the United States, saying no negotiations will begin unless two conditions are met first: a ceasefire that covers Lebanon and the release of Iranian financial assets blocked abroad. The stance, laid out by Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf on Friday and...
Kalpakkam milestone lifts thorium ambitions
Kalpakkam’s Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor has reached first criticality, marking a turning point in the country’s long-delayed nuclear strategy and advancing the second stage of the three-stage programme designed decades ago to turn limited uranium resources and vast thorium reserves into long-term electricity supply. Official statements said the 500...
Hormuz leverage deepens Iran China axis
Iran and China are seeking to turn a shaky two-week ceasefire in the United States-Iran war into lasting strategic advantage, with Tehran tightening control over the Strait of Hormuz and Beijing positioned to benefit from any shift away from dollar-based energy trade. The most firmly established development is Iran’s...
How Iran crossed Trump’s strike threshold
Donald Trump’s decision to pause a threatened blow against Iran may have eased immediate fears of a far wider regional war, but the confrontation had already been building for weeks before his public ultimatum. A New York Times account has framed the turning point as a closed-door White House...
Strike on South Pars deepens regional risk
Israel struck Iran’s largest petrochemical complex at Asaluyeh on Monday, widening the war’s economic and strategic dimensions as both sides escalated attacks across West Asia. Defence Minister Israel Katz said the target was a key facility in the South Pars area and described the operation as a “powerful strike”,...
China’s opening at Hormuz – Newspack Live!
Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investments has framed the crisis in stark terms, arguing that Beijing could use the turmoil to deepen alignment with Tehran and gain decisive influence over a passage through which much of the world’s oil moves. That interpretation is forward-looking rather than verified fact, but it...
Bushehr strike widens Gulf nuclear alarm
Iran’s foreign minister has warned Gulf states that any radioactive fallout from attacks on the Bushehr nuclear plant would devastate nearby Arab capitals before reaching Tehran, sharpening fears that the widening US-Israeli campaign against Iranian strategic sites could trigger a cross-border nuclear emergency. The warning followed what Iranian and...
Bab el-Mandeb threat raises shipping stakes
Tehran has opened the door to a broader maritime confrontation after parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf signalled that pressure on Iran’s adversaries might not stop at the Strait of Hormuz, raising the prospect of disruption at Bab el-Mandeb, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and a vital artery...
Tehran tests new Hormuz shipping order
Iran is moving to redefine how vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi saying Tehran has almost completed a draft protocol for a new maritime regime in coordination with Oman. The proposal, as described in reports on Friday, would create a joint framework...
Markets convulse as Trump hardens Iran threat
Global markets lurched lower on Thursday after US President Donald Trump used a prime-time address to say military objectives against Iran would be completed “very shortly” while also warning Tehran it would be hit “extremely hard” if no deal is reached, a combination that deepened fears of a wider...
Guard pressure leaves Pezeshkian boxed in
A struggle between President Masoud Pezeshkian and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has sharpened into a new test of power inside Iran, with a report by Iran International saying the presidency has been pushed into “complete political deadlock” as the Guards block key appointments and decisions. The claim, which...
