IPA Webdesk
Court shields comedy from criminal trial
Bombay High Court has quashed a 2010 FIR against actor Shekhar Suman and comedian Bharati Singh, holding that a comic line built around the words “Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!” did not amount to an insult to religion without deliberate and malicious intent. Justice Amit Borkar allowed separate criminal...
Dhaka protests Assam pushback remarks
Bangladesh has summoned New Delhi’s acting High Commissioner in Dhaka, Pawan Badhe, after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks on relations with Bangladesh and the alleged pushback of undocumented migrants triggered a formal diplomatic protest. Badhe was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka on Thursday...
Bengal turnout reshapes poll battlefield
West Bengal has delivered one of its highest electoral participation rates, with polling across the 2026 Assembly election touching 92.9% after two phases marked by an intense dispute over voter-roll deletions, strong women’s participation and an unusual surge in Kolkata’s traditionally low-turnout constituencies. The second and final phase on...
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...
Putin offers Iran plan in Trump call
Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Donald Trump held a phone conversation lasting more than 90 minutes, placing Iran’s nuclear programme and the war in Ukraine at the centre of a renewed high-level diplomatic exchange between Moscow and Washington. The call on Wednesday underscored the widening role...
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...
Bhabanipur face-off sharpens Bengal contest
High tension marked polling in Bhabanipur as Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari turned the prestige seat into the focal point of the final phase of the West Bengal Assembly election, trading allegations of intimidation, interference and political pressure while voting continued under heavy security across 142 constituencies. Banerjee, contesting...
Rafale talks test technology sovereignty
New Delhi’s planned purchase of 114 additional Rafale fighter jets from France has run into a critical negotiation hurdle over software control, raising fresh questions about how far foreign suppliers are willing to go in sharing the digital architecture of advanced combat aircraft. The proposed acquisition, valued at about...
Jamia protest tests campus boundaries
Students at Jamia Millia Islamia staged a protest on Tuesday against an RSS-linked programme on the university campus, prompting tighter security at key entry points and sharpening a wider argument over political events inside public universities. Scores of students gathered near the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, where the...
Tehran raises stakes at sea
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned the United States that any new military action against the country would trigger direct retaliation against American naval assets and could draw the wider Iran-aligned “Resistance Front” into a broader regional confrontation. A senior IRGC Navy official’s warning marks a sharper phase...
Gehlot backs Pilot amid defection tremors
Ashok Gehlot has moved to close ranks around Sachin Pilot, saying he hopes his former deputy will never leave the Congress and has learnt from the turmoil that once brought Rajasthan’s party unit close to collapse. The former Rajasthan Chief Minister’s remarks came after BJP Rajasthan in-charge Radha Mohan...
Court push sharpens Bengal voter fight
Supreme Court of India has directed appellate tribunals to give urgent hearings to appeals filed by voters whose names were deleted from West Bengal’s electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision, adding judicial pressure to a contested process unfolding during the state Assembly election. A bench of Chief Justice...
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...
Court weighs relief for UK doctor
UK-based doctor and YouTuber Dr Sangram Patil has told the Bombay High Court that he will cooperate with Mumbai Police and return to the country whenever required, seeking permission to travel back to the United Kingdom after being restrained from leaving over a case linked to his social media...
Court shields Asaram ashram land for now
Supreme Court protection has halted immediate state action against land and buildings held by Sant Shri Asharam Ashram in Ahmedabad, after judges found that the show-cause notice forming the basis of proposed eviction and forfeiture appeared deficient in key details. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta...
Punjab security row deepens after Harbhajan exit
Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party government has withdrawn the state security cover of former cricketer and Rajya Sabha member Harbhajan Singh, intensifying a political confrontation triggered by his exit from the party and reported move to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Police personnel posted outside Singh’s residence in Jalandhar’s Chhotti Baradari...
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...
