Modi meets Trump, raises safety of Indian seafarers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday raised the issue, in broad terms, of the safety of seafarers with U.S. President Trump during their bilateral meeting in Evian, France, on the fringes of the G7 Summit.

Iran-U.S. framework deal outlines nuclear pledge, financial relief

The U.S. has agreed to facilitate the release of frozen Iranian assets, contingent on progress in negotiations towards a final agreement, and create a plan for Iran's economic development, involving $300 billion, ac-cording to a text of the 14-point framework agreement reached between Tehran and Washington which was published by Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya network and the Bloom-berg news agency on Wednesday.

UCC Bill to be tabled in Monsoon Session of M.P. Assembly in July, says CM

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Wednesday said that a Bill on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would be introduced in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Legislative Assembly, slat-ed to be held from July 20.

Innovate or be eaten

India must realise the importance of innovating up to the frontier

There is no question that Indian professionals are capable of pathbreaking innovation. As evidenced by the strong representation of Indian and Indian-origin technology industry leaders, Indian executives have dis-played extraordinary talent in both the manage-rial and technical work that goes into building and advancing complex businesses at the fore-front of the global economy's most important engines. 'Bharat Innovates 2026', the event in Nice, France, supported by the Ministry of Education, has shown that many of these innovations are possible in India, and that patient incubation of startups in key strategic areas can lead to exceptional results that are competitive with the best-in-class globally. 

Health data must drive action, not just headlines

There is an unsettling paradox in the release of health survey data in India. Survey findings often end up doing exactly the reverse of what they should. They often highlight what we already know, do not take a sufficiently serious view of what has not improved, and rarely lead to immediate programmatic action. The discussion that follows is often ritualistic: the government highlights achievements, newspapers amplify numbers, academics wait for raw data to analyse, and business and industry identify market opportunities.

Rubio's remarks and the limits of strategic empathy

A day after the United States and Iran struck an interim deal on June 14, 2026, to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it remains unclear whether the agreement will be implemented at all. Not only have details not been made public, but negotiators have, by all accounts, pushed the difficult issues down the road. There is no mention in the interim agreement of Iran's nuclear programme, its missile programme, or even ending Tehran's support for regional groups. Iran's top officials maintain that a final deal for a lasting truce is yet to take shape.

Water security is central for a Viksit Bharat

Access to drinking water, sanitation, river conservation, groundwater recharge, wastewater reuse and climate resilience must all be viewed as parts of a connected ecosystem

The RBI and its growing fiscal role

The RBI's balance sheet increased by 20.6% in one year to ₹91.97 lakh crore by March 2026, while gross income rose by over 26% during the same period.

The RBI may have sold almost $12 billion worth of gold and bought foreign-currency assets by about $7.5 billion in the face of rupee pressures, with the recent surplus transfer including gains from foreign assets, foreign exchange transactions and interest earned on securities holdings.

What does the India-Russia logistics agreement allow?

What are Logistics Support Agreements?

A logistics agreement is a foundational military cooperation agreement between countries for administrative purposes that enables the reciprocal use of each other's bases and ports for supplies, repair, and fuel. The agreement also stipulates the occasions on which this can be utilised, generally for exercises, joint training, port calls, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief situations. As defence cooperation and military-to-military engagement become vital in international relations, the agreement simplifies essential administrative procedures and reduces bureaucracy.

Defence production hits record 1.78 lakh cr.

India's annual defence production has surged to an all-time high of ₹1.78 lakh crore in the financial year (FY) 2025-26, the Defence Ministry said Wednesday. According to the Ministry, the milestone represents a 15.6% growth over the previous fiscal year's output of ₹1.54 lakh crore and a staggering 110% increase since FY 2020-21 when the figure was ₹84,643 crore.

Indian, Thai officials talk on bilateral, defence ties

The 10th Thailand-India Defence Dialogue was held in Bangkok on Tuesday with both the countries re-viewing bilateral defence cooperation and exchanging views on regional and global security issues of mutual interest.

Nicobarese tribal councils oppose draft election rules

system, Nicobarese tribal councils from three different island groups have written to the local administration turning down the idea of Election Commission-conduct-ed polls to their self-governance saying it could introduce "election rivalry, division, and conflict" in their society. The councils said the existing forms of self-governance "more closely align with democratic values", and said a new system would interfere with their existing ways which have been "traditional, time-tested, and consensus-based" and in practice for thousands of years.

India, U.K. announce July 15 as trade deal implementation date

India and the United King-dom have overcome last-minute differences over steel import duties to finally announce July 15 as the implementation date for the trade deal between the two countries, the two governments announced on Wednesday.

'India to meet 3% compressed biogas blending goal for FY27'

The Centre is on track to meet the goal of blending 3% compressed biogas (CBG) with CNG and domestic piped natural gas for FY27 with the blending percentage having already nearly doubled to about 2% at present.

U.S. drops 'Indo' from name of its military's Pacific Command

The Pentagon is restoring the name of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to the U.S. Pacific Command, it said on Tuesday, reversing a 2018 decision. The renaming will not change the command's of responsibility, area which stretches from the western part of India to America's Pacific coastline, the Department of War said in a statement.

Dhaka's new Padma barrage will reshape water power in the region

Bangladesh recently signed off on the new Padma barrage to control the Padma river, which is the Ganga in Bangladesh, and abate the country's seasonal water scarcity. The 2.1-km-long structure will store 2,900 million cu. m of water to serve 6.5 crore people across southwestern and northern Bangladesh. It is estimated to cost Tk 50,443 crore (Rs 39,170 сгоге) over seven years.

The barrage will lie just 180 km downstream of the Farakka barrage in West Bengal - which Bangladesh has increasingly viewed as an impediment. The Farakka barrage is one of India's largest with a feeder canal and was built to divert water from the Ganga to the BhagirathiHoogly and flush the Kolkata Port. Under the 1996 Ganges Water Treaty, Bangladesh will receive half the water from the Farakka barrage when the flow is under 70,000 cusecs. But during the dry season between March and May, each country has to receive at least 35,000 cusecs of water in three alternating 10-day periods.