Pakistan corvette collides with Indian Navy warship

A Pakistan Navy corvette collided with a frontline Indian Navy warship after approaching it at high speed and manoeuvring in an "unsafe and unprofessional" manner in the North Arabian Sea on Tuesday evening. The incident prompted India to summon Pakistan's Chargé d'affaires and lodge a strong diplomatic protest.

EPFO wage ceiling raised from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month; employers welcome move

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved raising the wage ceiling for mandatory coverage under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from 15,000 to 25,000 a month, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ash-wini Vaishnaw said.

Currency conundrum 

Boosting local currency trade in BRICS is not a simple choice for India

The BRICS New Delhi Declaration shows that progress in enhancing local currency trade has been incremental. The para-graph pertaining to local currency trade acknowledges the efforts of various task forces and committees but falls short of offering any concrete proposals. Recently, the Commerce Ministry indicated that India's rupee trade with its BRICS partners was limited, with only the UAE and Russia engaged in it.

China's strategy amid West Asia's security realignment

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Egypt (September 1-2, 2026) marked a shift in Beijing's engagement with West Asia. In talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Mr. Xi set out a four-point formula for a new regional security architecture. Beijing has long talked about the need to rethink regional security, but this is the first time it has elaborated what such an architecture should look like.

Hog in the limelight

The survival of the pygmy hog depends on a thriving ecosystem

The decline of the pygmy hog - the sole surviving species of the genus Porcula and the world's smallest wild suid - is a narrative about the decline of India's alluvial floodplains. The pygmy hog depends significantly on dense grasslands to feed, conceal itself, and reproduce, so distress among these animals is an indicator of the floodplain suffering degradation.

What lies beyond India's E20 push

• E20 was introduced to reduce dependence on crude, but its lower energy content can reduce fuel economy, increasing the cost of running vehicles

• The emissions impact depends on the extent of mileage loss and the vehicle's vintage, while diverting sugarcane and maize to ethanol production has implications for food security and trade

What Voyager's journey tells us about the purpose of exploration

The Voyager missions are two identical spacecraft NASA launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 made historic flybys of Jupiter and Saturn; Voyager 2 also visited Uranus and Neptune. Both spacecraft later became humankind's most distant operating probes. Today, Voyager 1 is at the outer limits of the solar system, and has been for a few years.

In post-BRICS outreach, Jaishankar reaches Bhutan; Nepal Minister to visit Delhi today

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Thimphu on Wednesday for a two-day visit to discuss India's development assis-tance, while Nepal Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle will arrive in Delhi on Thursday for talks that are expected to discuss India's support for Nepal's reconstruction post-floods, as the government intensifies its outreach in the neigh-bourhood.

New Delhi rejects Pak.-China Boundary Joint Commission

India on Wednesday rejected the Boundary Joint Commission set up by Pakistan and China, saying that the body has no legal basis to decide on arrangements related to Indian territory under illegal occupation.

Oman pitches new port that could expand India's access to Gulf energy

With the Strait of Hormuz in a chokehold due to Iran-U.S. hostilities, Oman has pitched investment opportunities to India in a new port that could provide uninterrupted access to energy resources from the Persian Gulf.

India remains at 131st rank in global gender parity index

India retained the 131st rank on the Global Gender Gap Index 2026 released by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, with Iceland, Finland and Norway maintaining their top three slots respectively.

Why private banks stand to gain from the MDR charge

The new Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI will affect a tiny proportion of UPI users, and benefit a small number of banks predominantly -private ones like Yes Bank - and a few UPI apps such as Walmart-owned PhonePe, and Google Pay, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data showed.

EU chief offers Canada bloc's 'Associate Membership'; proposes new security body

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on Wednesday, invited Canada to be the bloc's first 'Associate Member'. Delivering her annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg, France, in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ms. Von der Leyen described "the cold fragility of today's world" where "old assumptions and relationships have frayed".