Rainfall 43% deficit so far, kharif crops likely to be hit: Govt

With India staring at a fairly weak monsoon season this year and kharif crops likely to be impacted, the Agriculture Ministry has formulated contingency plans for districts likely to be most affected due to low rainfall, and identified 111 districts with irrigation coverage of 25 per cent or less as 'high priority' needing intervention, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday.

16TH BRICS NSAS' MEETING; India welcomes Iran-US deal with 'cautious optimism', says Doval

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval said on Tuesday that India welcomes the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran with "cautious optimism" and is hopeful it will help energy security. Speaking at the 16th BRICS NSAs' meeting in New Delhi, Doval said, "India welcomes the MoU reached between the US and Iran. We have got cautious optimism, and we hope that it will work. It will help energy security. The opening of the Strait of Hormuz is a very welcome development."

Govt tightens FCRA norms for NGOS getting foreign funds, revises penalties

The Home Ministry has tightened the FCRA framework for NGOs and other associations, revising compounding penalties and rewriting the rules to make registrations purpose-specific, while expressly excluding proselytisation from several religious categories, according to gazette notifications issued on Monday.

Not Guwahati, Japan PM to visit Delhi for annual summit 

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to visit India from July 1-3, her first visit to the country after assuming office in October 2025 for the annual India-Japan Summit. While Guwahati was also considered as a possible venue for the visit, sources said Tuesday that due to "logistical issues", it has now been shifted to New Delhi. 

Shah: NAFED to share 1% profit for education of farmers' children 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday launched four new initiatives of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), and announced that it will earmark 1% of its profits for higher education scholarships and career development of children from farmer families. Among the four new initiatives are Nafex.in, an agri e-auction platform; Drishti, an inventory management system; the NAFED's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution; NAFED Kalyan, a scholarship for farmers' children.

Army initiates procurement of 3 target systems for aerial warfare 

Months after procuring a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and air defence (AD) missiles to bolster its combat capabilities, the Army has now initiated the acquisition of three target systems designed to simulate drone swarms, helicopters and missile-like threats, signalling a renewed focus on preparing troops for evolving aerial warfare.

AT 17,000 FT, A TRADE DOOR OPENS INTO CHINA Via Lipulekh 

Lipulekh Pass trade route: From 17th century to now; 

1638-1678 CE – Traderecords between Pithoragarh's Rang community or Bhotilas and Tibetans date back to the times of Raja Baz Bahadur of Kumaon's Chand dynasty. 

1904 - The British sign a treaty with Tibet to open free-access trade marts in Westen Tibet, such as Gartok, close to the Lipulekh Pass corridor. 

1954 - In April, India signs the Panchsheel Agreement with China, allowing the entry of traders and their family members through the Lipulekh Pass with local government-issued certificates.

1962 - Following the outbreak of the India China war in October 1962, the Pass is closed and the trade route is sealed off for the very first time. 

1992 - Lipulekh Pass routels reopened for regulated trade with China, following an agreement signed in late 1991. 

2008 - Trade is disrupted for a year due to Beijing Olympics. 

2019 - The Pass is closed again, first due to the pandemic and later as India-China skirmishes lead to a chill in relations. 

2026 - The Pass, earlier set to open from June 1 to October 31, will see a delayed opening this June end. 

Gunji, 10,500 ft - THE LIPULEKH TRADE ROUTE -

INDIA – Munsyari - Panch Chuli - Nanda Devi - CHINA (TIBET)

DHARCHULA 3,000ft - The town in the Himalayan foothills serves as a base for traders. A bridge across Kali river connects it to Nepal.

GUNJI 10,500ft - Serves as a stopover for traders, sees customs checks and remains closed for 6 months in winter due to heavy snow.

India doesn't just need start-ups, but scale-ups that become global giants 

India had 35 companies with a turnover of over Rs 1 trillion in FY25. However, only one has crossed $10 billion in profits, a watershed moment for the Indian corporate sector. The US and China boast of dozens of such firms, and Japan has multiple companies consistently above this threshold. The history of economic development suggests large, well-governed companies have been productivity and innovation, creating the economies of scale necessary to compete on the global stage and raise living standards.

Why industry can't afford to wait for the state to drive the robotics revolution 

Unlike China, India cannot isolate its robotics ambitions from the world; its near-term task is to combine international collaboration with the patient building of domestic research, design and manufacturing capability.

With Labour's love lost, a deeper challenge for UK's next PM 

It says a considerable deal about the current state of British politics that there was an inevitability about Sir Keir Starmer's resignation as prime minister. Announcing his departure almost a decade to the day since the Brexit referendum, he joins the growing procession of prime ministers with short-lived tenures. The country will soon have another prime minister, with Andy Burnham seen as the front-runner. But a change in leadership is not a panacea. For any oсcupant of Downing Street to succeed, deep-seated structural issues need to be addressed.

Before tariff reset, will US and India strike balance? 

India runs a goods trade deficit with nine of its ten top trading partners. The US is the only major economy to which India exports more than it imports.

Intellectual disabilities & the question of choice in giving birth 

Historically, women with intellectual disabilities have been vulnerable to forced sterilisations and non-consensual medical procedures, often justified by caregivers as a matter of convenience or under the guise of protecting them from the consequences of sexual abuse. To prevent this, Indian law places strict safeguards on procedures that permanently alter a person's reproductive capacity. Section 10 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, prevents persons with disability from being subjected to any medical procedure leading to infertility without their free and informed consent.

The straightforward constitutional process to replace the UK PM 

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation Monday from both his post as head of the government and as leader of the Labour Party. Labour leader Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who last week was elected in a parliamentary bypoll from Makerfield, is the frontrunner to succeed him. Since 2016, not a single British PM has come close to completing their five-year term.

From Ukraine to Lebanon, 'invisible' drones are redefining asymmetric warfare

'Invisible' drones - Fibre-optic drones, as the name suggests, are connected to their operators through fibre-optic cables – these are high-speed, high-strength, and lightweight network cables that transmit data as pulses of light through tiny strands of glass or plastic. This thin cable is first wound onto a spool and covered with a protective shell before being attached to a drone.

Banks can extend loans against FCNR(B) deposits, says RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said Indian banks, including their overseas branches, are permitted to extend loans to non-resident account holders or even issue Standby Letters of Credit (SBLC) in favour of overseas lenders against FCNR(B) deposits mobilised under the new swap facility.

LRS remittances fall 11.9% in Apr as overseas investments slow

Resident individuals remitted $2.29 billion under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) in April 2026, marking an 11.9% decline from $2.59 billion recorded in March 2026 and $2.48 billion in April last year. The fall in outward remittances was driven largely by a sharp contraction in overseas deposits and investments in equity and debt instruments, reflecting a more cautious approach by Indians residents toward international financial assests.

China beats US with world's fastest supercomputer

China has overtaken the US to win the top spot on a list of the world's fastest supercomputers, but the results may say more about Beijing's desire to show self-sufficiency in computing systems than its standing in the global Al race, experts said. The LineShine system at the National Supercomputing Centre in Shenzhen, China, uses domestically designed chips and won the top spot on the TOP500, a biannual global ranking of supercomputers, with the country's first listing in three years.

Andy Burnham prepares for UK Labour leadership contest

Andy Burnham, Britain's newest lawmaker and likely its next prime minister, was meeting Labour colleagues on Tuesday in preparation for a leadership contest in which he may be the only contender. Burnham is the strong front-runner to replace PM Keir Starmer, who announced Monday that he will step down within weeks after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with party and public.

Afghan Taliban hold first, closed-door discussions with EU on deportations

A delegation from the Afghan Taliban met Tuesday with European Union staff in Brussels for closed-door talks that focused on diplomatic services and the "dignified returns" of Afghans to the war-ravaged nation, a Taliban official said. Afghans make up one of the largest groups of migrants seeking asylum in the EU, but a growing number of governments in the 27-nation bloc want to speed up and increase deportations for those whose claims are rejected or who commit crimes in their host countries.