Author: Mahika.Gupta

Treasury Secretary Yellen has again affirmed that Congress must vote on the matter in order to prevent a debt default and economic disaster. In her second letter in two weeks, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated June 1 as the X-date, when the government will run out of money. This letter is in line with several statements made by her in the previous months, warning against a debt default which was possible by early June. President Biden and Speaker McCarthy have held talks but the political deadlock appears to persist. Debt default by June 1 In her letter released on…

Speaking with chief ministers of Manipur, Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland, Amit Shah took complete stock of the situation. Union home minister Amit Shah held meetings with the Chief Ministers of the states neighboring Manipur, to review the situation on the ground. Earlier, paramilitary forces had been deployed in the state after violence between tribals and the Metei community wracked the state. The violent clashes broke out on Wednesday, during a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’. Amit Shah’s meetings with the ministers Amit Shah held two video conferences on Thursday evening to review the status of the protests and security. In the morning,…

In a statement released by the Kremlin, Kyiv has been accused of attempting to assassinate Putin by using two drones in a terrorist attack. Russia released a statement on Wednesday claiming that Ukraine is responsible for the drone strike against the residence of President Putin at the Kremlin. The statement said that timely action by military and special services enabled them to disable the drones, which then crashed on the Kremlin grounds without any harm or damage. Videos shared on social media show fire and smoke over the Kremlin Senate. Ukraine, however, has denied these claims. Kremlin Statement According to…

Expanding trade ties and bilateral economic relations were among the many topics discussed by the NSA and Iran’s president. NSA Ajit Doval arrived in Iran on Monday and held talks with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, the foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, and the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. Speaking with the National Security Advisor in a meeting, the Iranian president expressed the wish to expand relations between the two Asian countries. The NSA’s trip comes ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meet to be held in Goa this week. Deeper ties According to a statement released by the…

The maiden exercise will be conducted over a week with various ASEAN countries and will help further strengthen ties. In furtherance of ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) and India ties, the inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME) is to be held from May 2 to 4, 2024. The week-long drills are to be held in Singapore and conducted in two phases, the Harbor Phase and the Sea Phase. AIME-2023 The naval ships INS Satpura and INS Delhi will be taking part in this exercise and arrived in Singapore on May 1. INS Satpura is an indigenous guided missile stealth frigate…

The panel criticized the lack of information on the UK government’s part while applauding the decision to not keep any arbitrary deadlines regarding the FTA. The House of Commons International Trade Committee has released a report titled “UK trade negotiations: Agreement with India”, discussing the ongoing UK-India FTA talks and the questions which arose during the panel’s inquiry into the government’s approach and progress of negotiations. This is the International Trade Committee’s last report before it is dissolved on 26th April and the Business and Trade Committee takes over. Criticism and appreciation The parliamentary panel has severely criticized the UK…

The Supreme Court announced Wednesday afternoon that it would be extending the administrative block on the restriction of access to mifepristone till Friday. The US Supreme Court has extended till Friday its decision on restricting access to Mifepristone, a popular abortion medication, allowing it to remain in markets without restrictions for two more days. The Supreme Court had earlier ordered a block on restrictions till Wednesday evening. However, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, yesterday afternoon extended this block till 11:59 pm EST on Friday (9:30 am IST Saturday). How the case started The case originated from a ruling earlier in…

A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been filed against him as well by Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth around 11.04 crores, belonging to Karti Chidambaram and others, in the INX media case. Of the four properties attached, one is an immovable asset, and the others are movable assets, in Karnataka’s Coorg district. According to the PMLA, the Enforcement Directorate can provisionally attach an offender’s property during their investigation. Enforcement Directorate investigation The agency said on Tuesday that, during the agency’s investigation, it was found that illegal gratification (proceeds of crime) and kickbacks were received directly and…

The WTO dispute settlement panel has held that the tariffs levied by India of up to 20% on various electronics and technology are in violation of international trading rules A WTO dispute settlement panel has ruled against India in a tariff dispute with the EU, Chinese Taipei, and Japan. The panel said India has violated global trading norms over import duties on various Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products. What is the dispute? The European Union first raised a complaint against India’s tariffs in 2019. India had placed customs duty on ICT products like mobile phones, mobile phone accessories and…

Jiban Krishna Saha is the third TMC politician to be arrested in association with the West Bengal teachers’ recruitment scam case Jiban Krishna Saha was arrested in the early hours of Monday for his involvement in the teacher recruitment scam case currently being investigated by the CBI. The arrest comes after continuous interrogation and searches that were conducted in several places linked to the MLA, including his offices and multiple high-value properties. Who is Jiban Krishna Saha? Mr Saha is a Trinamool Congress Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing the Burwan constituency. He was elected in May 2021 by defeating…