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India’s Parliament remained paralysed on Tuesday as Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi escalated his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi , alleging that the recently announced India–United States trade agreement was concluded under “immense pressure” and linking the deal to what he described as two external “pressure points” involving industrialist Gautam Adani and the release of material connected to Jeffrey Epstein . Representational Image Source: LoP RaGa Speaking to reporters outside Parliament after repeated adjournments of the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said the Prime Minister had been “compromised” and accused him of “selling the country” through the trade agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on Indian exports to 18% from 25% . Rahul Gandhi said the agreement, which had been stalled for several months, was suddenly finalised because of pressure that could damage the Prime Minister’s image.  “There is extreme pressure on him. Narendra M...

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States and India had finalised a trade deal that lowers U.S. reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18%, linking the agreement to India’s future energy purchases and its role in global efforts to end the war in Ukraine, following a telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi . POTUS Trump with PM Modi, file photo; Via US Ambassador to India Announcing the agreement on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said it was “an Honor to speak with Prime Minister Modi, of India, this morning,” describing Modi as “one of my greatest friends and, a Powerful and Respected Leader of his Country.”  Trump said the two leaders discussed trade and “ending the War with Russia and Ukraine,” adding that Modi had “agreed to stop buying Russian Oil , and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela.” Trump said this shift “will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, ...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman A democracy begins to collapse quietly when memory is treated as contraband and testimony is made conditional on permission. The most telling sites of this erosion is the uneasy space occupied by books that are written, circulated and discussed but not allowed to formally exist. Home Minister Amit Shah visiting World Book Fair in New Delhi; Via HM Across political systems, unpublished or “under review” manuscripts are often framed as incomplete, unauthorised, or unsafe for public consumption. The argument is procedural on the surface because nothing exists until it is cleared, stamped and released. But this framing misses the deeper truth.  A manuscript does not become real because a seal is affixed to it. It becomes real because it is written, because someone who witnessed events chose to place memory into language. Clearance can regulate circulation but it cannot annul authorship. Excerpts from such works enter the p...

The Budget Session of India’s Parliament descended into repeated disruptions on Monday after Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from the unpublished memoir of former Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. This triggered sharp objections from the treasury benches and forced multiple adjournments before the House was suspended for the day. Rahul Gandhi ups the ante on national security; via: Shaandelhite The confrontation unfolded when Rahul Gandhi rose to respond to remarks made earlier by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, who had criticised the Congress party’s record on nationalism .  Rahul Gandhi said he wished to counter those allegations by referring to passages concerning India’s military standoff with China , which he attributed to Naravane’s memoir, titled Four Stars of Destiny , and to a magazine article that had cited the unpublished book.  Highlights of Speech 02 Feb, 2026 ...

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented the Union Budget 2026–27 in the Lok Sabha, outlining higher public capital expenditure, a modest further reduction in the fiscal deficit, and a package of sectoral measures spanning infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, skilling and exports, even as opposition leaders criticised the speech as lacking detail and some markets sold off on proposals to raise transaction taxes. The President extended her best wishes to the Union Finance Minister and her team for the presentation of Budget. The government set public capital expenditure at Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY2026–27, up from Rs 11.2 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, and projected the fiscal deficit at 4.3% of GDP for 2026–27, compared with 4.4% in the revised estimate for 2025–26.  The Budget Estimates peg non-debt receipts at Rs 36.5 lakh crore and total expenditure at Rs 53.5 lakh crore, with net tax receipts estimated at Rs 28.7 lakh crore.  Gross mark...

India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday rejected claims circulating in media reports that link Prime Minister Narendra Modi to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying references to the Prime Minister in newly released U.S. investigative records relate only to his official visit to Israel in July 2017 and nothing beyond that.  File Photo: July 2017: PM Modi visits Israel; Via: OyeVivekk In a statement, the ministry described other allusions in an email attributed to Epstein as “trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal” and said they “deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt.” Our statement to clarify certain reports ⬇️ 🔗 https://t.co/WvcGHeA01D pic.twitter.com/thmZFcNWsM — Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 31, 2026 The clarification came after the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday released a large tranche of material connected to Epstein, making public more than three million pages of records, over 2,000 videos and about 18...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman An RTI inquiry into the digital handling of Shashi Tharoor’s Private Member Bill (Bill No. 10 of 2025) has brought into public view a series of official disclosures by the Lok Sabha Secretariat that raise fundamental questions about how India’s Parliament manages, records, and authenticates its legislative documents in a digital-first environment. The replies, issued in January 2026, place on record a system in which key elements of digital governance, including traceability, version control, and auditability, are either not maintained in a catalogued form or are not disclosed to the public. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla File Photo; Via Lok Sabha Secretariat The RTI by this writer sought clarity on who uploads parliamentary documents to the Sansad website, when these uploads take place, how subsequent changes are recorded, and what internal records exist to track these actions.  In response, the Lok Sabha Secretariat c...

Around 300 people were evacuated after a fire broke out Tuesday evening at the five-star Hotel des Grandes Alpes in Courchevel, a high-end ski resort in the French Alps, officials from the Savoie region confirmed.  Image Source: ICI Officiel The blaze began in the attic of the property around 7:00 p.m. local time and was still burning as of Wednesday morning, sending thick smoke across the area. While no guests or staff were injured in the incident, four firefighters suffered smoke-related harm, according to Savoie Prefect Vanina Nicoli.  Speaking to reporters in broadcasted snippets, she noted that 131 firefighters were working in “very difficult conditions” to contain the fire, which prompted an initial evacuation of around 200 people from the affected hotel. A second evacuation was carried out on Wednesday morning at the nearby Hotel Le Lana due to ongoing fire risks. Local authorities said evacuees were relocated to other accommodations in Courchevel.  As of midday We...

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly condemned the India–European Union Free Trade Agreement signed on January 27 , laeblling it a “wholesale surrender” of the country’s economic interests to European powers and a move that will primarily benefit elites at the cost of Indian workers, farmers and small producers. In a scathing statement, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said the deal entails drastic tariff cuts across key sectors, including automobiles, steel, pharmaceuticals, wines and spirits, processed foods, and meat.  Representational Image via CPIMSpeaks Under the agreement, India will reduce or eliminate tariffs on over 90% of goods imported from the EU. The CPI(M) highlighted specific tariff reductions: from 110% to 40% on automobiles, 150% to 40% on wines and spirits, 50% to zero on processed foods, 11% to zero on pharmaceuticals, and 22% to zero on iron and steel. “These cuts will devastate India’s domestic industries,” the party said.  “The EU itself projects t...