Trinamool, BJP clash over West Bengal voter roll purge
West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its main rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are set for a collision course as the Election Commission of India (ECI) undertakes a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral roll ahead of assembly polls slated for March-April next year
9 November 2025, 18:34 PM
India moves to boost textile competitiveness against Bangladesh, Vietnam and China
Faced with a 50 percent tariff imposed by the United States, the Indian government has drawn up a four-point action plan with three separate timeframes to regain cost competitiveness in the global textile market, with a particular focus on competing with Bangladesh, Vietnam, and China.
30 October 2025, 18:00 PM
India, Pakistan hockey players shake hands at Malaysia meet
The gesture by the junior hockey players of the two teams came after the men's and women's cricket teams of India and Pakistan opted for “no-handshake” policy during their respective matches in the Asia Cup in the UAE and a World Cup game in Colombo.
15 October 2025, 05:38 AM
India to launch EFTA trade pact on Oct 1
In the midst of a tariff battle with the United States, India will formally operationalise its free trade agreement (FTA) with four countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bloc on October 1.
29 September 2025, 18:00 PM
Anuparna Roy’s breakthrough at Venice Film Festival
For Anuparna Roy, in her thirties, the excitement of winning an award with her very first feature film at the world’s oldest film festival in Venice is yet to sink in. The Indian media took no notice of Roy, an English literature student from Burdwan University in West Bengal, when she released her first short film “Run To The River” a couple of years ago. But today, that moment seems light years away.
10 September 2025, 13:11 PM
Bhupen Hazarika centenary sets sail on Brahmaputra with musical river voyage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a tribute this morning, called Hazarika’s music timeless, noting how his compositions “transcended borders and linguistic barriers for decades.” That universality is embodied in “Bistirna Parore” (popularly known in Bangla as “Bistirno Dupaare”), the song after which the voyage is named.
8 September 2025, 10:20 AM
BGB-BSF conference: Push-ins, border killings to figure high
The continuous push-ins by Indian authorities from different border points despite repeated protests by Bangladesh will top the agenda of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the upcoming 56th director general-level conference.
23 August 2025, 18:44 PM
"Even simple tasks are hard": India's first ISS astronaut on space life
Indian Air Force officer Shubhanshu Shukla, the country’s first astronaut to enter the International Space Station (ISS), has shared his first-hand experience that even simple tasks like sleeping, walking, and drinking water become very challenging in microgravity conditions.
30 June 2025, 08:36 AM
Tackling Covid-19: Are good days waiting for India?
In its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, India achieved two milestones in five days between August 27 and 31 while vaccinating its people. Both relate to a new high in the number of vaccine recipients—1.03 crore doses on August 27, and 1.28 crore on the last day of a month that saw nearly 18 crore doses being administered, up from 13.45 crore in July and 11.97 crore in June.
2 September 2021, 18:00 PM
What are India’s plans regarding Afghanistan?
When Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed floor leaders of 31 parties in Parliament on August 26 on the developments in Afghanistan, he faced some searching questions about New Delhi’s policy, actions and future strategy towards Afghanistan, post-Taliban takeover.
30 August 2021, 18:00 PM
A magician of words for all ages
Though born in Kolkata and studied at St Xavier’s College there, the foundation of one of Bengal’s most popular writers Buddhadeb Guha’s creative mind was shaped by his extensive journey through the swathes and rivers of Rangpur, Jaipurhat and Barisal districts.
30 August 2021, 18:00 PM
India’s Taliban challenge and Afghan policy
The joke going around in diplomatic circles in New Delhi is that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was much smoother than the change of guard at the White House after Joe Biden won the presidential elections in the world’s biggest democracy.
21 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Partition: Looking back to heal and not hurt
On two successive days on August 14 and 15, 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent and its catastrophic fallout on millions of people.
17 August 2021, 18:00 PM
A stormy parliamentary session and clouds over Indian democracy
It rained protests and disruptions by a united and unrelenting opposition every day during the nearly month-long monsoon session of the Indian parliament, raising serious concerns about Indian democracy.
13 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Breaking fast and bread: Rahul Gandhi style
On August 2, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi chaired a meeting of leaders of 15 opposition parties for breakfast at New Delhi’s Constitution Club
7 August 2021, 18:00 PM
India’s opposition unity a work in progress
Politics has a strange way of repeating itself in some ways.
31 July 2021, 18:00 PM
Pegasus spyware row and Indian democracy
The Pegasus spyware controversy has set off a political storm in India. Sustained anti-government protests by the opposition on the floor of the House paralysed almost the entire first week of the monsoon session of Parliament from July 19.
27 July 2021, 18:00 PM
India’s Taliban Dilemma
“The future of Afghanistan cannot be its past,” India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had told a meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on July 14. It is precisely the spectre of a rerun of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 that has been firmly raised with its swift military surge across much of that country in the last few months.
22 July 2021, 08:42 AM
Upcoming challenges in West Bengal’s political landscape
Over two months after the state assembly elections, which saw Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) returning to power with a thumping majority and its principal rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making substantial gains in terms of seats, the political landscape in the state is set to be roiled once again on a range of issues.
17 July 2021, 18:00 PM
India’s new cooperatives ministry
On July 6, the Indian government came out with the announcement of a separate Ministry of Cooperation with the avowed aim of realising the vision of “Sahkar se Samriddhi” (“Progress Through Cooperation”).
12 July 2021, 18:00 PM
The Modi government’s image makeover
Politics, particularly electoral politics, in India is as much about public perception as about the quality of governance. This comes out quite clearly in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s major expansion of his council of ministers and reshuffle of portfolios on Wednesday night.
9 July 2021, 18:00 PM
Tribal rights activist’s death: A wake-up call for India
In May this year, India's veteran tribal rights activist Stan Swamy had told the Bombay High Court—where he was being tried after being arrested under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, for his alleged links with Maoists—that he would die if "things were to go on this way".
7 July 2021, 18:00 PM
India opens Asia’s longest high-speed track
India today got Asia’s longest high-speed track for testing automobiles including high-end cars.
30 June 2021, 12:32 PM
South Asia’s Sunshine Moment at UN
On June 8, South Asia acquired a rare salience at the United Nations after the Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid was elected as the new President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) for a one-year term beginning in September.
17 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Assam’s NRC: Through the prism of a migrants’ descendant
Much has been written about the flawed and controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the northeastern Indian state of Assam and the mammoth humanitarian crisis that it has triggered.
10 June 2021, 18:00 PM
India’s Sedition Law and Media Freedom
Two orders given by India’s Supreme Court in two separate cases early this month have, once again, brought into sharp focus the issue of the colonial-era law relating to sedition in the context of media freedom. Both cases involve journalists and their reporting.
9 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Narada Bribery Case: 2 West Bengal ministers to seek bail again
A day after their arrest in the Narada bribery case, two senior ministers of West Bengal and a Trinamool Congress leader are set to appeal the Calcutta High Court’s stay on their bail granted by a court in Kolkata.
18 May 2021, 18:00 PM
Narada Bribery Case: Mamata’s 2 ministers sent to jail
The Calcutta High Court last night stayed the bail granted by a trial court to two senior West Bengal Ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, and ruling TMC legislator Madan Mitra and former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee.
17 May 2021, 18:00 PM