April 05, 2026
49 articles published on this date
Mission Karmayogi Expands to Scientists and Academicians: First Administrative Capacity Building Programme
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launched the first-ever dedicated 'Administrative Capacity Building' programme for Scientists and Academicians under...
Strait of Hormuz Deadline: India's Diplomatic Tightrope in West Asia
As a US-imposed deadline on Iran loomed over the Strait of Hormuz, EAM Jaishankar engaged in telephonic diplomacy with Iran's FM Araghchi, discussing...
Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules 2026: Recycled Content Mandates and EPR Reforms
The Government of India notified the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2026, introducing mandatory use of recycled plastic content in packaging by...
WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference: Rules-Based Trade Under Stress
The World Trade Organization's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) was held from March 26–30, 2026 in Yaoundé, Cameroon — the first WTO ministerial to be...
Single-Use Plastic Ban Violated at 84% of Sites Across Four Indian Cities: Toxics Link Study
A study by Toxics Link, a New Delhi-based environmental research and advocacy organisation, surveyed 560 locations across Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Guwahati, and...
India-Flagged LPG Tanker Navigates Strait of Hormuz Amid Conflict
An India-flagged LPG tanker, Green Asha, successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz on April 5, 2026, amid the escalating US-Iran conflict and Trump's threat...
India's Nuclear Power Transformation: SHANTI Act and the 100 GW Challenge
India's SHANTI Act (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) has received presidential assent after passing both...
Bangladesh FM Visit to India: Ganga Water Sharing and Bilateral Agenda
Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Touhid Hossain was expected to visit India on April 7 and 8, 2026 — the first foreign ministerial visit since the fall of the...
India's Prime Minister Has No Constitutional Term Limit: A Deliberate Asymmetry
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi completing 8,931 days in office (as of the article's reference point), an opinion piece in a national daily examines the...
DGP Tenure Debate: Does the Prakash Singh Ruling Apply to Election Commission-Appointed Police Chiefs?
A constitutional debate has emerged over whether a Director General of Police (DGP) appointed by a state government on the recommendation of the Election...
India's Diplomatic Role as Iran-US Tensions Reach Breaking Point
EAM S. Jaishankar received a call from Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi on April 5, 2026, with both sides discussing bilateral relations and regional developments...
Sonam Wangchuk Released from NSA Detention, Calls for Open-Minded Talks on Ladakh's Statehood and Sixth Schedule
Environmentalist and activist Sonam Wangchuk called for dialogue with the Centre 'with an open mind and heart,' advocating for a 'win-win approach' to...
India's Diplomatic Engagement Amid the Strait of Hormuz Crisis
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar received a call from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on April 5, 2026, to discuss the West Asia conflict and...
Petition Challenges Transgender Persons Amendment Act 2026 for Dropping Self-Identification
Transgender rights activists Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Zainab Patel have filed a Supreme Court petition challenging the constitutional validity of the...
NeSL and India's Insolvency Infrastructure: Digital Debt Records and IBC Reform
National e-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL), India's first Information Utility (IU) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code framework, is providing real-time...
Supreme Court Constitutes Nine-Judge Bench to Settle Women's Rights vs Religious Practices
The Supreme Court has constituted a nine-judge constitutional bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, to hear a batch of cases examining the scope of...
Chabahar Port Set to Expand More Rapidly in Post-War Era, Says Iran's Envoy to India
Iran's Ambassador to India has stated that work at Chabahar Port will expand 'even more rapidly' once the current West Asia conflict ends, describing it as...
China-Pakistan Five-Point Peace Initiative for West Asia: Stakes and Trade Implications
On March 31, 2026, China and Pakistan jointly launched a Five-Point Initiative for Restoring Peace and Stability in the Gulf and Middle East region The...
Indian Ships in the Persian Gulf: Navigating the Hormuz Crisis
As of early April 2026, 8 Indian-flagged vessels have successfully exited the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, while 16 remain in the western...
OPEC+ Hikes Oil Quotas by 206,000 bpd for May, but Warns Infrastructure Damage Limits Real Impact
OPEC+ agreed on Sunday (April 5, 2026) to raise oil production quotas by 206,000 barrels per day (bpd) from May — the second consecutive monthly increase of...
GST Council's 57th Meeting Delayed to End-May or June Over Poll-Bound State Transitions
The 57th GST Council meeting is expected to be held only towards the end of May or in June 2026, later than usual. The delay is directly linked to ongoing...
CII Submits 20-Point Policy Roadmap to Address West Asia War's Spillover on Indian Economy
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has submitted a comprehensive 20-point policy agenda to the Union Finance Ministry, seeking urgent support for...
China's 15th Five-Year Plan: Technology Self-Reliance, Trade Expansion, and Rising Partner Tensions
China's National People's Congress formally adopted the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) in March 2026, setting out the country's economic and technological...
Trump Issues Ultimatum to Iran: Open Strait of Hormuz or Face Infrastructure Strikes
US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran's power plants and bridges starting Tuesday (April 7, 2026) if the Strait of Hormuz — effectively closed...
Why NASA Relies on Astronaut Eyesight: Not Just Cameras — to Study the Moon
Despite advances in camera and sensor technology since the Apollo era, NASA built the Artemis II science observation plan around the primary use of...
Artemis II: First Crewed Lunar Flyby in 50 Years and the New Space Race
NASA's Artemis II mission launched on April 1, 2026 from Kennedy Space Center, sending four astronauts on the first crewed journey beyond low Earth orbit...
Iran Attacks Kuwait's Power and Water Desalination Plants, Raising Gulf Water Security Fears
Iranian drone and missile strikes have damaged at least two power generation and water desalination facilities in Kuwait, according to the Kuwaiti...
India May Restrict Sugar Exports to Channel More Sugarcane Towards Higher Ethanol Blending
The government is considering restricting sugar exports for the 2025-26 season as it plans to allow higher ethanol blending with petrol, diverting more...
South Central Railway Completes Kavach 4.0 Field Trials Across 487 Route Kilometres
South Central Railway (SCR) successfully completed field trials for Kavach 4.0 installation across 487 route kilometres during the financial year 2025-26....
Artemis II Crew Prepares for Lunar Flyby with Geology Training and Scientific Observation Protocol
Ahead of the 6 April 2026 lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew completed preparatory activities including reviewing lunar geology training and organising...
Artemis II Crew Sees Moon's Orientale Basin in Full: A Historic First for Human Eyes
During the Artemis II mission (launched 1 April 2026), the crew became the first humans to observe the entirety of the Orientale basin on the Moon's far...
Experts Criticise India's "Colonial Mindset" in Tiger Protection Policy
Wildlife conservation experts have sharply criticised India's tiger protection policy for perpetuating a 'colonial mindset' — one that treats forests as...
UAE Withdraws from Rafale F5 Co-Financing; India's $40 Billion Deal Remains Critical Lifeline
The United Arab Emirates has walked away from a co-financing deal worth approximately €3.5 billion for the development of the Rafale F5 — France's...
Iran War Hits US Economy Hard: Gas at $4+ a Gallon, Transport Costs Spike 45%
The average price of petrol (gasoline) in the US rose to $4.09 per gallon by April 3, 2026 — up more than $1 from just before the war began, the highest...
RBI MPC Likely to Keep Rates Unchanged at First Policy Meeting Since US-Iran Hostilities
SBI Research has projected the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee will maintain the policy repo rate at 5.25 percent at its April 6–8 meeting, marking the...
Geopolitics Now Drives Global Trade More Than Economics, Experts Warn
Experts and trade analysts now say geopolitical flashpoints — not economic fundamentals — have become the primary drivers of global trade flows in 2026. The...
Iran Strikes Energy Infrastructure Across UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait
Iran launched drone strikes targeting energy and industrial infrastructure across three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states — UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait —...
Iran-Israel War: Trump's Diplomatic Push, OPEC+ Output Hike, and Lebanon Strikes
US President Donald Trump stated he believes a deal with Iran is possible by April 6, 2026, saying 'they are negotiating now' — though Iran's foreign...
Moody's Cuts India's FY27 Growth Forecast to 6% as West Asia Conflict Disrupts Energy Supplies
Moody's Ratings slashed India's GDP growth estimate for FY2026-27 to 6%, down from its earlier forecast of 6.8%, citing the escalating conflict in West...
Artemis II: Humanity's Return to Deep Space and the First Crewed Lunar Flyby in Over 50 Years
NASA's Artemis II mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on 1 April 2026, sending four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon — the first crewed...
West Asia War Is Blocking Food and Medicine from Reaching Millions, Aid Groups Warn
Major international humanitarian organisations warned that the ongoing war in West Asia has severely disrupted global aid supply chains, leaving millions of...
Iran FM Warns of Radioactive Catastrophe After Repeated Strikes on Bushehr Nuclear Plant
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that continued US-Israeli strikes on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on Iran's southern coast could...
Economists Forecast RBI Rate Hold in April as West Asia Crisis Stokes Inflation Fears
A broad consensus among economists projects the RBI will keep the benchmark policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25 percent at the April 6–8 MPC meeting The West...
Jaishankar Engages Qatar and UAE as India Intensifies West Asia Crisis Diplomacy
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held separate telephone conversations with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani...
Government Steps Up LPG Supply and Urges Calm Amid Strait of Hormuz Disruption
The government has ramped up the sale of small 5-kg LPG cylinders — approximately 6.6 lakh bottles sold since March 23, 2026 — as part of broader steps to...
CII's 20-Point Policy Agenda: India's Industry Body Seeks Coordinated Response to West Asia Crisis
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) submitted a 20-point policy agenda to the Ministry of Finance calling for coordinated fiscal, financial, and...
India Dispatches Humanitarian Aid to Flood- and Earthquake-Hit Afghanistan
India dispatched humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) materials to Afghanistan following devastating floods and earthquakes that caused...
RBI Expected to Hold Rates Steady in First Monetary Policy Since West Asia Conflict
An SBI Research report has projected that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25 percent at the April 6–8 Monetary...
India's Oil Lifeline Under Strain: National Maritime Day and the Hormuz Crisis
India observed its 63rd National Maritime Day on April 5, 2026 — a date that acquired unusual salience given the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz...