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Horata Samiti urges enhanced Cabinet representation for Kalyana Karnataka

Samiti seeks at least eight berths in new Cabinet

Greens seek curb on unregulated tourism in Wayanad

The Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samiti alleges that unregulated tourism continues unabated in the mountain ranges even after the devastating Puthumala landslide in 2024

Three-tier strategy proposed to address rising human-wildlife conflict

The plan focuses on containment, mitigation, and compensation to enhance safety for farmers near forests and provide timely relief to affected families. The Forest department will utilize AI and sensor-based systems to study wildlife behaviour and promote coexistence.

RBI expected to hike repo rate by year-end

The Reserve Bank of India will keep its key interest rate unchanged at 5.25% in June, according ​to most economists in a Reuters poll, although ​a majority now expect at least one increase by year-end due to risks from high oil ​prices and pressure on the rupee from weak capital inflows.India's still-benign inflation at 3.48% in April, below the RBI's 4% medium-term target for over a year, gives the central bank scant reason to act urgently.But, with crude oil prices hovering about 30% over levels seen before the U.S.-Israeli war ‌with Iran, the rupee ⁠down roughly ⁠6% for the year and wholesale inflation accelerating sharply in April, a growing number of economists now expect policy action may eventually be needed to limit ​the pass-through to inflation.Nearly 80% of economists, 44 of 56, in the May 22-29 Reuters poll expected the Monetary Policy Committee to keep the ​repo rate unchanged at 5.25% on June 5.Also Read: Repo rate hike not on the cards, for now, says Ram Singh, external member of MPCAmong other respondents, 11 forecast a 25-basis-point hike and one expected a bigger 50-basis-point increase. In an April poll only one respondent predicted a June rate lift."With growth facing downside risks while inflation faces strong upside ​pressures, we expect the RBI to hold rates steady in June... as supply ⁠shocks perceived as ‌temporary might not warrant an interest rate action immediately," said Aditya Vyas, chief economist at STCI ​Primary Dealer."Interest rates are ​not a good tool to counter large supply shocks. Also, I do not think the RBI ⁠MPC will increase rates to defend the rupee since it is beyond the ​remit of the MPC and precedents provide evidence it is not an effective antidote to ​depreciation."But not everyone agrees the RBI should keep rates steady.Also Read: RBI warns prolonged West Asia conflict could hit India’s economy"Without any hikes the financial market perception that domestic policies remain unaligned with tight global financial conditions will continue to grow, inflating risks of repeated or renewed speculative pressures on the exchange rate," said ANZ economist Dhiraj Nim.A shift to a "hawkish" policy stance would be prudent, he added.The central bank has already spent billions of dollars to slow the rupee's decline as a global risk-off environment accelerates foreign outflows from India.Meanwhile, other Asian central banks have ‌already begun tightening policy to shore up their currencies. Bank Indonesia delivered a surprise 50-basis-point rate hike last week, and the Philippines' central bank raised rates 25 basis points in April.India, Indonesia and the Philippines ​are especially exposed ​as higher oil import costs coincide ⁠with capital outflows driven by investors seeking safer assets.Still, when asked if the RBI should consider using monetary policy alongside FX intervention to cushion the rupee's fall, a majority of economists, 14 of 18, said no.Poll medians showed the central bank would raise ​interest rates by 25 basis points in the fourth quarter and again in the third quarter of 2027. Most economists expected at least one 25-basis-point rate increase by end-2026 compared with expectations in the April survey for no rise through 2027.Mizuho's head of macro research Vishnu Varathan said the RBI hiking rates was "a matter of when not if", and argued moving "sooner rather than later at the August meeting makes sense and mitigates unnecessary pain".

A heat crisis in Telangana that burns beyond the thermometer

As Telangana battles one of its harshest summers in recent years, the rising burden of suspected heatstroke deaths and worsening urban heat stress are exposing the growing human cost of extreme weather. Even as the State rolls out heat mitigation measures and advisories, questions remain over ground-level implementation and the true scale of heat-related fatalities. Siddharth Kumar Singh reports on how the extreme heat is reshaping life, labour and survival

Judge refuses to block Trump order limiting mail-in voting ahead of 2026 midterm polls

A federal judge has allowed President Trump's executive order for a nationwide voter list and mail-in voting restrictions to proceed, dismissing challenges from Democratic groups. The judge stated that blocking the order was premature as it has not yet been implemented.

Opinion: Opinion | Why Pakistan Will Not Risk Signing Abraham Accords - Even For Best Friend Trump

A fanatical opposition to Israel has been assiduously cultivated by successive regimes in Pakistan, so much so that anti-Semitism has been normalised. A U-turn could cause massive unrest.

Choppadandi MLA Medipally Sathyam intervenes to speed up paddy lifting process, mitigate woes of farmers

Supreme Court asks MeitY to examine PIL seeking recovery or destruction of stolen personal data of citizens on foreign servers

The plea sought the court's intervention to operationalise the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, and to mitigate the rise of "digital arrests" and extortion linked to data breaches