NEWS & VIEWS|||SARASIJ|||16th APRIL2026

 

NEWS & VIEWS|||SARASIJ|||16th APRIL2026

THURSDAY| VOL—V/2026/APRIL

OPINIONATED, FOR FREE CIRCULATION.

*कष्टः खलु पराश्रयः।*

Dependence is indeed painful.

 

Global dollar liquidity is driven far more by Asian manufacturing surpluses than oil exporters stashing dollars away offshore. The glory days of the petrodollar are over.

 

INDIA: (GOI, SWARAJYA, VISHWAMITRA, HINDU POST, INDIA TODAY).

A three day special sitting of the extended Budget session of Parliament will begin today. The session which will continue till the 18th of this month, will primarily focus on Constitutional Amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

India has set an ambitious goal to achieve self-sufficiency in cocoa production by 2040 under a comprehensive roadmap aimed at strengthening domestic output and reducing import dependence.

The Federal Chancellor of Austria, Dr Christian Stocker, yesterday arrived for his four-day official visit to India. He was received by Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Khadse at the airport.

*The government will introduce three amendment bills to pave the way for the operationalization of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill, which was passed in 2023, proposing 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

IRAN WAR:(Tehran Times, Israel Times, Washington Post, Al-Jazeera)

Participants in Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington described them as positive. Envoys from Israel and Lebanon agreed yesterday on a shared goal of ridding Lebanon of Hezbollah, Israel’s U.S. ambassador said, calling the meeting “wonderful.” The two countries agreed to enter direct peace negotiations, the U.S. State Department said.

Hezbollah officials have slammed talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, calling them “shameful”. Hezbollah launches 39 strikes against Israeli targets in last 24 hours

U.S. President Donald Trump told the New York Post that additional U.S.-Iran talks could occur within the “next two days” in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the United States has tightened pressure on Tehran via a naval blockade and plans for renewed sanctions on Iranian oil, while sending additional forces to the region. 

 Trump doubled down on positive peace talk, telling Fox Business in an interview ( aired this morning )  the Iran war was “very close to over.” Meanwhile, unnamed regional officials told the Associated Press today the United States and Iran had an “in principle agreement” to extend the ceasefire expiring next week.

Iran’s ISNA news agency reports that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned of the consequences of US “provocative actions” in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz during a telephone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

A Pakistani delegation has arrived in Tehran carrying a message from Washington to discuss the possibility of a second round of talks with the US.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports that Iran will conduct a formal evaluation to determine whether it will participate in the next round of negotiations with the United States after a scheduled high-level meeting between Iranian officials and a Pakistani delegation led by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Thursday.

The Treasury Department said yesterday that waived sanctions on Iranian oil would soon resume and that financial institutions “should be on notice” regarding potential new sanctions on actors supporting Iran. The ongoing U.S. blockade in the Strait of Hormuz is deepening financial pain for both Tehran and buyers of its oil, building on the consequences of Iran’s own move to restrict traffic in the strait following U.S. and Israeli attacks.

The United States has threatened to sanction buyers of Iranian oil and said it believed China would pause such purchases as Washington enforces a maritime blockade on Iran.

The US Treasury has also written to two Chinese banks and “told them that if we can prove that there is Iranian money flowing through your accounts, then we are willing to put on secondary sanctions”, he added.

US senators have voted against a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop ⁠the US-Israel war on Iran until hostilities are authorised by Congress.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, has said that the United States rejected its proposal that Russia take up all of Iran’s ‌enriched uranium out of the country in its bid to help resolve the hostilities in the Middle East.

The USS Spruance, an Aegis guided missile destroyer, has forced an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel to return to Iran, the US Central Command says. It was the 10th such ship forced to retreat by US forces since the blockade began, which is now stretching into its third day.

Nuclear issue is the key that will help resolve this conflict, particularly for US President Donald Trump. DT just wants to prove that he got a better deal than Obama in 2015, and then walk away.

WORLD: (REUTER, AP, AFP, BLOOMBERG, CNN, WP)

Germany-Ukraine upgraded their relationship to a strategic partnership and agreed to cooperate on defence, the German government said in a declaration published yesterday. Countries agreed on a $4.7 billion Défense package, Ukrainian Défense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.

The United States and the Global Fund, a multilateral health funder, will expand access to the new HIV prevention drug lenacapavir to three million people by 2028, the State Department announced.

Canada will suspend a federal tax on gas and diesel between April 20 and September 7, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced yesterday.

Two members of Ireland’s governing coalition said they would defect amid widespread protests in the country over the last week due to high fuel prices. One of the lawmakers said the government’s plans to provide financial support to consumers were insufficient. The government survived a confidence vote yesterday.

The United States removed sanctions on Venezuela’s central bank and multiple other public banks, the Treasury Department announced yesterday.

Saudi Arabia committed $3 billion to help Pakistan meet its “external financing needs,” Pakistan’s finance ministry said today. Islamabad is expected to use the funds to repay a loan to the United Arab Emirates (UAE); earlier this month, Pakistan and the UAE failed to renew the $3 billion loan for the first time in seven years.

China is employing ships and a barrier to tighten control of the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea amid roiling tension with the Philippines over the disputed feature, satellite imagery obtained by Reuters shows.

MISHAPS:

In Punjab, 6 devotees have reportedly died when the ill-fated bus they were travelling in met with an accident in the Fatehgarh Sahib district. They were returning after paying obeisance at Sri Anandpur Sahib on the occasion of Baisakhi.

The death toll from Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has risen to 23.

The death toll in the boiler explosion incident in Singhanterai of Chhattisgarh has risen to 14.

 Around 250 people, including Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals, are feared missing after a trawler carrying them capsized in the Andaman Sea while reportedly attempting to reach Malaysia.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is equipping the Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Warrior drone with major artificial intelligence and autonomy upgrades. Originally designed as a remotely piloted wingman, the system is now being fundamentally transformed into a semi-autonomous combat partner.

China is plans for a massive 120-kilometre undersea high-speed rail tunnel across the Bohai Strait, aiming to connect the coastal cities of Dalian and Yantai in just 40 minutes. CRIME & PUNISHMENT:

Zoho Corporation has filed a commercial suit before the Madras High Court seeking ₹10 crore in damages and injunctive relief against Flexype Technologies Pvt Ltd and its co-founder Azeem Hussain over allegedly defamatory social media posts concerning its accounting software [Zoho corporation Vs FlexyPe].

GAMES & SPORTS: -

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said that “the Iranian team is coming for sure, yes,” to play in the US despite the ongoing war.

DAS KAPITAL:

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that the broad economic fallout of the war includes lower global GDP growth, higher inflation, and even a risk of coming close to a global recession if energy market disruptions stretch into next year. 

India’s overall exports, combining merchandise and services, increased by 4.22 per cent to over 860 billion US dollars in the last financial year. Meanwhile, imports rose at a faster pace of nearly 6.5 per cent to around 979 billion USD.

Indian Share Market: -

*BSE SENSEX* 78,111.24 +1,263.67 (1.64%)🌲

*NIFTY* 24,231.30 +388.65 (1.63%)🌲

BULLIONS:

*GOLD* : ₹ 15,500/ 01gm (24 krt)

*SILVER* : ₹ 2,70,000/KG

Currency Exchange Rates:

*Euro* : ₹107/-*USD*  ₹ 92/-  *China¥* : ₹ 13/-

WHAT IS NEXT:

Today, Zelenskyy visits Italy.

Tomorrow, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels.

Tomorrow, Group of Twenty finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Washington, DC.

 

 

THE END.