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(1) Prime Minister Modi pitches for austerity measures successful the aftermath of West Asia tensions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for wide adoption of work-from-home policies, reduced golden buying and substance consumption, much enactment for section products and section tourism successful a speech successful Hyderabad connected May 11, 2026, arsenic a mode for the nationalist to assistance the country’s system successful the aftermath of warfare successful West Asia.
Shortages of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) forced tiny restaurants to shutter successful metro cities earlier, adjacent arsenic state rationing protected households from the worst of the crisis. Promotion of piped earthy state and electrical stoves were portion of the government’s effect to the vigor crisis.
On May 15, the prices for petrol and diesel were hiked by ₹3 each, aft oil-marketing-companies posted losses owed to the warfare successful West Asia.
Foreign speech reserves person been nether pressure, and the Indian ruppee’s spot against the dollar has been falling. Here is simply a look astatine however they person changed since March, erstwhile the Iran-U.S. warfare began.
(2) Political churn successful Tamil Nadu arsenic MLAs divided successful AIADMK camp
In the past week, Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian large AIADMK’s enactment cohesion took a deed aft 25 MLAs expressed assurance successful the recently elected Chief Minister Mr. Vijay’s government, adjacent arsenic enactment wide caput Edappadi K. Palaniswami and different MLAs expressed a deficiency of confidence.
This divided was evident during the level trial conducted connected Wednesday past week (May 13, 2026). Mr. Vijay won the spot ballot with 144 MLAs expressing support.
The rift wrong the AIADMK had been brewing since the Tamil Nadu Assembly predetermination results came retired connected May 4, making Mr. Vijay’s enactment TVK the largest and giving the State a uncommon hung Assembly. It came to a caput earlier the level test, erstwhile erstwhile Ministers C. Ve. Shanmugham, S.P. Velumani and a radical of MLAs submitted letters supporting Mr. Velumani arsenic the Legislature’s party’s person alternatively of Mr. Palaniswami.
Dissent wrong the party, however, is not new. Here is simply a timeline of dissent implicit the years.
(3) Hantavirus outbreak reported connected a cruise ship
At slightest 3 radical person died from an corruption of hantavirus arsenic of May 17, 2026, of 12 cases reported. The outbreak was discovered among passengers aboard MV Hondius, a cruise vessel travelling disconnected the seashore of Argentina and heading for the Netherlands. The corruption began with a 70-year-old Dutch antheral exhibiting symptoms connected the vessel aft a bird-watching travel successful Argentina earlier. Here is simply a timeline of its dispersed thereafter.
This strain of the microorganism was susceptible of human-to-human transmission, and adjacent quarters aboard the vessel helped its spread, arsenic per the World Health Organisation, which assessed planetary hazard of corruption arsenic ‘low.’ Symptoms of the illness see fever, fatigue, musculus symptom and respiratory symptoms. Case fatality tin scope from little than 1% to 15% successful Asia and Europe, and up to 50% successful the Americas, arsenic per WHO.
(4) 231 violent, poll-related incidents reported successful West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026
Of the 370 poll-related incidents reported successful West Bengal betwixt March 15 (when the Election Commission of India’s Model Code of Conduct was imposed successful the State) and May 7, information from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) shows that a full of 231 were convulsive portion 139 were peaceful demonstrations, mostly involving protests against the exclusion of voters from electoral rolls.
Compared to the past two Assembly polls (2016 and 2021) in Bengal, these polls person been less violent. As analysed in The Hindu’s previous stories, violent incidents accounted for 83.9% (172 of 205 cases) successful 2016 and 78.53% (278 of 354 cases) successful 2021. In comparison, only 62.43% (231 of the 370 cases) were convulsive successful these polls.
The TMC upheld its fertile arsenic the astir convulsive enactment successful the State successful the past decade. Out of the 106 incidents it was progressive successful since March 15, the portion was the perpetrator successful 45 incidents. Out of 91 incidents the BJP was progressive in, the enactment members and supporters were perpetrators successful 49 of those.
Incidents of unit flared connected the time of polls (April 23 and April 29), and connected the time of results. It besides peaked connected April 2, as tribunals began hearing appeals against deletion of 63 lakh voters and 24 lakh voters placed nether adjudication.
(5) U.S. prosecutors to driblet graft charges against billionaire Gautam Adani
Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani has agreed to wage $18 cardinal punishment successful a U.S. civilian tribunal lawsuit linked to corruption without admitting guilt, his institution said connected Friday (May 15, 2026).
This comes a time aft U.S. prosecutors were acceptable to drop charges against Mr. Adani, who was accused of paying hundreds of millions of dollars of bribes and hiding the payments, The New York Times reported Thursday (May 14, 2026).
Mr. Adani was alleged successful November 2024 to person agreed to wage much than $250 cardinal successful bribes to Indian officials for lucrative star vigor proviso contracts. The Times said the determination to wantonness the charges, brought nether U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, came aft Adani hired caller lawyers led by Robert Giuffra, 1 of President Donald Trump’s idiosyncratic lawyers.
Here are the large scandals and allegations against Mr. Adani successful caller times.
