Census 2027 will start in two phases in Uttar Pradesh. The first phase of census will be completed from May 7 to May 21. The second phase will be completed from May 22 to June 20. Regarding this, Census Director IAS Sheetal Verma will speak on Saturday (May 2) at 11 am in Shaheed Smriti Bhawan Auditorium. Lucknow Will do in the press conference. IAS Sheetal Verma is the Chief Principal Census Officer.
Let us tell you that the first census work in India was started in 1872. This census is the 16th census of India and the 8th after independence. For this, census training work has been completed in all the districts of Uttar Pradesh. For the first time in the country, census will be conducted digitally. Data of citizens will be collected digitally.
Census will be done digitally for the first time in the country
Census of India 2027 will be the country’s first completely ‘digital census’. In this, data will be collected through mobile, which will provide accurate and detailed information and will help in making better policy. This information was given in an official fact-sheet on Saturday.
The official statement said that this census will have many new features, such as near-real-time monitoring through the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) portal, option to self-fill information and extensive use of geo-referenced areas. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, in its meeting held on April 30, 2025, decided to include caste enumeration in Census 2027.
Chief Secretary gave this information regarding census
Chief Secretary S.P. Goyal gave detailed guidelines on various contemporary issues in the weekly review meeting with all Divisional Commissioners and District Magistrates through video conferencing. Reviewing the preparations for Census-2027, he said that under the first phase, house listing and housing census will be conducted between May 22 and June 20, 2026.
Before this, training of all enumerators and supervisors should be completed at all costs and strict action should be taken against those who remain absent. He said that between May 7 and May 21, citizens in the state will be able to fill the online self-enumeration form. For this, people should be motivated to adopt online medium by running a massive public awareness campaign, so that accuracy of data can be ensured along with saving time.
“Every time there is a power failure I lose all means of communication with the outside world,” says Robert Dewar of life in a remote village in the Scottish Highlands since the landlines were transferred from the old copper cable network to broadband connections.
Blackouts also knock out the village’s mobile phone signal. “Our most recent power cut lasted for 42 hours,” Dewar says. The interruption outlasted his five-hour emergency backup battery. “If I had had a heart attack there is damn all I could have done about it, except compose myself, say my prayers, and await the outcome.”
Dewar was among the more than 100 readers who contacted us with their experiences as the old infrastructure – the public switched telephone network (PSTN) – used to make calls is replaced with digital lines.
It is one of the biggest tech upgrades since the analogue television signal was switched off more than a decade ago, a change that forced Britons to convert their TVs or buy a new digital set. This time copper phone cables are being replaced with a “digital voice” service that uses your broadband connection.
The overhaul of the phone network has been a huge undertaking but is now in its final year, with roughly 3.2m homes (about a fifth of the original number) still connected to the PSTN, which is scheduled to be switched off in January 2027.
For many the switchover simply involves plugging the phone handset into the broadband router instead of the socket on the wall. However, for vulnerable Britons, or those living in remote locations such as Dewar, without a mobile signal, it can be much more complex to make sure they are not cut off from the outside world when something goes wrong.
In its 2025 Connected Nations report Ofcom predicted the pace of customer migrations would increase this year to meet the approaching deadline. To date, telecoms providers have focused on the easiest homes to switch, and the communications regulator acknowledged it is “likely that more complex customers will make up a larger proportion of the remaining PSTN customers”.
Silver Voices, the UK campaign organisation for the over-60s, has big concerns about the safety of the programme. It is calling for the deadline to be extended until 2030 so that better safety products can be developed. Its “save our landlines” petition has gathered more than 100,000 signatures.
“This is a disaster waiting to happen,” says the Silver Voices director, Dennis Reed, with the organisation concerned that the onus is on vulnerable customers to contact their provider for help.
“There are many reasons why vulnerable customers are not able to self-identify and they face being switched off in their droves whatever their circumstances.
“Reports continue to emerge of landlines being switched off before help has been given.”
How it works
Ernest Doku, a broadband expert at the comparison website Uswitch, says that although digital voice calls rely on a router rather than copper cables, this does not mean having to pay for a full broadband package if you don’t need one.
“As a universal service provider, BT must ensure access to a basic service, which may include voice-only or low-data options, while other providers usually deliver ‘voice’ services as part of a broadband package or as a migration path for their existing customers,” he says.
BT says supporting customers through the switchover is a “top priority”.
It says: “We offer a range of support, including enhanced protection for customers with additional needs, such as telecare users and those who are solely reliant on their landline. This includes free in-home assistance and backup power solutions where needed.
“We also have dedicated solutions in place for landline-only customers and for those who do not yet have access to full fibre.”
Industry estimates suggest that less than 1% of BT landline customer’s premises have insufficient mobile signal to make an emergency call and that this number will drop it invests in strengthening mobile coverage in rural communities.
The existing analogue telephone network is scheduled to be switched off by the end of January 2027. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Prior to the switch, customers should be given several weeks’ notice by letter or email. They may also be sent equipment such as a new router.
The companies involved must guarantee that customers who rely solely on their landline have access to emergency services for at least one hour during a power outage. This is often done through a backup battery and “should be provided free of charge to people who are dependent on their landline”, Ofcom says. Doku says these typically cost £60-£100 if you need to buy one.
Care alarms and security alarms may also be connected to the landline. If you have one, it may need to be replaced or reconfigured so it still works. To help vulnerable users, BT’s infrastructure arm Openreach has a dedicated telecare service it says is supported by more than 4,000 specially trained engineers.
Doku says it is vital to disclose any medical devices or telecare alarms to your provider, as it has signed a government charter to ensure you are not refused service or left without compatible equipment.
He adds: “If you have any concerns about your equipment or costs, contact your provider directly. Ask them specifically how the switch will affect your devices and what backup solutions they can offer to ensure you stay connected during a power cut.”
A vulnerable Cornish woman told us she is terrified at the idea of a power cut after a recent outage lasted more than 24 hours: “Once that one hour of battery backup has expired I will have no means of contacting emergency services, or anyone else as there is no mobile reception at my home.”
She has researched buying a longer-lasting battery but says they are too expensive. Out of desperation she is “considering setting up a local walkie-talkie group with other vulnerable neighbours”.
Many respondents told Guardian Money they had spent hours helping vulnerable relatives replace their home phone set-up. Even IT and engineering professionals confessed to having been left tearing their hair out.
“In January 2025 I contacted BT to cancel my mum’s broadband because she has Alzheimer’s and can no longer use a computer,” Hertfordshire-based Peter* says.“It was costing nearly £70 a month for a service she was no longer capable of using.
Current landlines in general will work in a power cut but that is not the case with the new digital system. Photograph: Shaun Daley/Alamy
“I was told that to cancel her broadband, which was out of contract, it had to be upgraded to fibre because the exchange was due to be upgraded.”
Openreach is simultaneously rolling out a full-fibre broadband network, and once an exchange can serve 75% of homes, companies stop selling legacy phone and broadband services.
Peter adds: “The work was finally completed last June and involved digging all the plants out of the border of her front garden; gardening is her one remaining pleasure in life.
“Although I had to argue my case, BT also agreed to refund the difference between what mum had been paying and what she should have paid had they completed the work within the terms of the service level agreement. The result was just over £1,000 in compensation.”
It worked out well in the end, he says. His mother has a basic telephone-only contract that costs £12 a month – a saving of £56 a month, and BT provided a backup battery free of charge. However, Peter is concerned how people “without a determined advocate could be affected”.
‘Incorrect information’
David, who lives in a remote valley in Wales, says: “The torture began in May 2025 when an email from Plusnet advised that our landline will no longer be supported after the switchover. We live in an isolated location where mobile reception is poor outdoors and nonexistent indoors.”
He contacted Plusnet and agreed to move to EE after being told he could get a broadband, phone service and a free backup battery for £26 a month. However, when he spoke to EE he was told he would have to buy the battery and the monthly cost was £10 more than billed, so he cancelled the move.
Last month, he received an email that said if he hadn’t made a decision about remaining with Plusnet within 30 days, it would begin moving his broadband and home phone to EE. If he stayed with Plusnet and gave up his landline, his monthly bill would drop from £32 to £22.50. If he transferred to EE it would be unchanged at £32.
When he told EE that he was in his 70s and has health problems, he was told “without doubt” he would be issued with a free one-hour backup battery. To keep their landline for the sake of incoming calls, David and his partner decided to go with EE but to use their mobiles for all outgoing calls.
The couple have invested in simple system that uses an antenna sitting on a window-ledge outside the house. “It conveys the mobile signal to a signal booster (or repeater) inside one room, enabling use of our mobile phones within that part of the house,” David says.
With the old copper phone network being phased out, rural communities are concerned they will be left without a backup in emergencies. Photograph: Brian Jackson/Alamy
However, EE reneged on its promise on the battery, saying it does not supply a free one-hour backup device to all elderly people living in areas with poor mobile reception, only those with a telecare device. He rejected its offer to buy a battery for £80 or £150.
He says the saga has made him feel that the companies involved appear to be operating without meaningful oversight. “Providers should be held to the commitments made to customers during the switchover process,” he adds.
“If there is a requirement to supply free batteries to those who need them, then it should be enforced. People need to know they’ll be able to call for help in an emergency during a power outage.
“They aren’t making it easy. The call to arrange the transfer with EE this morning lasted one hour and nine minutes. I’m skilled in using digital technology, I hate to think what frustrations less computer literate people are experiencing.”
‘Hollow promises’
In a similar vein South Devon-based Tony Robertshas found it difficult to find a telephone supplier willing to take on someone who considered their landline to be essential. “Often if you try to sign up, they ask: ‘Do you rely on a landline’ or ‘Do you have a care device’ and if you say yes, simply say that their service isn’t suitable despite digital voice services being the only ones available for new orders.”
He adds: “The promise of a backup battery is often a hollow one, either offering short backup time or being very hard to obtain without significant cost. I had to pretend that I don’t need my essential landline in order to switch supplier and then provide my own battery backup separately.”
Roberts is concerned that a network that was robustly maintained and backed up at central exchanges is being replaced by a fragmented system with multiple points of failure. “On top of that, there is no guarantee that mobile masts have significant backup either.
“There is a real danger that whole communities find themselves with no connectivity at all in the case of a widespread power failure,” Roberts says. “It’s also worrying me that this is often reported as a problem for old people: it’s a wider issue than that.”
Ofcom says that it has made clear to companies their duty to “identify, protect and support vulnerable customers. We’ve been keeping a close eye on progress, including publishing industry guidance and stepping in to remind companies of their obligations.”
The switchover process
If your landline is still plugged in to the traditional telephone socket, look out for a letter or email from your phone company giving notice of your digital switchover date.
What happens next will depend on the company you are with, and the equipment they use.
If you already have an internet connection, it may be as simple as plugging the phone into your broadband router rather than the wall.
You can usually keep your number and carry on using the same phone. The pricing of your phone package is not affected, but if your landline and broadband are with different companies you will have a choice.
Openreach is simultaneously rolling out a full-fibre broadband network. Photograph: Ian Rutherford/Alamy
If you are migrating to a digital line without upgrading to full fibre, then the new service will use the wiring that is already in place. There is lots of information about the whole process on the digital landline switchover website.
Upgrading to a full-fibre service is a bigger deal because fibre optic cables need to be installed.
An engineer will have to set up the service which will involve either overground or underground cables. They will need to drill a small hole in an outside wall to connect you.
Your new digital phone line will be powered by your home electricity, so if there is a power cut you will not be able to make landline calls. If there is no mobile coverage in your area, or you have a telecare device, you need to let your phone company know.
In these cases, they should offer you a solution, such as a backup battery, to allow you to call the emergency services, at the very least, during a power cut.
To assist vulnerable customers, BT has a dedicated telecare service it says is supported by more than 4,000 specially trained engineers.
NDMA Mock Drill 2nd May: Today i.e. on May 2, if you suddenly receive an emergency message on your phone with a loud beeping sound between 12 noon and 6 pm, then do not panic. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is conducting a mock drill of ‘Cell Broadcast Alert System’.
The first alerts have been sent out today, leaving many people confused about what to do. This is just a test so that people can be informed in time during any future disaster or emergency. Let us understand some important things about this.
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Mock drill to alert on mobile – Photo: AI
What to do when alert comes?
Don’t panic- This is just a testing message, so there is no need to panic or fear.
Read the message – Read the pop-up message that appears on the screen carefully, it will clearly say that this is a ‘mock drill’.
Click on OK – After viewing the message, you can delete it by clicking on the ‘OK’ button given on the screen.
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Why is mock drill being alerted on mobile? – Photo: Adobe Stock
Why is this mock drill being done?
Disaster Management- Its main objective is to save people’s lives during natural disasters like floods, earthquakes or tsunamis.
System check – The government wants to ensure whether this technology is working properly on all mobile networks and phone models.
accuracy test The capacity and speed of the system is being tested by sending messages simultaneously in different areas.
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Why is mock drill being alerted on mobile? – Photo: Adobe Stock
Key Features of Alerts
loud sound – This message comes with a specific sound and vibration, which can be heard even on silent mode.
Network based – It does not require internet, it reaches your phone directly through the cellular network.
multilingual – This alert can be sent by the government in Hindi and English as well as regional languages.
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Why is mock drill being alerted on mobile? – Photo: Adobe Stock
Important things to remove confusion
You do not need to call anyone or share any personal information in response to this message.
This trial is being done on a random basis across different states and networks, so some people may get it earlier and some later.
Do not believe any wrong information spreading on social media, this is a completely official and safe process.
Many Britons are daunted by the world of investing, but new City rules mean certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensions.
Last month marked the launch of “targeted support”, a new regulated service that permits companies to suggest investments and pension products to customers that might provide a better return.
The service aims to bridge a gap between general guidance and information and financial advisers who charge a fee.
Companies – a list likely to include banks, building societies and investment platforms – have to be authorised in advance by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Most advice is expected to be free with commission payments banned.
If, say, you have a largish sum – perhaps several thousand pounds – sitting in a high street bank savings account, you may see a message pop up suggesting that you consider investing some or all of this money, with a link you can click on. It will take you to the investment options offered by the bank. These may include a stocks and shares Isa or a pension plan.
New finance sector rules mean certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensions. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters
These suggestions will not take the form of individually tailored financial advice, which is increasingly only an option for the very well-off. However, they will be based on what the companies “would recommend to those in similar circumstances”, so they should be better than totally generic guidance.
The aim of targeted support is to help people make better-informed financial decisions, the FCA says. It estimates there are about 7 million adults in the UK with £10,000 or more in cash savings “who could be missing out on the benefits of investing”.
As well as people who may be in a position to invest some of their cash, customers who are judged not to be saving enough for retirement are likely to be targeted.
The regulator said that many consumers who were in a position to invest but chose not to did so because they were unsure of their options or needed more support. Fewer than one in 10 people obtain regulated financial advice. However, almost one in five investors turn to social media for help making decisions.
The wealth manager Quilter and the insurance group Royal London are among the first names to have gained permission to offer the service. Some companies do not plan to participate, while others such as Barclays say it is something they intend to launch and are supportive of.
Steven Levin, the Quilter chief executive, said: “Deciding whether and how to invest can be a daunting experience for people, leading to a dangerous inertia. We want to offer a simple and accessible way to get started.”
The pension company Scottish Widows has been looking at how advice could be given using an AI agent that it has begun rolling out on its app. The company describes the agent as working “like [a] satnav, by helping people understand their options and choose a route that makes sense for them, based on others on a similar journey”.
The wealth manager Quilter and the insurance group Royal London are among the first firms to get permission to offer the new ‘targeted advice’ service. Photograph: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile/Getty Images
The FCA hopes targeted support will make people more confident about investing –one of the government’s hobby horses.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, wants to create “more of a culture in the UK of retail investing, to earn better returns for savers”. Last month there was also the launch of Savvy Squirrel – a government-endorsed advertising blitz fronted by a CGI squirrel designed to encourage cautious British savers to start investing.
The Treasury says the UK has the lowest level of retail investment among the countries of the G7 (the group that also includes the US, France, Germany and Japan), which means savers “are not getting the best bang for their buck” and UK businesses are being “starved of an important source of capital”.
According to the government, stocks and shares “have performed significantly better than cash savings accounts in recent decades”. Investing does come with some risk as the value of an investment can go down as well as up, but the spending power of cash savings can be eroded by rising prices.
The consumer body Which? adds that people should not just assume that an investment product offered by their bank will automatically be the one best suited to their needs.
Cybersecurity company Trellix has announced that it suffered a breach that enabled unauthorized access to a “portion” of its source code.
It said it “recently identified” the compromise of its source code repository and that it began working with “leading forensic experts” to resolve the matter immediately. It also said it has notified law enforcement of the matter.
Trellix did not disclose the exact nature of the data that may have been accessed by the attackers. However, it pointed out that there are indications that its source code has been affected or exploited.
“Based on our investigation to date, we have found no evidence that our source code release or distribution process was affected, or that our source code has been exploited,” the company added.
The company did not share any details about who may be behind the incident, and for how long the attackers had access to its systems. Trellix noted that additional information will be shared as appropriate once its investigation is complete.
Owned by Symphony Technology Group, Trellix was founded in January 2022 following the merger of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye. Around the same time, Mandiant, which was owned by FireEye, was acquired by Google in a deal worth $5.4 billion.
The Hacker News has reached out to Trellix for comment, and we will update the story if we hear back.
(This is a developing story. Please check back for more details.)
The rumbling noise in the night, still enough to waken the unhabituated, is what really goads some people living in Winslow, Buckinghamshire. Freight trains running through the new station since late 2024 prove this stretch of railway is operational. But the long-promised passenger services have yet to appear – and there is no sign of any arriving soon.
Welcome to East West Rail, open or not. For well over a decade, ministers have talked up a new railway linking Oxford to Cambridge via Milton Keynes to accelerate the drive for housing, jobs and growth – an arc of tech industry hailed as the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley.
With the first phase from Oxford to Milton Keynes built, it was highlighted again by the chancellor in January 2025: Rachel Reeves, laying out her economic vision, cited it as the “transport link needed to make the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor a success”. She looked forward to the start of passenger trains in the coming months, with Chiltern Railways officially taking over in March 2025.
Instead, with little or no explanation, the services failed to run, and the planned start date was shunted to autumn and then the end of 2025. Today, no target for opening is offered at all.
The extraordinary delay has left local MPs and would-be passengers ever more frustrated – not least those living in the new-build homes next to Winslow station, sold on the promise of commuter services via Milton Keynes or Oxford to London.
Callum Anderson, the MP for Buckingham and Bletchley, has been pushing for an answer from his Labour colleagues and campaigning for the line. “It’s unfortunate,” he said. “People can see it and hear it but they can’t use it.” It was, though, “important not to speculate or lay blame at any one door”.
But in the absence of convincing explanations, many people do. A dispute with unions over whether the two-carriage trains require guards is widely believed to be the crucial stumbling block, though the Department for Transport (DfT) and the RMT union deny it is the main reason. Chiltern had planned to start running trains with only a driver, opposed in principle by the RMT and Aslef, the drivers’ union. Many driver-only operations already exist.
Milton Keynes was meant to be connected to Oxford via the new railway line. Photograph: Paul White/UK Cities/Alamy
A letter from Peter Hendy, the rail minister, to Anderson in March said the primary reason services had not started was that negotiations over contracts with Chiltern were “interrupted by the unexpected general election of July 2024”.
Hendy said trains would need to have been modified and driver training completed, and the new station at Winslow “fully handed over”, but added that “future staffing arrangements also remain to be agreed”.
In a recent statement to the House of Commons, Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said Chiltern was “pursuing rolling stock modifications, the completion of the intermediate station, and staffing and training for service introduction”.
The partial explanations, whispers and refusals to give adequate explanations have infuriated those seeking answers.
Diana Blamires is an independent councillor in Winslow, where 4,500 people remain stuck, trainless, halfway between Oxford and Milton Keynes. She has organised petitions and a protest last weekend at Bletchley station, and describes the DfT’s reasoning as “nonsense, pathetic, laughable … How come they could set up a freight train service?”
She said people were angered by the lack of progress. “There’s fury,” she said. “People came to places like Winslow thinking they’d be able to get a train to a job in London, or Milton Keynes or Oxford, or even Bicester. Young people wanted to work at Bicester Village. Now it’s two buses in the morning to get there.
“Rush-hour traffic to Oxford is terrible and it’s extremely expensive to park. People want to get the train and open it up as a place to work. It’s disrupted people’s lives – people move here for jobs and now they are really struggling to get to that job.”
Olly Glover, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson and MP for Didcot and Wantage, said any problems with the station were a “red herring” and the election was a “ridiculous” excuse, with the RMT dispute the only possible issue.
“Ultimately the government and the DfT are the ones who made the decision late, they have not resolved this impasse and they have no plan to do so,” Glover said. “They clearly have no plan – and not enough people are holding them to account.
“How are we going to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor and all the housing and science facilities, if we have this brand new shiny railway and it’s not open for passengers after a year?”
Compared with, say, the travails and cost overruns of HS2, the story so far of East West Rail is a minor hiccup. But the failure to open even a short and far from ambitious railway – unelectrified and largely running on reclaimed or existing lines – has anguished observers.
The multiple players make accountability more slippery. At the outset is East West Railway Ltd, a private company set up by Chris Grayling, a former transport secretary, 10 years ago so the line could “happen quicker”. The company says it handed the line and station over completed for Network Rail’s sign-off in 2024. “We absolutely understand the frustration that local people in Winslow feel about the delay,” said Natalie Wheble, its external affairs director.
Chiltern Railways has cited unspecified problems with the station. One, according to the RMT, was that an emergency exit backed on to private land – an issue that is understood to have been resolved.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We have completed construction works at Winslow station and we are working to support Chiltern as they prepare to operate train services and manage the station.”
A Chiltern Railways spokesperson said it had made “significant progress” and the station was “now in the testing and commissioning phase”, but there was “work still to finish to prepare the trains, on Winslow station and on the operating arrangements for the new route”. They said Chiltern would “provide further updates when we are able to”.
The DfT would only say: “We are supporting Chiltern Railways as they work with unions and other industry partners to get these services up and running as soon as possible. The East West Rail project will unlock thousands of jobs and homes and kickstart hundreds of thousands of pounds of economic growth across England, but we need services to be allowed to start before we can start seeing those benefits.”
Clarification on whom the DfT – which dictated Chiltern’s contract and will soon nationalise its operation – is waiting on for “services to be allowed to start” has yet to be given.
An RMT spokesperson said: “It is simply inaccurate to blame delays to East West Rail on our dispute when the project has been held back for years by indecision, rising costs and unresolved planning issues. The industrial dispute only affects one part of the route and the biggest delays sit squarely with those in charge of managing the project.”
They said the union was opposed to driver-only operation “because it is vital there is a second safety-critical person onboard”, adding that RMT members would “not accept being used as cover for failures in project management”.
The longer story of the Oxford-Cambridge line stretches further into the distance, with yet more consultations ahead for the second and third phases. The development of the Universal Studios theme park in Bedford will bring more passengers – potentially resulting in bigger trains, longer platforms and perhaps another station but delaying construction. The route that finally hits Cambridge is yet to be nailed down, although the latest proposals from East West Rail Ltd are to hasten the building of a station at Tempsford where it crosses the east coast main line, ready for the planned new town.
Hendy’s letter suggested the creation of Great British Railways, including the nationalisation of Chiltern, would “make the process of implementing change on the passenger rail network much simpler in future”. If it does indeed take the advent of GBR to see the government force the line into action, as some locals fear, the wait for a train in Winslow could last some time yet.
America has offered to sell arms worth more than $8.6 billion to four allied countries of West Asia. This offer has been made bypassing the review of Congress (US Parliament). These countries are Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
What did the US State Department say?
According to the report of Xinhua news agency, the US State Department said that these weapons include modern precision target striking weapon systems, air and missile defense supply restoration services and an integrated combat command system.
War with Iran is over: Trump
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump told lawmakers that the war against Iran is ‘over’. This military action was initiated without the permission of Congress. The legal limit of 60 days has been reached for this. Trump said in a letter, there has been no firing between America and Iran since April 7, 2026. He said, the struggle which started on 28 February 2026 has now ended.
Why did Trump say the war with Iran is over?
According to the report, his letter is an attempt to end the ongoing controversy over Congress and the need for its approval for the war. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the President has to inform Congress after initiating military action and must end it within 60 days without approval. Trump also said, there is still uncertainty in negotiations with Iran. He warned that he was not satisfied with the current proposals. But both the options of diplomacy and military action have been kept open.
Expressed displeasure over Iran’s proposal
He told reporters, Iran wants to compromise. But he is not happy with the proposal, so it remains to be seen what happens next. Trump also described Iran’s leadership as unstable and said there are internal differences. It is not clear who is the real leader.
Trump’s claim- Iran’s army has become weak
He also claimed that Iran’s army has become very weak after the recent conflict. It no longer has a strong navy and air force. Trump said he would prefer a peaceful solution. But if talks fail, the option of military action is also available.
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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has got an important success in a major case of banking and financial fraud. Accused Kamlesh Parekh, who has been absconding for a long time, has been extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). On May 1, Parekh was brought to India, where the CBI took him into custody as soon as he reached Delhi.
How was the action taken?
This action was carried out in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Interpol’s Red Corner Notice was issued against Parekh, on the basis of which he was tracked and detained in UAE. It was handed over to Indian agencies after India’s formal request and completion of the legal process between the two countries.
Allegations of fraud with many banks of the country
According to investigating agencies, Kamlesh Parekh is accused of large-scale banking and financial fraud. In this scam, a group of many banks in the country suffered huge losses, which was led by State Bank of India (SBI). It is estimated that funds worth hundreds of crores of rupees were misused in this case.
What came to light in the CBI investigation?
CBI investigation has revealed that Parekh, along with other promoters and directors, diverted the funds taken from the bank through companies based abroad. For this, fraudulent export activities, suspicious financial transactions and misuse of banking channels were resorted to.
According to sources, the accused carried out this fraud using his business network spread across many countries including UAE. The investigating agencies are now interrogating him and trying to find out the role of the entire network and other accused.
The CBI, which acts as the National Central Bureau for Interpol in India, coordinates with various law enforcement agencies in the country through the ‘Bharatpol’ platform. The result of this cooperation is that in the last few years, more than 150 wanted criminals have been brought back to India through Interpol channels. This latest action is being considered as another important example of strong cooperation between law enforcement agencies at the international level.
US President Donald Trump says the latest Iranian peace proposal includes demands he ‘can’t agree to’.
Published On 2 May 20262 May 2026
United States President Donald Trump has voiced frustration with Iran’s latest peace proposal, saying “they’re asking for things I can’t agree to”, and cautioning against ending the conflict too early, only for tensions to resurface “in three more years”.
At the same time, Washington has warned that ships paying tolls or fees to Iran to transit the Strait of Hormuz could face US sanctions, signalling a tougher stance on maritime activity linked to Tehran.
Meanwhile, a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll shows 61 percent of Americans believe Trump’s use of military force against Iran was a mistake.
Here is what we know:
In Iran
Fourteen soldiers were killed on Friday during operations to defuse unexploded ordnance in the northwestern Zanjan province, local media reported.
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged his people to wage economic battle and “disappoint” its enemies, as the war with the US and Israel and years of sanctions take a toll.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said it would enforce “new rules” over waters near its coast, aiming to turn them into a “source of security and prosperity” for the region.
War diplomacy
The US Department of State imposed new measures on entities linked to Iranian petroleum exports, including China-based Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal, accusing it of importing millions of barrels of sanctioned crude and enabling billions in revenue for Tehran. Beijing rejected the move as unlawful “unilateral sanctions”.
The State Department said it cleared more than $8.6bn in military sales to Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
In the US
Trump said he was unhappy with Iran’s new proposal for peace talks, which Iran’s state news agency IRNA said was delivered via mediator Pakistan. “They’re asking for things that I can’t agree to,” he said.
Analyst Sultan Barakat said Iran and the US are “really desperate” to end the war in a way that allows them to “save face”.
Trump told top US lawmakers that hostilities in Iran had ended, after coming under pressure from Congress to seek authorisation for the conflict as it headed into its third month.
The US Treasury Department slapped new sanctions on three Iranian foreign currency exchange firms to try to stem the flow of Tehran’s “financial lifelines”.
The USS Gerald R Ford left the Middle East after taking part in operations against Iran, a US official said, according to reports. Two other aircraft carriers – the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George HW Bush – are among 20 US ships still in the region.
Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said US military capability “has not changed” as Washington returns to its typical posture of two carrier groups.
“The Ford carrier group had left the United States last June, and its deployment has been extended twice. The crew and the ship are tired, so the United States is sending the group home,” he added.
USS Gerald R Ford anchored in Split, Croatia, March 29, 2026 [EP]
In Lebanon
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said 12 people were killed on Friday in Israeli strikes on the country’s south, including in a town where Israel’s army had issued a forced displacement order despite a ceasefire.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, said Israel is using the ceasefire as cover to intensify attacks.
