Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance was winning a majority of seats in early vote counting trends in the general election on Tuesday, but well short of the landslide predicted in exit polls, TV channels showed. The trends spooked financial markets which had expected a hefty win for Modi, with stocks falling steeply. The rupee also fell sharply against the […]

A total of 57 seats across 8 states polled on June 1 in the last and final phase of the ongoing general elections in India. The announcement of results is scheduled for June 4, 2024. Voting for all seats in the northern border state of Punjab will take place in this last and final phase, 13 constituencies being Gurudaspur, Amritsar, […]

J&K: Opportunity at Hand On May 18, 2024, a former Sarpanch (head of panchayat, village level self-government institution) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker, Ajaz Ahmad Sheikh, was shot dead by terrorists at Herpora village in the Shopian District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). On the same day, a tourist couple, identified as Farah Khan and Tabrez Khan of Jaipur, […]

India’s nuclear test of 1974, codenamed “Smiling Buddha,” signalled a critical shift from peaceful nuclear technology to military applications in the history of South Asia. This alleged Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE) was the first case of horizontal nuclear proliferation since the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) was formally adopted in 1967. The test, conducted at the Pokhran-1 site, used plutonium that […]

The fear of US sanctions has failed to deter India from signing a 10-year contract with Iran to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar. The deal is expected to enhance regional connectivity and facilitate trade involving India, Iran, Afghanistan, and other nations. India’s Shipping Minister Sonowal had called the agreement a “Historic moment in India-Iran ties” while Jaishankar […]

On May 8, 2024, a ‘deputy commander’ of The Resistance Front (TRF), Momin Mir, was killed by Security Forces (SFs) in the Kulgam District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). On May 7, 2024, SFs killed two terrorists in an encounter, including a top ‘commander’ of TRF, Basit Dar, and his associate Faheem Ahmed Baba, who was an over ground worker […]

Release of statistics on population change is an indication Vicious anti-Muslim rhetoric is likely to be the main plank of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last four phases of the elections to the Lower House of the Indian parliament (Lok Sabha). Voting ends on June 1 and the results will be announced on June 4. Faced with […]

The North-South and Brahmin-non Brahmin divides have again come to the fore but Tamils hope that the INDIA alliance will blunt the BJP’s brutal centralization and divisive Hindu nationalism. The on-going elections to the Indian parliament are being fought in various States and Union Territories of the country on the basis of a multiplicity of issues varying from State to […]

Unfriendly official statements and related media reporting are aimed at manipulating voters’ perceptions about the incumbent as well as smearing India’s reputation on the world stage. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the US of meddling in India’s ongoing elections last week through sensational allegations against its authorities by the American government and its media allies. This followed top […]

On April 25, 2024, two Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were killed in an encounter during a search operation in the Parhel Reserve Forest area of Boudh District. Following a tip-off about the presence of 40 to 50 ultras, personnel of the Special Operations Group (SOG), an elite commando unit of the Odisha Police, launched a search operation in […]