Essay: With democracy under threat in Narendra Modi’s India, how free and fair will this year’s election be?
PRIYA CHACKO, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at concerns ahead of this year’s general election in India…
Indian election: Gandhi dynasty, trailing Modi, battles for political survival
RUPAM JAIM, of Reuters, reports on the status of one of India’s most storied political dynasties ahead of the upcoming election…
India’s Modi promises jobs, infrastructure if BJP wins third term
New Delhi, India Reuters Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised on Sunday to create jobs, boost infrastructure and expand welfare programmes if it wins a third term, seeking to address key voter concerns ahead of next week’s elections. The general election, which begins on 19th April, will be held in seven […]
India rescuing citizens forced into cyber fraud schemes in Cambodia
New Delhi, India Reuters The Indian Government said it was rescuing its citizens who were lured into employment in Cambodia and were being forced to participate in cyber fraud schemes. The Indian embassy in Cambodia is working with Cambodian authorities and has rescued and repatriated about 250 Indians, including 75 in the last three months, […]
In pictures – Easter Sunday around the world
Updated: 5:45pm (AEDT) Across the globe, people celebrated Easter Sunday – commemorating the day when, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem two millennia ago. Clerics read prayers before lighting the holy fire during the Easter religious service at the St Nicholas Roman Catholic Church in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, 30th March, 2024. […]
India’s richest one per cent has highest concentration of wealth in decades, study shows
New Delhi, India Reuters The wealth concentrated in the richest one per cent of India’s population is at its highest in six decades and the percentage share of income exceeds that of countries including Brazil and the United States, research group the World Inequality Lab found. Since India, which won its independence in 1947 from […]
India stares at summer water crisis as reservoir levels slide
New Delhi Reuters India’s main reservoirs have hit their lowest March levels in five years, government data showed, indicating a possible squeeze on drinking water and power availability this summer. In major centres such as India’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Bengaluru, home to firms like Google, water supply is already being curtailed. Residents get their containers filled […]
Bangladesh, Pakistan and India bottom in air quality rankings in 2023, data shows
Singapore Reuters Pakistan remained one of the world’s three smoggiest countries in 2023, as Bangladesh and India replaced Chad and Iran, with particulate matter about 15 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization, data published on Tuesday showed. Average concentrations of PM2.5 – small airborne particles that damage the lungs – reached 79.9 […]
Explainer – What Putin’s election win tells us about Russia today
Moscow, Russia Reuters President Vladimir Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide in Russia’s election on Sunday, cementing his grip on power, though thousands of opponents staged a noon protest at polling stations and Western countries said the vote was neither free nor fair. Here are some key takeaways from the election. Russian incumbent President Vladimir […]
West decries Putin’s election win, China, India vow closer ties
London, UK Reuters Western governments lined up on Monday to condemn Vladimir Putin’s landslide election victory as unfair and undemocratic, but China, India and North Korea congratulated the veteran Russian leader on extending his rule by a further six years. The contrasting reactions underscored the geopolitical fault lines that have gaped wider since Russia launched […]