Some 90 per cent of the world's rough diamonds are cut and polished in India, but the industry has been in a severe crisis for the past two years due to the drop in Chinese demand and the Gaza and Ukraine wars. Thousands of workers have lost their jobs while another 65 have committed suicide in less than two years. After a local union set up a helpline, it received more than 1,600 distress calls in a month.
The ties between former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and India go back to the War of independence, becoming even closer economically in the past ten years. In India, some fear that Bangladesh will turn to Pakistan and rival China, but much will depend on who comes to power after the elections.
The drowning of three students earlier this week has reignited the debate over such facilities. Young people from all over India are crammed into overcrowded classrooms and student residences and find themselves studying up to 18 hours a day to pass a government or college entrance exam. The costs fall on families while students feel all the pressure. The government has been forced to intervene because of a high number of suicides in recent years.
The BJP-led state government wants hoteliers and restaurateurs to display their names, so that Hindu pilgrims visiting Shiva temples at this time of the year can avoid Muslim-run establishments. The Supreme Court stayed the state order and will re-examine the matter later. The district where the order was supposed to apply saw serious violence in 2013.
Four more students were arrested yesterday, while the Supreme Court said it will order a retest depending on whether the leak was localised or systemic. The agency that drafts the exam will have to post online information that has not yet been made public. Medicine, like engineering, is a highly sought-after profession among young Indians; this year, 110,000 places were available for 2.4 million candidates.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs announced the repatriation of Indian nationals fighting in Ukraine after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia. Attracted by high salaries, the possibility of obtaining Russian citizenship, and traveling to countries in Europe’s Schengen area, hundreds of South Asian men have embarked on the journey to Russia. In many cases, they did so without knowing that they would be sent to the front.
Floods are a normal occurrence in the north-eastern Indian state, but the greater volatility and intensity of rainfall has become a problem for farmers. Tea production, a sector that employs a large chunk of the population, has been particularly affected. For experts, a centralised government approach should be dropped in favour of one based on local communities.
Adopted in December, the three new codes will come into force on 1 July. Several legal experts warn against greater police powers and the vagueness of some articles that could lead to the criminalisation of Satyagraha, the non-violent form of resistance used by Gandhi. Backers of the new codes see them as a step towards “decolonisation”, claiming victims of crimes will receive swifter justice.
What binds India and Russia is oil, which India is buying at discounted prices. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the latter did not show particular interest for the Summit on Peace in the Ukraine held in the Swiss city of Lucerne, sending a low-level delegation. At the same time, Indo-Russian relations are not likely to expand, experts believe.
An ethnic Santal, Mohan Charan Majhi becomes Odisha’s new chief minister. He comes from the ranks of the RSS, the BJP’s paramilitary group that promotes Hindu supremacy. In the past, he supported a fanatic jailed for killing Christians and Muslims. According to experts, the BJP is trying to prove that even those from disadvantaged castes can come to power.
According to Prof Sebasti L. Raj, the BJP lost some key constituencies because it focused on religious issues rather than solve people’s real problems. The opposition is not a single bloc; to succeed, it must remain united. New undercurrents within the BJP will be clearer when the new cabinet is formed.
Hundreds of thousands of Indians are unable to return to their places of origin at election time due to long journeys and high costs. Most of them are daily labourers who would be forced to give up wages and look for a new job. Non-resident Indians face the same problem. Meanwhile, India’s main parties rejected a proposal made last year for remote electronic voting.
Today, at least nine people died in Rajasthan from possible heatstroke; yet the main parties ignore the problem, which is hardly present in their election platforms. The issue is more relevant at the local level, but the actions by individual states have a limited impact.
In Bastar, tribal converts to Christianity continue to be attacked. Kosa Kawasi was one of them, killed by an uncle and a cousin. This kind of incidents shows the level of discrimination against people who embrace Christianity in rural villages. “Christian tribals live in fear and insecurity even among their own families,” a local told AsiaNews.
The Reserve Bank of India has changed its rules allowing Russia to use the rupees it earns from crude oil sales in India to invest in local government bonds, stocks, equities, and loans. India's imports from Russia are up by 32.95 per cent to US$ 61.44 billion.
A year ago, violence broke out between ethnic Meitei and Kuki, tearing apart the northeastern state, with at least 220 deaths. In a situation that remains tense and painful, Archbishop Linus Neli called for three days of fasting and prayer. “[W]e know only too well the present scenario of ethnic segregation,” but we “pray for the day when people of all ethnicities and religious communities can live together”. To this end, we urge “positive action from the State Government and other authorities”.
The former East Pakistan is watching the election process closely. Especially with regard to the presence of migrants, of Muslim faith, in India. For now, Dhaka is trying to maintain a certain balance between Delhi's pressure and Beijing's influence, explains Fr Sergio Targa, a Xaverian missionary in Bangladesh since 1992, now in Italy.
According to the Housing and Land Rights Network, many evictions remain undocumented. Figures for 2023 are the highest in the last seven years. Local authorities and courts have deviated from previous practices, violating human rights. The government has often failed to offer resettlement or compensation.
In the region nestled in the Himalayas on the borders with China and Pakistan, the local population is demanding the creation of a local administration, after the Delhi government revoked autonomy for Kashmir in 2019, dividing the region into two. Activists fear the melting of glaciers, the launch of large industrial projects and the militarisation of the territory, including by Beijing.
Less than a month before the start of the elections, the National Capital Territory (Delhi) chief minister and leader of the Aam Aadmi Party was taken into custody yesterday by India’s financial crime agency. A few hours earlier, the Indian National Congress complained that the government had frozen its funds. Meanwhile, more details are emerging about corporate funding for political parties.
After the Supreme Court struck down last month the electoral bonds system, which allowed companies and individuals to make anonymous donations to political parties, the Election Commission was forced to publish information on bonds purchased over the past five years, showing that funding went disproportionately to Modi's party.
The Sisters Led Youth Initiatives programme offers new opportunities to 1,200 young people in vulnerable situations, with special focus on women, starting with the recognition of their rights.
In her address to the state Legislative Assembly, Governor Anusuiya Uikey assessed the situation following months of interethnic strife between Meitei and Kuki. Some 10,000 First Information Reports have been filed in connection with the violence. Compensation has been paid to victims’ families. For Archbishop Lumon, the latter is important but the “situation remains difficult.” It is unclear whether churches and businesses will be compensated.
Several key leaders have defected from the INDIA coalition, which was created last September, highlighting its weaknesses. Although the Indian National Congress signed deals for seat sharing, it is still at odds with some regional parties. Experts note that India’s opposition parties have also been undermined by police probes but especially their failure to develop a share narrative and use the economy to attract voters.
In Uttarakhand, five people died and more than 80 are wounded in clashes triggered by the demolition of a mosque and a madrassa. Amnesty International reports the "punitive" demolition of at least 128 Muslim properties from April to June 2022, with at least 617 people left homeless. Varanasi could be the next flashpoint. To avoid this, locals are praying that “peace is not to be disturbed”.
Delhi has deployed a dozen warships to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden to show that it is "proactive", experts say, while not participating in the US-led task force against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Since the start of the year, the Indian Navy has reported an increase in piracy incidents, towards which it has taken an aggressive approach. But Delhi’s number one rival is still Beijing.
Despite recent discoveries of deposits in Kashmir, India is still dependent on minerals from China. Last week, New Delhi and Buenos Aires inked an agreement to explore and develop five lithium deposits in Argentina’s Catamarca province, a deal that could open the door to other forms of cooperation.
For weeks, the city on the border with Myanmar has been rocked by attacks and reprisals between ethnic Meitei and Kuki. Seven deaths have been reported in the last few hours. The Sisters of Mother Teresa have also been forced to leave their home amid fighting between armed men and Indian security forces.
Since President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in November, the Maldives has moved closer to China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent posts about the Lakshadweep have been seen as a way to reduce tourism to the Maldives. Yet Delhi has been working for some time on promoting the development of its own archipelago.
Two Hindus who pretended to be Muslims were detained by Indian special forces after posting messages announcing attacks at the disputed holy site in Uttar Pradesh where Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate a new Hindu temple on 22 January. Their social media profiles show links to the Bharatiya Janata Party. For the bishop of Lucknow, it is a serious thing “to fuel further tensions in a society already polarised along religious lines.” Meanwhile, in Ayodhya, preparations are underway to consecrate the prime minister rather than the holy place.
