India’s sitting PM Modi’s quest for a third term put to test as world’s largest democracy votes
Most polls predict a win for Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, who are up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties. It’s not clear who will lead India if the opposition alliance, called INDIA, wins the election. Its more than 20 parties have not put forward a candidate yet.
Jailed Myanmar former leader Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest due to heatwave
A nationwide conflict in Myanmar began after the army in 2021 ousted the elected government, imprisoned Suu Kyi and began suppressing nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.
Once a juggernaut in India’s politics under Nehru and Gandhis, Congress party now trails Modi’s BJP
The BJP’s critics, who say that Modi’s government discriminates against religious minorities such as Muslims and has weaponised law enforcement agencies against political opponents, fear a third term would be corrosive to democracy in the world’s most populous nation.
Arrest, imprisonment of Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal for graft spark protests in India
The court’s decision comes a day after the INDIA bloc, an alliance of 27 opposition parties including AAP, came together at a rally in New Delhi to protest against Kejriwal’s arrest and accused Modi of seeking to rig the elections.
Run-up to India’s elections gets murkier as Delhi chief minister is arrested in liquor graft case
The arrest means the main leaders of the decade-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are in jail, following the arrests last year of two of Kejriwal’s deputies in the same case, which the party has called “dirty politics”.
Banking experts discuss how BOJ Governor Ueda plans to navigate out of negative rates
In taking over the BOJ last April, Ueda was mandated to dismantle the radical stimulus of his predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda. Kuroda’s “bazooka” approach initially helped boost stock prices. But it crushed bank margins and caused unwelcome yen declines that lawmakers feared could hurt voters through rising living costs.
Bank of Japan ends negative rates, bids farewells to the era of radical policy
In a widely expected decision, the Bank of Japan ditched a policy put in place since 2016 that applied a 0.1per cent charge on some excess reserves financial institutions parked with the central bank.
PM Modi’s government announces start of India’s enactment of citizenship law that excludes Muslims
The National Register of Citizens is part of Modi government’s effort to identify and weed out people it claims came to India illegally. The register has only been implemented in the northeastern state of Assam, and the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party has promised to roll out a similar citizenship verification programme nationwide.
UN says number of women circumcised aged between infancy and adolescence rose by 30m to 230m since 2016
The practice, incorrectly believed to control women’s sexuality, can cause serious bleeding and even death. Girls are subjected to the procedure at ages ranging from infancy to adolescence. Long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction and childbirth complications, as well as depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Legislature: Women worldwide registered ‘slow and mixed’ progress towards equal representation
Rwanda once again led the world ranking with women accounting for 61.3 per cent of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, followed by Cuba and Nicaragua with 55.7 per cent and 53.9 per cent, respectively.
