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At least 125 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes in Manipur since the violence erupted on May 3. HOW DID THE MANIPUR VIOLENCE BEGIN? The development imbalance favouring the valley over the hills has been a point of contention and rivalry between the ethnic groups. Manipur shares a nearly 400-km (250-mile) border with Myanmar and the coup there in 2021 pushed thousands of refugees into the Indian state. Kuki and Meitei groups also refused to join a peace panel formed by the federal government due to differences over names included in the panel.

Persons: Adnan Abidi, Myanmar’s Chin, Meiteis, Pradip Phanjoubam, Kukis, Biren Singh, Singh, Krishn Kaushik, Alison Williams Organizations: Kuki, Court, REUTERS, Arts and, Indian Army, Bharatiya Janata Party, Thomson Locations: DELHI, Manipur, Myanmar, New Delhi, MANIPUR, Kuki, Naga, India, Imphal, Myanmar . New Delhi

☆ Indian opposition parties form alliance called "INDIA" for 2024 elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] India's main opposition Congress party’s leader Rahul Gandhi holds a news conference, after he was disqualified as a lawmaker by India's parliament on Friday, at party’s headquarter in New Delhi, India, March 25, 2023. REUTERS/ Anushree Fadnavis/file photoNEW DELHI, July 18 (Reuters) - More than two dozen Indian opposition parties said on Tuesday that they had joined hands to form an alliance called "INDIA" to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in parliamentary elections next year. The decision was announced at the end of a two-day meeting of 26 parties in the southern city of Bengaluru. Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party, said INDIA stood for "Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance". Reporting by YP Rajesh; editing by Tanvi MehtaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Rahul Gandhi, Anushree, Narendra Modi's, Mallikarjun Kharge, YP Rajesh, Tanvi Mehta Organizations: REUTERS, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, INDIA, Developmental, YP, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, DELHI, Bengaluru, Mallikarjun

☆ India’s Modi sparks political storm with pitch for common civil code
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Currently, India's Hindus, Muslims, Christians and large tribal populations follow their own personal laws and customs, alongside an optional secular code, for marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance. The Law Commission, a government-appointed advisory body, has sought public opinion by Friday on creating a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The BJP says the common code is necessary to ensure gender justice, equality through uniform application of personal laws, and to foster national unity and integration. The comments were his most forceful in favour of the common code and set off a political storm. "Majoritarian morality must not supersede personal laws, religious freedom, and minority rights in the name of a code which remains an enigma," it said.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Modi, Sanjay Kumar, India's, playbook, Sushil Modi, Zakia Soman, YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: BJP, DELHI, Indian, Bharatiya Janata Party, Commission, New Delhi’s, UCC, Muslim Women's Movement, YP, Thomson Locations: Egypt, India, Karnataka

☆ Indian court rejects Rahul Gandhi's plea to suspend defamation conviction
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Gandhi can now take his appeal to a larger bench of the same high court and then to the Supreme Court, his last option. "How come all thieves have the name Modi?," Gandhi had asked in an election campaign speech, referring to two fugitive businessmen, both surnamed Modi. Gandhi has separately challenged the conviction in a district court, which is yet to hear the case. "The refusal of stay of conviction would not in any way result in injustice to the applicant," the judge said. "There is no reasonable ground to stay the conviction of the applicant in view of the facts and circumstances of the case."

Persons: Rahul Gandhi, Gandhi, Purnesh Modi, Narendra Modi, Modi, Hemant Prachchhak, Jairam Ramesh, Ramesh, Abhishek Singhvi, India's, YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, YP, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, Gujarat

MUMBAI, July 7 (Reuters) - India's federal police have arrested three railway employees on Friday in connection with the country's deadliest train crash in two decades that killed 292 people last month, the crime agency said in a statement. It is India's worst train crash in more than two decades. The accident happened when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped off the tracks and hit another passenger train coming from the opposite direction. Reuters reported earlier this week that workers repairing a rail-road barrier had made faulty connections in the automated signalling system on the network. The malfunctioning system directed the passenger train onto the path of the freight train, it said.

Persons: Narendra Modi's, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Shivam Patel, YP Rajesh, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, Reuters, of Railway Safety, CRS, Local, Indian Railways, Railway Board, Railways Ministry, YP, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Bahanaga Bazar, Odisha

☆ Egypt and India bolster ties as Modi makes first trip to Cairo
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt June 25, 2023. The Egyptian Presidency/Handout via REUTERSCAIRO, June 25 (Reuters) - Egypt and India discussed strengthening ties in areas including trade, food security and defence during a state visit to Cairo by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two countries said on Sunday. On his first trip to Egypt, Modi met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Egyptian ministers appointed to an "India unit" after a state visit by Sisi to India in January during which a "strategic partnership" was announced. India is seen as keen to boost ties with Egypt partly to secure trade through the Suez Canal. Modi, a Hindu nationalist, has rarely made public visits to mosques as prime minister.

Persons: Abdel Fattah El, Narendra Modi, Modi, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Al Hakim, Mohamed Waly, Rajesh, Jyoti Narayan, Shivani, Aidan Lewis, Ros Russell Organizations: Indian, REUTERS, Global, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Cairo, Egypt, REUTERS CAIRO, India, Sisi, Suez, Gujarat

☆ India's opposition parties unite for 2024 national elections, BJP says not worried
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Their campaign got a shot in the arm in May when Congress trounced BJP in a key state election, exceeding expectations and gaining fresh momentum ahead of more state elections due this year and national elections in April-May 2024. Gandhi said the fight against BJP was an "ideological battle" and opposition parties were united in it. India's opposition parties have formed alliances to challenge governments - led by both Congress and BJP - in the past and win elections but have a mixed record of sticking together and running governments smoothly. BJP leaders said they were not worried as there was little hope for such alliances. "I want to tell leaders of the opposition, join as many hands as you want but opposition unity is not possible.

Persons: Narendra Modi's, Rahul Gandhi, Modi, Nitish Kumar, Kumar, Gandhi, Amit Shah Organizations: Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Congress, Aadmi Party, AAP, Modi, ji’s, YP Rajesh, Thomson Locations: DELHI, Patna, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi

☆ Why GE plan to make fighter jet engines in India is a big deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

GE says it has delivered more than 1,600 F414 engines and they have clocked more than 5 million flight hours. So far, 75 F404 engines have been delivered and another 99 worth $716 million are on order for Tejas Mark 1. Tejas Mark 2, still under development, is a more powerful jet and needs a bigger engine. The GE-HAL deal to co-produce F414 engines in India requires U.S. government and legislative approvals. Full scale production of F414 in India and Tejas Mark 2 is expected only early in the next decade.

Persons: Narendra, INDIA’S, Conor Humphries Organizations: General Electric, Hindustan Aeronautics, Indian Air Force, Indian, GE, U.S . Navy, HAL, Tejas, Aircraft, India's Air Force, New, YP Rajesh, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, United States, U.S, Sweden, Australia, Kuwait, Brazil, South Korea, Indonesia, New Delhi, Washington, China, Pakistan, Russia, France, Israel

NEW DELHI, June 20 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for the U.S. on Tuesday on a state visit that has been projected as a milestone in ties between the two countries that would deepen and diversify their partnership. Modi has been to the U.S. five times since becoming prime minister in 2014 but the June 21-24 trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of an official state visit. Washington sees India as a vital partner in its efforts to push back against China's expanding influence worldwide. Modi's visit comes amid differences in the positions of Washington and New Delhi over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The world has full confidence that India’s top-most priority is peace," he said in the interview published on Tuesday.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Modi, Joe Biden's, Elon Musk, Tesla, Vinay Kwatra, Twitter's, Jack Dorsey, Lavanya Ahire, YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Indian, U.S, Reuters, Twitter, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal, Security Council, YP, Thomson Locations: DELHI, U.S, Washington and New Delhi, India, Washington, United States, New Delhi, Ukraine, Moscow, United Nations, BENGALURU

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden meets with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 24, 2021. Washington also wants to wean India away from its traditional defence partner Russia. Though Modi has made several previous visits to the United States, this will be his first with the full diplomatic status of an official state visit, just the third of Biden's presidency and third by any Indian leader. "It’s a milestone in our relationship...It is a very significant visit, very important visit," India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters on Monday. Modi will also meet American CEOs and lead an International Yoga Day event at the UN headquarters.

Persons: Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Evelyn Hockstein, Modi, Vinay Kwatra, Kwatra, General, Ely Ratner, Biden, Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken, Raja Mohan, Krishn Kaushik, Sarita Chaganti Singh, David Brunnstrom Organizations: India's, White, REUTERS, Indian, . Congress, JET, General Electric, U.S ., Defense, Pacific Affairs, UN, Asia Society Policy, Rajesh, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, India, DELHI, WASHINGTON, United States, Washington, Washington and New Delhi, Pacific . Washington, Russia, New Delhi, Moscow, Ukraine, West, China, Cooperation, New York, U.S, Asia, NEW DELHI

Indian and international media have previously reported that a possible malfunction in the automated signalling system may have led to the crash. However, details of the frequent malfunctions at the nearby rail-road barrier and its possible connection to a manual bypass of the signalling system are reported by Reuters for the first time. A spokesman for Indian Railways said "repair works keep happening as per requirements" but tampering with the automated system is not allowed. "(Indian) Railways believes the system was tampered with," said the second source, who has access to briefings on the investigation. The Indian Railways spokesman did not directly address the authorisation issue and only said it is not allowed under Indian Railways rules.

Persons: Amitabh Sharma, Sharma, Soubhagya Ranjan Sarangi, Narendra Modi's, Jaya Varma Sinha, Sinha, Sandeep Mathur, Mathur, Sudhanshu Mishra, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Sarita Chaganti Singh, YP Rajesh, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Railways, Reuters, of Railway Safety, CRS, Railway Board, Railways Ministry, Indian Railways, police’s Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, Coromandel Express, Express, YP, Thomson Locations: India, DELHI, Bahanaga Bazar, Balasore, Odisha, Bahanaga, Niranjan, Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi

☆ US, India agree roadmap for defence industry cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI, June 5 (Reuters) - India and the United States have concluded a roadmap for defence industry cooperation for the next few years, the Indian government said on Monday, a move expected to bolster New Delhi's defence manufacturing ambitions. The roadmap was finalised at a meeting between visiting U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. 'NEW TECHNOLOGIES'Talks between Singh and Austin had a "particular focus on identifying ways to strengthen industrial cooperation", the Indian Defence Ministry statement said. "Towards these objectives, they concluded a roadmap for U.S.-India Defence Industrial Cooperation which shall guide the policy direction for the next few years." The Biden administration is set to sign off on a deal that will allow General Electric Co (GE.N) to produce in India jet engines powering Indian military aircraft.

Persons: Washington, Lloyd Austin, Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Singh, Austin, Biden, YP Rajesh, Sakshi Dayal, Gareth Jones Organizations: New, U.S . Defence, Indian Defence, Indian, Indian Defence Ministry, India Defence Industrial Cooperation, General Electric Co, YP, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, United States, Washington, Russia, U.S, France, Israel, New Delhi, People's Republic of China, Russian, Ukraine

☆ India rail crash probe focuses on track management system
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI, June 4 (Reuters) - Investigators are probing an electronic track management system that they suspect malfunctioned and caused India’s deadliest train crash in more than two decades, railways officials said on Sunday. In their first detailed briefing on the crash, Indian Railways officials said that failure of the track management system was the main focus of investigations. The computer-controlled track management system, called the “interlocking system”, directs a train to an empty track at the point where two tracks meet, Sandeep Mathur, principal executive director for signalling, told reporters. It also coordinates and controls the signal to an oncoming train, indicating whether the train has to move straight or switch to a new track, he said. The interlocking system should not have allowed the Coromandel Express to take the loop track, Sinha said.

Persons: Sandeep Mathur, ”, Jaya Varma Sinha, Sinha, Adnan Abidi, Frances Kerry Organizations: Indian Railways, Railway Board, REUTERS, Express, YP, Thomson Locations: DELHI, Odisha, Balasore district, Coromandel, Chennai, Kolkata, India, Howrah

Nearly 1,200 people were injured when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped the tracks and hit another passenger train passing in the opposite direction near the district of Balasore. The drivers of both passenger trains were injured but survived, she said. RESTORATIONWorkers with heavy machinery were clearing the damaged track, wrecked trains and electric cables, as distraught relatives looked on. More than 1,000 people were involved in the rescue, the Railway Ministry said on Twitter. "The target is by Wednesday morning the entire restoration work is complete and tracks should be working," Vaishnaw said.

Persons: Pradeep Jena, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Narendra Modi, stringently, Modi, Jaya Varma Sinha, Stringer, Sinha, Vaishnaw, Kanchan Choudhury, Jatindra Dash, Rajesh, Jayshree Upadhyay, Ira Dugal, Robert Birsel, Sonali Paul, William Mallard, Nick Macfie Organizations: Railways, India's Railway Board, Central Bureau of Investigation, Railway, Express, Railway Ministry, Twitter, Wednesday, Thomson Locations: BAHANAGA, India, Odisha, Balasore, Chennai, Kolkata, du, Inde, Howrah

☆ Deadly Indian rail crash shifts focus from new trains to safety
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

State monopoly Indian Railways runs the fourth largest train network in the world. It transports 13 million people every day and moved nearly 1.5 billion tonnes of freight in 2022. 'GOOD SAFETY RECORD'Indian Railways maintains that safety has always been a key focus, and points to its low accident rate over the years. “Some malfunction has happened and that the inquiry will reveal,” he said, referring to Friday’s crash. “This accident brings out the need to focus more on these aspects,” he said.

Persons: Long, Narendra Modi's, Modi, Prakash Kumar Sen, ” Sen, Sen, ”, ” Srinand Jha, ” Jha, Mark Potter Organizations: Indian Railways, India, Kirodimal Institute of Technology, Workers, International Railway Journal, YP, Thomson Locations: DELHI, Odisha ., India

[1/2] Trade visitors walk past an advertisement for BAE Systems at Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, Britain, July 17, 2018. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleNEW DELHI, May 29 (Reuters) - India has filed a graft case against Britain's BAE Systems plc (BAES.L) and Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.L) for "criminal conspiracy" in the procurement and licensed manufacturing of 123 advanced jet trainers, a federal police document showed. The case is based on the findings of an investigation launched by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2016, the document dated May 23 said. In its response BAE said it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing probe. Between 2008 and 2010, it said the Indian government approved the licensed manufacturing of an additional 57 jets for 95 billion rupees ($1.16 billion) under a separate agreement with BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd.

☆ Modi inaugurates new parliament building as part of New Delhi's makeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/9] A view of India's new parliament building in New Delhi, India, May 27, 2023. Later, the prime minister entered parliament to loud cheers from guests, government officials and lawmakers, with many welcoming him with chant of "Modi, Modi". "To open a new parliament building without the opposition, it does not mean there is a democracy in the country. The triangular-shaped parliament complex is just across from the old, circular heritage building built by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1927, two decades before India's independence. The old parliament will be converted into a museum.

☆ China opposes G20 meeting in Indian-rule Kashmir and will skip it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, May 19 (Reuters) - China said on Friday that it is opposed to a G20 tourism meeting next week in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir in India and will not attend. "China is firmly opposed to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory, and will not attend such meetings," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. In 2019, India split the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir to create the two federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, will host a meeting of the tourism working group for G20 members on May 22-24. Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by nuclear-armed neighbours India and China-ally Pakistan, which has also opposed India's decision to hold a G20 meeting in Kashmir.

☆ India's opposition Congress gains key foothold with state election win
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

At the same time, they cautioned that Congress' victory on Saturday in Karnataka state, home to the booming tech hub of Bengaluru, was largely due to local factors. The party has won just one state election since December 2018, crumbling under the onslaught of the BJP's Hindu nationalism, the government's generous social spending, Modi's popularity, and its own leadership vacuum. "This is an amazing beginning," said Rajeev Gowda, the head of research at Congress and a former federal lawmaker. "We need to adapt these learnings to every election-going state in 2023 and more importantly to parliamentary elections next year," he said. Asked by the India Today-Axis poll how they would vote if the Karnataka election had been a national election instead, 10% of the respondents shifted to Modi, enough to overturn the result.

☆ Analysis: India's opposition Congress gains key foothold with state election win
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ India's opposition Congress scores big win in Karnataka state election, defeats BJP
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Supporters of India's main opposition Congress party celebrate after the initial poll results in Karnataka elections at the party headquarters, in New Delhi, India, May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Adnan AbidiNEW DELHI, May 13 (Reuters) - India’s main opposition Congress party registered an emphatic win in elections in the southern state of Karnataka on Saturday, defeating the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a big boost to its prospects ahead of national elections due next year. Congress won 135 seats against 66 for the BJP in the 224-member legislature, the Election Commission website showed at the end of counting. In contrast, the BJP won 15 states or federal territories either on its own or in alliance with regional parties. "(The) Congress party stood with the poor in Karnataka, we fought on the issues of the poor," Gandhi told reporters.

They were in the Vietnamese Exclusive Economic Zone when the Chinese boats moved towards them, the Indian sources said. Ray Powell, who leads Project Myoushu on the South China Sea at Stanford University, said the boats belong to the Qiong Sansha Yu militia fleet in the area. Such militias consist of commercial fishing boats, which work in coordination with the Chinese authorities for political objectives in the South China Sea. Several of China’s littoral neighbours have accused it of using its official and militia vessels to harass and intimidate their fishing and military boats in the South China Sea. China has for years claimed sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, and has been sensitive to the presence of other militaries in the region.

☆ Kashmir's traditional Ramadan drummers wake neighbours up for pre-dawn meals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Fayaz Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Devout Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during Ramadan, and usually eat a meal before the sun comes up. Jinded says his family has been playing the role of "Sahar Khans", named for the pre-dawn Ramadan meal called Sahri, for generations. Kashmir's Ramadan drummers are not paid, but as the month nears its end, people tend to become generous. "Ramadan drummers are an important part of our tradition," said Sheikh Ghulam Nabi, a tailor in Srinagar's old town. "They add to the festive atmosphere of the holy month."

☆ Indian court orders YouTube to remove fake news on Bachchan grandchild
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File PhotoNEW DELHI, April 20 (Reuters) - The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered YouTube to remove fake news videos about the grand-daughter of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, in response to her petition to stop circulation of false rumours about her health, lawyers said. Judge C. Hari Shankar ordered YouTube to ensure the videos about Aaradhya Bachchan, 11, were taken down immediately. Three lawyers representing Aaradhya said in a statement that it was a landmark judgment as the court has upheld the privacy of a child. Aaradhya is the daughter of actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and is frequently photographed accompanying them at public events. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a former Miss World and a brand ambassador for L'Oreal (OREP.PA).

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