Die Partei BJP von Premierminister Modi siegt in Westbengalen klar und freut sich über den Ausgang von vier weiteren Regionalwahlen. Haben die politischen Gegner noch etwas entgegenzusetzen?

Result in key Indian state is set to have significant implications for the country’s political landscape

Narendra Modi’s party has won a resounding election victory in West Bengal, a state which had been a rare opposition stronghold, expanding his unrivalled consolidation of power across the country.

It is the first time that the Indian prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has won assembly elections in West Bengal, a large and politically significant state in eastern India.

Lawrence Bishnoi has been in high-security custody for more than a decade. During that time, he has been linked to multiple high-profile killings, both in India and as far afield as Canada. What explains his seemingly undimmed power?

The border that separates India from Pakistan is lined with 50,000 towering poles that hold 150,000 floodlights, which at night create a glare that is visible from outer space. Passing through the towns on the Indian side of the border, it can be difficult to tell, even in daylight, where one ends and the other begins. Curving along the rolling fields of wheat are nameless dirt roads where men sit on rope benches, whiling away their afternoons, staring as you pass by.

Dutarawali, right by the highway, is slightly different: here, the houses are big, with spacious courtyards. One of the houses – three storeys, painted white with red accents – has a 7ft boundary wall topped with barbed wire and four CCTV cameras overlooking the unpaved street. The symbol of Om is curled on its brown iron door, which has no nameplate. It is the house of Lawrence Bishnoi, who is today, at the age of 33, India’s most notorious gangster.

Indien ist die größte Demokratie der Welt, doch das Beispiel Westbengalen zeigt, wie undemokratisch es in manchen Bundesstaaten zugeht. Ein Besuch.

Opposition accuses Narendra Modi government of using quotas as cover for redrawing electoral map

The Indian government has failed to pass a bill to increase female representation in parliament after being accused of using the plan as a guise to redraw the country’s electoral map.

It was the first time in 12 years in power that a constitutional amendment proposed by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government was not passed by parliament.

Defence analyst says torpedo strike is a ‘humiliation’ for Modi’s government that disregarded a US defence partner

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The distress call came in to Sri Lanka’s maritime rescue coordination centre just after 5am. The ship in trouble, they determined, was well within Sri Lanka’s obligation for rescue, being just over 19 nautical miles off the coast of the southern city of Galle.

The navy swiftly mobilised and, by 6am, the first search and rescue boat was on its way, another soon close behind. It was hard to see through the thick morning mist but officers onboard kept their eyes peeled for a ship in the distance.

Indiens Premier Narendra Modi hat ein auffallend gutes Verhältnis zu seinem israelischen Kollegen Netanjahu – trotz dessen aggressiven Vorgehens in Iran und Gaza. Das verrät viel über Modis Politikstil.

Canadian prime minister and Indian prime minister mostly discussed trade during Carney’s visit to India

Mark Carney is under mounting pressure to address whether he believes Indian interference in Canada remains a threat after he met with Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, whose government is accused of orchestrating the killing a Canadian citizen.

“We are one family,” the Canadian prime minister said from New Delhi on Monday, capping a four-day trade-focused trip meant to reset relations with the world’s most populous nation.

Canada’s prime minister and Indian prime minister will meet Monday in visit that marks diplomatic shift

It’s not often that the leaders of two countries which have traded accusations of murder, extortion and terrorism meet only months later on friendly terms.

But amid what he had described as a “rupture in the world order”, Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, will on Monday meet Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, to repair strained ties between their nations.

Police warn Moninder Singh, head of the Sikh Federation of Canada, his family are also at risk

Police in Canada warned a prominent Sikh activist of “credible threat” to his family’s life, days before the prime minister, Mark Carney, visits India in search of new trade deals.

Moninder Singh, who heads the Sikh Federation of Canada, said officers visited his home on Sunday, to warn him that a confidential police informant had passed information suggesting he and his family were at risk.

Proposal approved by Modi government will bring official English name into line with Malayalam language

The Indian state of Kerala, known as “God’s own country” for its golden beaches and lush tea plantations, is to be given a new name.

Narendra Modi’s cabinet has approved a proposal to change the southern coastal state’s name from Kerala to Keralam. The move will bring the official English name into line with how it is pronounced in Malayalam, the primary language spoken by the state’s estimated population of 35 million.

Narendra Modi’s thirst to supercharge economic growth is matched by US desire to inject AI into world’s biggest democracy

India celebrates 80 years of independence from the UK in August 2027. At about that same moment, “early versions of true super intelligence” could emerge, Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, said this week.

It’s a looming coincidence that raised a charged question at the AI Impact summit in Delhi, hosted by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi: can India avoid returning to the status of a vassal state when it imports AI to raise the prospects of its 1.4 billion people?

Google, Anthropic and OpenAI bosses to mingle with global south leaders wrestling for control over technology

Silicon Valley tech billionaires will land in Delhi this week for an AI summit hosted by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, where leaders of the global south will wrestle for control over the fast-developing technology.

During the week-long AI Impact Summit, attended by thousands of tech executives, government officials and AI safety experts, tech companies valued at trillions of dollars will rub along with leaders of countries such as Kenya and Indonesia, where average wages dip well below $1,000 a month.

Rastlos reist Friedrich Merz durch die Welt. Zwischen den rivalisierenden Großmächten sucht er Partner, die noch etwas von Regeln halten. Dabei ist nicht einmal klar, wie es in Europa weitergeht.

Der US-Präsident will Indiens Premier dazu gebracht haben, kein russisches Öl mehr zu kaufen. Experten tun sich allerdings schwer, seine Ankündigung ernst zu nehmen.

In Delhi feiert die EU das Freihandelsabkommen als historischen Befreiungsschlag. Die Erwartungen sind groß, auch die deutsche Autoindustrie hofft auf Impulse. Ob die Goldgräberstimmung anhält, wenn die Europäer Indiens raue Wirklichkeit kennenlernen?

The bandhgala jacket will no longer be part of the formal uniform for Indian Railways staff, following claims it symbolises a ‘colonial mindset’

It is one India’s most ubiquitous garments, with origins in the grand Mughal courts and Rajasthani kingdoms of times past, and still widely favoured by sharply dressed grooms at wedding receptions.

But this week, the distinctive high-collared bandhgala jacket – known to many as the “princely jacket” in a nod to its royal origins – found itself at the centre of a lively debate after it was denounced by the Indian railways minister as a symbol of a “colonial mindset”.

Delhi is world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude, which is now cheaper than oil from Middle East

Russia is already working to circumvent the latest US sanctions to ensure India can continue to import high levels of cheap Russian crude oil, according to industry analysts.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, India has become the world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude oil, which has been heavily discounted due to the impact of western sanctions.