At the time of his first bid to become India’s prime minister five years ago, Narendra Modi was seen by many in Mumbai as a reformer rising to slay crony capitalism, corruption and policy paralysis. It was the bureaucracy in New Delhi that had misgivings about the then chief minister of Gujarat state, known for his highly centralised style of working.By now, the political capital has accepted Modi as the boss man.

Zakir Naik is a controversial Muslim preacher that is currently under investigation by the Indian government for alleged acts of hate speech and money laundering. For years, the 53-year old had given talks through his channel, Peace TV.

Roughly 900 million registered voters will begin heading to the polls this week as India begins a marathon, six-week general election that will determine the course of the world’s second-most populous country.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election under more favourable conditions than just a few months ago, when rising concerns about a lack of jobs had put his government on the back foot, and polls showed slumping support for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).But in late Fe

Once again, an attack on India by a Pakistan-based terrorist group has raised the spectre of a major confrontation on the Indian subcontinent and fuelled international pressure for Pakistan to take concrete action against the 22 United Nations (UN)-designated terrorist entities it hosts. But this time, the pressure is compounded by fury over attacks by Pakistan-based terrorists on the country’s other key neighbours, Iran and Afghanistan.

Tensions between India and Pakistan are at their highest level in decades, and many fear the nuclear-armed neighbours are on the brink of yet another war over the disputed Kashmir region. But the latest eruption is different from its predecessors.The two countries’ struggle over Kashmir began in 1947.

India is hoping that better connectivity will help boost trade ties with ASEAN and decrease its trade deficit with the 10-member bloc.ASEAN is India’s second largest trading partner after China and total bilateral trade between ASEAN and India reached US$81.3 billion last year – an increase of more than 28 times the US$2.9 billion recorded in 1993.Bilateral trade between the two parties was US$21 billion in 2005-06, and although it has increased nearly fourfold since then, the ASEAN-India Fre