Campaigning is gathering pace in India’s general elections, the world’s largest with nearly a billion eligible voters, as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) races ahead of its opponents in cornering resources, from helicopters to online advertisements.

There’s scarcely any critical evaluation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on India’s mainstream television channels and most newspapers as the world’s most populous nation heads toward a general election.

India is set to begin the world’s largest general elections today, held in terrain sweeping from the icy Himalayas to humid jungles, with nearly a billion people eligible to choose 543 members of the lower house of parliament.

The BJP, the world’s largest political outfit with nearly 180 million members, was born out of the Jan Sangh party, an offshoot of a men-only Hindu nationalist organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). After struggling on the political margins early after it was formed in 1980, the BJP delivered its first prime minister 16 years later in an unstable government that lasted 13 days.

Nearly 1 billion Indians will be eligible to vote in the world’s biggest election starting today. Opinion polls predict an easy win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which would give him a record-equaling third straight term.

Two Afghan television channels have been taken off the airwaves for “violations against Islamic and national values”, a Taliban government spokesman said yesterday.

Jailed former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen was freed yesterday after the High Court overturned his conviction and 11-year prison sentence on graft and money-laundering charges.

Polling booths across India was set to open today for the first leg of world’s largest general election, with voting to be held in 102 constituencies across 21 states and union territories.

Taiwan’s incoming president Lai Ching-te has made Time Magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People of 2024”, which the island hailed yesterday as a recognition of its “democratic achievements”.

India, by far the world’s largest democracy in terms of electorate, is set to embark on a nearly six-week long journey to elect members to its parliament

An Indian woman who was a crew member on the MSC Aries container vessel seized by Iran on April 13 has returned to the country, India's foreign ministry said today

Polling booths across India will open tomorrow for the first leg of parliamentary elections, with voting to be held in 102 constituencies across 21 states and union territories

Indonesian rescuers raced to evacuate thousands of people Thursday after a volcano erupted five times, forcing authorities to close a nearby airport and issue a warning about falling debris that could cause a tsunami

India's election starting on Friday is the world's largest electoral exercise with more than 18 million people voting for the first time.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday wrapped up his campaign in Tripura for the Lok Sabha polls, accusing Congress and its ally Communist Party of India (Marxist) of turning the country’s “Look East” policy into a “Loot East” strategy.

Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest, a spokesperson for the military government told media.

Pakistan’s interior ministry said yesterday it blocked access to social media platform X in February on national security concerns, confirming a long-suspected shutdown.

China’s military said yesterday it sent fighter jets to monitor and warn a US Navy patrol aircraft that flew over the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that took place just hours after a call between the Chinese and US defence chiefs.

Social media platform X has blocked several posts in India containing political speech after authorities ordered their takedown ahead of a six-week general election that starts Friday

The election cycle sprawls over 44 days, long even by India's standards, as the 2019 vote lasted 39 days.