What's behind the US Indictment of Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani? | DW News

Nov 21, 2024 | Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest people, has been indicted on multiple counts of fraud in the US. The criminal charges are related to his alleged role in a scheme to bribe officials in India. Prosecutors say he and other senior executives paid more than 250 million dollars to win contracts for his renewable energy company. His Adani Group has issued a statement describing the allegations as baseless.

Canada Expels Indian Diplomats, Linking Them To Criminal Campaign

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Canadian police said the Indian government was orchestrating homicides and extortion in Canada to intimidate Sikh separatists. India, in return, kicked out Canadian diplomats.

Canada accused the Indian government on Monday of homicide and extortion intended to silence critics of India living in Canada, escalating a bitter dispute that began last year with an assassination of a Sikh activist.

Canada expelled India’s top diplomat and five others, saying they were part of a vast criminal network. India reciprocated, expelling six Canadian diplomats.

The two countries have been in an intense dispute following the assassination of a prominent Sikh cleric, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the time had been orchestrated by the Indian government.

Canada is home to the largest Sikh community outside India, a religious minority that lives mostly in the state of Punjab, in northwestern India. » | Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Reporting from Toronto | Monday, October 14, 2024

NYT (2023):

Justin Trudeau Accuses India of a Killing on Canadian Soil: The Canadian leader said agents of India had assassinated a Sikh community leader in British Columbia in June. India called the accusation “absurd.” »

Delhi Audience Laughs as Russian Foreign Minister Says Ukraine War 'Was Launched against Us'

Mar 4, 2023 | Sergei Lavrov's description of the Russian invasion as 'the war, which we are trying to stop, and which was launched against us using the Ukrainian people' was met with laughter at the Raisina Dialogue conference in India.

Indian Peace Activist: 'Anti-Muslim Violence in India Is Central to BJP's Ideological Core'

Jul 27, 2024 | Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its majority in recent national elections. Yet its Hindu nationalist agenda continues to result in religious extremism and targeting of minorities. According to the Indian Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), there’s been a surge in religious violence since the start of Modi’s new term. The non-governmental organization has recorded eight lynchings in June alone. By comparison, there were 21 lynchings in the whole of 2023. The fresh spate of attacks have especially put Indian Muslims on edge in states like Uttar Pradesh.

How One Lavish Wedding Is Shining a Light on Poverty in India | DW News

Jul 13, 2024 | A glittering guest list is just one highlight when the son of Asia's richest man is getting married. Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's extravagant four-day wedding is underway in Mumbai after months of preparatory celebrations. However, the lavish nuptials have sparked criticism and highlighted the stark inequalities in India.

Mega-wedding of Heir to Asia's Richest Man Puts Spotlight on India's Unequal Society | DW News

Jul 12, 2024 | The opulent wedding of the son of India's richest man is coming to an end in Mumbai. Four days of celebrations will mark the union of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. Anant is the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani. The 67-year-old is the chairman of Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, and financial services.

With a fortune of over $123 billion (€113 billion), he is ranked as the 11th richest person in the world, according to the Forbes billionaires list. He is also an important ally of India's right-wing Hindu nationalist leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The guest list reads like a who's who of Indian and international celebrities. Among the invitees expected to attend the event are: Former British Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Tony Blair, former United States Secretary of State John Kerry, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt. Pop megastars Rihanna and Justin Bieber both performed for guests as part of the lengthy pre-wedding festivities.


Related NYT article here.

Anant Ambani's Grand Baarat | Anant-Radhika Wedding | Rajnikanth | Ranveer Singh

Jul 12, 2024 | Priyanka Chopra, Rajnikanth, Ranveer Singh & other celeb dance their heart out Anant Ambani's baarat

Related NYT article here.

Guests Arrive for Lavish Ambani Wedding

Related NYT article here.

A Wedding Puts India’s Gilded Age on Lavish Display

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Many Indians cheer the rise of moguls like Mukesh Ambani, whose son’s wedding has become a global spectacle. To them, India’s poverty is predictable, but such opulence is not.

The younger son of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, is set to wed his fiancée in Mumbai on Friday, the finale of a monthslong extravaganza that signaled the arrival of the unapologetic Indian billionaire on the global stage — and introduced the world to the country’s Gilded Age.

For much of the year, the festivities surrounding the nuptials of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, the daughter of a fellow business tycoon, have grabbed eyeballs for their lavish displays of wealth. Millions have been spent on diamonds and emeralds the size of credit cards, on haute couture saris, on wedding invitations made of silver and gold.

Billionaire businessmen, Bollywood stars, models and politicians were among the more than 1,200 guests at a pre-wedding bash in March. Bill Gates stopped by. Rihanna performed. In May, the bride and groom-to-be threw a four-day party on a luxury cruise ship in the Mediterranean; Ms. Merchant told Vogue India they couldn’t find a land venue big enough to host all their guests.

Jay Gatsby would have been awed.

The spectacle has served as an invitation to peek inside India’s uppermost echelons, where a few individuals and families have amassed astounding fortunes in recent years. Buoyed by booming growth and a cheerleading government, the number and wealth of Indian billionaires has soared. They are overlords of the Indian economy, running the phone networks that connect millions of people, the hospitals that treat them, the supermarkets where they shop and the high-rises in which many live. » | Anupreeta Das, Reporting from New Delhi | Friday, July 12, 2024

India's Economy Benefits from Russia: What's In It for Moscow? | DW News

Jul 10, 2024 | During his talks in Moscow, Modi says he told Vladimir Putin that peace was of "utmost importance." But again, he stopped short of condemning the war in Ukraine. He said that India's economy had benefited from its strategic partnership with Russia. India has stepped up imports of Russian oil, despite criticism from Western countries that have put sanctions on Moscow.

India’s Obesity Time Bomb | Reupload

Nov 3, 2023 | Almost 1 in 4 adults is considered overweight or obese in India. As junk food giants push into developing nations with weaker public health awareness, campaigners are calling for tougher regulation.

Indian Government: We're Sticking with Russia | DW News

Feb 17, 2024 | ndia is standing by its close relationship with Russia - refusing to join the widespread condemnation of the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Speaking to DW at the Munich Security Conference, BJP National Spokesman Jaiveer Shergill said India is “on the side of peace.” With Germany and France signing pledges to keep providing Ukraine with weapons, Shergill urged Europe to consider “what would it take to stop the war?” Shergill addressed the challenge facing India from China, saying “the era of one single power domination is long gone.”

Canada Sees Drop in Citizen Applications from Permanent Residents | BBC News

Feb 7, 2024 | Canada has been a magnet for immigrants for decades, but recently the number of permanent residents applying for citizenship has been dropping. Thousands emigrate from India to Canada every year, with the Punjab community making up one of the country’s biggest diasporas, but some are now choosing to return to their home country.

Being Gay and Out in Mumbai - True Story Documentary Channel

Jan 8, 2022 | Under British colonial rule in 1860, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalized any sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex, stigmatizing them as “against the order of nature”.

On 2nd July 2009 the Delhi High Court passed a landmark judgment repealing this clause, thus fulfilling the most basic demand of the Indian LGBTQ community, which had been fighting this law for the past 10 years.

The film documents the diverse lives of three members of Mumbai’s LGBT community, Beena, Pallav and Abheena, who travel through the city heading to the celebrations for the first anniversary of the historic verdict.

Through the personal stories and struggles of the three protagonists, the film explores the reality of living a queer identity in today’s India, between tradition and change.

Out in Mumbai is the story of their journey towards freedom.

Why India's Fair Skin Business Is Booming

Jan 20, 2020 | India is home to Bollywood, the world's most prolific movie industry. For those who dream of stardom, landing a leading role may depend on the color of your skin.

India's preference for fair skin has given rise to a skin-lightening industry worth nearly $500 million dollars.

VICE's Gianna Toboni heads to Mumbai to find out how this cultural bias is fueling the booming business of fairer skin.

India’s Obesity Time Bomb

Nov 3, 2023 | Almost 1 in 4 adults is considered overweight or obese in India. As junk food giants push into developing nations with weaker public health awareness, campaigners are calling for tougher regulation.

India Is special for Israel and Jews | #shorts

Jews never faced persecution there.

How Same-sex Unions Are Rooted in Indian Tradition

Indian LGBTQ+ activists and couples were hoping for a positive verdict from the Supreme Court | RAHUL BAXI
BBC: On Tuesday, India's Supreme Court refused to legalise same-sex marriage, disappointing millions of LGBTQ+ couples and activists. While these unions may still not have legal sanction in India, they were far from rare even centuries ago, experts say.

When author and activist Ruth Vanita attended and taught at the Delhi University - from the 1970s to 1996 - "same-sex love was almost never mentioned in the academy".

Around the same time, she was active in the women's movement, and found that a "similar silence prevailed then in feminist politics as well, both left-wing and right-wing".

"Many of the leading activists in women's groups were lesbians, but they never mentioned or discussed this in activist forums," Prof Vanita, who now teaches at University of Montana, wrote in a 2004 essay.

Fourteen years later, in a historic decision, India's Supreme Court ruled that gay sex was no longer a criminal offence, overturning a 2013 judgement that upheld a colonial-era law - known as section 377 - under which gay sex was categorised as an "unnatural offence".

While some in India voiced concerns that the repeal of the colonial-era law was driving the country toward the adoption of Western ideals of liberalism, Prof Vanita's argument was that history actually demonstrates the contrary. » | Soutik Biswas, India correspondent | Wednesday, October 18, 2023

India Supreme Court declines to legalise same-sex marriage: India's Supreme Court has declined to legalise same-sex unions, dashing the hopes of millions of LGBTQ+ people seeking marriage equality. »

Canada Asks India to Cooperate in Murder Probe

Sep 22, 2023 | Canada's Prime Minister says the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader must be taken seriously.

Justin Trudeau is calling on the Indian government to cooperate. He says Canada has evidence that India was involved in the killing, but that he will not make it public. New Delhi denies the accusation and has suspended visas for Canadians. Both sides have expelled each other's diplomats.

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi reports from Vancouver, Canada.

India Suspends Visas for Canadians as Row Escalates

BBC: India has suspended visa services for Canadian citizens amid an escalating row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

Visa service provider BLS posted a message from India's mission blaming "operational reasons" for the decision.

Tensions flared this week after Canada said it was investigating "credible allegations" linking India with the murder of the separatist leader.

India angrily rejected the allegation calling it "absurd".

Analysts say relations between the countries, which have been strained for months, are now at an all-time low.

The message about the suspension of visas was first posted on the BLS website on Thursday.

"Important notice from Indian Mission: Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice," it read. » | Meryl Sebastian, BBC News, Cochin | Thursday, September 21, 2023