India news: Record turnout in Bengal, Tamil Nadu polls

The energy crisis started by the war on Iran has pushed the Indian rupee to a record low. Its valuation compared to other major currencies dropped to its lowest in more than a decade.

The South Asian currency's 40-currency ‌real effective exchange rate, which accounts for inflation differentials between different economies, fell to 92.72, the Reserve Bank of India's latest bulletin released late on Thursday showed.

The Real Effective Exchange Rate of Indian rupee (REER) is now hovering well below its long‑run average of ​98.25, pointing to a deeply undervalued rupee against historical norms.

The South Asian currency has declined about 3% since the Iran war began on February 28, ⁠hurt by an over 50% surge in oil prices and severe disruptions to gas supplies.

Over 250 Indians claiming descent from the Bnei Menashe biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday, as part of an Indian government operation to relocate them to Israel.

The Indian immigrants were welcomed on their arrival by dozens of well-wishers who sang traditional Jewish songs.

They are the first batch of "Bnei Menashe" ("Sons of Manasseh") to arrive in Israel since the government decided in November to support the immigration of around 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India.

The community claims to descend from Manasseh, the forefather of one of the biblical "lost tribes" of Israel exiled in 720 B.C.E. by Assyrian conquerors.

The Shavei Israel organization, which seeks to trace the descendants of the lost tribes, said that some 4,000 Bnei Menashe have already immigrated to Israel since the 1990s, with around 7,000 others still living in India.

India has issued a fresh advisory for Indian nationals and cautioned against traveling to Iran as  limited flight operations resume between the two countries.

The Indian Embassy in Tehran, in its latest advisory, said, "In view of reports of commencement of some flights between India and Iran, and in continuation of earlier advisories, Indian citizens are strongly advised not to travel to Iran, whether by air or land."

The advisory comes amid continued regional tensions and uncertainty due to the US-Israeli war with Iran.

The Indian Embassy said, "Airspace restrictions and operational uncertainties due to regional tensions continue to affect international flight operations to and from Iran."

The US called India "a great country" after US President Donald Trump reshared a post that referred to India and China as a "hellhole," compelling a sour response from India.

"The President has said 'India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top,'" a US Embassy spokesperson said, in an attempt to cool sentiments after India responded to Trump's derogatory post.

Trump's Truth Social post contained a transcript from a conservative talk show in which host Michael Savage referred to China and India as "some other hellhole on the planet."

However, India initially did not issue a detailed response to the "hellhole" remark.

During a press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We have seen some reports. That's where I leave it."

Trump's repost drew a sharp reaction among Indians and the US jumped to control the damage. 

Later on Thursday, Jaiswal said, "We have seen the comments, as also the subsequent statement issued by the US Embassy in response. The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste."

"They certainly do not reflect the reality of the US-India relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests," he added. 

The south Indian state of Tamil Nadu recorded a historic voter turnout of over 84% as polling concluded across all 234 Assembly constituencies. Polling remained largely peaceful across the state. 

This is the highest-ever turnout in an Assembly election in the state since 1952.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) said the rise in Tamil Nadu’s voter turnout percentage was due to changes in the total electorate following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Phase 1 of the assembly polls in West Bengal concluded with a record voter turnout of 92.25% following mass voter deletions after a  monthslong Special Intensive Revision exercise (SIR).

Of a total of 294 assembly constituencies, 152 voted in the first phase of the polling.  

More than 9 million voters were deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR.

Of these, the highest number of voters were deleted in the district of Murshidabad, which saw a record turnout of 93.55% in the first round of polling in the state. 

Good morning! This is Midhat from New Delhi with the news from India today.

Delhi recorded its hottest day of the year (so far) on Thursday and is grappling with the news of the gruesome rape and murder of a government official's daughter.

The states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu saw a record number of people voting. Phase 1 of the polling concluded yesterday in West Bengal. Phase 2 is slated for April 29.

Stay tuned as we continue our coverage of news from India today.