India news: Tennis legend Leander Paes joins Modi's BJP

As the world made memes around a stolen consignment of KitKat in Europe, the tourism department of the Indian state of Kerala thought — 'hold my beer.'

"After a thorough check across our backwaters, hill stations and beaches, we can confirm - none of it has reached Kerala," the department poked fun in an official statement. 

Last week, 413,793 candy bars of KitKat, amounting to 12 tonnes of chocolate, were stolen from a truck after it left the production factory in Italy towards Poland. 

The incident immedeately sparked a meme fest with companies joining in. Domino's announced a KitKat pizza while Irish budget airline Ryanair published pictures of its airplane's face stuffed with KitKats. 

Even Swiss chocolate giant Nestle, owner of the KitKat brand, congratulated the thieves on their taste. 

Leander Paes, one of India's most celebrated tennis players, joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, ahead of high-stakes polls in the eastern state of West Bengal.

53-year-old Paes was born in West Bengal's capital city of Kolkata but lived in the southern state of Goa. He has won eight Grand Slam doubles titles and 10 career Grand Slam mixed doubles championships.

His partnership with Indian tennis player Mahesh Bhupati had been dubbed the 'Indian Express' by media.

Pictures uploaded to social media by the BJP's social media handle showed the former sportsman announcing his move with other senior party members at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi. 

He thanked Modi and the BJP "family" for nurturing him and giving him the opportunity to serve the country. "I played for 40 years, for my parents and family. Now this new game I have entered is for my country and its youth," he said.

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijju welcomed the "champion who has brought pride to the nation." 

Paes' entry in BJP is being widely seen as a blow to West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.

In 2021, Paes had joined the TMC, which is also popular in Goa, where party leader and vocal Modi critic Mamata Banerjee had called him her "younger brother." However, Paes did not contest elections for the TMC. 

West Bengal, along with four other legislative assemblies, are set for elections in April. Modi's BJP has managed to make some inroads in the traditionally left-leaning state but failed to win an election so far.

Police said on Tuesday they had arrested a man for smuggling illegal alcohol into the national capital using camels. 

They also seized two camels and "1,938 pouches of illegal liquor," the Delhi Police said in a social media post on X. 

The animals were used to carry the contrabrand into New Delhi through "forest routes" from the neighboring city of Faridabad, news agency AFP reported. Taxes on alcohol are far higher in the capital when compared to its neighbors.

Indian news outlet Hindustan Times reported that the same camels had been stopped last year for alcohol smuggling. Once the alcohol was in Delhi, the smugglers would deliver it to clients on bicycles and rickshaws, it reported.

French satellite operator Eutelsat is in talks with India's space agency about future satellite launches, according to an exclusive Reuters report. It comes as Paris and New Delhi look to deepen bilateral defense and space cooperation. 

Eutelsat is Europe's main rival to Elon Musk's satellite internet provider Starlink.

Jean-François Fallacher, CEO of the French firm, told Reuters that negotiations with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were ongoing, but no deal had been reached yet.

France and India have deepened their ties in areas of defense, space and maritime security in recent years as New Delhi looks to diversify technological trade and cooperation with markets beyond the US.

Fallacher said he ‌visited New Delhi in February as part of French President Emmanuel Macron's delegation. On the trip, he met India's telecoms minister and regulators to discuss ‌market ​access.

"We are preparing for the future, because launch capacity needs to be prepared very much in advance," he said. "India is a huge country...so getting market access is strategic."

At least eight people, all women, were killed in a crush in a temple in the eastern state of Bihar, Indian media reported on Tuesday. 

The Sheetala Mata temple was overcrowded as devotees rushed in to offer prayers on the last Tuesday of the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar.

In the Hindu religious calendar, several months hold different astrological and cultural significance for devotees. It can influence what people eat, when they marry, auspicious rituals and even agricultural cycles.

Officials told Indian media that the turnout was higher than usual and that an investigation was now being conducted. 

Stampedes at religious events and sites are not uncommon, and kill more than 100 people in India every year. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of the dead and announced monetary compensations for their families.

"The mishap in Nalanda district, Bihar, is deeply painful. I extend my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Prayers for the speedy recovery of those injured," he said in a social media post. 

Over 3 million Indian officials will spend about a year collecting data on the country's population — the largest in the world — in a massive door-to-door survey. 

This round of census was meant to take place in 2021 but was delayed party due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last census was conducted between 2010-11. The survey's data is crucial to the democracy which forms policy and social interventions based on the results.

The once-in-a-decade exercise will begin on April 1. The first 15 days have been allocated for a self-enumeration where citizens will be able to submit their own details online, in a first for India. 

The census has traditionally involved collecting data on paper, which is later digitized and published by the government.

After the first 15 days, the census will break into two phases. The first will involve physical collection of data on houses and household conditions. The second will focus on the inhabitants of the houses and their social and economic Parameters, Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan told reporters.

India's census and the caste system

The census will also record data on caste, a rigid social hierarchy coming from India's dominant Hindu religion. The caste system dates back thousands of years and is deeply entrenched in Indian social life and politics.

It divides people and communities into "upper" and "lower" stratas and has been the basis of untouchability in Indian history. Even today, families from the lowest caste, Dalits, face marginalization and discrimination. 

While the 2011 census did collect caste data, it was not fully published over concerns of accuracy. Those in favor of a caste census say the information is vital to ensure government assistance to those from disadvantaged castes. Critics say caste has no place in a country aiming to be a major world power. 

Iran has accused the US and Israel of carrying out a "war crime" after an Iranian aircraft, reportedly on a humanitarian mission to India, was damaged in a US strike on Mashhad Airport.

The Iranian Embassy in India released a statement by the Islamic Republic's civilian aviation authority, saying: "The attack on an Iranian aircraft carrying medicines and medical equipment constitutes a war crime and a clear violation of international law."

On Monday, news agency ANI cited Iranian unnamed officials saying the plane in question was scheduled to fly to New Delhi on April 1 as part of India's ongoing mission to provide humanitarian aid to Iran. 

Despite its proclaimed neutral stance in the US-Israel war with Iran, New Delhi has been sending aid supplies to the Middle Eastern nation citing long-standing humanitarian ties.

Iran "strongly condemned the Israeli–American attack on an Iranian civilian aircraft transporting medicines and medical equipment from several countries to Iran, which had landed at Mashhad Airport."

The statement said that targeting a civilian aircraft engaged in humanitarian aid missions was a "blatant violation" of international aviation laws and the Geneva Conventions.

The US has not confirmed or responded to allegations of air strikes on civilian planes at the Mashhad Airport. New Delhi is yet to comment on the matter. 

Good morning! and welcome to DW's India news blog. 

This is Mahima Kapoor from the cloudy New Delhi Bureau and I will bring to you the country's biggest headlines for the day. 

The temperature in the national capital remains pleasant, thanks to an atmospheric disturbance, which gave the city one the wettest months of March in recent memory. The weather agency predicts more rain, gusty winds and even thunderstorms for much of Northeast India.

Four states and a union territory in India are gearing up for legislative assembly elections which will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party fight regional parties to extend his political influence. Some parties are announcing candidates, others are releasing their manifestos but all are leaning into the campaign season.

Speaking of gearing up, the government is making final arrangements to launch the mammoth exercise of conducting a population survey. The census will begin on April 1 and go on for a year.

On the international front, Iran has accused the US and Israel of a "war crime" after reports of a US strike damaging an Iranian airplane carrying humanitarian aid from India. 

Stick with us as we breakdown the day's news.