India protests Iran fire on two vessels in Strait of Hormuz

As people across India celebrate traditional agrarian spring festivals, climate change has become an unwanted guest at the table. How are communities rising to the pressure on harvests, water, and rural life?

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Dinesh Trivedi, one of the leaders of India's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is set to take over as India's high commissioner in the neighboring Bangladesh.

India has long boasted close diplomatic ties with Bangladesh, which was established as a modern country following an independence war against Pakistan in 1971.

Those ties, however, took a sharp dive following the 2024 unrest that ended with the fall of veteran Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina.

Anti-government protesters ousted Hasina following weeks of deadly clashes. Hasina fled to India, where she remains today, despite Bangladeshi officials seeking her extradition.

Her fate remains a major point of contention between Dhaka and New Delhi.

However, Trivedi's appointment comes after both nations already took tentative steps towards resetting ties, including by resuming visa services.

The 75-year-old previously served as minister of railways, as well as for health and family welfare in the Indian government.

His predecessor, Pranay Verma, is moving to Brussels to become the Indian ambassador to the European Union.

At least 20 people have died in a blast at a fireworks factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, reports said. 

Local police chief N. Shreenatha told the AFP news agency that "20 people are confirmed dead," an increase over earlier totals reported in the media. 

The explosion occurred in Virudhunagar district's Kattanarpatti village. 

A blaze triggered by the blast has been brought under control, Indian media reported. 

At least six people are said to be injured in the incident.

A fire and rescue official told news agency ANI that eight bodies had been recovered from the site.

Efforts to rescue those trapped inside the factory were ongoing, the official added. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said he had dispatched his senior ministers to the blast site to expedite and oversee the rescue operations.

"The tragic news of the loss of several lives in the firecracker factory explosion in Kattanarpatti, Virudhunagar district, causes immense sorrow. My deepest condolences to the families of those who have passed away," he said in a statement on X. 

The blast comes just days after an explosion occurred at another firecracker factory in Virudhunagar on April 13.

India's election body has ordered political parties to take down fake content on social media platforms within three hours of it coming to their notice. The order comes amid state assembly elections currently underway in the country. 

"Any misleading or unlawful AI-generated or manipulated content shall be acted upon within 3 hours of being brought to notice of the social media platforms," the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.

It also mandates political parties, candidates and campaign representatives to ensure that any synthetically generated or AI-altered content used for campaign purposes is distinctly labeled "AI-Generated," "Digitally Enhanced" or "Synthetic Content" and accompanied by a disclosure of the originating entity, in line with transparency and voter trust.

The ECI disclosed that since the polls were announced on March 15, more than 11,000 pieces of social media content have been identified and acted upon.

In the restive Indian state of Manipur, security forces have intensified a crackdown on demonstrators protesting over the deaths of two children in a bomb attack by suspected militants earlier this month. 

On Saturday, security personnel used tear gas to disperse protesters in Manipur's Imphal West district, news agency ANI reported. 

Manipur has been a hotbed of ethnic violence between the majority Meitei and tribal Kuki communities.

On April 7, a five-month-old girl and her five-year old brother were killed after suspected Kuki militants attacked a Meiti family's house in Bishnupur district's Moirang.

The incident sparked a public outcry, which turned deadly as protesters tried to storm a camp of the Central Reserve Police Force in the area. Two people were killed and five others were injured after paramilitary personnel opened fire.

The latest protests this weekend come as a women's social movement group called Meira Paibi Lup or Women Torch Bearers announced a five-day total shutdown across the state that came into effect from Sunday, demanding the arrest of those responsible for the attack by April 25.

Most roads, markets, shops and other business establishments were shuttered in several parts of the state, ANI reported. 

A little over half of the state's population of 2.85 million is made up of Meitei people, while the hilly parts of the state are dominated by Kukis, Nagas and other smaller groups.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to Germany from April 21 to 23 to shore up the defense strategic partnership between the two nations.

Singh will hold bilateral talks with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius and other senior leaders of the government, the Indian defense ministry said in a statement.

The talks will be centred around furthering defense industrial collaboration, military-to-military engagements, and exploring opportunities in emerging sectors like cyber security, artificial intelligence, and drones, the ministry said.

The two ministers are expected to witness the signing of a roadmap for defence industrial cooperation and an implementing arrangement for cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations training.

Singh’s trip marks the first visit to Germany by an Indian defense minister after a gap of seven years.

During his 2023 visit to India, Pistorius had held extensive talks with Singh.  

"India and Germany share a strong & multifaceted strategic partnership, anchored in democratic values, rule of law, and a shared commitment to a rule-based international order," the Indian defense ministry said on Sunday.

"Defence and security cooperation has emerged as an important pillar of this partnership in recent years. The objective of the visit is to further deepen bilateral ties and contribute to regional & global peace, stability, and prosperity." it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attending four rallies in West Bengal on Sunday, as he canvassed for his Bharatiya Janata Party's candidates who are set to contest in the upcoming state assembly polls.

At a rally in Bishnupur, Modi railed against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) which is in power in the eastern Indian state. He accused the party of corruption and appeared to give an ultimatum to what he termed as "TMC goons and syndicates", asking for their "surrender" ahead of the elections.

Modi also made promises to the women of the state, who make up a large vote share of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's TMC. 

He vowed a financial assistance of up to 150,000 rupees (€1,371, $1,620) for women under a prime ministerial scheme to build permanent houses. 

"The safety of sisters and your prosperity are the priorities of the BJP. Even now, due to the corruption of the TMC government, the women of Bengal do not receive the benefits they receive under the BJP government in neighbouring states of Assam, Tripura, Odisha and Bihar. If the BJP government is formed in Bengal, poor women will receive free rations, and no one will be able to steal their rations," Modi said.

The TMC is also trying to woo women voters with welfare schemes, including monthly allowances of up to Rs 1,700 (€15.54). 

Meanwhile, Modi brought up his government's failed bid to get a constitutional amendment passed that would have led to the early implementation of quotas for women lawmakers. 

He criticized the TMC for opposing the bill in parliament, deeming it as a "betrayal of the sisters of Bengal" by the party.

Opposition parties have maintained that they supported women's reservation but not a mass, census-based redrawing of constituencies that was tied to the bill. 

The collapse of the bill marked the first major legislative defeat of the Modi government in 12 years. 

In another public rally in Purulia, Modi guaranteed "double the benefits" to West Bengal's farmers if the BJP wins the election. 

The West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29.

The counting of votes will be held on May 4. 

India's Vice President CP Radhakrishnan has begun a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka. 

Radhakrishnan arrived in Colombo on Sunday morning for what marks the first bilateral visit by an Indian Vice President to its southern maritime neighbor. 

The Vice President held talks with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat.

"Both leaders held productive discussions on further deepening the multifaceted India–Sri Lanka ties, rooted in shared history, strong civilizational and people-to-people linkages," a statement from the vice president’s office said.

At the meeting, Radhakrishnan stressed on New Delhi's commitment to its neighbourhood first policy and to boost cooperation between the two nations, a foreign ministry statement added. 

He is also set to hold talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya.

In the course of his visit, Radhakrishnan will meet and interact with leaders of the Indian-origin Tamil community and Tamil leaders from Sri Lanka's northern and eastern regions, according to an official statement. 

Indian-origin Tamils are descendants of workers brought by the British Empire to work on plantations in the island's central highlands, while other Tamil-speaking communities in the north and east trace their roots in Sri Lanka back millenia.

During his Saturday visit, Radhakrishnan is expected to address the Indian diaspora at an event in the Sri Lankan capital, news agency PTI reported.

The vice president will also visit settlements developed under Phase III of India's Housing Project in the country, which has constructed 4,000 houses so far, with an additional 10,000 in the works, news agency ANI reported.

The trip is Radhakrishnan's first official foreign tour since assuming office in September last year. 

The Iranian Supreme Leader's representative in India said that bilateral ties between the Islamic Republic and New Delhi remained strong, after two Indian vessels were reportedly fired upon while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

"The relationship between Iran and India is very strong and I don't know anything about this event which you mentioned and we hope that it will be okay and it will be solved," Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi told news agency ANI. 

He went on to call for peace in the US-Israeli war with Iran.

"We don't want this war. We want peace, and we hope that the other side will also follow peace so that we can have a peaceful area," Ilahi  said.

On Saturday, India voiced "deep concern" at what it called a "shooting incident" involving two Indian-flagged ships in the critical waterway.

The foreign ministry in New Delhi summoned Iran's ambassador Mohammad Fathali for a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to lodge its protest over the incident. 

A statement from the foreign ministry said that Misri stressed "the importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners".

It added that Misri recalled that Tehran had previously facilitated the safe passage of several India-bound ships.

Monitoring site TankerTrackers.com said on X that "two Indian vessels were forced back west out of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran's Sepah (IRGC) Navy".

It added that one of the vessels was "an Indian-flagged VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil."

The two vessels were reported to be among the several ships trying to pass through Hormuz after Iran on Friday declared it open for shipping.

However, a day later Iran announced that it had reimposed its blockade on the waterway.

It's Sunday morning in India. This is Dharvi Vaid Dhulia from DW’s studio in New Delhi, bringing you the biggest headlines from across the country.

The representative of Iran’s supreme leader in India has hailed strong ties between Tehran and New Delhi after two Indian-flagged merchant ships were fired upon while attempting to ‌cross the ⁠Strait ⁠of Hormuz. 

India had lodged a protest over the incident, summoning the Iranian ambassador last evening.

In other news, India’s Vice President C P Radhakrishnan has reached Sri Lanka for a two-day visit aimed at bolstering bilateral ties. 

Meanwhile in domestic politics, battle lines are being drawn ahead of upcoming state assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address four rallies in the eastern state of West Bengal today. 

Stay tuned as we bring you more news and developments from India as they unfold.