BJP wins Jharkhand, second largest party in Jammu and Kashmir

The Modi wave seems to have worked again, underlining the surging popularity of India’s prime minister whose development mantra has struck a powerful chord with the electorate. The Bharatiya Janata Party is poised to form the government in Jharkhand, India’s resource-rich eastern state. In Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP looks set to emerge as the second largest government after the PDP, the best performance by the party in the northern state that has been the site of a fierce electoral contest.

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Darkening shadow of terror across the globe: India asks world to join hands

Sydney and Peshawar may be thousands of miles apart in different continents, but the hostage crisis in Sydney and the senseless killings of 132 children in Peshawar by hardened militants and criminals underline the insidious spread of terrorism across the globe. Against this backdrop, India, a repeated victim of terror attacks, has exhorted the world community to join hands to “decisively and comprehensively defeat terrorism.”
Transcending boundaries and differences – this should be the operative mantra for the world to collectively fight the scourge of terrorism. For any ambivalence or half-heartedness on this front can spawn hundreds of such tragedies in the future, with innocent victims caught in the crossfire of state politics and the mindless terror machinery of warped-up ideologies.

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India, Russia galvanise economic and strategic ties, sign 20 pacts

Unveiling a decade-long vision of their strategic ties, India and Russia have pitchforked their relations onto a higher trajectory by signing a clutch of pacts in areas ranging from nuclear energy, defence, hydrocarbons, culture and public health.
The two strategic partners also signalled a major upswing in their economic ties with corporate entities of the two sides signing over a dozen agreements that includes co-investment through a joint fund, exploration of oil fields and the development of nuclear power.
The first annual summit meeting between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi December 11 has culminated in an all-encompassing joint statement entitled “Druzhba-Dosti: A Vision for strengthening the Indian-Russian Partnership over the next decade.”

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