Indians are voting in their tens of millions in a monthlong general election that creates huge logistical issues in the world's largest democracy. The first round of polling was held on April 16. There are a further five voting phases before the final count is due on May 16. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party, which currently leads the coalition government, seeks to retain power. But some of its political allies are reported to be forming other ties which could ...

The world's largest electorate has spoken, although figuring out just what it said may still take a few days. India on Wednesday wrapped up its five-week election process, in which 428 million people cast their votes. But as impressive as the scale of of India's exercise in democracy may be, so is it notable for its almost complete lack of debate over real issues. The incumbent centrist Congress Party promises good governance, help for the poor and strong leadership. ...

Anxiety is a typical emotion for teenagers around the world upon leaving home to take up residence in a college dormitory. They face the daunting challenges of fitting in and making new friends amid unruly roommates and without the comfort of home cooking. But for thousands of Indian students, the anxiety is driven by an even greater menace: the prospect of constant verbal and physical abuse by senior students as part of a hazing tradition called "ragging," which critics say ...

The French Navy said they seized 11 pirates Sunday after they apparently mistook a French military vessel for a commercial ship and made a run at it. Two pirate assault boats approached the Nivose "at great speed," Capt. Christophe Prazuck said, but a French helicopter intervened before the attackers had time to fire at the French Navy ship. The helicopter fired warning shots, he said. The pirates, who had a mother ship as well as the two assault ...

Pirates hijacked a British-owned bulk carrier Saturday in the Indian Ocean, but NATO forces stopped an attack on another vessel in the Gulf of Aden hours earlier, NATO maritime authorities said. The UK cargo ship, the MV Ariana, was carrying 35,000 tons of soya about 250 nautical miles (287 miles) northwest of the Seychelles when it was seized around dawn. The crew members are Ukrainians and they are not believed to harmed, NATO said. It is unclear how many crew ...

An Indian fighter jet crashed in the country's west Thursday, critically injuring one of its two pilots, air force officials said.

A train driven by "unauthorized people" crashed into another at a station near the southern Indian city of Chennai on Wednesday, killing four and injuring 11, officials said.

Two senior Indian officials met with the Sri Lankan president Friday in Colombo to address the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn island nation. Shiv Shankar Menon, the Indian foreign secretary and M.K. Narayanan, the national security adviser, met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to A.M.J. Sadiq, a foreign ministry official in Sri Lanka. He did not provide further details. "The Indian message was just short of reading the riot act," a source told CNN. Significant numbers ...

U.S. and European officials insist they don't pay ransoms to pirates. And why would they? Shipping and insurance companies now routinely pay ransoms of millions of dollars, dropping sack-loads of cash from airplanes into the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, despite assertions from politicians back home that the money is fueling the rampant piracy. Here is how the system works, according to kidnap-and-ransom experts who agreed to talk to TIME: Within minutes of a vessel being seized by ...

Have we awakened a sleeping giant or stood up, at long last, to a local bully? President Obama's decision last weekend to authorize force against the Somali pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips brought the end of a crisis, but it may be the beginning of a longer military effort. This year pirates have attacked dozens of vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, which leads into the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Egged on by generous ...