NEW DELHI - The iconic picture of India’s greatest military victory — a painting of the Pakistani army signing the Instrument of Surrender in Dhaka on December 16, 1971 — has been removed from the India Army Chief’s Sena Bhavan. Military veterans have castigated the Narendra Modi government and the military top brass for removing the painting from the wall of the army chief’s office and replacing it with another painting.

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to adopt a tit-for-tat approach against India’s high tariffs that have stymied US exports to one of the world’s largest consuming economies. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that his administration would hit back with high tariffs if India continued to slap high levies on American goods and services.

NEW DELHI - Switzerland has announced that it will suspend the most favoured nation (MFN) clause in its double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with India, starting from January 1, 2025. This will have far reaching consequences on the trade and commerce relations between India and Switzerland. This move will double the withholding tax rate on dividends paid to Indian tax comapnies to 10 per cent from 5 per cent. 

The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days. Syrian state television aired a video statement by a group of men saying that President Bashar Assad has been overthrown and all detainees in jails have been set free.

CHICAGO (Naperville) – To observe International Yoga Day, the Shree Shivkrupanand Swami Foundation of America (SSSFA), in collaboration with Gurutattva India, hosted a significant global meditation workshop titled ‘Soulful Yoga Beyond the Asanas' in Naperville. The event was conducted at multiple locations in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Kansas and California simultaneously.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alliance was headed for a narrow majority as vote-counting in the general electionneared completion on Tuesday, with the tally well short of a widely expected landslide.

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial fined the former U.S. president $9,000 on Tuesday for online posts that he found violated a gag order in the case. Justice Juan Merchan's order came as the trial in New York resumed with testimony from a banker familiar with accounts involved in Trump's alleged scheme to influence the 2016 election by covering up a sex scandal.

Elon Musk's surprise visit to China this week won concessions for Tesla, opens new tab but left India feeling spurned after he cancelled a scheduled trip there for earlier this month to meet Modi. Indian commentators are calling the move a snub.

General Elections have been announced in India. India will hold a seven-phase general election starting April 19, with the results to be declared on June 4. The Election Commission of India made the announcement in a news conference in New Delhi on Saturday. Nearly 970 million people are eligible to vote, according to the poll panel’s data, making the election the largest democratic exercise in the world.

India has opposed the establishment of the post of “special envoy” on a special religion at the United Nations. Calling India “a proud champion of pluralism,” India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj opposed the move. This comes as the UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution on “Measures to Combat Islamophobia” which, inter alia, calls for the appointment of a UN Special Envoy to combat Islamophobia.