All posts tagged: Indias

Supporters of India’s Gen Z ‘cockroach’ party stage first protest in New Delhi

Supporters of India’s Gen Z ‘cockroach’ party stage first protest in New Delhi

Published by Sam Flores

Hundreds of supporters of the Cockroach Janata Party, an online joke that drew millions across India, gathered for the first time in the national capital on Saturday, taking the social media movement off screens and into its biggest real-world test yet. The protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, marks the movement’s first foray into street politics after weeks of dominating social media feeds and news headlines, attracting millions of online followers and widespread support among young Indians. The immediate trigger for Saturday’s protest was reported irregularity in a recent exam that has dominated headlines in India, angering a large community of students. Hundreds of mostly young Indians gathered in the heart of New Delhi’s protest zone near the parliament building, some with placards and cockroach masks. Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the online movement, joined the protest after he landed in the capital from the US on Saturday morning. Police had laid steel barricades at arrivals at New Delhi’s international airport. Abhijeet Dipke, head of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), speaks to supporters at a …

India’s Cockroach Party fights attempts to discredit the movement – Access Asia

India’s Cockroach Party fights attempts to discredit the movement – Access Asia

Published by Sam Flores

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again ACCESS ASIA © FRANCE 24 Issued on: 05/06/2026 – 15:53Modified: 05/06/2026 – 15:57 12:17 min From the show Reading time 1 min On this edition of Access Asia, we explore how India’s nascent Cockroach Janta Party has tapped into the frustrations of the country’s youth. We speak with the party’s spokesperson, Saurav Das, who tells us that the movement is demanding accountability from the government. Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot also weighs in on why young people in India are disillusioned and what the country’s opposition parties can learn from the viral movement. By: Source link

India’s GDP stays robust in January-March as domestic demand offsets external weakness

India’s GDP stays robust in January-March as domestic demand offsets external weakness

Published by Sam Flores

NEW DELHI, June 5 : India’s economy grew an unexpectedly strong 7.8 per cent year-on-year in the January-March quarter, the government said on Friday, as robust private investment, farm output and construction activity offset the early impact of the Middle East conflict. The print, the second in an updated data series with a revised base year and wider coverage, was well above a forecast of 7.2 per cent growth in a Reuters poll of economists. Compared with the previous three months, however, the January-March reading marked a marginal slowdown. The government revised up the growth rate for the previous three months to 8.0 per cent from an earlier 7.8 per cent. “The disruption due to the West Asia conflict in March seems to have had a limited impact on economic momentum,” said Sakshi Gupta, principal economist at Mumbai-headquartered HDFC Bank, while adding that growth would likely moderate starting from the April-June quarter. Gross value added, a more accurate measure of underlying economic activity, grew 7.9 per cent during the January-March quarter, the data showed. GVA …

This startup is betting India’s gig economy can train the world’s robots

This startup is betting India’s gig economy can train the world’s robots

Published by skeptic

In the last few years, India’s online food delivery market has grown significantly, with both Zomato and Swiggy going public and an increase in the number of cloud kitchens. Meanwhile, startups working on home services, such as on-demand household staffing platforms like Urban Company, Snabbit, and Pronto, have gained popularity. Silicon Valley-based start-up Human Archive is tapping into this trend, partnering with these companies to have workers wear special caps with cameras to collect egocentric (first-person point of view) video data of everyday tasks that could be used to train robots. Without naming specific partners, the startup said it is working with companies in the home services, hostel, and restaurant sectors to collect egocentric data, and it says it has more than 1,000 active headsets deployed across multiple locations. On the back of that traction, Human Archive said Tuesday it has raised $8.2 million in funding from Wing Venture Capital, NVP Capital, Y Combinator, and angels from OpenAI, Nvidia, Google, Mercor, AfterQuery, BAIR, SAIL, Brad Boa, and Meta. The startup was founded by two Berkeley …

SolarSquare in talks to raise up to M as India’s rooftop solar market draws major VC interest

SolarSquare in talks to raise up to $60M as India’s rooftop solar market draws major VC interest

Published by skeptic

SolarSquare, an Indian rooftop solar startup that helps households and housing societies adopt solar power, is in advanced talks to raise fresh capital after securing India’s largest solar venture investment in December 2024, TechCrunch has learned. B Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners are set to co-lead the Series C round, which could value SolarSquare at between $450 million and $500 million and bring in $55 million to $60 million in new investment, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. That would represent more than a doubling of SolarSquare’s valuation in roughly 18 months — a sign of how rapidly investor conviction is building around India’s residential solar market. Lightspeed Venture Partners previously led SolarSquare’s $40 million Series B round at around a $200 million post-money valuation in December 2024. This time, according to a source, it’s investing through its growth fund, which has backed names such as Razorpay — India’s leading digital payments platform — and Zepto, the fast-delivery startup. Existing investor Elevation Capital is also expected to participate in the deal, which is …

India’s ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ began as a joke. Then millions joined in.

India’s ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ began as a joke. Then millions joined in.

Published by Sam Flores

What began as an internet punchline is turning into something more serious. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Indians online are rallying around the Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP — a parody political movement that started as online satire but has rapidly become a vehicle for venting anger over unemployment, corruption and the state of India’s democracy. The movement, a cheeky riff on the name of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has flooded social media with memes, mock campaign messaging and jokes carrying an edge of public frustration. “We have to understand that five years ago nobody was ready to speak up against Modi or the government,” said CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke. “The times are changing.” Founded last month, the movement’s rise traces back to comments made by Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant, who compared some young people and critics of institutions to “cockroaches” and “parasites.” “There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment or have any …

India’s Power Demand Hits Record High As Heat Drives Coal Use

India’s Power Demand Hits Record High As Heat Drives Coal Use

Published by Jenni Sidey

Submitted by Irina Slav of OilPrice.com India’s power generation rose to a new all-time high amid hot weather that drove air-conditioning demand up, with thermal generation, most of its coming from coal power plants, covering 62% of demand. Power demand on Thursday hit 271 GW, on the “fourth consecutive day when the peak power demand (solar hours) reached a new all-time high,” India’s power ministry said, as quoted by AFP. After milder temperatures tempered demand growth in the fiscal year to March 2026 to the lowest level in six years, demand is now beating peak consumption records amid heat waves at the start of this year’s summer. India’s coal demand from power plants is set to rise by 11.5% in the April to June quarter amid the peak electricity demand season in the country in May and June, sources with knowledge of the matter told the Economic Times in April. Besides coal, which dominated India’s grid this week, solar power covered 22% of demand, the power ministry also said, while hydro and wind provided another …

Why are India’s mosques turning into temple disputes? | News

Why are India’s mosques turning into temple disputes? | News

Published by Sam Flores

India’s courts are reopening mosque disputes despite laws meant to protect religious sites. What changed? From mosques to temples, old religious battles are back in India’s courts. A law passed after the Babri Masjid dispute was meant to stop exactly this. But new claims are moving forward again, as Hindu nationalism grows and many Muslims fear the protections once promised to them are slipping away. In this episode:  Episode credits: This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé and Sarí el-Khalili with Spencer Cline, Noor Wazwaz, Tuleen Barakat, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Tamara Khandaker. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhemm. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Published On 21 May 202621 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Source link

General Catalyst just led a M bet on India’s travel payments market

General Catalyst just led a $63M bet on India’s travel payments market

Published by skeptic

Scapia, an Indian startup that combines travel booking with co-branded credit cards and mobile payments, has raised $63 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst, with existing investors Peak XV Partners and Z47 also participating. The deal comes despite a broader slowdown in fintech dealmaking. The all-equity round values assigns the startup a post-money valuation of more than $500 million, according to a source familiar with the matter, more than doubling its valuation from around $200 million in April 2025. The four-year-old outfit has raised $126 million to date from investors. That General Catalyst, one of the most prominent U.S. venture firms, is leading the round suggests that India’s travel-focused fintech market is drawing serious attention well beyond its home region. The funding comes as investors globally grow more selective in fintech bets after years of aggressive funding. In India, fintech funding remained largely flat in Q1 2026, while the number of deals fell by more than half from a year earlier as investors concentrated capital into fewer, larger deals, per a recent …

U.S. Treasury, India’s Adani Enterprises settle alleged Iran sanctions violations

U.S. Treasury, India’s Adani Enterprises settle alleged Iran sanctions violations

Published by Sam Flores

Indian billionaire and Chairman of Adani Group, Gautam Adani, addresses the gathering during the 51st Gem and Jewellery Awards in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, on November 30, 2024. Vishal Bhatnagar | Nurphoto | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Treasury on Monday said it had agreed to a $275 million settlement with India’s Adani Enterprises Ltd over the company’s potential civil liability for 32 apparent violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Adani Enterprises had bought shipments of liquefied petroleum gas from a Dubai-based trader purporting to supply Omani and Iraqi gas that had actually originated from Iran, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission separately settled a civil lawsuit against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani over an alleged scheme to bribe Indian government officials, court records showed last week, although the move is subject to court approval. The Justice Department is also close to dropping related criminal fraud charges against Adani, who has promised to invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy, according to two sources familiar with …