Between October 1, 2021 and May 11, 2022, India witnessed more than 106 communal incidents. The most number of incidents took place in the state of Karnataka, which saw more than 27 incidents, followed by Maharashtra with 12 incidents and West Bengal with 10 incidents.
The Evergrande debt crisis has created volatility in global markets and commodity prices, especially metals, in the second half of September. The BSE Metal Index (see below) dropped by ~7% in response to the crisis on September 20.
The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leadership stated on October 27 that its supporters had resumed their long march to Islamabad after talks with the Pakistani government failed. The talks were initiated by the Pakistani government in an effort to address TLP’s demands, including release of its chief and expulsion of the French ambassador, through negotiations (see details in next section).
India felt the impact of the global energy crisis in October, 2021 as coal shortages brought the country to the brink of a power crisis. The energy crisis is mainly a result of a faster than expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This recovery has resulted in demand for energy skyrocketing as industries try to maximise production and cover up losses incurred in 2020. Simultaneously, energy producers and policy makers failed to account for this surge in demand, which has led to production-side shortages and supply bottlenecks.