Reuters

By Rupam Jain and Tora Agarwala

BARPETA/THIRUVANANTHPURAM, India (Reuters) - As India votes in a six-week general election, Narendra Modi's image adorns everything from packs of rice handed out to the poor to large posters in cities and towns. 

His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is relying on the prime minister's popularity as it seeks a super-majority in India's parliament. Its message: Modi has delivered economic growth, infrastructure... (continue reading...)

By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian shares made 15-month highs on Tuesday on renewed confidence of U.S. interest rate cuts, while traders waited on a policy meeting in Australia later in the day and had a close eye on a falling yen.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3% in early trade. Hong Kong shares traded marginally lower, having ridden a wave of heavy buying from mainland investors to... (continue reading...)

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Wesfarmers said on Tuesday any move to break up its budget department store chain Kmart, hardware business Bunnings and chemicals maker WesCEF would drive up prices and put Australian businesses at a global disadvantage.

An Australian senate inquiry is considering whether to introduce laws making it easier for the competition regulator to make large retailers sell assets.

"Any breakup would only do two... (continue reading...)

By Sumit Khanna

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Eleven Indian states and territories including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat began voting on Tuesday in the third phase of general elections, with the country's Election Commission urging people to ensure a strong turnout.

India began voting on April 19 in a seven-phase election in which nearly one billion people are eligible to vote, with votes set to be counted on June... (continue reading...)

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's tax office has sought from crypto currency exchanges the personal data and transaction details of up to 1.2 million accounts as it looks to crack down on users who may be failing to pay their taxes amid a rising interest in digital tokens.

In a notice issued last month, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said the data will help identify traders who had failed to report the exchange of crypto assets, or when they sold it... (continue reading...)