India's national elections will be held in seven phases from April 11.
The country's election commission announced the schedule of voting on Sunday.
It said counting will be completed and final results announced on May 23.
Some 900 million voters are eligible to vote for a new government for the next five years.
The gigantic voting exercise will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking another term in office and the opposition attempting to join forces to put up a fight.
Saudi Arabia shuts key oil pipeline after drone attack
Saudi Arabia shut its East-West oil pipeline on Friday after it was hit in a drone attack, disrupting a key route used to bypass shipping problems in the Strait of Hormuz.
BRICS members agree joint declaration at New Delhi summit
BRICS members agreed on a joint declaration on Saturday, expected to condemn unilateral aggression by any country without naming individual states, according to sources cited by Reuters.
Explosion hits another weapons site in Bulgaria
Bulgaria is investigating the cause of a fire at a weapons storage facility operated by EMCO, including the possibility of sabotage and a link to a previous blaze at another of the company's facilities in August, the interior minister said.
China's Xi lands in Delhi for BRICS summit and talks with Modi
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the Indian capital on Saturday for the summit of leaders of the BRICS group of countries and talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The UAE has strongly condemned the drone attack on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions.
The UAE has announced $10 million in urgent humanitarian assistance for people affected by the worsening crisis in Haiti, under the directives of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss strengthening UAE-India ties, greater economic integration and new partnerships across key sectors.
