Our Monday morning stroll around the world

🇮🇳 India began the world’s largest democratic election in history. Polls for the first stage of India’s six-week general elections opened on Friday. Nearly 970 million voters – aka 10+% of the world’s population – are eligible to cast their ballot for India’s 543 members of parliament, who will in turn choose the country’s prime minister. Current PM Narendra Modi is expected to secure a third consecutive term once results are finalized in early June, which would make him the second Indian leader to do so since the country gained independence in 1947.

🚫🇺🇳 The US vetoed a resolution that would have paved the way for Palestine to join the UN. The resolution would have recommended that the UN General Assembly accept Palestine as the UN’s 194th member-nation, with analysts saying Palestine’s admission likely would have passed the full chamber if no veto was exercised. The US was the only UN Security Council member to oppose the resolution, with officials maintaining that America “continues to strongly support a two-state solution,” but wants Palestine's statehood to come from negotiations with Israel.

🌎 Today is Earth Day. The annual event, which dates back to 1970, is designed to highlight the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability. Earth Day has grown over the years to feature a wide range of events that include a collective 1+ billion people across 193 countries. The theme this year is "Planet vs. Plastics," which aims to increase public awareness of the detrimental effects that plastic pollution has on both human and environmental health.