Indian stocks have surged after the Congress party won a surprisingly decisive victory in national elections.

The benchmark Sensex index jumped 17%, or 1,306 points, to 14,272, forcing the Bombay Stock Exchange to shut down for the day.

Trading had already been halted earlier, after investors pushed stocks above their daily maximum limit.

The Congress victory gives the party a strong mandate to continue reforms that have spurred Indian economic growth.

‘Big bang’

The broader Nifty index, traded on the National Stock Exchange, also rose 17%, over 500 points, to 4,308. Trading was also halted earlier and the stock exchange was closed down.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee jumped over 2% to 48.32 a dollar, its biggest gain since 1998.

“This was the big bang event that investors were looking for,” said Hitesh Agrawal, head of research with Angel Broking. “We expect the government to have greater flexibility to boost economic reform and growth from here on.”

The Congress-led alliance is projected to win 260 seats, with rivals the BJP on 157. This confounded projections of a close election.

The communist parties, who had blocked reforms in insurance, pension funds and the selling off of state-owned companies, lost more than half their parliamentary seats.

Shares in some of India’s largest companies also climbed. Reliance gained 37% and ICICI Bank jumped 25.3%, while carmaker Tata gained 40% and IT firm Infosys rose 9.8%.

The Sensex had climbed 26% already this year before the Congress Party victory was declared over the weekend.

Jafferia Alliance Pakistan will hold a Majlis-e-Tahreem for isaal-e-sawab of Grand AYATULLAH UL UZMA AALI QADAR MOhammad Taqi Bahjat (R.A) at BARGAH-E-HUSSAINI Block-2 P.E.C.H.S society on Thursday 21st  may at 9:00 Pm sharp. you are requested to attend.

Arab countries do not have any problem with Iran and efforts to reach a compromise with Israel have not produced any positive result, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa stated on Sunday.

“Actually, the Arab world does not have any problem with Iran. The main problem and major threat to the region and Arabs is Israel’s nuclear activity,” he said during a meeting on the Middle East peace process in Shuneh, Jordan.

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Jordanian Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi, and Russian special envoy to the Middle East Alexander Sultanov also attended the meeting.

Moussa said all parties must agree on a Palestinian government that will act responsibly in order to establish lasting peace.

Israel should not only halt building settlements but should also dismantle all of them because they have been built illegally; otherwise, dialogue will lead nowhere, he added.

If the Arab countries start a new round of talks with Israel without setting preconditions, specifically that Israel halt construction of new settlements and dismantle the old settlements, they are in fact acting against themselves, he noted.

“If Jewish settlements are not evacuated soon, we should halt all political efforts for reaching a compromise, and come to realize that we have no option but resistance. Well, if the two-state solution is not possible, we can focus on one state that is established based on votes cast by all real residents of the Palestinian territory. This is the international community’s responsibility.”

The Arab League secretary general also said, “I take Obama’s remarks about change and his interest in peace and dialogue seriously.” However, if there is no significant progress in 2009 with U.S. support, all hopes will fade.”

Moussa also defended Iran’s right to have a civilian nuclear energy program.

As long as the International Atomic Energy Agency has not reported any deviation in Iran’s nuclear program, no one is allowed to say Iran should halt its nuclear activities, he asserted.

“Nuclear disarmament is a global issue, and it is not possible to forget Israel and talk about the Iran ‘threat’ all the time. This is a mistake,” he added.

He went on to say that the community of nations must address the issue of Israel’s nuclear arsenal, pointing out that it is not possible to be an advocate of nuclear disarmament and at the same time ignore this issue.