Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Indian diplomats put ‘on notice’ in Canada after links to anti-Sikh activity uncovered

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Canada expelled six Indian diplomats as fallout continues from 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Canada’s foreign minister has warned India’s remaining diplomats in the country that they are “clearly on notice” not to endanger Canadian lives after New Delhi’s top envoy in Canada was named a person of interest in the assassination of a Sikh activist.

India’s high commissioner was expelled on Monday along with five other diplomats, prompting the Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, to compare India to Russia, saying Canada’s national police force has linked Indian diplomats to homicides, death threats and intimidation in Canada.

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Air India flight escorted by Singapore fighter jets after latest hoax bomb threat

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The Air India flight landed at Changi Airport after being escorted by air force F-15SG jets, in what was the third threat to the national carrier in recent days

Singapore’s air force mobilised two fighter jets late on Tuesday in response to a bomb threat on an Air India Express flight bound for the city-state, its defence minister said.

Two Singapore air force F-15SG jets scrambled and escorted Air India flight AXB684 away from populated areas after the airline received an email that there was a bomb on board its plane, Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post.

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Air India plane makes emergency landing in Canada after bomb threat

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Abrupt landing comes a day after flight from Mumbai to New York was diverted to Delhi after a false bomb threat

An Air India plane bound for Chicago has made an abrupt landing in the Arctic city of Iqaluit, after a false bomb threat. The emergency stop before sunrise on Tuesday, came less than a day after Canada and India expelled senior diplomats in a widening feud between the two countries.

The flight’s 211 crew and passengers disembarked at the Iqaluit airport some 300km (186 miles) north of the Arctic circle, the Royal Canadian Mounted police said in a news release. According to local media in Iqaluit, an “unspecified bomb threat from a person in India to Air India” was relayed to the flight’s captain.

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Canadian police accuse India of working with criminal network to kill dissidents

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Modi government agents alleged to have collaborated with syndicate run by mob boss Lawrence Bishnoi

Canadian police have accused the Indian government of working with a criminal network run by one of India’s most notorious gangsters, Lawrence Bishnoi, to carry out targeted killings of dissidents in Canada.

A diplomatic row broke out between India and Canada on Monday after Canadian police accused Indian diplomats of “criminal” activities in the country, including extortion, intimidation, coercion and harassment, and involvement in targeted killings of Canadian citizens.

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Canadian police accuse Indian diplomats of ‘criminal’ activities including homicides

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Accusations made hours after both countries expel senior diplomats in escalating row over killing of Sikh activist

Canadian police accused Indian diplomats and consular staff of “clandestine” and “criminal” activities in the country on Monday night, hours after senior diplomats were expelled from both countries in an escalating geopolitical row.

Speaking to reporters at a hastily organised press conference, the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted police (RCMP) said the force had evidence of “agents” acting on behalf of the Indian government engaging in extortion, intimidation, coercion and harassment.

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Muslims in India face discrimination after restaurants forced to display workers’ names

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Muslim business owners in two states fear policy will lead to targeted attacks or economic boycotts

Muslims in India say they have been fired from their jobs and face the closure of their businesses after two states brought in a “discriminatory” policy making it mandatory for restaurants to publicly display the names of all their employees.

The policy was first introduced by Yogi Adityanath, the hardline Hindu monk who is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Last month the state of Himachal Pradesh, governed by the opposition Congress party, announced it would also make it compulsory for all names of workers and employees to be put on display.

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Tribal clashes in north-west Pakistan kill at least 11 people

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Shooting incident in Kurram district between rival tribes follows attack on coalmine in south-west Pakistan

At least 11 people have been killed in tribal clashes in the north-west of Pakistan, a local official has said.

Tensions rose in Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after two people were critically injured in a shooting incident between rival tribes. It was not immediately clear what caused the shooting.

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Armed attackers storm Pakistan coal mines, killing at least 21

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About 40 assailants fired rockets and hurled grenades at mines and miners’ quarters in country’s south-west, days before regional summit in Islamabad

Dozens of attackers armed with guns, rockets and hand grenades have stormed a cluster of private coalmines in south-western Pakistan on Friday, shooting some miners in their sleep and others after lining them up, killing at least 21, police have said.

The attack by about 40 armed men days before Pakistan hosts a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation grouping is the worst in weeks in the restive, mineral-rich province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

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Indian tycoon Ratan Tata dies at age 86

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Tata, described as ‘a truly uncommon leader’, credited with transforming Tata Group into a global conglomerate

The Indian business tycoon and former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has died, aged 86.

Tata, who had headed India’s largest conglomerate for over 20 years, had been receiving intensive care at Mumbai hospital, according to Reuters.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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Opposition Congress party wins power in Indian-administered Kashmir

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Narendra Modi’s BJP loses first election since stripping the region of its autonomy and statehood

The Indian prime minister’s hopes of his party gaining power in Kashmir were dashed on Tuesday as it emerged that his BJP had lost the first election held since the national government stripped the region of its autonomy and statehood.

The elections instead delivered a resounding victory to India’s main opposition party, Congress, and its regional partner, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), which had come together in a alliance to defeat Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which also rules at the national level.

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Indian police charge man over doctor’s rape and murder in Kolkata hospital

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Sanjay Roy charged with crime that prompted nationwide anger and protests over violence against women

A man has been charged in the high-profile case of a doctor’s rape and murder in a Kolkata hospital, a crime that prompted widespread anger and protests over the threat of sexual violence faced by women in India.

The suspect, Sanjay Roy, was arrested the day after the young doctor’s bloodied body was discovered on 9 August in a room at RG Kar hospital, where she had gone to rest after a 36-hour shift.

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Myanmar military kills dozens in heaviest airstrikes since 2021 coup

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Ten children reportedly among those killed during intense aerial campaigns last month

Myanmar’s military has launched some of its heaviest aerial campaigns since the 2021 coup in recent months, killing at least 26 people in a series of attacks in early September.

The military, which has repeatedly been accused of indiscriminate aerial bombardments, launched at least seven airstrikes in four days between 3 and 6 September. According to Unicef, 10 children were among those killed. A pregnant woman also lost her unborn child.

A camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Pekhon township, southern Shan state, was one of the seven locations targeted. Daw Ohn Mar Khaing, a volunteer teacher at the camp, known as “Bangkok”, told the Guardian it was struck despite there being no fighting in the township, or opposition fighters nearby.

“We only have helpless women and children, who were displaced from the war in their villages,” she said.

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Mountaineers who were stranded in Himalayas describe loss of their gear

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British climber Fay Manners, who was stuck for three days, says: ‘There was a big, big, long sense of silence between us’

A British mountaineer and her American companion who were stranded in the Himalayas for three days without food have described the long silence between them after the bulk of their equipment plunged into a ravine.

Fay Manners, 37, and Michelle Dvorak, 31, had been climbing the Chaukhamba mountain in northern India, when they issued an SOS message on Thursday, with nothing further being heard from them.

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Pakistan bans Pashtun group as government cracks down on dissent

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Protests have been broken up with violence and opposition politicians from Imran Khan’s party arrested

Pakistani authorities have unleashed a draconian crackdown on dissent, breaking up opposition protests with violence and mass arrests and banning a movement to promote the rights of the ethnic Pashtun community under terrorism laws.

Hundreds of riot police fired teargas and charged with batons as supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, gathered to protest over the weekend in the cities of Islamabad and Lahore.

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Two killed in explosion near Karachi airport targeting Chinese nationals

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Baloch Liberation Army claims it carried out the vehicle-borne attack in the southern Pakistani city

An explosion near the international airport of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi has killed two Chinese nationals and injured several others, officials from both countries said.

Police and the provincial government said a tanker exploded outside the airport, which is Pakistan’s biggest, on Sunday night. The nature of the blast was not immediately clear, the local broadcaster Geo News cited a provincial official as saying.

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‘Life is pretty brutal’: concerns in India over high-pressure corporate jobs

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The death of a young chartered accountant has highlighted a work culture of overworked employees and bullying bosses

For the average Indian, the working week is now longer than ever – totalling almost 47 hours.

According to recent labour data, India now has one of the most overworked labour forces in the world, enduring longer hours than in China, Singapore and even Japan, a country renowned for its relentless work culture. On average, Indians work 13 hours longer every week than an employee in Germany.

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Indian police investigate ticket resales for Coldplay Mumbai gigs

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After tickets quickly sold out, some began to reappear on unauthorised third-party websites for more than £750

Indian police have opened an investigation after touts bought up tickets for Coldplay’s upcoming Mumbai shows and put them back on sale for more than £750 each.

India is often missed off global tours by popular western artists and news that Coldplay would be coming to India for the first time in January to perform two nights of their world tour in Mumbai had been greeted with wild excitement by music fans.

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Mount Everest is having a growth spurt, say researchers

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River erosion has pushed the mountain upwards and added an extra 15 to 50 metres over the past 89,000 years

Climbing Mount Everest has always been a feat, but it seems the task might be getting harder: researchers say Everest is having something of a growth spurt.

The Himalayas formed about 50m years ago, when the Indian subcontinent smashed into the Eurasian tectonic plate – although recent research has suggested the edges of these plates were already very high before the collision.

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More than 200 dead in Nepal floods, as parts of Kathmandu left under water

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At least 30 stranded or missing and hundreds injured after heaviest monsoon rains in two decades

More than 200 people were killed in Nepal over the weekend in what experts described as some of the worst flash flooding to have hit the capital, Kathmandu, and the surrounding valleys.

Swathes of Kathmandu were left underwater after the heaviest monsoon rains in two decades fell on Friday and Saturday, washing away entire neighbourhoods, bridges and roads. The heavy rains caused the Bagmati River, which runs through the city, to swell more than 2 metres higher than deemed safe.

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More than 100 killed and 64 missing as flooding and landslides hit Nepal

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Officials expect death toll to rise as flood waters inundate Kathmandu after highest rainfall since 1970

Flooding and landslides caused by continuous rainfall have killed at least 101 people in Nepal while 64 people are missing, officials have said.

Rain began pouring down on Friday night and continued into Saturday, with low-lying neighbourhoods in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, inundated by surging floodwaters.

“The death toll has reached 101, and 64 people are missing,” police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP early on Sunday.

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