Mock hospital drills held as new Omicron variant suspected of causing highest number of infections since 2022
India has experienced its highest number of Covid infections in months, reportedly caused by a new variant, with almost 8,000 new cases reported on Wednesday.
Mock drills were carried out in hospitals and some states reintroduced mask mandates over concerns at the increase, with more than 40,000 active cases across India, the highest since last year.
Continue reading...Interaction at temple in India seen in video that has gone viral condemned as ‘inappropriate’ and ‘scandalous’
The Dalai Lama has apologised after he faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour after kissing a young boy on the lips and asking him to “suck his tongue” at a public event in India.
The interaction, which took place in late February at the Dalai Lama’s temple in Dharamshala, was attended by about 100 young students who had just graduated from the Indian M3M Foundation.
Continue reading...References to Muslim rulers, deadly riots connected to PM and Gandhi’s dislike of Hindu nationalism removed
The Indian government has been accused of rewriting history to fit its Hindu nationalist agenda after school textbooks were edited to remove references to Mahatma Gandhi’s opposition to Hindu nationalism, as well as mention of a controversial religious riot in which the prime minister, Narendra Modi, was implicated.
Textbooks were also revised to remove chapters on the history of the Mughals, the Muslim rulers who controlled much of India between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Continue reading...Arrests follow discovery four years ago of woman’s headless body at Hindu temple in Guwahati
Indian police have arrested five men accused of conducting a human sacrifice, nearly four years after the discovery of a woman’s headless body at a Hindu temple left officers baffled.
Shanti Shaw, 64, was killed and decapitated with a machete in 2019 after visiting the temple in Guwahati, a city in India’s remote north-east.
Continue reading...Canadian politician, poet, an India MP and journalists are among 120 accounts that have been withheld
Twitter has been accused of bowing to government pressure in India by blocking scores of prominent journalists, politicians and activists from its platform in recent weeks.
The Indian government issued notices to Twitter to remove people in the aftermath of an internet shutdown in Punjab during the search for a fugitive Sikh separatist leader.
Continue reading...Opposition leader was found guilty last month, given suspended jail term and barred from parliament
The Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has appealed against his conviction for defamation, seeking to overturn a judgment that resulted in his expulsion from parliament a year before a general election is due.
Gandhi, 52, was convicted last month in a case brought by a state lawmaker from Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) after comments Gandhi made in a 2019 speech were deemed to be insulting to the prime minister and other people surnamed Modi.
Continue reading...Worshippers in Indore fell into communal water source as they gathered to mark Ram Navami
At least 36 people have died after the floor of a Hindu temple collapsed in Indore, central India, plunging them into a well.
It has emerged that the floor which covered the stepwell – a stair-lined communal water source – consisted only of tiles laid over a metal grille.
Continue reading...Founded by two translators – one American, one British – the Salt initiative will provide mentorships, funding and a south Asia-focused literary translation school
A new project to help bring the “extraordinarily rich” literature of south Asia to English-speaking countries will launch this summer, it has been announced.
The cross-continental South Asian Literature in Translation (Salt) project has been set up by the University of Chicago, in partnership with the American Literary Translators Association, English PEN, Words Without Borders and the British Council. The multi-year project will try to “strengthen each part of the publishing chain across the English-speaking world”, the University of Chicago has said.
Continue reading...Actor and former Miss World announced move to US at pinnacle of her fame in India eight years ago
The Indian actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas has spoken of how Bollywood’s enduring obsession with fair skin was one of the reasons she left the industry to try her luck in Hollywood eight years ago.
Chopra, 40, is a former Miss World and was at the pinnacle of her fame in India when she abruptly announced the move to the US.
Continue reading...India’s patent office turns down bedaquiline extension to Johnson & Johnson, clearing the way for generic versions
People with drug-resistant tuberculosis in India could soon have access to critical medication at a far lower cost after the authorities rejected US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s application to extend a patent.
The firm wanted to extend its patent on bedaquiline, which expires in July, until 2027, which would have prevented cheaper generic versions reaching the market.
Continue reading...Top opposition figure expelled from parliament after being convicted of defamation over Modi remark
The top Indian opposition figure Rahul Gandhi has said he will keep fighting for democracy after blaming his expulsion from parliament on his demands for an investigation into a key business ally of the prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Gandhi was stripped of his parliamentary seat on Friday, a day after he was convicted of defamation in Modi’s home state of Gujarat for a 2019 campaign-trail remark seen as an insult to the prime minister.
Continue reading...Rahul Gandhi of Congress party had asked why ‘all thieves have Modi as [their] common surname’
The Indian opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, has been expelled from parliament 24 hours after he was convicted of defamation for a remark implying the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, was a criminal.
Senior members of Gandhi’s Congress party met on Friday morning to discuss the conviction and his two-year jail sentence when they received news of his expulsion.
Continue reading...Known as ‘Rice Tusker’ for his insatiable hunger, the 30-year-old pachyderm has been terrorising the Indian region for years
The trail of destruction left by an elephant in Kerala could finally come to an end on Sunday as a crack team of experts plan to capture him.
The team of 71 vets, forest officers and field workers have identified a specific spot among the wooded hills in Idukki district where Arikompan – which means the Rice Tusker, because of his love for rice – comes every couple of days to cool off in water.
Continue reading...Indian opposition leader accused of implying prime minister was a criminal in remark made in 2019
A court in India has found the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi guilty of defamation for a remark implying the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, was a criminal.
On Thursday, Gandhi, 52, was sentenced to two years in prison but was granted bail after his lawyers announced their intention to appeal.
Continue reading...Shutdown imposed as part of search for Amritpal Singh Sandhu, accused of disrupting communal harmony
Economic life in the north Indian state of Punjab has been paralysed by an internet shutdown, affecting 30 million people, imposed as part of a huge manhunt for a Sikh preacher fighting for a separate Sikh state.
Police have been searching for Amritpal Singh Sandhu, who is wanted for allegedly disrupting communal harmony, since Saturday.
Continue reading...Gujarat accused of being possessive after conservationists pleaded for more of the endangered lions to be moved to other areas
Lion conservation efforts in the Indian state of Gujarat have been so successful that a new sanctuary will be opened to house the abundant numbers of big cats.
Gir national park is home to the world’s only Asiatic lion population and the only place outside Africa where a lion can be seen in its natural habitat.
Continue reading...Indian state in crisis after adenovirus hits 12,000 people this year and families with sick children camp outside Kolkata hospital
Nineteen children have died of acute respiratory infections in West Bengal this year, and thousands more are in hospital as India grapples with an adenovirus outbreak.
More than 12,000 cases of adenovirus have been recorded in the state since January. More than 3,000 children have been admitted to hospital with severe flu-like symptoms.
Continue reading...British citizen Jagtar Singh Johal was detained and says he was tortured after alleged tipoff by UK intelligence
The Foreign Office has asked for claims to be examined in a secret court that a British citizen was detained and tortured after the security services passed intelligence to the Indian government, newly filed court papers show.
The government department is refusing to confirm or deny claims that Jagtar Singh Johal, a British Sikh activist, was detained in India in 4 November 2017 after an alleged tipoff to the Indian security services.
Continue reading...Programme spent £2.7bn between 2016 and 2021 but is fragmented and lacks a clear rationale, report says
Britain’s aid programme to India is fragmented, lacks a clear rationale and does little to counter the negative trends in human rights and democracy in the country, the government’s aid watchdog has found.
The findings are likely to be used by those who claim the UK government risks using its aid programme to deepen its relationship with India, including seeking free trade deals, rather than attempting to reduce poverty, which is the statutory purpose of UK aid.
Continue reading...Inquiry into the unlawful scheme, which ran from 2015 to 2019, is ongoing. This blog is now closed
Final robodebt hearing shines light on people affected
A Centrelink employee and a customer impacted by the illegal robodebt scheme will be the final two witnesses appearing at the royal commission’s public hearings, AAP reports.
The international standard now in the OECD area is beyond 52 weeks. It’s great we’re moving to 26 but we are not going fast enough, doing what other countries are doing. We have slipped down the international rankings on paid parental leave.
It’s very important that we give the support to parents when a new baby arrives so they can share the leave, they can begin life with a new child, give that child the best shot and alongside that, of course, we need quality, early childhood education and care which we in the Greens think should be free, just like primary school.
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