Category Archives: India

‘Humanity is a privilege’: Umar Khalid on his six years in an Indian jail without trial

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Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi

Prison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise.

Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than 150 years ago.

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Indian outrage over US killing of sailors mounts as leaders attend G7 summit

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Relations at lowest ebb in years after Washington refuses to apologise for deaths in strait of Hormuz

Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week.

Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz.

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‘I only want justice’: bereaved families seek closure one year on from Air India crash

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Relatives of those killed on flight AI171 are still struggling to obtain answers about what happened

When Sagar Patel’s mother boarded Air India flight AI171 on 12 June last year, she called her son as she always did before takeoff. The flight was due to leave Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and was destined for Gatwick.

“We always had a little traditional thing,” said Patel, a business manager from London. “Once she got on the flight, she would sit down and call me. She’d tell me: ‘Yep, I’m on the flight. See you later.’”

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Delhi issues ‘strong protest’ after US strikes kill three Indian seafarers in Gulf

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Washington claims vessel was violating its blockade of Iranian ports and failed to comply with instructions

The Indian government has voiced a “strong protest” after three Indian seafarers were killed in US military strikes against oil tankers travelling through the strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command confirmed that its aircraft had fired two Hellfire missiles at the engine room of the MT Settebello as it sailed through the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday.

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‘What if all cockroaches came together?’ The youth movement threatening to shake up India’s politics

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Cockroach Janta party began as online joke but is growing into one of the most unexpected challenges to country’s rightwing government

The call out to the youth of India was simple: “Get ready to swarm the streets of Delhi with peaceful and loving dissent.” They came in their thousands.

The weekend marked the first public protest of the Cockroach Janta party (CJP), a movement that began as an online joke, but which has swiftly grown into one of the most unexpected challenges to the indomitable power of the country’s rightwing Narendra Modi government – driven by millions of discontented and disillusioned young people.

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Cricket Canada suspended over allegations of gang-linked corruption

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ICC’s decision comes amid growing concerns the team is being influenced by members of a notorious gang in India

Cricket’s international governing body has suspended Canada over what it described as “serious breaches of its membership obligations”, dealing the latest blow to an organization that critics say has become a “laughing stock” within the sport.

The suspension also comes amid growing concerns that one of Canada’s fastest-growing sports is being influenced by members of a notorious gang that operates with impunity from an Indian prison cell.

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Starmer urged to intervene in ‘rigged’ Indian prosecution of British human rights activist

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Senior lawyers call on prime minister to request Indian prosecutors drop charges that would breach double jeopardy rule

Four senior lawyers, including the former attorney general Dominic Grieve, have written to Keir Starmer urging him to request that Indian prosecutors drop charges against the British national Jagtar Singh Johal on the basis that continued prosecution would be in manifest breach of the double jeopardy rule which prevents someone being tried twice for the same offence.

Johal has been held in an Indian jail for eight years, and in March last year was acquitted of the terrorist charges laid against him in a court in Punjab. The court found the prosecutors had “miserably failed” to present any reliable evidence, despite having had seven years to do so.

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India’s government orders handover of exclusive Delhi Gymkhana Club

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Move comes against backdrop of challenge by prime minister, Narendra Modi, to country’s traditional elites

The Indian government has ordered one of the country’s most exclusive private clubs to vacate its premises in two weeks, underscoring the long-running push of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, against entrenched elite institutions.

The ministry of housing and urban affairs directed the Delhi Gymkhana Club to hand over its sprawling site in the heart of New Delhi by 5 June, citing urgent public interest requirements, including defence and security infrastructure.

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Parody Cockroach Janta political party’s rise reflects youth anger in India

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Satirical project is viral sensation and outlet for protest on social media as it taps into young people’s frustration

It began as a satirical online project after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young people to cockroaches. Now millions of young Indians are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration.

A parody political party with the insect as its symbol has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humour into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach – an insect known for its ability to survive harsh conditions – as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance.

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Tensions high in West Bengal after BJP aide shot dead and hundreds arrested

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Turmoil and violence rocks state after prime minister Narendra Modi’s party claimed victory in legislative election

Tensions have been high in the Indian state of West Bengal after a top political aide from Narendra Modi’s party was shot dead in the street and hundreds were arrested as violence broke out following elections this week.

The prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) claimed victory in the West Bengal elections on Monday, defeating Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had ruled over the state legislature for 15 years.

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‘Defeated by conspiracy’: West Bengal chief minister refuses to resign after election loss

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Mamata Banerjee says Narendra Modi’s party ‘forcefully captured’ election that ended her party’s 15 years in power

A political showdown is taking place in the Indian state of West Bengal as the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, India’s most powerful female politician, has refused to resign after she lost elections to the prime minister’s party this week.

Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won an overwhelming victory on Monday in state elections in West Bengal, where Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party (TMC) have been in power for 15 years.

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Narendra Modi’s BJP wins election in West Bengal for the first time

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Result in key Indian state is set to have significant implications for the country’s political landscape

Narendra Modi’s party has won a resounding election victory in West Bengal, a state which had been a rare opposition stronghold, expanding his unrivalled consolidation of power across the country.

It is the first time that the Indian prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has won assembly elections in West Bengal, a large and politically significant state in eastern India.

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Shock in India after man takes remains of his sister to bank to prove her death

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Jitu Munda says he was refused access to money in case highlighting ‘lack of humanity’ in Indian bureaucracy

The sight of a man bringing the remains of his dead sister to a bank in India after officials had refused to let him withdraw money without proof of her death has caused shock in India.

Jitu Munda, 52, from the Indian state of Odisha, was captured on video carrying the remains of his recently deceased sister through the streets of Keonjhar and placing them outside the local bank.

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Calls for humanitarian corridor through strait of Hormuz as Iran war hits vital aid

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Soaring oil prices and the blockade are preventing food, fuel and medicine being delivered to millions of people in desperate need, say NGOs

The volatility of global oil prices caused by the US and Israel’s war on Iran is taking a toll on the most vulnerable people, by slowing or blocking food and medical aid from reaching them.

Now aid organisations are calling for a “humanitarian corridor” to be opened through the strait of Hormuz amid rocketing transportation costs.

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Indian billionaire’s son offers to house Pablo Escobar’s hippos at his private zoo

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Anant Ambani revives offer to transport 80 animals, all descendants of Colombian drug kingpin’s pets, to India

It remains one of the strangest conundrums in modern zoological history – what to do with the descendants of Pablo Escobar’s hippos?

The animals – herbivores native to sub-Saharan Africa – were originally imported into Colombia by the drug kingpin for his own entertainment. But the beasts and their offspring were left to roam free after his death in 1993.

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India voices anger after Trump shares comments calling it a ‘hellhole’

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Foreign ministry says remarks of conservative podcast host Michael Savage that were shared by US president were ‘obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste’

India on Thursday criticised as inappropriate a post by Donald Trump in which he shared comments that called the South Asian country a “hellhole”.

The inflammatory post on Truth Social comes ahead of a planned visit next month to India by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is seeking to ease recent tensions between the normally friendly powers.

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Millions in India stripped of vote before critical state election, as government seeks to ‘purify’ electoral roll

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Experts say Muslims and other minorities have been disproportionately deleted from the electoral roll ahead of the West Bengal elections this week

Millions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchisement of minorities.

In West Bengal, a total of 9.1 million names have been deleted from the register, more than 10% of the electorate. While many were dead or duplicates, about 2.7 million people have challenged their expulsions, but still been removed.

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India fails to pass bill to boost women’s representation after delimitation row

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Opposition accuses Narendra Modi government of using quotas as cover for redrawing electoral map

The Indian government has failed to pass a bill to increase female representation in parliament after being accused of using the plan as a guise to redraw the country’s electoral map.

It was the first time in 12 years in power that a constitutional amendment proposed by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government was not passed by parliament.

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Indian music legend Asha Bhosle dies aged 92

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Two-time Grammy nominee was one of Bollywood’s most versatile and celebrated voices

The Indian singer Asha Bhosle, whose voice defined Bollywood cinema and whose career spanned almost eight decades, has died in Mumbai at the age of 92.

Bhosle, who recorded more than 12,000 songs, became her country’s pre-eminent exponent of playback singing – recording tracks that were then lip-synced on film by actors. She also boldly embraced cabaret and western-influenced melodies to forge a distinctive musical identity.

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‘We consider every mile we drive’: how fuel shortages are affecting readers worldwide

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From a shop owner in India to a community worker in New South Wales, rising fuel prices are forcing people to ration oil usage

Alagesan, 35, needs liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to run his roadside drink and snack shop in Coimbatore, India, but with the fuel shortage since the US-Israel attacks on Iran, he worries his business could fold.

“I am far away from the Middle East, but my life is affected,” he said. “The gas cylinder is not available because of the war. I don’t know what to do.”

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