Category Archives: India

Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal released on bail

Posted on by

Delhi chief minister had been in jail since being arrested in March in corruption case he says is politically motivated

One of India’s most prominent opposition leaders has been granted bail after spending almost six months in jail for a corruption case he alleged was politically motivated.

On Friday, India’s supreme court ruled that, Arvind Kejriwal, who is the chief minister of Delhi, should be immediately released from jail in Delhi, where he has been held since his arrest in March.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Heat to ease in central and eastern Europe

Posted on by

Cooler temperatures expected to replace record highs in Estonia, while China braces for Super Typhoon Yagi

Since the start of September, swaths of central and eastern Europe have experienced temperatures well above average, with some places up to 10C (50F) above the seasonal norm.

A date temperature record was set in Estonia on Wednesday, where it hit 29.8C in Haapsalu. The September peak in the country is 30.3C, reached on 1 September 1992.

Continue reading...

Bangladeshis taking refuge in emergency shelters after heavy flooding

Posted on by

Nearly 300,000 people forced to flee after monsoon rains, which have killed 42 people in India and Bangladesh

Nearly 300,000 Bangladeshis are taking refuge in emergency shelters from floods that inundated vast areas of the country, disaster officials said.

The floods were triggered by heavy monsoon rains and have killed at least 42 people in Bangladesh and India since the start of the week, many in landslides.

Continue reading...

Modi tells Zelenskiy he is ready to work ‘as a friend’ to bring about peace deal

Posted on by

Indian PM says he respects and supports ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity’ of Ukraine during historic visit

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, made a historic visit to Kyiv on Friday and told Volodymyr Zelenskiy he was ready to work “as a friend” to bring about a peace deal that would end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Modi said he respected and supported Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”. “It is our highest priority,” he said, adding that he had told Vladimir Putin during their meeting in July that “problems cannot be resolved on the battlefield”. The war could only end through “dialogue and diplomacy”, he stressed.

Continue reading...

India should consider ban on microbeads in personal care products, researchers say

Posted on by

Type of microplastics used in skin exfoliators and banned in UK and US found in 45% of Indian products studied

India should consider a ban on microbeads in personal care products, in line with many other countries in the world, say researchers.

Microbeads are a type of microplastic used in cosmetic products to exfoliate the skin. After a public uproar when the plastics were highlighted in Europe a decade ago, they were banned in the Netherlands in 2014, with many other countries following, including the US in 2015 and the UK in 2018.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: 10 dead and 34,000 displaced in north-east India floods

Posted on by

Schools and university shut down in Tripura state after persistent heavy rain, and situation expected to worsen

Incessant rain across Tripura, a state in north-east India, has created what has been described as the state’s worst flood situation in the last three decades. Persistent heavy rain from Monday to Wednesday resulted in several rivers exceeding danger and extreme danger marks, leading to widespread flooding that has caused the deaths of 10 people as well as displacing more than 34,000.

The southern Tripura districts had the worst of the floods and the 34,000 displaced people were being sheltered in the north of the region. There were 24-hour rainfall totals on Wednesday of 375.8mm recorded in Bagafa and 324.4mm in Belonia. The flooding and heavy rain led schools to shut down on Wednesday and Thursday, while Tripura University suspended all regular classes on Wednesday. The heavy rain was caused by a low pressure system situated over Bangladesh that is slowly moving westwards into north-east India. The situation is therefore only expected to worsen, with a further 100-150mm falling through Thursday and Friday as rivers continue to remain at breaking point.

Continue reading...

Murdered Indian doctor’s father speaks out: ‘All I can do now is get her justice’

Posted on by

The rape-murder of a trainee doctor in a Kolkata hospital has caused outrage across India. Here, her father recalls her urge to help others and their struggle to support her studies

The father of the trainee doctor murdered during a rest break at a Kolkata hospital has spoken of his daughter’s love of medicine and the way her family had worked to support her vocation.

“We are a poor family and we raised her with a lot of hardship. She worked extremely hard to become a doctor. All she did was study, study, study,” he told the Guardian by telephone.

Continue reading...

Hospitals in India hit as doctors begin nationwide strike over trainee’s rape and murder

Posted on by

Non-essential medical services paralysed as more than a million doctors expected to join 24-hour protest amid rising anger at violence against women

Hospitals and clinics across India have begun turning away patients except for emergency cases as medical professionals started a 24-hour shutdown in protest against the rape and murder of a doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata.

More than 1 million doctors were expected to join Saturday’s strike, paralysing medical services across the world’s most populous nation. Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases.

Continue reading...

Indian medics step up strike in protest at doctor’s rape and murder

Posted on by

All hospital services except for emergency care to be shut down on Saturday amid outrage over Kolkata attack

All hospital services in India except for emergency care will shut down on Saturday as doctors escalate their protest over the rape and murder of a colleague by calling for a nationwide strike.

A strike that doctors started on Monday was more limited, affecting only government hospitals and elective surgeries. The one on Saturday, called by the Indian Medical Association, will cause massive disruption for 24 hours. All outpatient services and treatment in government and private hospitals will be cancelled.

Continue reading...

Indian women march to ‘reclaim the night’ after doctor’s rape and murder

Posted on by

Protests reflect anger at 31-year-old’s killing, as well as a failure to address the daily struggles faced by many women

At the stroke of midnight, thousands of women holding flaming torches and blowing conch shells began to march through dark streets across the state of West Bengal.

The processions in the early hours of the morning on Thursday 15 August, India’s Independence Day, were part of several days of protest against the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor inside a hospital in the state capital, Kolkata, last week.

Continue reading...

Asian cities and countries jostle in Paris for right to host 2036 Olympic Games

Posted on by
  • IOC says it has ‘double-digit’ nations interested in hosting future events
  • Asia seen as strong option to follow Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032

If historic waterway settings are the new must-have accessory for Olympic host cities, then Istanbul’s mayor wants the IOC to know his city has one.

If the key to getting the 2036 Summer Games is having hosted world championships in top-tier Olympic sports, then Qatar can point to its track record over the past decade.

Continue reading...

Doctors strike in India after rape and murder of trainee medic at hospital

Posted on by

Call for better safety measures as ‘civic volunteer’ arrested after attack on female trainee doctor in Kolkata

Doctors at government hospitals in several Indian states have gone on strike in a protest after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata on Friday.

The 31-year-old woman was attacked at the state-run RG Kar medical college, where she was a resident doctor, after she went to rest in a seminar room following dinner with colleagues. Her brutalised body was found with multiple injuries and an autopsy confirmed sexual assault and homicide.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Record-breaking rain in Delhi leaves trail of destruction

Posted on by

Almost 200 killed as deluge sweeps northern India, while rain gives way to high humidity at Paris Olympics

Between Wednesday and Thursday morning, 147mm of rain was recorded in eastern parts of Delhi by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), breaking a 14-year record for the highest single day total in July.

Delhi received more than half its monthly rainfall on Wednesday. This torrential rain damaged infrastructure throughout northern India as waterlogged drains led to flash floods.

Continue reading...

World Bank warns 108 countries risk being stuck in ‘middle-income trap’

Posted on by

Too many nations, including China and India, are relying on outmoded strategies to become advanced economies, says report

More than 100 countries – including China, India, Brazil and South Africa – risk becoming stuck in a “middle-income trap” unless they adopt radical growth strategies for their economies, the World Bank has said.

The Washington-based development organisation said emerging market nations would struggle to close the gap on US living standards unless they relied less heavily on investment to increase growth.

Continue reading...

Death toll from landslides in India’s Kerala state rises to 166

Posted on by

Almost 200 people still missing after heavy rains and access problems hamper second day of rescue operation

The death toll from a series of landslides in Kerala has risen to 166 and almost 200 people are still missing as the southern Indian state reels from one of its worst disasters in years.

Hundreds of homes were swept away and crushed by two huge consecutive landslides in the hilly district of Wayanad in the middle of the night on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

India landslides: death toll passes 100 with dozens feared missing

Posted on by

Heavy rainfall, difficult terrain, destroyed roads and collapsed bridge have hampered rescue efforts in Kerala

At least 108 people have died and dozens more are missing after heavy rain led to a series of landslides in the Indian state of Kerala, with rescue operations hampered by poor weather conditions and the destruction of roads and bridges.

The Kerala chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, confirmed the bodies of 108 people had been uncovered so far and dozens more were missing, feared dead after three massive landslides surged down the hills of the Western Ghats in Wayanad in southern India. About 128 people were injured in the disaster and thousands were moved to camps for safety.

Continue reading...

War is lead cause behind huge drop in global vaccinations, UN warns

Posted on by

Vaccine misinformation has added to crisis of collapsed healthcare and poor nutrition, Unicef and WHO report

Conflicts have hampered efforts to vaccinate children across the world, health leaders have warned, as new figures showed about 14.5 million children had not received a single immunisation dose.

More than half of the children live in countries where armed conflicts or other humanitarian crises had created fragile and vulnerable situations, according to data from the UN children’s agency, Unicef, and the World Health Organization.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump rally shooting: world leaders condemn political violence

Posted on by

Presidents and prime ministers denounce shooting at Trump rally in Pennsylvania and wish him a quick recovery

Leaders from around the world have condemned the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, denounced political violence and wished Trump a quick recovery.

Trump posted on social media that he had been shot in the upper part of his right ear and that there was “much bleeding”. His campaign said he was “doing well” and confirmed he had been discharged from the hospital and had returned to his home in New Jersey. A video of him getting off a plane unaided was posted by an aide.

Continue reading...

Modi and Putin cement ‘bonds of friendship’ despite Ukraine tensions

Posted on by

Indian prime minister travelled to Moscow for two-day summit and ‘chit-chat’ amid diplomatic complexities

As India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, landed in Moscow on Monday, it was straight into the warm embrace of Vladimir Putin. Modi said the visit – his first since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – was to cement the “bonds of friendship” between the two countries, and later effusively described Russia as India’s “all-weather friend and trusted ally”.

The India-Russia relationship runs deep, dating back to the cold war, and Russia has long been the largest supplier of arms to India. Since he was elected in 2014, Modi has built up a much-publicised rapport with Putin, the two leaders having had more than 20 meetings.

Continue reading...

India PM Modi to meet Putin in first trip to Russia since Ukraine war began

Posted on by

Trip scheduled for Monday, with Delhi a key trading partner for Putin since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Narendra Modi will visit Russia on 8 and 9 July and hold talks with Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has said, in the Indian prime minister’s first trip to the country since it invaded Ukraine.

Modi and Putin will discuss “prospects for further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations, as well as relevant issues on the international and regional agenda,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Continue reading...