India’s wheat farmers count cost of 40C heat that evokes ‘deserts of Rajasthan’

The ban on wheat exports highlights the effect a rapidly warming planet has on food security – and livelihoods

It was his buffaloes that he was first worried about. As temperatures in the small village of Baras, deep in the Indian state of Punjab, began to soar to unseasonably hot levels in April, farmer Hardeep Singh Uppal noticed that his two buffaloes, essential for his family’s livelihood, became feverish and unwell.

A few weeks later and the buffaloes now seem fine, flicking their tails leisurely as an icy breeze blows down from an air conditioning unit, a luxury that once sat in Uppal’s parents house but now has been installed in an otherwise run-down cowshed, running all day at great expense. “The vet told me I need to keep them cool in this heatwave otherwise they will die so this is the only way,” said Uppal.

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Climate crisis makes extreme Indian heatwaves 100 times more likely – study

Latest analysis adds to evidence that the impacts of human-caused global heating are already damaging many lives around the world

Record-breaking heatwaves in north-west India and Pakistan have been made 100 times more likely by the climate crisis, according to scientists. The analysis means scorching weather once expected every three centuries is now likely to happen every three years.

The region is currently suffering intense heat, with the Indian capital New Delhi setting a new record on Sunday above 49C and the peak temperature in Pakistan reaching 51C. Millions of people are suffering from crop losses, and water and power outages.

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‘We’re fed up with scary dreams’: thieves return temple treasures in India

Gang who stole statues from Hindu temple in India return most items, with note saying they had suffered nightmares

A gang of thieves have returned more than a dozen idols they stole from an ancient Hindu temple in India, saying they had been haunted by nightmares since the crime, according to police.

Last week, the group stole 16 statues from a 300-year-old temple to Lord Balaji – an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu – in Uttar Pradesh, police inspector Rajiv Singh told Agence France-Presse.

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India bans all wheat exports over food security risk

Move imposed with immediate effect in attempt to control prices after heatwave damages crops

India, the world’s second largest producer of wheat, has banned all exports with immediate effect after a heatwave affected the crop.

A notice in the government gazette by the directorate of foreign trade, dated Friday, said a rise in global prices for wheat was threatening the food security of India and neighbouring and vulnerable countries.

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India: 27 people killed after fire rips through Delhi office block

Dozens injured as official says building had no fire exit and most died ‘due to asphyxiation’

At least 27 people have died and dozens more were injured in a huge fire in a commercial building in India’s capital, Delhi.

The large fire broke out at the four-storey building near a railway station in the western suburb of Mundka in the late afternoon on Friday, but its cause was not immediately clear.

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Give us a grandchild or $650,000, say Indian couple suing son

Parents lament pilot son ‘still not planning a baby’ after six years of marriage and demand compensation for exhausting their savings on him

An Indian couple are taking their son to court demanding that he and his wife either produce a grandchild within a year or cough up almost $650,000.

Sanjeev and Sadhana Prasad say that they exhausted their savings raising and educating their pilot son and paying for a lavish wedding.

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UK urged to act after UN panel rules detention of Briton in India ‘arbitrary’

Jagtar Singh Johal has been detained since 2017 and allegedly tortured, accused of helping to fund assassination plot

The UK is under pressure to insist India release Jagtar Singh Johal, a British citizen, after a UN working group ruled he had been arbitrarily detained by India and his detention lacked any legal basis.

Boris Johnson apparently raised the case when he met the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, last month and provided a written note of consular cases, but Foreign Office ministers have not confirmed whether they regard his detention as arbitrary.

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From India’s highs to Thailand’s lows, Asia’s weather is hitting extremes

Analysis: As the heatwave in India and Pakistan starts to intensify again, Thailand and China are recording strangely cold May days

The final days of April saw further unbearable temperatures recorded in India and Pakistan. Temperatures peaked at 49C in Jacobabad, Pakistan on 30 April, with a high of 47.2C observed in Banda, India. The Indian Meteorological Department confirmed that average temperatures in April were the highest for northern and central parts of the country since records began over 100 years ago.

Heatwaves are a common occurrence at this time of year in India and Pakistan, but scientists believe the intensity, duration and arrival time of the conditions witnessed so far this year are caused by rising global temperatures. Despite a slight respite in the extreme heat over the past few days, temperatures are set to intensify once more this weekend and into next week with maximum temperatures expected to approach 50C in parts of north-west India and Pakistan.

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‘We are living in hell’: Pakistan and India suffer extreme spring heatwaves

April temperatures at unprecedented levels have led to critical water and electricity shortages

For the past few weeks, Nazeer Ahmed has been living in one of the hottest places on Earth. As a brutal heatwave has swept across India and Pakistan, his home in Turbat, in Pakistan’s Balochistan region, has been suffering through weeks of temperatures that have repeatedly hit almost 50C (122F), unprecedented for this time of year. Locals have been driven into their homes, unable to work except during the cooler night hours, and are facing critical shortages of water and power.

Ahmed fears that things are only about to get worse. It was here, in 2021, that the world’s highest temperature for May was recorded, a staggering 54C. This year, he said, feels even hotter. “Last week was insanely hot in Turbat. It did not feel like April,” he said.

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Johnson vows to stop UK exports to India ending up in Russia

PM says he will close loopholes that allow components to be smuggled via India for use by Russian military

Boris Johnson has said he will close loopholes to ensure UK exports to India cannot end up being used in Russian weapons, as he conceded the war in Ukraine could go on until the end of next year, and Russia could win.

Speaking in Delhi at the end of a two-day visit, the UK prime minister warned that Vladimir Putin was resorting to a “grinding approach” in Ukraine; and suggested the UK would help to “backfill” countries including Poland if they provided heavy weaponry such as tanks to Kyiv.

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Boris Johnson feels Westminster heat under the Indian sun

Analysis: The PM travelled 4,000 miles to not get very far, on a trip fraught with tensions about Partygate and Ukraine

As Boris Johnson met Narendra Modi on Friday morning, he joked of the enthusiastic welcome he received in the Indian prime minister’s home state of Gujarat featuring giant posters of the British leader’s face, and flag-waving crowds: “I wouldn’t get that necessarily everywhere in the world.”

It was a characteristically self-deprecating reference to the fact that even 4,000 miles from home, he was unable to escape Partygate.

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Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

Jignesh Mevani accused prime minister of idolising Nathuram Godse, killer of Mahatma Gandhi

A state lawmaker in India was arrested for criticising the prime minister, Narendra Modi, in a tweet, officials have said, raising concerns over freedom of speech in the world’s largest democracy.

His arrest coincided with the arrival of the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, in the country.

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India and UK to press ahead with talks on free trade deal

Narendra Modi hails ‘good progress’ as Boris Johnson signals he is willing to make concessions on immigration

India and the UK will press ahead with talks on a bilateral free trade agreement, Boris Johnson and the Indian premier, Narendra Modi, have said, after the UK made clear it was willing to make immigration part of any deal.

The pair appeared to differ on how rapidly an agreement could be made – Johnson suggested it could be ready by the festival of Diwali in late October, but Modi pointed to the end of the year.

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Outcry in India as Boris Johnson visits JCB plant amid demolitions row

Observers criticise optics of PM at factory while bulldozers seen in TV coverage of razing of settlements

Boris Johnson’s attempt to use his India visit to hail the success of JCB, the digger firm owned by a Tory donor, was met with a backlash on Thursday over the use of its machinery in the mass demolition of homes.

The prime minister arrived in India as a fierce row rages in Delhi over the demolition of mainly Muslim settlements in an area of the capital hit by communal violence – an issue that is being considered by India’s supreme court.

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India is a huge – but elusive – trade prize for Boris Johnson

Analysis: Deal is seen by some as single most important UK negotiation, but agreement will take time

Of all the deals that Boris Johnson could sign with countries outside the EU to lift UK trade, one with India is the among the biggest prizes.

After landing in the country on Thursday morning, the prime minister must be hoping his two-day trip – taking in his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujurat and then New Delhi – will add impetus to talks already under way to reach a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

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MPs should wait for ‘full facts’ on Partygate, says Johnson in India

Row over breaching of lockdown rules rumbles on as PM begins two-day visit to discuss trade and security

Boris Johnson has insisted MPs should wait for the “full facts” before deciding whether to trigger a fresh investigation into Partygate, as he kicked off a two-day trip to India.

Johnson will discuss trade and security with India’s premier, Narendra Modi, on his first visit to the country since becoming prime minister in 2019. He landed in Ahmedabad and was greeted warmly with multiple bunches of roses. The road into the city centre was lined with billboards featuring large photographs of Johnson.

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Covid-19: India accused of trying to delay WHO revision of death toll

According to WHO analysis, figure for country is more than 4 million and not official tally of 520,000

India has been accused of attempting to delay an effort by the World Health Organization to revise the global death toll from Covid-19 after its calculations suggested that the country had undercounted its dead by an estimated 3.5 million.

India’s official number of deaths from Covid is 520,000. But according to in-depth analysis and investigations into the data by WHO, the total is more than 4 million, which would be by far the highest country death toll in the world.

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‘Hatred, bigotry and untruth’: communal violence grips India

Country appears more divided than ever along Hindu-Muslim lines – and for many, Modi’s BJP is to blame

The procession had begun peacefully. Marching through the streets of Delhi’s Jahangirpuri district on Saturday, the devotees had gathered to celebrate the Hindu festival of Hanuman Jayanti. But the peace did not last long. As the evening drew in, an unauthorised parade began to gather. This time, men clad in saffron, the signature colour of Hindu nationalism, filled the streets brandishing swords and pistols, and started to shout provocative communal slogans.

Ignoring previous agreements between Hindu and Muslim residents for the procession to avoid passing by a local mosque, they charged toward it.

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Boris Johnson says India visit will focus on jobs and economic growth

PM also expected to discuss free trade agreement and defence with Narendra Modi this week on twice-postponed trip

Boris Johnson has said his long-awaited visit to India this week will focus on “the things that really matter” to the people of both countries, primarily jobs and growth.

Although Tory MPs have been talking up Johnson’s role as a leader of the international pro-Ukraine coalition, an advance government briefing about the visit did not mention the war – which has not led to India loosening its close links with Russia.

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Women with electric rickshaws combat Delhi’s toxic air – and its sexism

Break into male-dominated public-transport helps tackle city’s pollution crisis and safety concerns

Monika Devi is thrilled to be driving her autorickshaw. The 35-year-old has two reasons to be particularly proud as she winds her way through New Delhi’s insanely congested streets.

She is one of the first women to be driving one of the three-wheeled taxis that swarm the roads of the Indian capital. And she is driving one of Delhi’s first e-rickshaws – part of the city’s drive to tackle its notoriously filthy air.

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