TIG Post

Tag: India

  • Ghana engages Inida in a partnership for agriculture and infrastructure development

    Ghana engages Inida in a partnership for agriculture and infrastructure development

    Ghana has initiated talks with India to strengthen cooperation in agricultural technology and infrastructure development, aiming to drive economic growth and sustainable progress.

    Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, emphasized Ghana’s commitment to deepening bilateral relations with India during his visit to the country. Engaging with his Indian counterpart, His Excellency Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on March 17, he highlighted the importance of leveraging India’s expertise to modernize Ghana’s key sectors.

    “Ghana is eager to collaborate with India in leveraging expertise in agricultural technology and infrastructure development. Our partnership will open new opportunities for knowledge exchange and investment,” he stated.

    He pointed out that Ghana is particularly keen on tapping into India’s advancements in irrigation systems, mechanization, and food processing to enhance agricultural productivity. Additionally, he stressed the need for infrastructure development in road construction, energy, and urban planning.

    “India’s experience in these sectors is invaluable, and we look forward to deepening our cooperation to enhance Ghana’s economic transformation,” he noted.

    Mr. Ablakwa’s visit follows an invitation from the Indian government, reflecting the growing interest in strengthening Ghana-India relations. He reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to forging strategic partnerships that will contribute to the country’s long-term development goals.

    Beyond bilateral trade and investment, the minister commended India for advocating the African Union’s (AU) inclusion in the G20, describing it as a progressive move toward global inclusivity.

    “India’s commitment to promoting the African Union’s membership in the G20 is a testament to its dedication to a more inclusive and equitable global order,” he stated.

    He further emphasized that Africa’s increasing economic influence makes it essential for the continent to be actively involved in shaping global economic policies.

    “With Africa’s rising economic significance, it is only right that we have a seat at the table where critical global economic policies are shaped,” he remarked.

    The discussions between Ghana and India signal a renewed focus on strengthening cooperation in key areas, setting the stage for enhanced trade, investment, and technology transfer between the two nations.

  • Ghana grabs 17 trophies at 2024 UCMAS International Competition in India

    Ghana grabs 17 trophies at 2024 UCMAS International Competition in India

    Ghana’s young academic prodigies have once again made the nation proud, winning an impressive 17 trophies at the 2024 UCMAS International Competition held in India.

    This remarkable achievement marks a significant leap from the four trophies secured in 2023—a staggering 325% improvement in performance.

    The competition required students to solve 200 arithmetic questions in just eight minutes, a rigorous format designed to test mathematical skills, visual memory, concentration, and overall academic excellence.

    Ghana’s 28-member contingent showcased exceptional mental arithmetic and abacus skills, competing against over 6,000 participants from 30 countries in the 31st edition of the competition. The team excelled across four categories—A1, A2, B, and D—emerging as a standout force.

    At the awards ceremony, Ghana’s contingent secured three championship trophies, six 1st runners-up trophies, and nine 2nd runners-up trophies, sparking jubilant celebrations among supporters in attendance.

    The journey to this historic achievement was filled with months of intense preparation and dedication. Even during their two-day flight to India, the students remained focused, honing their mental math skills to deliver an outstanding performance on the global stage.

    In a special acknowledgment, Roger Ohemeng, Director for Business Development at Maurya Education Limited, was honoured with a plaque for his contributions to advancing the UCMAS initiative in Ghana.

    Ghana’s triumph at the UCMAS International Competition underscores the power of perseverance, discipline, and unwavering commitment to academic excellence.

  • India on high alert after Nipah virus fatality in Kerala

    India on high alert after Nipah virus fatality in Kerala

    Health officials in Kerala, India, have issued a warning following the death of a 14-year-old boy from the Nipah virus.

    The state’s health minister, Veena George, reported that 60 additional individuals have been classified as high-risk for the disease. The deceased boy was from Pandikkad, and those who had close contact with him are now in isolation and undergoing testing.

    Residents in the area have been advised to take preventive measures, including wearing masks in public and avoiding hospital visits.

    What is Nipah virus?

    The Nipah virus infection is a “zoonotic illness” transmitted from animals like pigs and fruit bats to humans, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

    The WHO has described the virus as a priority pathogen because of its potential to trigger an epidemic.

    What are the symptoms of Nipah virus?

    Initial symptoms may include:

    • Fever
    • Headaches
    • Muscle pain
    • Vomiting
    • Sore throat

    In some people, this can be followed by:

    • Dizziness and/or drowsiness
    • And/or altered consciousness
    • And/or altered acute encephalitis
    • And/or atypical pneumonia
    • And/or other severe respiratory problems

    How deadly is it?

    The Nipah virus can sometimes be asymptomatic, while others may experience severe respiratory issues. In more severe instances, it can lead to encephalitis, a serious condition impacting the brain.

    The virus has a high mortality rate due to the absence of specific treatments or vaccines. Care is currently focused on managing symptoms and providing supportive treatment.

    How does the Nipah virus spread?

    It can be transmitted through contaminated food and through contact with an infected person.

    Experts say that due to habitat loss, animals are living in closer proximity to humans and this helps the virus jump from animals to humans.

    The Kerala state government recently announced that it was creating an action plan to prevent a Nipah outbreak.

    Last year, authorities in the state closed schools and offices after confirming five cases.

    Where in India has Nipah virus been found?

    The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that the initial outbreaks of the Nipah virus occurred in West Bengal in 2001 and 2007.

    In 2018, an outbreak in Kerala’s Kozhikode and Malappuram districts resulted in 17 deaths. Since then, the virus has been associated with numerous fatalities in Kerala.

    The 14-year-old who recently died was confirmed to have the virus just one day before his death, according to reports from Indian media.

    Kerala is considered one of the highest-risk regions globally for the Nipah virus. A Reuters investigation last year highlighted that the state’s tropical climate, coupled with rapid urbanization and deforestation, creates “ideal conditions for the emergence of a virus like Nipah.”

    What are fruit bats?

    Fruit bats, also called “megabats”, are a grouping that contain some of the largest bats in the world. These mammals, usually found in tropical and sub-tropical regions, are natural hosts for the Nipah virus.

  • Heatwaves in India claim over 50 lives in three days

    Heatwaves in India claim over 50 lives in three days

    Over the past three days, more than 50 people have died in India as an intense heatwave continues to affect parts of the country.

    In Uttar Pradesh alone, approximately 33 people, including polling officials and security personnel involved in the general election, succumbed to the extreme heat over the weekend.

    Odisha (Orissa) state reported around 20 deaths attributed to heat stroke.

    The general election, which takes place every five years during the hot months of April and May, coincided with record-breaking temperatures this year.

    India has been experiencing more frequent, severe, and prolonged heatwaves. Hospitals across the country have established special units to handle heat-related illnesses.

    From March 1 to May 30, the federal health ministry confirmed at least 56 deaths due to heat stroke and reported about 24,849 heatstroke cases.

    However, state figures suggest the actual number of deaths might be higher.

    In Odisha, district authorities noted 99 suspected heat stroke deaths in the past 72 hours, with 20 cases confirmed by the state’s Special Relief Commissioner.

    In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa announced that the families of deceased election workers would receive monetary compensation of 1.5 million rupees ($18,000; £14,000).

    Rinwa also mentioned that a man fainted while standing in line to vote due to the heat.

    “The voter was transported to a health facility, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival,” he said.
    Suspected heat-related deaths have also been reported from the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.

    India’s National Centre for Disease Control calls heat strokes a “life-threatening” condition with a mortality rate of 40–64%.

    The heat in northern and central India and parts of the west has been unrelenting for the past two weeks, with maximum temperatures hovering around 45–46 °C for days at a stretch and even climbing up to 50 °C in some areas.

    However, India’s weather department says that temperatures are likely to fall in the coming days due to the onset on the monsoon.

    Several regions are experiencing severe water and electricity shortages due to a rise in power consumption.


    Videos from the capital, Delhi, show people jostling for water from water tankers.

    Many parts of the capital are also experiencing frequent power cuts.

  • Modi emphasises India’s thriving economy in his reelection campaign

    Modi emphasises India’s thriving economy in his reelection campaign

    Narendra Modi became the leader of India ten years ago by promising to improve the economy, and it’s clear that he has made progress. As he runs for prime minister again, the country’s economy is doing really well. The stock markets are growing, and there are lots of new buildings and highways being built.

    There are problems in the government that his opponents want to use to their advantage. This includes many people not having jobs, being poor for a long time, and only a few people in India being able to benefit from the country’s success.

    “Rich people are doing very well with the economy, but poor people are having a hard time,” explained Milan Vaishnav, who works at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

    Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have stayed popular since he first became prime minister in 2014. He promised to prioritize Hindu interests and vowed to improve the economy by shifting from farming to industry, something past governments couldn’t do.

    He said he would stop the corruption that has been around for a long time and use the large number of workers in the country to build a strong manufacturing industry. During his campaign this spring, Modi promised to make India’s economy the third-largest in the world, after the US and China. Votes will be counted on Tuesday.

    Modi has done well. The economy is getting bigger by 7% and over 500 million people in India have opened bank accounts during his time in office. This is a big step toward making the economy more formal, because many jobs are still not officially recorded and no taxes are paid on them. His government has spent a lot of money on fixing the old infrastructure to attract investment. They also made the welfare program simpler and are using it to try to win support from poor and unhappy voters.

    Despite these improvements, Modi’s economic strategies have not been successful in creating jobs that move people from low-paying, unstable work to stable, well-paid jobs. With more people unable to find good jobs, inequality has become a big issue in the election.

    While there are more and more millionaires in India, almost 90% of the people who can work make less money than the country’s average yearly income of about $2,770, according to a study from the World Inequality Lab. The richest 1% have more than 40% of the country’s money, while the poorest 50% have only just over 6%, according to the study.

    To stop people from being unhappy about the economy, Modi and the BJP want to win the support of poor and unhappy voters by giving them over $400 billion in support and money.

    Their main plan for helping people is to give out free food to 800 million people. It was there before and it is a right in India’s National Food Security Act. During the pandemic, the program grew a lot to give free grain instead of just cheap. It will continue for another five years starting in January.

    About 300 different programs have helped hundreds of millions of people get things they need for their homes, like cooking gas tanks and toilets, for free. Millions of houses have been made for people who don’t have a lot of money. Now, they can easily get water, Wi-Fi, and electricity. The government is giving more money to farmers and other important groups of voters.

    When Rajesh Prajapati lost his job at a chemical factory in Prayagraj, a city in India’s biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, his family of five lived on food from the government.

    “He said that for almost a year, the free food was the only thing that made them feel better. That’s why they voted for Modi again. ”

    Indian political parties have always promised to help the people in order to get votes during elections. However, experts say that the BJP has performed better.

    Now, the government gives benefits like money, retirement funds and loans directly to people’s bank accounts. This helps stop fraud and cheating by getting rid of middlemen.

    These big giveaways help for now, but some people think they are just a quick solution and a sign that the economy is getting worse. To make things more equal, we need to invest in health and education. These areas have not improved much in recent years, according to Ashoka Mody, a Princeton University economist.

    Subsidies can be good, but they cannot help people and their children have a better future.

    Tuntun Sada, a farmer from Samastipur, a city in Bihar, said the 18 kilograms (40 pounds) of free food that helps feed his family of six each month has only slightly made their lives better. He still makes less than $100 a month by working for rich landowners in their fields.

    “People like us don’t get a lot,” Sada said. “Modi needs to do what he says he will do. ” “If we don’t make enough money, how will we take care of our children. ”

    The free food doesn’t last the whole month. There is no running water in his area, and there are no schools nearby for his four children to go to. He said he needs a better job.

    Modi’s opponents, led by the Congress party, are hoping that the lack of jobs will hurt the BJP’s chances of winning the election. Prior to the election, a study by the Center for Study of Developing Societies discovered that over 60% of voters were concerned about not having a job and thought that it was harder to find one. Only 12 out of every 100 people felt that there were more job and money-making options available.

    The government’s official data says that the unemployment rate is going down, but some experts are not sure if it is accurate. The International Labor Organization recently reported that many young people in India don’t have jobs. It also found that over 40% of Indians are still working in the same way as before.

  • 4 Indian nationals to appear in court after being accused of killing Sikh activist in British Columbia

    4 Indian nationals to appear in court after being accused of killing Sikh activist in British Columbia

    Four people from India who are accused of killing a Sikh activist from British Columbia named Hardeep Singh Nijjar, will all be appearing in court on Tuesday.

    Twenty-two-year-old Amandeep Singh appeared in a Surrey, B.C court last week through a video call for the first time, and the case has been moved to today.

    Singh was accused of planning and carrying out a serious crime, and of working with others to do the same. This happened earlier this month while he was already in jail for different charges related to guns.

    Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh were arrested in Edmonton and now they are going to court in Surrey. They are facing the same charges.

    Nijjar played an important role in helping Sikhs living abroad vote for an independent Sikh state in India. He was shot and killed in the parking lot of the temple in Surrey where he was president in June 2023.

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that there is believable information connecting Nijjar‘s death to the Indian government, but India says they were not involved.

  • Less Muslims represented in India’s parliament as Modi party gains ground

    Less Muslims represented in India’s parliament as Modi party gains ground

    In the last ten years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had political successes. This has made people think he cares about the Hindu people in India. India’s 200 million Muslims feel like they have less influence in the country’s politics, even though they live in the world’s biggest democracy.

    According to some people, Mondi has been able to do this after stopping Muslim people from becoming citizens and taking away the special self-governing status of the country’s only region where most people are Muslim. Constructing a Hindu temple where a group of angry people destroyed a mosque.

    There have always been problems between Hindus and Muslims in India, but things have gotten worse with Modi as the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, which follows a Hindu nationalist philosophy. With Modi likely to win a third term in office, things don’t look good for Muslim politicians and citizens. The final decision for this year’s vote will happen in June.

    Not only has Modi increased his criticism of Muslims in his campaign speeches. Since the BJP started gaining power in the mid-1980s, there are fewer Muslim lawmakers in parliament and state legislatures.

    Muslims are not being represented as much in the ruling BJP or in opposition parties.

    When Modi became the leader in 2014, there were 30 Muslim lawmakers leaving the parliament – and only one of them was from the BJP party. Muslims now have 25 seats out of 543, but none of them are members of the BJP.

    India has changed from a place where Muslims were mostly left out to a place where they are intentionally kept out, according to Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a political scientist and historian at Ashoka University in New Delhi.

    “If you don’t have someone to speak for you, you can’t ask the government for things that your community needs, like education, jobs, healthcare, or roads,” Mahmudabad explained.

    In the mid-1980s, 11 out of every 100 people in India were Muslims, and nine out of every 100 seats in parliament were held by Muslims. Today, 14 out of every 100 people in India are Muslims, but less than five out of every 100 seats in parliament are held by Muslims.

    Nine out of 10 people in parliament are Hindu, and 80% of India’s 1.4 billion population are also Hindu.

    Muslims are not represented well in state politics. India has over 4,000 lawmakers in state legislatures in 28 states, and about six percent of these lawmakers are Muslim.

    A report from the government in 2006 showed that Muslims in India are not doing as well as Hindus, Christians, and people from lower castes when it comes to being able to read and write, how much money they make, and being able to go to school. They have improved a little bit, but are still in a tough spot, according to many different studies.

    During Modi’s ten years in power, the BJP has made different laws that Muslim leaders believe treat them unfairly.

    Some states governed by the BJP made laws to stop people from different religions marrying each other. They say they want to protect Hindu women from marrying Muslim men and changing their religion.

    One state that was ruled by the BJP party made a rule that girls can’t wear hijabs in school. The law changed after the BJP no longer had political power.

    The BJP wants to change some laws in India’s constitution that deal with marriage, divorce, and inheritance. This could affect certain religious practices.

    Many Muslims are often subjected to violence, and Modi has done little to stop it. Hindu mobs have killed Muslims because they were accused of eating beef or smuggling cows, which Hindus believe are sacred animals. Their houses and shops have been destroyed by bulldozers, and their places of prayer have been set on fire.

    At recent campaign rallies, Modi said that he thinks Muslims are not supposed to be in the country and that they have too many children. He also said that the BJP’s main rival, the Congress party, wants to take money from Hindus and give it to Muslims. However, he didn’t have any proof for these statements.

    Lots of Muslims think that Modi is trying to create disagreements as a way to win votes.

    “They are keeping the Hindu-Muslim problem controversial and ongoing. ” Mehmood Bhai Khatri, a 64-year-old Muslim voter from Gujarat, said that they still don’t get along. This is Prime Minister Modi’s home state and a place where the BJP is very popular.

    Khatri said, “But who will speak up. If they do, they might get arrested or have their homes destroyed by a bulldozer. ” “Nobody talks because they are scared. ”

    No Indian state has a Muslim as the top leader, and the BJP and its allies have leaders in 19 states.

    In Uttar Pradesh, where many people are Muslim, only a few of the state’s lawmakers are Muslim.

    As the BJP gets stronger, experts say that other Indian political parties are less likely to choose Muslim candidates because they are afraid of upsetting Hindu voters.

    Most Hindus support the BJP, but it’s hard for Muslims to agree on what they want because they are very different from each other in terms of their religion, ethnicity, language, customs, and culture.

    “Mahmudabad, the political scientist, said that the only way to bring together this diverse group of people is by making Islam the thing they all have in common. ”

    However, when political parties do not have many Muslims as candidates, important issues for them, such as minority rights and hate speech, are rarely discussed in parliament. This was expressed by Muhammad Saad, a Muslim cab driver in New Delhi.

    Saad asked, “If there are no Muslims in the parliament, who will speak up for us. ”

    Experts say the BJP has been trying to connect with Muslims by asking for their help as volunteers and at election time. However, the party only had 13 Muslim candidates in total in the 2014 and 2019 elections, and none of them were chosen.

    The BJP says it does not treat Muslim people unfairly.

    party allows all people to join, not just Hindus, according to M Abdul Salam.

  • Three Indian nationals alleged to have killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar

    Three Indian nationals alleged to have killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar

    Three people from India are being accused of killing Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. They will go to court on Tuesday. This incident caused a big problem between India and another country.

    Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karan Brar got in trouble in Edmonton last week and have to go to court in Surrey at 9:30 am.

    Everyone is being charged with committing the most serious type of murder and planning to commit murder together.

    Nijjar, who wanted a separate land for Sikhs, and was the leader of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was killed while driving away from the temple in Surrey in June.

    In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the government that there is evidence suggesting that the Indian government was involved in the killing, but the Indian government denies it.

    Police said last week that they arrested some people and are still looking into whether they have ties to the government of India.

    Nijjar helped plan secret votes for a separate Sikh state in India and the government saw him as a terrorist.

  • AfCFTA will serve India with numerous business opportunities – Deputy Trade Minister

    AfCFTA will serve India with numerous business opportunities – Deputy Trade Minister

    Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi, highlighted numerous prospects for India across various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing, vehicle components, and garment and textiles.

    Pointing out Africa’s vast market size of 1.2 billion people and an estimated GDP of US$3.4 trillion, he emphasized the importance for India to engage in investment opportunities within the continent, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area framework.

    Okyere Baafi made these remarks during the 4th Session of the India-Ghana Joint Trade Committee convened in Accra on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

    “These are areas that we want to have a very deep corporation and with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area I know you know, that for the first time, Africans have decided to do business among ourselves, this customs union have become the biggest in the whole world. Even bigger than the ACP now,” he stated.

    Okyere Baafi further said, “The African market is becoming a market that nobody in the world can underestimate. Now, the African market has become like a virgin lady that everybody is running after so we want India, our best friend to be a beneficiary of this good news that is happening to Africa.”

    Echoing similar sentiments, Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Co-Chair of the Joint Trade Committee, emphasized the significance of partnerships in fostering investments.

    “Some areas we are looking at is greater partnership in the pharmaceutical industry, ICT, digital public infrastructure…We are also looking at more cooperation in agriculture…” he said.

    Regarding the African Continental Free Trade Area, Amardeep Singh Bhatia expressed India’s optimism and eagerness to engage with authorities regarding trade relations.

    “We would like to understand more about what AfCFTA is looking forward to in terms of cooperation and trade ties with India. We are very positive about it. India is the 5th largest country in the world and AfCFTA is the largest economic giant in the world with great future potential,” he added.

    The AfCFTA, a cornerstone of Agenda 2063, stands as an ambitious trade agreement with a wide-ranging scope encompassing vital aspects of Africa’s economy, including digital trade and investment protection.

    By dismantling trade barriers across Africa, the free trade pact aims to significantly enhance intra-Africa trade, particularly in value-added production and across all sectors of the continent’s economy.

    Effective since January 2021, the AfCFTA represents the world’s largest free trade area, spanning 55 African nations with a collective population of 1.3 billion and a combined GDP surpassing $3.4 trillion.

    Furthermore, the pact endeavors to fortify African economies, fostering resilience to withstand internal and external shocks.

  • India probes facilities of spice producers MDH and Everest due to suspected contamination

    India probes facilities of spice producers MDH and Everest due to suspected contamination

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is collecting data on products from Indian spice manufacturers MDH and Everest. This action comes after Hong Kong suspended sales of certain products from these companies due to allegations of containing elevated levels of a pesticide known to cause cancer.

    “The FDA is aware of the reports and is gathering additional information about the situation,” an FDA spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

    This month, Hong Kong suspended sales of three MDH spice blends and an Everest spice mix for fish curries. Singapore also mandated a recall of the Everest spice mix, citing elevated levels of ethylene oxide, which poses health risks, including cancer with prolonged exposure.

    Reuters broke the news of the U.S. FDA’s investigation into the alleged contamination of Indian spice products.

    Both MDH and Everest have not yet responded to Reuters’ requests for comment on the issue. Everest has previously asserted the safety of its spices for consumption, while MDH has not addressed inquiries about its products.

    MDH and Everest spices are widely popular in India and are distributed in Europe, Asia, and North America. India’s food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is currently evaluating the quality standards of these companies following the regulatory actions taken in Hong Kong and Singapore.

    India’s Spices Board, responsible for regulating spice exports, announced on Wednesday that it had requested export data on MDH and Everest from authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore. The board is collaborating with the companies to identify the root cause of the quality issues, while inspections at their plants have commenced.

    In 2019, certain batches of MDH products were recalled in the U.S. due to salmonella contamination.

  • Modi accused of using hate speech after referring to Muslims as “infiltrators” in India

    Modi accused of using hate speech after referring to Muslims as “infiltrators” in India

    India’s biggest opposing party said Prime Minister Narendra Modi made hateful comments by calling Muslims “infiltrators. ” This happened during the general election, and it was one of his most provocative statements about the minority religion.

    The comments made at a campaign rally on Sunday were strongly criticized for being anti-Muslim. The Congress party complained to the Election Commission of India on Monday, saying that he broke the rules that prohibit candidates from doing things that make people of different religions upset.

    People who disagree with the prime minister, who strongly supports Hindu beliefs, say that India’s history of being a diverse and secular country has been in danger since his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, gained power ten years ago. They say the party promotes unfair treatment of people with different religions and sometimes even encourages fighting. The party says it didn’t do what it’s accused of and that its plans help all people in India.

    During a rally in Rajasthan, Modi said that when the Congress party was in charge, they believed that Muslims should have the first claim to the country’s resources. He also said that if the party comes back into power, they will take everyone’s money and give it to people with lots of children. The crowd cheered as he said this.

    “They will give it to people who came in secretly,” he said. “Do you want your money to go to them. ”

    Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the leader of the Congress party, said that the prime minister’s comments were full of hate. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who speaks for the party, also said that the comments were very objectionable.

    The party asked the election commission for help because their rules say candidates can’t try to get votes by talking about people’s race or religion. People started voting on Friday in a six-week election. Most surveys show that Modi and his party, the Hindu nationalist BJP, are likely to win. The results will be available on June 4.

    Asaduddin Owaidi, a Muslim politician and leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen party, said on Sunday: “Since 2002 till now, the only thing Modi has promised is to insult Muslims and win votes. ”

    For a while, there have been problems between India’s main Hindu group and Muslims. But now, rights groups say that attacks on minorities have become more bold since Modi became the leader.

    Muslims have been attacked and killed by groups of Hindus because they were accused of eating beef or trading cows, which are sacred animals to Hindus. Muslim businesses have been avoided, their homes and businesses have been knocked down and places of worship set on fire. People are asking for them to be killed.

    Modi mentioned a statement from 2006 made by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress party. Singh said that all people in India, including those in lower castes, tribes, women, and especially the Muslim minority, should have an equal part in the country’s progress.

    “Singh said they should get the resources first. ” The next day, his office explained that Singh was talking about all the people who have disadvantages.

    The Congress party asked the election commission to stop Modi and the BJP from using religion and religious symbols in their election campaigns. The commission has not punished the prime minister and the BJP for breaking electoral laws, which has made these actions even stronger.

    “In India’s history, no prime minister has brought down the respect of his position as much as Modi has,” Kharge, who is the president of Congress, wrote on the social media platform X.

    The commission can give warnings and stop candidates for a while if they break the rules.

    A representative for the commission said they don’t want to comment.

    In his speech, Modi said that Muslims were having more children than Hindus, which is a common idea among Hindu nationalists. 80 out of every 100 people in India are Hindus, while 14 out of every 100 are Muslims. The number of children born to Muslim families has gone down the most compared to other religious groups in the past few years. In 1992-93, the average Muslim family had 4. 4 children, but by 2019-21, it went down to 2. 3This is just slightly more than the average number of children in Hindu families, which is 1. 94

    Modi’s party BJP has said that Muslims who came to India from Bangladesh and Pakistan are illegal immigrants. Some states ruled by the BJP have made laws to stop people from different religions marrying each other. They say it’s because of an idea called “love jihad,” which says Muslim men marry Hindu women to convert them to Islam. But there’s no proof of this happening.

    Throughout everything, Modi has mostly kept quiet. Critics say this has made some of his most extreme supporters feel more confident and has allowed more hate speech against Muslims.

  • India’s capital Delhi becomes most polluted city in the world – Survey

    India’s capital Delhi becomes most polluted city in the world – Survey

    Delhi has been named the most polluted capital city in the world for 2023. India, along with the rest of South Asia, is still dealing with smog and poisonous air.

    A study by a group called IQAir found that nine out of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India.

    Delhi is the third dirtiest city and the dirtiest capital. The air there has a lot of tiny particles that can be harmful, with an average of 102. 1 micrograms per cubic meter.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that countries try to keep the average PM2.5 concentration at 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

    Breathing in dirty air with particle pollution can make you sick with asthma, cancer, lung disease, strokes, and other health problems. It also says that PM2. 5 can stick to the lungs and get into the blood more easily.

    Delhi has bad air all year, but it’s especially bad in winter. Last year, schools and colleges were closed for a few days because the air was not safe to breathe.

    In November, New Delhi put limits on the amount of cars on the road to reduce air pollution. But after a few days, pollution covered cities in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Some businesses and schools had to shut down in certain areas.

    Reporting from Delhi, the news reporter from Sky News, Neville Lazarus, said on Thursday that pollution is spreading like a disease in the city. Activists have claimed that pollution is the fifth biggest cause of death in India.

    He said that a report from the British Medical Journal found that every year in India, 2. 18 million people die because of air pollution.

    The numbers are really big. About 30,000 people die in a year due to air pollution. In Delhi, 80 people die every day because of air pollution.

    This is a big problem that is hurting the economy. Families are spending almost 4% of their money on healthcare for illnesses caused by air pollution. One sickness makes them very poor.

    “But what worries me in this report is that we have noticed air pollution coming from smaller cities in Tier Two, like the unimportant city of Begusarai in the northern state. ”

    IQAir’s report said that Begusarai, a city in the Indian state of Bihar, has the worst pollution in the world. The air there has an average annual PM2. 5 concentration of 118. 9 μg/m³

    In Pakistan, Lahore had the fifth highest air pollution with an average of 99. 5μg/m³

    Bangladesh is the most polluted country.

    The report says that Bangladesh has the most pollution in the world, with an annual PM2. 5 concentration of 79. 9μg/m³

    Pakistan is the second most polluted country in the world, with India being the third and Tajikistan being the fourth. This makes the South Asia region the most polluted in the world.

    IQAir said that only seven countries followed the WHO’s yearly PM2. 5 rule. These countries are Australia, New Zealand, Estonia, Iceland, Grenada, Mauritius, and Finland.

    The information in the report comes from over 30,000 stations around the world that measure air quality. These stations are located in 134 different places.

  • “John Kumah did not travel to India to seek medical attention” – Aide

    “John Kumah did not travel to India to seek medical attention” – Aide

    • An aide to the deceased Deputy Finance Minister John Kumah, Kwasi Owusu Twumasi, has emphatically refuted speculations regarding Dr. John Kumah’s purported trip to India for medical treatment.

    During an interview on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem Friday, he clarified that Dr. Kumah’s visit to India was solely for official purposes.

    “I would like to clarify that Dr. John Kumah never went to India for medical treatment. He only traveled there in 2018 with Dr. Awal for official work,” he stated.

    John Kumah tragically passed away at the age of 45, leaving behind a wife and six children.

    Reports indicate that Dr. Kumah was present on the floor of Parliament earlier in the week and was slated to participate in the debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday and Friday.

    However, during the independence day anniversary celebration in his constituency in the Ashanti Region, his health deteriorated.

    As a result, an ambulance was dispatched to transport him to Accra.

    Regrettably, while en route, his condition worsened significantly, prompting the ambulance to divert to the Suhum Government Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

  • Seven guys detained in India on suspicion of raping tourists in groups

    Seven guys detained in India on suspicion of raping tourists in groups

    Seven men have been arrested in India for allegedly raping a woman and attacking her husband. This case has brought attention to the widespread issue of sexual violence against women in the country.

    On Saturday, the police said they arrested three men for the incident and are looking for four more.

    Dumka’s Deputy Commissioner, Anjaneyulu Dodde, told the media on Tuesday that four more people have been arrested.

    The police found a couple who had been traveling on a motorcycle from West Bengal to Nepal. They were found late on Friday by officers on patrol in Dumka district, Jharkhand state.

    They went to the hospital, and the woman told the doctor that she had been raped.

    The police know who the wanted suspects are and have put together a special team to investigate, according to Kherwar. It is not known if the three people who were arrested have a lawyer to help them.

    The arrests happened because a couple who travel and make videos said on their Instagram that they were attacked in India with knives held to their throats. The woman was assaulted and taken to the hospital for DNA testing.

    The couple writes in Spanish, and the woman says on her Instagram page that she is from Brazil.

    The woman shared on her Instagram story that she has bruises on her face and said that even though her face looks hurt, it’s not the most painful part. “I thought I was going to pass away. ”

    In another message on Sunday, the couple said thank you to their followers for their help and said they are okay. They also said the police are trying their best to catch the rest of the people involved.

    India’s Women’s Commission expressed disapproval of the reported attack.

    The head of NCW, Rekha Sharma, talked to the victim and gave them the help they needed. The organization shared this on social media on Saturday.

    “If someone did something wrong, they won’t get away with it,” he said on Saturday.

    India has been trying really hard for many years to deal with a lot of violence against women. Some cases of foreign visitors getting raped got a lot of attention from other countries and made the problem known worldwide.

    In 2018, a British woman was said to have been raped while walking to her hotel in Goa, a popular place for tourists. Two years before that, an American woman was said to have been drugged and raped by a group of men in her five-star hotel room in New Delhi. In 2013, six men were given life sentences for raping a Swiss tourist together.

    According to the National Crime Records Bureau in India, there were 31,516 cases of rape in 2022, which averages out to 86 cases per day.

    Experts say there might be many more rape cases than we know about in a country where people feel ashamed and judged for being a victim of rape because it is a very male-dominated society.

  • Indian zoo ordered to replace names of ‘blasphemous’ lions

    Indian zoo ordered to replace names of ‘blasphemous’ lions

    An Indian court told a zoo in West Bengal to give different names to two lions because a strict Hindu group said the names were offensive to their religion.

    The lioness was named Sita after a Hindu god, and the lion was named Akbar after a Mughal king from the 16th century.

    VHP said it was disrespectful to name the lioness after a goddess.

    It didn’t want the lions to stay in the wildlife park.

    Two large cats currently live at the North Bengal Wild Animals Park in the Siliguri district.

    On Thursday, the court ruled that animals should not be given names that are from Hindu gods, Muslim Prophets, Christian figures, Nobel laureates, and freedom fighters.

    You could have named it lightning or something similar. “Why do we need to call them Akbar and Sita. ” Justice Saugata Bhattacharya wondered.

    The court also wanted to know if it is a good idea to give pets, like dogs, the same names as people. The judge said you could have stayed out of trouble.

    The VHP, which is connected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, complained that people from all over the country had complained about the names of the lions.

    “Sita is the wife of the Hindu god Lord Ram. She is also a very important goddess to Hindus everywhere. ” This is like insulting the Hindu religion and hurting the feelings of Hindu people.

    The group said the government in West Bengal, which is led by a different political party, did this on purpose. They said they would protest if the authorities didn’t change the names and location of the big cats.

    “Sita and Akbar are not allowed to live together,” said Vinod Bansal, a spokesperson for VHP.

  • Indian airlines mandated to halt turmoil of baggage delays

    Indian airlines mandated to halt turmoil of baggage delays

    Some of India’s best airlines have been told to start giving passengers their bags within 10 minutes after the plane’s engines are turned off.

    The aviation ministry says passengers should get their luggage 10 to 30 minutes after their plane lands.

    The airlines need to follow the order by 26 February.

    Luggage being delivered late is a common problem at airports.

    The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) told seven airlines, including Air India, Vistara, and IndiGo, to make sure that they deliver luggage on time.

    The rule was made after the aviation department checked how long it took for bags to be given to travelers at six big airports in India. Officials reviewed the activities of seven airlines during 3,600 flights.

    The ministry said they started reviewing in January and are still doing it.

    It also said that while all airlines are getting better at delivering baggage, they still aren’t meeting the rules.

    It said that the first bag should come to the baggage belt within 10 minutes after the plane turns off its engine, and the last bag should come within 30 minutes.

    Indian travelers often express their annoyance with how long it takes to get their luggage at airports.

    Baggage can get delayed for almost an hour, and it takes even longer if there are problems with the baggage belt.

    In recent months, the aviation ministry has been working to make air travel easier.

    Last week, the international airport in Mumbai, India was told to reduce the number of flights to make air traffic less crowded and improve the time it takes for planes to land.

  • Congress: Opposition party in India says bank accounts “frozen”

    Congress: Opposition party in India says bank accounts “frozen”

    India’s main opposition group, the Congress party, says the government has stopped them from using their bank accounts before the upcoming elections.

    The party mentioned that the IT officials allowed them to use the money in the accounts until the court makes a decision.

    Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that stopping the funds is like attacking democracy.

    The government or the IT department have not replied to the accusations.

    Ajay Maken, a leader of Congress, said on Friday that the party found out two days ago that the checks it was giving out were not being accepted by banks.

    Upon checking, the party was informed that “all their accounts had been stopped from being used”.

    Mr Maken said that the party got money from online fundraising, and the youth wing got money from membership fees. He said that the bank stopped the accounts of the young members of the Indian Youth Congress.

    Mr Maken said we don’t have money to pay for electricity or salaries for our workers. This will affect all the activities of our party.

    He said they took action because the party filed their income tax returns 45 days late for 2018-2019.

    The IT department wants Congress to pay 2. 1 billion rupees as a “recovery” amount.

    Vivek Tankha, a leader of the Congress party, said that the court will listen to the party’s request for temporary help from the actions of the IT department on Wednesday.

    Critics say that the BJP, led by Narendra Modi, is using government resources to go after opposition leaders before the elections. Modi and the BJP say the accusation is not true.

  • Indian Ocean Island of Mayotte rocked by dispute over French citizenship

    Indian Ocean Island of Mayotte rocked by dispute over French citizenship

    A small part of France in the Indian Ocean is now at the center of a new argument about immigration laws.

    Mayotte, a small island, has been owned by France since 1841. It is now considered a part of France, so it has to follow the same rules as other places in the country.

    However, the territory’s tough time dealing with many immigrants is causing President Emmanuel Macron’s government to give up the fundamental French belief in equal treatment for everyone.

    Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that people born on the island will no longer automatically become French citizens. He announced this while visiting the island on the weekend.

    The government is now trying to make a change to the constitution for this. The “birthplace citizenship” rule will only change for the island of Mayotte, not for all of France.

    But that’s the problem. Both the left and right sides of French politics have concerns about the reform for various reasons.

    The left thinks it goes against the idea that everyone should be treated the same, and could lead to citizenship being based on race.

    The right thinks it’s okay to change the rules for Mayotte, but they believe France should get rid of “birthplace citizenship” altogether.

    The right of the soil says that if you are born in a country, you are automatically a citizen of that country. The opposite idea is called jus sanguinis, which means that citizenship is only given to children of citizens.

    For lots of people, especially those on the left, the right of the soil is very important. It shows that France is a symbol of caring for people.

    Actually, in France, the right to citizenship by birth is not automatic. In the US, just having a birth certificate is enough to get a passport, but it’s not the same in France. A child born in France to parents from another country has to apply for French citizenship when they are teenager and show that they have been living in France the whole time.

    However, the main idea is still valid. Being born in a place allows you to become a part of the country.

    But things happening in Mayotte show how nowadays, the changes in population and lots of people moving to new places are making governments start to think about things that everyone used to agree on.

    Mayotte is having a lot of people breaking the rules because they are scared of people from outside taking over their island.

    Mayotte is 70km away from the Comoros islands, which is a very poor country in Africa. Mayotte has a problem with small boats coming to the island, which is even worse than the UK’s problem with small boats coming from France.

    Every week, many people come in boats from the Comoros, and now there are also more and more asylum seekers from the Great Lakes region of Central Africa.

    In the hospitals on the island, over 10,000 babies are born every year, and most of their mothers are from the Comoros. Mayotte has about 300,000 people, but only half of them have French passports.

    Since middle of January, groups of people have been blocking roads around the island. They want the government to stop immigration and deal with the crime they believe it brings. Political groups in Mayotte all agree on one thing: the droit du sol needs to end.

    Estelle Youssouffa, a Mayotte MP from the independent LIOT bloc in the National Assembly, says that if we don’t change, we will always be confined by our geography.

    “We will welcome all the sadness and problems from Comoros and Africa just so that people in Paris can show off their beliefs. ”

    Ms Youssouffa says that everyone should feel safe and secure, and that this is a very important right. “Everyone has the right to move around freely. ” We don’t have these rights anymore because the violence is so bad that we can’t live a normal life.

    The French interior minister is helping the people of Mayotte, also known as the Mahorais, because they asked for his help. He says that if the right to citizenship by being born on the island is taken away, the attraction to the island will go away.

    Right now, most requests for regularisation are from Comoran families whose babies are born in Mayotte and are considered French. When the babies are not born in France anymore, people will stop coming.

    No one knows if it is true or not.

    Immigrants come to Mayotte not just for citizenship, but because life is better there than other places. And they say that even though the government promises otherwise, what happens in Mayotte could easily happen in all of France.

    Nobody knows if that’s true.

    It is clear that both the main and extreme right in French politics are openly discussing ending the right to citizenship based on birth on French soil.

    For them, this is the kind of measure needed for the immigration crisis because there were a record 142,500 asylum requests last year.

    The Macron government needs the support of the political right to make any changes to the constitution in Mayotte. Could they only support the reform if it was expanded to all of France.

    Can they stop the new law for Mayotte because they think it’s too strict. And then try to win the next election by promising to end the law for the whole country.

    The world is becoming different. It can happen.

  • Hindu Mandir: India’s Prime Minister Modi opens an Abu Dhabi temple

    Hindu Mandir: India’s Prime Minister Modi opens an Abu Dhabi temple

    Indian leader Narendra Modi opened a big Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during a two-day visit to the country.

    The BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi was built on a 27-acre plot given by the UAE government.

    India said it would build something when Mr Modi went to UAE in 2018.

    Experts believe that the temple will probably support the government’s Hindu nationalist goals before the upcoming general elections in two months.

    Mr Modi opened a big temple for the Hindu god Ram in the city of Ayodhya, which is in northern India, a few weeks ago. In 1992, a 16th-century mosque was destroyed by Hindu mobs, which caused violent riots and led to the death of nearly 2,000 people. It has now been replaced.

    The temple in Abu Dhabi is managed by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. It is a group that promotes Hindu beliefs and values such as faith, service, and global peace.

    The organization has been around for 200 years and is based in Mr. Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

    Pew research center says there are 660,000 Hindus in the UAE. Although temples have existed in the UAE for many years, it is said that this is the first one to be constructed using traditional methods.

    The temple was built in Dubai using pink sandstone from Rajasthan state and white Italian marble that was carved in India.

    It is 108ft tall, 262ft long, and 180ft wide. It was built for 7 billion rupees ($84. 2 million)

    India and UAE are good friends and trade $85 billion (£67. 6 billion) worth of goods between each other. Indians are the largest group of people living in another country. Many Indian Hindus live in Abu Dhabi.

    Mr Modi is in the country to join a meeting of world leaders called the World Governments Summit.

    He met with the president of the UAE on Tuesday during his visit. The Indian government’s foreign affairs department said that two countries agreed to a deal to invest in each other’s economies and work together on economic matters.

    The agreements are meant to make cooperation stronger in energy security, trade, and building digital infrastructure.

    Mr Modi talked to a group of Indian people in Abu Dhabi and thanked the UAE president for giving land for the temple.

  • Supreme Court of India eliminates anonymous election funding

    Supreme Court of India eliminates anonymous election funding

    India’s highest court has canceled a program that let people give money to political parties without revealing their identity. They said it goes against the constitution.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government started electoral bonds in 2018 to make it clearer where political funding comes from.

    But some people say that it has actually made the process more confusing.

    Mr Modi’s BJP got a lot of money from bonds.

    The plan was questioned in the highest court because it was seen as a way of changing how democracy works.

    On Thursday, a group of five judges decided that electoral bonds go against the rights of citizens to get information from the government.

    The top judge in India, DY Chandrachud, said the Right to Information law is not just about government matters, but also includes information needed for people to be part of democracy.

    “Political parties are important in elections, and it’s essential to know where their money comes from when deciding who to vote for,” he said.

    The court told the government-owned bank, State Bank of India, to stop selling those bonds. They also have to give the names of the people who bought the bonds and tell the Election Commission which political parties cashed them in, all within a week.

    It was also noticed that electoral bonds were not the only way to stop the use of cash or “black money” and the government was asked to look at other options.

    “The court said that people need to make sure the government is doing the right things and being transparent. This can only happen if the government is open and not keeping secrets. ”

    The government said they made the policy to stop people from giving money to political parties in cash. They did this because many of India’s elections are paid for by private donations.

    These bonds are given out by the government in set amounts of money, and can be bought from a state-owned bank at certain times of the year. They don’t charge interest and have to be paid back within a certain time.

    People and businesses can donate money to political parties without telling anyone who they are.

    Only political parties that are officially recognized and got at least 1% of the votes in the last election can get the bonds. They have to use the bonds within 15 days.

    The people who like the plan say it makes it easy to see where the money for political parties comes from and keeps it clear, and also keeps the person who gives the money secret.

    Critics say that the bonds are not completely anonymous because the state-owned bank knows who gives the money and who receives it. This makes it easy for the government in power to see the details and use the information to influence donors.

    They also say that there is no public record of who bought each bond and who received the donation. This means taxpayers don’t know where the donations came from.

    In court, people said that this stops citizens from knowing about how political parties get their money and encourages dishonest behavior.

    The government said it was important to keep the names of donors secret, so they wouldn’t be punished by political parties. They also said the accusation was not true.

    Up until now, electoral bonds totaling 160 billion rupees ($1. 9 billion; £15 billion) have been sold in 29 batches.

    The BJP got 57% of the bonds, while the main opposition Congress party only got 10%.

  • India police once more target protesting farmers with tear gas

    India police once more target protesting farmers with tear gas

    The Indian police used tear gas again to stop farmers from marching to the capital Delhi. The farmers are asking for fair prices for their crops.

    Most of the farmers are from Punjab state. They are currently 200km (125 miles) away from Delhi at the Shambhu border in Haryana state.

    The city is surrounded by sharp wire, blocks of cement, and fences on three sides to stop people from getting in.

    On Tuesday, the Haryana police used tear gas when farmers started moving barricades.

    Later in the night, the leaders of the farm agreed to stop fighting for now and said they would continue their march in the morning.

    On Wednesday morning, there were lots of police and soldiers near the Delhi borders to stop the protesters from getting through.

    Farmers at the Shambhu border are giving out goggles to protesters because the police are using tear gas to stop their protest.

    Farm leaders in the area had a meeting with reporters and said that they were shot with plastic and rubber bullets.

    They also said the media is making it seem like the farmers are “terrorists” or working with other political parties during the protests.

    “We don’t have any connection with anyone else,” said the farm leader Sarwan Singh Pandher to the reporters. “We have asked for the same things since the start. ”

    Mr Pandher asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a law for MSP.

    Minimum support price (MSP) is the lowest price that government promises to pay to farmers for their crops at wholesale markets. The farmers want the government to keep its promise of increasing their income by two times.

    Farmers leaders say that police have arrested at least twelve farmers since Tuesday, when the protest march started after two rounds of talks between farm unions and government ministers did not solve the problem.

    Over 200 unions are joining the march, and the farmers want to get to the capital after going through Haryana.

    On Tuesday, pictures from Ambala city, north of the capital, showed lots of tear gas in the air. At the Shambhu border, there was a fight between police and protesters as the protesters tried to break through the barricades. The police used drones to drop tear gas on the crowd.

    Many people protesting got hurt when the police took action. The security officers got hurt from the stones thrown by the protesters.

    Traffic was really bad in Delhi because the roads were closed and the usual routes were changed.

    Before, Mr Pandher told the ANI news agency that about 10,000 people were at the Shambhu border. He called the attack on the farmers “shameful” and said that as farmers and laborers, they do not want any fights.

    Farmers are a powerful group of voters in India, and experts believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will try to keep them happy and not upset them.

    “We want the government to hear what we want,” Mr. Pandher said before the march.

    In 2020, farmers protested by sitting down for many months and blocking the highways that connect the capital to nearby states. Their protest lasted for a year and was a big problem for Mr Modi’s government. It made the authorities cancel the controversial agriculture reforms.

    The court said the farmers have the right to move freely and supported the protesters.

    India’s leaders from different political parties have shown their support for the farmers and criticized the government for trying to prevent them from going to Delhi.

    Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge from the Congress party promised to make a law that ensures farmers get a fair price for their crops if their party wins the elections.

  • Indian town imposes curfew and directs police to shoot offenders

    Indian town imposes curfew and directs police to shoot offenders

    Officials in a town in northern India put a curfew in place and told the police to shoot anyone who does not follow it. This came after fights over the building of a Muslim school and mosque led to at least five deaths and over 150 injuries.

    On Thursday, there was violence in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. Because of this, the government shut down internet services and schools in the area. This was confirmed by Chief Radha Raturi.

    Police officer A. Psaid that nearly 4,000 police officers rushed to the area and got the situation under control. He said the police were told to shoot protesters who didn’t follow the curfew.

    On Thursday, a lot of people tried to stop government officials and police from tearing down the religious school and mosque. A court decided that the buildings were constructed on government land without permission.

    As the violence got worse, the police used guns and tear gas to break up the protesters who were throwing petrol bombs and stones at them. They were attacking a police station and setting some vehicles on fire. Anshuman said this.

    The head of the state police, Abhinav Kumar, said that five people were killed in the fighting. He didn’t give all the information but he said that there were no new violent incidents on Friday.

    Government worker Vandana Singh Chauhan said that more than 150 police officers got hurt and many people had to go to the hospital.

    Anshuman did not say if the police shooting caused the protesters to die. He also did not say what religion the victims were.

    Haldwani is around 270 kilometres (170 miles) to the northeast of New Delhi.

    Muslim groups and rights organizations say that India’s government, which is mainly made up of Hindus, has destroyed their homes and businesses before. Officials say they are only going after illegal buildings, but some people think they are unfairly punishing activists from minority groups. They call it “bulldozer justice. ”

    Amnesty International said this week that bulldozers have destroyed homes, businesses, and places where Muslims worship. They said this was often done without warning and as an excuse to take over land illegally.

    The Indian government is destroying Muslim homes, and this is being called “bulldozer justice” by some leaders and the media. This is very cruel and terrible. Agnes Callamard, who is the leader of the rights group, said that forcing people out of their homes is very unfair, not allowed by law and unfair because of treating people differently.

    Between April and June 2022, researchers from the group found that in five states, authorities used demolitions as punishment after incidents of communal violence or protests. They recorded at least 128 demolitions during this time.

    Many people have criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not doing anything about hate speech against Muslims in India, who make up 14% of the population.

    Modi’s party says the accusations are not true.

  • Modi of India avoids large expenditures in pre-election budget

    Modi of India avoids large expenditures in pre-election budget

    The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s government, has shown its final budget before the country’s upcoming general elections.

    The temporary budget will start on 1 April until the new government makes a complete budget.

    It’s no surprise that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is still supporting the building of infrastructure, which has been a big reason for India’s economic growth. This year, over $130 billion will be spent on building things like roads and ports. This is an 11% increase from last year. However, it is not as much of an increase as India has seen in previous years.

    Ms Sitharaman said the government will make 20 million cheap houses in the next five years, on top of the almost 30 million built already.

    Shubhada Rao, an economist and founder of QuantEco Research, said that this will help the rural economy by creating jobs and building things. It will also help the government’s plan for society and the economy.

    The government plans to spend a lot of money, which should keep India’s economy growing at around 7%. The fast growth has helped the government to collect more taxes and reduce its fiscal deficit by 0. 5% to 51%

    This would mean less borrowing from the market, which caused a rise in India’s bond markets. “According to Ms. Rao, the finance minister has set a goal to reach a 4. 5% fiscal deficit by 2026. ”

    No new tax breaks were announced for the middle class workers and Mr Modi’s spending plan before the election did not include big increases in social programs. The only exception was a program to give free electricity to 10 million households through rooftop solar projects, which was meant to attract voters.

    India will continue to give free food to 800 million people for the next five years.

    Many people expect that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will stay in power because they won three provincial elections last year and Mr. Modi is very popular.

    Although the government’s desire to please the general public has decreased, people are increasingly criticizing the government for not spending enough on health and education.

    Dr Raghuram Rajan, the former governor of India‘s central bank RBI, said that India has focused too much on building things and not enough on developing its people. This was a concern because India has a lot of people without jobs.

    “We don’t have good data on jobs, so we don’t know what’s going on,” Dr. He also said that in some parts of India, many people don’t have enough food to eat which is not okay because India’s economy is doing better than most others.

    Economists are worried because private investment is not growing fast enough, and India’s consumption is showing uneven growth. The rich in cities are buying expensive things, while the poor in rural areas are spending less.

  • Opposition leader in India detained in corruption case

    Opposition leader in India detained in corruption case

    India’s agency for catching people who do bad things with money has taken a top leader from the other political party into custody. This happened just a few hours after he quit his job as the main leader of Jharkhand state.

    Hemant Soren from the JMM party is being accused of doing something wrong for money. He says the accusations are not true.

    He was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday evening after being questioned for seven hours.

    His political party has chosen Champai Soren, who is currently the transport minister, to be the next leader of the eastern state.

    Mr Soren is fighting against his arrest in India’s highest court, saying it is based on politics. The issue will be discussed on Friday.

    He is the newest of many opposition leaders being investigated by India’s main agencies.

    An Indian person who fights against corruption is trying to prove his innocence.
    The government in India removed a very outspoken member of parliament amid allegations of taking bribes.

    The problem with Mr. Soren is about a piece of land he is said to own in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.

    The ED says he bought the property using money from illegal activities, like selling land that belonged to the Indian army.

    Mr Soren says he didn’t do it and says the property was wrongly said to belong to him.

    The ED officials asked Mr Soren to come for questioning several times but he didn’t go.

    On Monday, officials went to Mr. Soren’s house in Delhi but he was not there. The agency took 3. 6 million rupees ($43,381; £34,202) and a car from the house.

    The next day, Mr. Soren appeared in Ranchi and said he would give his statement to the agency on Wednesday.

    A rule was made that people are not allowed to be out around the chief minister’s house and the ED office in Ranchi after a certain time.

    A few hours later, Mr. Soren quit his job. Then his loyal supporter Champai Soren was chosen as the next leader. Hemant Soren got arrested last night.

    The JMM said the investigation against Mr Soren was unfair and driven by politics, like a “witch-hunt”.

    The party said that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP is using central agencies to go after opposition leaders before the general elections. The BJP says it did not interfere in politics.

    India’s main opposition party, Congress, also criticized Mr. Soren’s arrest, saying it is a “threat to federalism”. JMM is a group of opposition parties in India that wants to challenge the ruling BJP-led alliance in the elections.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP is very corrupt and is trying to ruin democracy.

    Many other top government officials and political leaders are being accused of stealing money or being dishonest.

    In November, the ED asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear in connection with a case about a liquor policy that was no longer in effect in the state. His friends from the party, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, have already been taken into custody in the matter.

    The police are looking into claims that the leaders of three southern states – Telangana, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh – are involved in illegal money activities. All the leaders said they did not do the things they were accused of.

  • Indian naval forces save Pakistani seamen from pirate attacks

    Indian naval forces save Pakistani seamen from pirate attacks

    The Indian navy saved 19 Pakistani sailors after their boat was taken by pirates near Somalia.

    The Indian warship INS Sumitra saved people for the second time in 36 hours.

    Some time ago, the ship saved 17 Iranian sailors from another boat that was taken over by pirates, according to the navy.

    The Indian navy has helped many ships and sailors in trouble recently.

    Recent attacks on ships near the coast of Somalia have made people worry that there might be more pirates in the area.

    The INS Sumitra is now on a mission to protect the waters near Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

    The navy said their ship helped a boat in trouble on January 28th and stopped an Iranian boat. Naval officers made the pirates let the crew and the boat go safely.

    After the 17 crew members were set free, the ship was cleaned and allowed to keep sailing. The statement didn’t say if the pirates are okay or not.

    On Tuesday, the navy said they used INS Sumitra to find and stop another fishing boat called Al Naeemi that had an Iranian flag.

    The navy people got on the ship to clean it and make sure the crew was okay.

    The pirates’ situation wasn’t talked about more, but a picture on X showed Navy people with guns watching over men who had their hands tied.

    On Saturday, the Seychelles military saved six Sri Lankan fishermen after their boat was taken over by some other people.

    According to a news report by Bloomberg, the rise in piracy near Somalia’s coast is connected to the problems in keeping the seas safe from attacks by the Houthis, a rebel group supported by Iran, in the Red Sea.

    On 26 January, the Indian Navy sent its warship INS Visakhapatnam to help a burning tanker in the Gulf of Aden after it was hit by a missile. Ships from France and the United States also helped the boat.

    In January, Indian navy commandos saved 21 crew members from a ship attacked by pirates near Somalia.

  • India boat disaster claims lives of at least ten children

    India boat disaster claims lives of at least ten children

    At least 12 students and two teachers are believed to have died in western India, after a boat carrying them to a school outing overturned on Thursday.

    Vadodara City Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot talked to BBC Gujarati and said that the number of deaths is confirmed. He also said that a rescue operation is still happening.

    We don’t know what caused the incident at Harni Lake in Vadodara, Gujarat yet.

    Local authorities said that about 27 people were on the boat.

    The local police told the BBC that they rescued up to seven people from the water.

    Police Commissioner Gehlot said that the children who were saved are getting medical care at a hospital close by.

    He also said that the people who were hurt did not get life jackets on the boat, according to Reuters.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness for the families who have lost loved ones.

    The leader of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, said the government will give 400,000 rupees to the families of people who died and 50,000 rupees to the families of people who were hurt in the accident.

    Boat accidents happen often in India because the boats are usually too full, not taken care of and don’t have enough safety gear.

    Twenty-two people died when a boat overturned in the southern state of Kerala in India last year.

  • Indians enraged by airport chaos after fog prevents flights

    Indians enraged by airport chaos after fog prevents flights

    India’s agency that makes rules for flying, told airlines to pay attention after many people went on social media to say their flights were late or cancelled.

    The government has told airlines to cancel flights early and let passengers know about any delays as they happen.

    Airlines say the fog in Delhi caused a lot of problems.

    Angry travelers say airlines and airports are not giving enough information.

    A man was taken by the police because he was accused of hurting a co-pilot at IndiGo airlines. Later on, he was let go after paying bail. The man’s plane was late for more than 10 hours on Sunday. A popular video showed a passenger attacking the co-pilot while he was talking on the plane.

    In another video, people were seen eating food while waiting on the runway at the Mumbai airport. Their flight from Goa to Delhi was redirected there after being delayed for a long time.

    Many flights in Delhi have been late since Sunday because of heavy fog. Delhi has one of India’s busiest airports. It is also the main place where big airlines like IndiGo and Air India operate from.

    Every year, there is fog at the Delhi airport. But this year, it’s worse because of other problems like not enough parking for planes and a runway closed for maintenance.


    The problem got worse on Sunday, and now it’s causing more problems on Monday. It will probably still be a problem on Tuesday too.

    The weather department says that there will be thick fog in Delhi and other northern cities for two more days. Some trains are running late.

    Since Sunday, many passengers complained about their flights being late. They told the federal aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and different airlines about it on X (formerly Twitter). Some people said they had to sit on planes without food and water because they didn’t know when the planes were going to leave.

    On Monday afternoon, Mr Scindia talked about the confusion in a long post on X, saying that the heavy fog in Delhi on Sunday was very unusual.

    “Visibility changed a lot for a few hours, and sometimes it was zero between 5am and 9am. ” The officials had to shut down operations for a while, even on runways that can handle low visibility. They asked the Delhi airport to start using the fourth runway that can handle low visibility.

    Mr Scindia also said that bad behavior is not okay and will be handled by the law.

    IndiGo said in a statement that it had reported the attack on its staff member to its own internal committee for “appropriate action”.

    Most of the complaints were from people flying with IndiGo, which is the biggest airline in India in terms of passengers and planes. The airline said sorry for the trouble it caused customers in a statement on Monday.

    “Because of heavy fog, cancellations and delays caused problems throughout the day, which affected operations even more,” it said.

    Some leaders from opposing parties like Pawan Khera from Congress and Saket Gokhale from Trinamool Congress, said bad things about the aviation minister and the regulator for not doing their jobs well.

    MrGokhale wants the government to investigate what went wrong with IndiGo on Saturday and Sunday. He says it’s not just because of the fog in northern India.

    “He said there are scary stories about travelers from other parts of India who had the same issues. ”

    Some famous people from Bollywood caused trouble.

    Actor Ranvir Shorey shared on social media that his IndiGo flight was very late, causing him a lot of trouble because he needed to get home to his son. He said he would report IndiGo to the authorities.

    Actress Radhika Apte said she and other people were stuck in a hallway at the airport for a long time because their flight was delayed. They didn’t have access to water or toilets.

  • Myanmar rebel group claims to be in possession of Indian border town

    Myanmar rebel group claims to be in possession of Indian border town

    Rebels in western Myanmar say they have taken control of a key town on a main road to India from the army.

    The Arakan Army (AA), which is one of three armed groups, started a big attack against the military in October. They say they have now taken control of Paletwa in Chin State.

    The group said on its messaging app that there are no more military camps in the whole Paletwa area.

    Myanmar’s army has not said anything.

    Delhi will pay close attention to the changes happening in Paletwa, which is near the border of Myanmar, India, and Bangladesh. The town is being improved by a big project funded by India to make it easier for people to travel to and from the area.

    The AA is a new but well-equipped group of fighters from Myanmar. They have been fighting against the military in Rakhine State and parts of Chin State for a few years and have been making progress in their battles. Even before the army took control in February 2021, AA soldiers had made big progress in Rakhine. Two years ago, it said it controlled 60% of the state.

    During the 2021 coup, the army decided to stop fighting with a group that was not involved in the coup, so they could focus on stopping anyone who was against it.

    Last October, the AA said it was fighting against military rule with other groups and started to attack the military, which was already stretched thin by the opposition to its coup in many parts of the country.

    In the last 11 weeks, the alliance has beaten the military along the border with China many times.

    – Last Saturday, the AA took control of the last military post in the Paletwa township on the other side of the country. The hilltop base at Meewa had been difficult for them to take in 2020, but they were able to take it after 42 days of fighting now.

    The AA now controls the port of Paletwa on the Kaladan River, which means they also control the roads and waterways to the Indian border. This gives them a base to plan more attacks in Rakhine State.

    Losing any of the big towns in Rakhine to the rebels would be a really bad hit for the military’s power. They are using planes and helicopters with guns to stop the AA from getting to the town of Kyauktaw. Kyauktaw is on the main road that connects the Rakhine capital Sittwe with the rest of Myanmar.

    We don’t know what the AA will do next. It may want to keep its progress and prevent more people from leaving. The group wants to be in charge of themselves in a country that is part of a bigger group, and they think it’s better to have a new elected government instead of military control.

    After Paletwa fell, the main question is if the leaders can make their soldiers feel better and convince them to keep fighting against the opposition from different places.

  • India’s judiciary revokes 2002 riot rapists’ release

    India’s judiciary revokes 2002 riot rapists’ release

    India’s highest court has decided that a Gujarat government order to release 11 men early, who were convicted of raping a pregnant Muslim woman named Bilkis Bano, is not allowed.

    The men must go back to prison in two weeks, the order stated.

    The prisoners who killed 14 of Bano’s family members were in jail for life.

    They were in a group of Hindu people who hurt Bano and her family during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

    Their release in August 2022 made people really mad around the world. People were even more upset when they were greeted like heroes outside the Godhra jail, and their relatives gave them sweets and touched their feet to show respect.

    The highest court listened to many requests, including one from Bano, who was questioning the release of the people found guilty. Bano said that letting the men out of prison early made people feel really upset. She said it was one of the worst crimes ever in our country and that the release shocked and numbed her.

    The Supreme Court said that Gujarat didn’t have the authority to decide to release the men from prison because they were convicted in a court in Maharashtra.

    “The government of the state where the person who committed the crime is punished is the one that can decide to reduce their sentence, not the government of the state where the crime happened,” she said.

    The judges said that because the government’s decision to release the prisoners early was cancelled, the 11 people who were convicted of a crime have to go back to jail within two weeks.

    “Justice means protecting the rights of both the people who did something wrong and the people who were harmed. The most important job of the court is to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and according to the law,” Justice Nagarathna explained. She also said that it’s crucial to maintain the rule of law even if it causes some problems.

    The decision is a big deal and will likely cause some trouble, especially in Gujarat where the state has backed the release of the guilty people.

    Authorities argued in court that the men, who were found guilty in 2008, had been in prison for over 14 years. They were released because of their age and good behavior while in jail. The government of the state asked for permission from the federal government, and the home ministry, led by Amit Shah, approved it.

    The decision was made to let them go, even though a court and federal prosecutors said they should not be released early because their crime was very serious.

    Days after the men who hurt her were let go, Bano said the decision was unfair and made her lose faith in justice.

    “When I found out the criminals who hurt my family and ruined my life were released from prison, I was speechless. ” “I can’t feel anything,” she said.

    “Why did this happen to a woman. I believed in our top courts for justice. ” I believed in the system and I was starting to get used to living with my trauma. She wrote that letting these criminals out of jail has made her feel scared and worried, and it has made her lose hope in the fairness of the legal system. She asked the government to fix this and make her feel safe and peaceful again.

    The attack on Bano and her family was one of the worst crimes during the riots. The riots started after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a fire on a train in Godhra town.

    Hindu mobs attacked Muslim neighborhoods, saying Muslims caused the fire. In three days, over 1,000 people died. Most of them were Muslims.

    The day after the train fire, Bano, who was 19 and expecting her second baby, was at her parents’ house in a village called Randhikpur near Godhra with her three-year-old daughter.

    After some people caused trouble in the village and began burning Muslim homes, Bano and her family ran away. She told me this when we met a few years ago.

    She was with 16 other people, including her daughter, mother, pregnant cousin, younger siblings, nieces, nephews, and two adult men.

    In the next few days, they went from one village to another, finding shelter in mosques or relying on the kindness of Hindu neighbors for food.

    On the morning of 3 March 2002, a group of men attacked them with swords and sticks as they were going to a nearby village to be safe.

    “One of them grabbed my daughter and threw her onto the ground, hitting her head on a rock. ”

    Her neighbors, men she knew very well from seeing them every day when she was growing up, were the ones who attacked her. They ripped off her clothes and raped her, even though she begged them to stop.

    Her cousin had a baby two days ago, but while they were running away, her cousin was attacked, her cousin was killed and her baby was also killed.

    Bano stayed alive because she passed out and her attackers thought she was dead so they went away. Two boys, ages seven and four, were the only other people who stayed alive after the massacre.

    She fought for fairness for a long time and it was really hard. There is proof that some police and government officials scared her, got rid of evidence, and buried people without checking their bodies. The doctors checked her and said she wasn’t raped. After that, she got death threats.

    The first people were taken into custody for the case in 2004. This happened after India’s highest court gave the case to federal investigators and moved it from Gujarat to Mumbai. The court said that the courts in Gujarat couldn’t give her fair treatment.

    Many people were upset with Mr. Modi, who was the leader of Gujarat, for not doing enough to stop the violence. He says he didn’t do anything wrong and hasn’t said sorry for the riots.

    In 2013, a group of judges from the highest court also said there was not enough proof to charge him with a crime. Critics keep blaming him for the riots that are happening while he is in charge.

    Over time, many people have been found guilty by the courts for taking part in the riots. However, some well-known people accused of being involved were released on bail or cleared of the charges by higher courts. This is about Maya Kodnani, who used to be a minister in Mr. Modi’s cabinet in Gujarat. She was called the main person responsible for the riots in one area by a trial court.

  • Indian Sun mission to arrive at its destination in few hours

    Indian Sun mission to arrive at its destination in few hours

    India’s first sun-observing mission is about to arrive at its last stop in a few hours.

    Isro will try to put Aditya-L1 in a place in space on Saturday. From there, it can always see the Sun.

    The spaceship has been flying towards the Sun for four months since it launched on 2 September.

    It was launched a few days after India made history by being the first to land close to the Moon’s south pole.

    India is sending its first mission to study the biggest thing in our solar system, the sun. It is named after Surya, the Hindu god of the sun, also known as Aditya. L1 stands for a specific point in space between the Sun and Earth where the spacecraft is going.

    The European Space Agency says a Lagrange point is a place where the gravity from two big things, like the Sun and the Earth, cancels out. This makes it possible for a spaceship to stay in one place without moving.

    L1 is 1% of the distance from Earth to the Sun, and it’s 1. 5 million km away from Earth. That’s about 932,000 miles. Isro said the spacecraft is close to reaching its destination.

    An official from Isro told the BBC that they will make a last adjustment to Aditya’s orbit on Saturday at around 4:00pm in India (10:30 GMT) to put it in L1’s orbit.

    The head of Isro, S Somanath, said they will steer the craft into orbit and have to make adjustments from time to time to keep it in position.

    Once Aditya-L1 reaches this “parking spot” it will orbit the Sun at the same speed as the Earth. From here, it can keep an eye on the Sun all the time, even during eclipses and occultations, and do science research.

    The orbiter has seven tools to look at and learn about the sun’s outer layer, its surface, and the thin layer between them.

    After the spaceship launched on 2 September, it circled the Earth four times before finally leaving Earth’s gravity on 30 September. In early October, Isro made a small change to the path of their spacecraft to make sure it was heading in the right direction towards its final destination.

    The agency says that some of the tools on the ship have already begun working, collecting information and taking pictures.

    Just a few days after the spacecraft launched, Isro shared the first pictures it received from the mission. One picture showed the Earth and the Moon together, and the second was a photo of two scientific instruments.

    Last month, the agency shared the first pictures of the whole Sun in different colors. They said the images give us new information about the details of the Sun’s surface and outer layer.

    Researchers believe that the mission will allow them to learn about solar activity and how it affects Earth’s weather, as well as weather in space.

    The Sun’s radiation, heat, particles, and magnetic fields always affect the weather on Earth. They also affect the weather in space, where almost 7,800 satellites, including over 50 from India, are located.

    Experts say that Aditya can help us understand and predict solar winds and eruptions a few days before they happen. This will help India and other countries move their satellites to safety.

    Isro has not told us how much the mission cost, but some reports in India say it’s about 3. 78 billion rupees, which is equal to about $46 million or £36 million.

    If Saturday’s plan works, India will be part of a small group of countries that are studying the Sun.

    Nasa, Japan, and ESA have been looking at the Sun for a long time. Nasa started in the 1960s, Japan in 1981, and ESA in the 1990s.

    In February 2020, Nasa and ESA worked together to send a Solar Orbiter into space. This spacecraft is getting up close to the Sun and collecting information. Scientists believe this will help them learn more about what makes the Sun act the way it does.

    In 2021, Nasa’s new spacecraft Parker Solar Probe was the first to fly through the corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, which is a big deal.

  • Delhi temperature: North India gripped by an extremely cold wave

    Delhi temperature: North India gripped by an extremely cold wave

    A very cold weather has hit some parts of northern India, with temperatures dropping below -5C (23F) in Indian-administered Kashmir. Many areas, including the capital of India, Delhi, get covered in heavy fog in the early morning and at night. Bad visibility has made it hard for people to travel and has resulted in problems with flights and trains. India’s weather experts say that the cold weather will continue for the next few days.

    The famous Dal Lake and other lakes in Kashmir have partly frozen, making it difficult for boatmen to transport passengers and tourists. The cold weather has frozen water pipes and made it hard for people to get around. This has made it tough for them to get what they need every day.

    The cold weather and thick fog have also caused train delays in many parts of northern India. The Indian Railways carries about 23 million people every day and is very important for the country’s transportation. A lot of trains have been very late, making it hard for people to travel as planned.

    Delhi is very cold right now. In some places, the temperature has dropped to 7 degrees Celsius. The recent cold weather has been very difficult for homeless people in Delhi who usually sleep on the streets.

    The cold weather is making people sick, especially in Delhi where the pollution is really bad in the winter.

    Because of fog, the weather department in India wants people to be careful when driving. They are telling people to use fog lights to see better on the roads. It has also told people to stay inside unless there is an emergency and to wear a face covering when outside.

  • Plane with Indian nationals, detained in France, arrives in India

    Plane with Indian nationals, detained in France, arrives in India

    A plane carrying hundreds of Indian nationals who were held for days at an airport in France over human trafficking fears has arrived in India.

    The chartered Airbus A340, which had been flying from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Nicaragua, aroused suspicion during a refuelling stop.

    It left with 276 passengers but 25 people including two minors remained in France after applying for asylum.

    Two suspected traffickers also remain in France for further investigation.

    However the two were set free by the courts.

    The Legend Airlines flight landed in Mumbai early on Tuesday local time.

    Indian passengers who reached Mumbai airport after the French authorities allowed 276 of them to travel
    Image caption,French authorities had grounded the plane over suspicion of trafficking

    Photos shared by news agency ANI show several passengers sitting on plastic chairs at the Mumbai airport after the flight landed. Some of the passengers could be seen leaving the airport but BBC Marathi reports that most of them refused to answer questions from the media.

    The plane had initially been prevented from leaving Châlons-Vatry Airport, about 130km (81 miles) from Paris, on Thursday after authorities received an anonymous tip-off that some passengers might be “victims of human trafficking”, Parisian prosecutors say.

    Most of those aboard were believed to be Indian citizens working in the UAE. A third of the passengers are reported to be from India’s affluent western state of Gujarat.

    French authorities reportedly also suspected that the people on board might have been travelling to Nicaragua before attempting to enter the US or Canada.

    It was not clear whether authorities had definitively determined that no crime had been committed before allowing the plane to leave.

    It is also unclear why the flight went to Mumbai instead of resuming its journey to Nicaragua.

    Legend Airlines is a Romanian charter airline with a fleet of four planes, according to the online flight tracker Flightradar.

  • India makes history in women’s Test Cricket, defeat Australia by eight wickets in Mumbai

    India makes history in women’s Test Cricket, defeat Australia by eight wickets in Mumbai

    India notched their inaugural Test victory over Australia, clinching an eight-wicket win in a one-off match held in Mumbai.

    Australia commenced the final day with five wickets in hand in their second innings, carrying a lead of 46. However, India efficiently dismissed the tourists for 261.

    Subsequently, India successfully chased down a modest target of 75 shortly after lunch, propelled by Smriti Mandhana’s unbeaten 38.

    “It’s the reward for all the hard work we have done for so many years,” said India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.

    “It’s reward for the hard work and patience. We just wanted to play positive cricket.”

    India secured their maiden victory against Australia in women’s Tests, ending an 11-game winless streak against the top-ranked team in the format since their first encounter in 1977.

    India gained a crucial advantage in the contest with a first-innings lead of 187, amassing a formidable total of 406 in response to Australia’s 219.

    Contributions from Richa Ghosh (52), Jemimah Rodrigues (73), Deepti Sharma (78), and Smriti Mandhana (74) saw India’s batters making patient half-centuries. Spinner Ash Gardner claimed 4-100 for Australia.

    Australia struggled at the Wankhede Stadium, with vice-captain Tahlia McGrath being the only player to register a half-century in either innings for the tourists.

    Sneh Rana, India’s all-rounder, was named the player of the match for her off-spin, which yielded match figures of 7-119 from 44.4 overs.

    “A Test match in India is happening after a long time, so this win is right at the top,” Rana said.

    “For Indian fans also this win is huge. The players who are growing will see this win and want to play more Test cricket.”

    It was a disappointing start to Alyssa Healy’s reign as captain having been named as Meg Lanning’s permanent successor across all formats earlier this month.

    “Except for the first day, we showed a lot of fight,” Healy said.

    “Full credit to the Indian team, they just put too many runs on us. If we would have batted the first full day, we could have been in the game.”

    India’s triumph marks their second Test win this month, following a dominant 347-run victory over England in Mumbai.

    The teams are set to face each other in a series of three ODIs and three T20s starting on December 28.

  • Major suspect in India’s parliament breach detained

    Major suspect in India’s parliament breach detained

    The police in India have arrested a man who is said to be an important person involved in the security breach at the parliament.

    Lalit Jha, who is a teacher, gave himself up to the police in Delhi, India on Thursday. He hasn’t been brought to court yet.

    Four more people were arrested on Wednesday and now face charges under a tough anti-terror law.

    They have been taken to jail by the police for a week.

    The break-in at parliament has been the main news in India since Wednesday. It happened on the 22nd anniversary of a terrible attack on the parliament. This was just a few hours after the Prime Minister and others honored the people who were hurt or killed in the attack.

    Two men named Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma went into the MPs’ room, yelling and creating smoke. Two more people named Neelam and Amol Shinde were taken into custody for yelling chants and using colored gas outside the house.

    The four people in their 20s and 30s told the police that they were jobless and wanted to show they were unhappy with the government’s rules.

    The police have not found any link between the four people they arrested and any political groups.

    Some news reports say that Mr. Jha is the suspected leader who planned the security breach. He hasn’t said anything since the breach.

    The Times of India newspaper said that Mr Jha gave himself up to the police, and he was with another man who was also arrested.

    On Wednesday, a lawyer told a court in Delhi that the protest was a carefully planned plot while asking for custody of the four other accused.

    The breach has caused a big political argument – on Thursday, 14 opposition lawmakers were told they couldn’t be in parliament because they were protesting. They want to talk about the breach and are asking Mr Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to say something about it.

    They also want something to be done to Pratap Simha, a member of the BJP party, who they say signed the passes for the people who entered the public gallery in parliament without permission.

    Mr Simha and his party have not said anything about this officially. One of the people who is accused, Manoranjan, is from the area that Mr. Simha represents

  • Mass funeral for 64 victims of ethnic conflict in India

    Mass funeral for 64 victims of ethnic conflict in India

    Sixty people who died in fighting between different groups in Manipur, a state in India, will be buried almost eight months after the violence.

    64 people who died in the fighting were given back to their families on Thursday.

    The Meitei group and Kuki group started fighting on May 3rd because they couldn’t agree on how to share government benefits.

    At least 170 people were killed and many more had to leave their homes because of the violence.

    64 dead bodies were being kept in government morgues since early May. They belonged to the Kuki and Meitei communities. They were flown from the city Imphal and Churachandpur district to their families in other areas of the state.

    The Committee on Tribal Unity, a group that helps tribal communities in Manipur, asked for a 12-hour closing on Friday in Kangpokpi district in memory of the Kuki victims.

    The committee said that giving the bodies back was a long process and the return was eagerly anticipated after eight months of sadness, heartbreak, and hopelessness.

    The fighting between the Kukis and Meiteis has been very violent, with lots of people being killed and women being sexually assaulted. Most of the people who have been killed are Kukis.

    In August, the highest court in India made a group of three retired judges from high courts to check on how to help and support people in the state.

    The committee’s report said that out of 175 people who died during the fights in the state, they were able to identify 169 of them, but only 81 of the bodies were picked up by their families.

    In November, the court told the state government to help bury or burn the bodies that were not claimed in morgues by December.

  • India launches investigation into parliamentary security breach

    India launches investigation into parliamentary security breach

    India’s government is looking into a security problem at its parliament. Two people got into the building and caused a disturbance by yelling and releasing colored smoke.

    At least four people have been taken by the police and it’s said that two others are being held.

    We still don’t know why they did it.

    Opposition leaders didn’t like that security failed on the anniversary of a previous attack on the parliament.

    They want Pratap Simha, a member of the BJP, to be punished for allegedly allowing the intruders to enter the public gallery in parliament.

    MrSimha and his party have not said anything officially. The BBC sent an email to the MP to ask for their thoughts.

    Attackers release colored gas in India’s government building.

    On Thursday, there were more security measures around the parliament building. There were barriers outside the building to stop people from getting in.

    The meetings in both houses were stopped because the opposition politicians wanted to talk about the incident and hear from the prime minister and the home minister.

    “They should have at least criticized the incident,” said Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to reporters afterwards.

    Derek O’Brien, a member of the opposition in the upper house of parliament, called for Home Minister Amit Shah to make a statement. As a result, he was suspended for bad behavior.

    Before the meeting ended, defense minister Rajnath Singh said in parliament that everyone had criticized the incident. “We, including both ruling and opposition MPs, need to be cautious about who we give passes to enter parliament,” he said.

    A police officer told Reuters that people can’t visit the new parliament building until they make sure it’s safe.

    The news says that four people, three men and a woman in their 20s and 30s, will go to court on Thursday. The police have not said for sure who they are, but their families have talked to the local news and their pictures and names are in the newspapers.

    The event happened on Wednesday when politicians were working in the Lok Sabha, which is the lower part of India’s parliament. Earlier today, President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other leaders honored the nine people who were killed in the 2001 attack. All five of the attackers were also shot and killed.

    Lawmakers said that two men jumped into the room from where the public sits and released cans of colored smoke. One man was seen jumping from one table to another while the lawmakers and security officials tried to catch him.

    Another man and woman shouted chants outside the parliament and released colored smoke from containers. They were caught on camera being taken away by the police.

    Who are the people being charged.

    “Four people from different states in India have been arrested. Some media reports say they met on Facebook, but the BBC couldn’t confirm this independently. ”

    Some reporters outside the government building talked to one of the people accused of a crime as she was being taken away by the police. “My name is Neelam, and I am not part of any organization,” she said. She also said she was just a regular person without a job and wanted to protest against the government for being too harsh on the people.

    Her family talked to ANI news agency from their home in Jind district, northern Haryana. They said they didn’t know she went to Delhi. Her brother said that we only knew she was in Hisar for her studies.

    Neelam’s family said she had many degrees, including a master’s degree in education, but they were worried that she might not find a job.

    “Her mother told ANI that she used to say she’s very qualified but can’t find a job, so it’s better to die. ”

    The man she was protesting with is named Amol Shinde. He comes from Latur district in Maharashtra state. A government official said to the press that Mr. Shinde has been trying for the past few years to pass tests to become a police officer. The police say that his family did not know where he was.

    The two men who went into parliament are named Manoranjan D from Mysore, in southern Karnataka, and Sagar Sharma from Lucknow, in northern Uttar Pradesh.

    Devaraju Gowda, Manoranjan’s dad, said he didn’t approve of his son’s actions to the reporters.

    “This is not right. ” “He said you can protest outside parliament but you can’t do this,” He also said that Manoranjan has a degree in engineering and will raise chickens, sheep, and fish on the family’s land.

    “He reads many books about Vivekananda, who is an intellectual and philosopher. “Gowda said he just wanted to help society and people in need. The family is from the area where Mr. Simha works as a lawmaker, and he is accused of allowing the men to enter.

    Sagar Sharma was the guy who was caught on camera jumping on tables in parliament. His mother, Rani Sharma, said that he drove a tuk-tuk in the city of Lucknow.

    “He left two days ago,” she told the news agency ANI. “He said he was going with his friends for a job. ”

    Reports say the fifth person accused was arrested in Gurugram outside of Delhi, while another man was found in Rajasthan. Both guys are accused of aiding the four protesters.

  • India’s parliament witnesses chaotic scenes as two men invade chamber

    India’s parliament witnesses chaotic scenes as two men invade chamber

    In India’s parliament, there was a lot of confusion when two men came into the chamber and shouted and sprayed colored gas.

    Pictures show members of parliament and security officers trying to catch someone who broke in, and is seen jumping from one table to another.

    Politicians said the two people jumped from the visitors’ area into the center of the house. We don’t know why they are doing it.

    The reports say that the men were stopped by security and taken by them.

    The event happened while politicians were meeting in the Lok Sabha, which is the lower part of India’s government. Both houses took a break for a little while before they started again.

    “We are looking into the issue and have requested the Delhi Police to help with the investigation,” said Om Birla, the speaker of Lok Sabha.

    Two more people – a man and a woman – have been arrested for protesting outside the parliament by using colorful gas canisters. The police were seen taking them away.

    Two people jumped down from the audience area and there was smoke. There was a lot of confusion and disorder everywhere. Security officers were too strong for both of them,” lawmaker Danish Ali said to reporters outside of the parliament.

    The security breach happened on the 22nd anniversary of a serious attack on India’s parliament where 14 people, including five attackers, were killed.

    Earlier today, President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other leaders honored the victims of the attack.

    Karti Chidambaram, a member of parliament from the Congress party, said he was waiting to speak when everything became chaotic.

    All of a sudden, it seemed like someone had fallen from the balcony where the visitors sit. Then we figured out that he purposely jumped into the well. There was someone else, and both of them took out containers that were giving off yellow smoke,” he said.

  • BBC declares reorganisation for its operations in India

    BBC declares reorganisation for its operations in India

    The BBC is changing how it works in India to follow the country’s rules about foreign investments.

    Four workers are leaving the BBC to start a new company called Collective Newsroom. This company will be owned by Indians and will include the BBC’s six Indian language services.

    The BBC will continue to gather news in India in English.

    This year, the tax authorities searched the BBC’s offices in India as part of an investigation.

    Foreign funding for digital news companies in India can only make up to 26% of their total funding under new rules.

    The new rule says that most of the owners of a company publishing digital news in India must be Indian citizens.

    Rupa Jha, who is in charge of India at the BBC, will be in charge of Collective Newsroom with Mukesh Sharma, Sanjoy Majumder, and Sara Hassan.

    Employees from the six language services – BBC Gujarati, BBC Hindi, BBC Marathi, BBC Punjabi, BBC Tamil and BBC Telugu – will be part of the new company. Members of the BBC India YouTube channel in English will also join them.

    “Ms Jha said that people in India can trust that the BBC’s programs in Indian languages will give them good information and entertainment. ”

    The company is being looked at for breaking the rules about investing in other countries. Tax authorities searched its offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

    The searches in February happened a few weeks after the TV aired a documentary in the UK that said bad things about the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The Indian government said the searches were legal and were not related to the documentary, which was not shown in India at that time.

    Over 300 people work for the BBC in India. The BBC started showing programs in Hindi in 1940.

    Jonathan Munro, who is the deputy CEO of BBC News, said that BBC has a long history in India and it will continue to grow with the formation of Collective Newsroom.

  • Court in India maintains removal of Kashmir’s special status

    Court in India maintains removal of Kashmir’s special status

    India’s highest court has agreed that the former state of Jammu and Kashmir should no longer have its special status.

    In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government removed Article 370 from the Indian constitution, which had given the region a lot of freedom to make its own decisions.

    The land where over 12 million people live was divided into two parts run by the government.

    The court said that the government needs to have elections in the area by September 2024.

    The five judges decided that the region should become a state again as soon as possible.

    “The state of Jammu and Kashmir is not independent from other states,” Judge DY Chandrachud said while giving the decision.

    Justice SK Kaul suggested that a fair truth and reconciliation commission be created in Kashmir to look into human rights abuses by both government and non-government groups over the last few decades.

    Mr Modi promised to revoke something in 2019, and the court’s decision comes before he tries to get elected for a third time. Local leaders in the area are not happy about the decision.

    Omar Abdullah, who used to be the leader of a state, wrote on X that he felt sad but not discouraged.

    The pretty area of Jammu and Kashmir used to be ruled by a prince, but it became part of India in 1947 after Britain left and India was divided.

    India and Pakistan, who have nuclear weapons, have fought two wars and a small fight over Kashmir. Each group has taken control of various parts of the land, and they have agreed on a line to stop fighting.

    More guards have been placed in Kashmir since Monday morning to keep it safe.

    “We must make sure that there is peace in the Kashmir valley at all times,” VK Birdi, the inspector general of Kashmir zone, told PTI news agency.

    Security was increased and the region had no communication when the revocation happened.

    On 5 August 2019, the Indian government took away most of the special rights given to the people of Jammu and Kashmir state through Article 370 of the Indian constitution.

    The group that managed the state’s money, jobs, schools, and economy was disbanded. A new leader was chosen to take care of the area until people could vote for their own leader. Many people who speak out against the government were taken by the police.

    Article 370 gave the state the power to have its own set of laws, its own flag, and freedom to make its own rules. The federal government was in charge of foreign relations, protecting the country, and communication.

    As a result, Jammu and Kashmir could create its own rules about who can live there, who can own property, and what rights people have. It might also stop people from India who don’t live in the state from buying land or living there.

    The constitutional rule has supported India’s difficult relationship with Kashmir, the only region with mostly Muslim people that became a part of India when it was divided.

    MrModi and his political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been against Article 370 for a long time. They promised to remove it in the 2019 election.

    They said it should be removed to unite Kashmir with the rest of India. After winning by a lot in the election, the government quickly started working on its promises.

    Critics say the BJP wants to change the population of the Muslim-majority area by letting non-Kashmiris to purchase land there.

    In August, the Supreme Court started listening to about 23 petitions that questioned the government’s decision.

    The people who signed the petition had emphasized how special Kashmir’s connection is to India. They said that Article 370 helped connect the laws of India and Jammu and Kashmir.

    The state included the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, the Hindu-dominated Jammu region, and the high altitude Buddhist area of Ladakh.

    The people who signed the petition said that the government’s plan to change Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into federally controlled territories goes against India’s constitution because it needs the state’s legislative assembly to agree before making this kind of change.

    The people who signed the petition said that when Article 370 was removed, it also took away the region’s ability to make its own decisions without asking the people who live there. However, the government said that they gave up their power to India in 1947.

    After the special status was removed, a lot of the rules in Kashmir were made less strict. As a result, more than 16 million tourists visited the beautiful Kashmir valley in 2022. The government is prepared to have state elections and give back the status of statehood.

    However, the government often limits people’s ability to communicate in the area for safety reasons. Rights groups say this is to stop people from speaking out against the government.

  • Kaathal: Indian superstar defying expectations in gay role

    Kaathal: Indian superstar defying expectations in gay role

    Three weeks ago, a preview of the movie Kaathal: The Core, which is in the Malayalam language and stars Indian actor Mammootty, was released on YouTube.

    It didn’t reveal much about the main problem in the movie but it started conversations in Kerala, where the movie is from. A famous actor playing a gay role got a lot of attention from fans, critics, and commentators.

    No Indian actor with 50 years of experience and three National Film Awards, and a huge fan base, had ever played a role like this before.

    Jeo Baby, who made The Great Indian Kitchen movie about patriarchy, directed the movie Kaathal which got people talking.

    The movie is about a man who is secretly gay and married to a woman. Mathew, played by Mammootty, is getting ready to run in an election in his town. But his wife Omana, played by Jyothika, wants to divorce him because she thinks he is gay. The movie shows how the case affects their family and community in many different ways.

    “I wanted to make a film about how LGBTQ people live with us and how they fit into our families,” Baby told the BBC.

    The movie needed a talented actor like Mammootty to act in it. He also produced the movie. “He quickly understood the movie and was ready to take on the role. ”

    The reviews say that the shows in Kerala were really good, and all the tickets were sold out.

    The social media posts for Kaathal’s posters and trailer, including the ones shared on Mammootty’s accounts, encouraged people to leave comments. Some people who are against LGBT people asked others to not watch the movie and criticized the actor for his part in the film. Muslim leaders didn’t like how LGBTQ people were shown in the movie and were worried it would influence young people.

    The makers and Mammootty might get criticized for this, according to Athul PV, who helps organize the Kerala Queer Pride.

    “A lot of people admire him as an actor, so when he plays this character, you can tell he really thought about picking this role and making the film,” Athul says.

    A lot of people in the LGBTQ community in the state liked how the movie showed the life of a married gay man in a caring way.

    “The movie might have some flaws, but it’s a brave effort,” said Prijith PK, who started Queerythm, a group that supports the community.

    Even though Kerala is a developed state with high literacy, it still has many areas that are traditional and male-dominated.

    Roshni Prabhakaran, who studies how men and women are shown in movies, says there are not enough movies that show the LGBTQ community in a thoughtful way.

    Malayalam movies have sometimes shown characters who seem to be queer since the 1970s, but one of the first big movies with a queer character was in the 2005 film Chanthupottu.

    The movie shows a man who starts off as more feminine and then becomes more masculine. It got a lot of people mad because the movie spread wrong ideas, even though the person who made it said the character wasn’t gay. Activists said that the title of the movie was often used as an insult for transgender people. “Chanthupottu” means a red dot worn on the forehead.

    Athul thinks Chanthupottu had a bad effect. “It made people think that this is how queer people are. ”

    Lately, famous actors from Kerala have been acting as gay characters in movies.

    Prof Prabhakaran says that Nivin Pauly’s movie Moothon got a lot of attention at film festivals but didn’t do so well with the general public. However, Prithviraj Sukumaran’s 2013 movie Mumbai Police received negative feedback for its portrayal of shame and homophobia, despite having a popular actor in the lead role.

    Many people say that Kaathal is very different in that way. Professor Prabhakaran said we have not seen a closeted man coming out of a heterosexual marriage in Malayalam cinema before.

    Gay men who have seen Kaathal, say that it’s obvious the movie was made with the help of the LGBTQ+ community.

    The movie doesn’t discriminate against LGBTQ people like many other movies do, according to Prijith, who is a diversity and inclusion manager in Kerala.

    “Kaathal is like saying sorry for how queer people have been treated unfairly and shown wrongly in Malayalam movies. ”

    Mammootty’s strong presence affects both the movie and how people like it. Even though the actor is known for making his characters seem serious and deep, some of the movies he’s been in also have old-fashioned ideas and mistreatment of women.

    In 2016, the actor got in trouble with the state’s women’s commission because his movie Kasaba had disrespectful dialogues about women. The commission said that if an actor like Mammootty delivers poor dialogues, it could make people think it’s okay and that’s not good.

    “Prijith says Kaathal is being himself and undoing the tough, strong, arrogant character he usually plays in his movies. ”

    Recently, Mammootty has been trying to make his mark by making movies under his own company and trying new things that may not be very popular with the audience.

    In a recent interview, he said that every new Malayalam film is like a test to see what the audience likes. They try out new actors, new story topics, and new types of films.

    “I believe this is why the Indian film industry admires Malayalam cinema the most. ” Of course, I also want my movies to be part of this experience.

    Kaathal is about “a lot of men in our society,” according to Prijith.

    “The movie shows that these are people who live in our houses. “

  • Firebrand MP removed from India parliament over bribery scandal

    Firebrand MP removed from India parliament over bribery scandal

    India’s parliament kicked out a member of the opposition party because he was accused of taking money in return for asking questions.

    Mahua Moitra said she was kicked out without any evidence, even though she denies the accusations.

    She can choose to take the decision to court and argue against it.

    Friday, lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted to expel someone after passing a resolution.

    Earlier today, a report from an ethics panel suggested that Ms Moitra should be kicked out of the house. The lawmakers who disagree with the report wanted more time to read it before discussing it, but the speaker said no.

    Congress MP Manish Tewari said during the debate that if we had been given a few days to study the report and share our opinions with the house, it wouldn’t have caused such a big problem. The decision the house is making is very important and we need time to think about it.

    Ms Moitra is a member of Trinamool Congress party, which is currently in charge of the West Bengal state. She strongly criticizes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has the most seats in the Lok Sabha.

    Her friends in the party protested in the building on Friday, chanting and supporting Ms Moitra. The meeting was stopped for an hour before the lawmakers came back to talk.

    Leaders of the Trinamool Congress said the report was not reliable and insisted that the accusation of bribery was untrue. They and other people against the government have said that Ms Moitra was attacked because she spoke out against Mr Modi’s party.

    Speaker Om Birla said Ms Moitra couldn’t talk in the house on Friday. He said she already had a chance to defend herself in front of the ethics committee. Ms Moitra left when the committee was asking her questions. She said they were unfair and not right.

    The problem started in October when a politician named Nishikant Dubey accused Ms Moitra of asking questions about the Adani Group in return for gifts and money from a businessman named Darshan Hiranandani.

    Mr Adani is thought to be friends with Mr Modi and has been accused by politicians from other parties of getting advantages from their friendship, but both Mr Adani and the BJP say it’s not true.

    Earlier this year, a company in the United States accused Mr. Adani of doing illegal things with stocks and money for many years. The Adani Group says the allegations are not true and calls the report “malicious”.

    Mr Dubey said that until recently, Ms. Moitra asked 50 out of 61 questions in the Lok Sabha about the Adani Group. He also accused her of taking bribes worth 20 million rupees from Mr. Ms Moitra has said very strongly that this is not true.

    The BJP leader said he has proof against Ms Moitra from a lawyer named Jai Anant Dehadrai, who Ms Moitra called her ex-boyfriend.

    Mr Hiranandani told the ethics committee that the TMC leader is targeting Mr Adani because he wants to become well-known. Ms Moitra doubted if the affidavit was real, but Mr Hiranandani said he signed it willingly.

    Mr Dubey complained that Ms Moitra gave her login details to Mr Hiranandani so he could ask questions for her in Parliament.

    Ms Moitra said she gave her login information to the businessman, but she didn’t think she broke any rules by doing that.

    She has sued Mr Dubey and Mr Dehadrai in the Delhi high court for saying bad things about her.

  • Strong rains in Indian city leave path of devastation

    Strong rains in Indian city leave path of devastation

    A big storm hit the southern coast of India and caused a lot of flooding in Chennai city. The city is having a hard time getting back to normal.

    Officials are working to remove rainwater from houses and roads in the outer parts of the city.

    Some people say they can’t get the things they need and their electricity keeps going out a lot.

    At least 18 people have died in Tamil Nadu due to the heavy rain. Tamil Nadu’s capital city is Chennai.

    Cyclone Michaung arrived in Andhra Pradesh state on Tuesday. A child died and the crops were badly damaged before the cyclone became less strong.

    On Monday, Chennai got a lot of rain – about 24cm (9. 4in) The weather people in India say that’s a lot of rain.

    The big rain made people remember the bad floods in 2015. Many people died in the floods in Chennai, a big city in India. Many experts say that lots of Indian cities are not ready for very bad weather because buildings were built wherever and the cities were not planned well.

    On Monday, the Chennai airport closed for a day because its runway was flooded. Many trains were cancelled in the last three days. The flooding caused a lot of damage to businesses, including a company that makes products for Apple. It’s going to have a big impact on the economy.

    Thursday, city workers in Chennai were using machines to remove water from the roads in the southern part of the city so cars could drive through.

    J Radhakrishnan, the leader of Greater Chennai Corporation, told BBC Tamil that they took out as much water as they could after it rained for 36 hours non-stop. He said that by Wednesday night, most of the city’s floodwaters had gone down.

    Over the last three days, many people were taken to safe camps because of the floods. Some were brought to safety in boats made of rubber and fibre. Officials are also working to bring back drinking water to some places.

    Specialists say that too much building has used up a lot of the area where rain can go.

    “Whenever it rains a lot, homes in some suburbs of Chennai get flooded because the buildings are built on swampy land near lakes and ponds,” said David Manohar, an activist who researches urban flooding, speaking to BBC Tamil.

    Raj Bhagat P, an expert in analyzing Earth’s land and water, told Reuters that even though improved systems to carry away stormwater can reduce flooding, it won’t make much of a difference during very heavy and extremely heavy rains.

    The Tamil Nadu government has requested 50 billion rupees ($600 million; £478 million) in temporary help from the federal government for the state. The Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that infrastructure has been badly affected.

    Mr Radhakrishnan said that the authorities will look at all the places where the drains for rainwater were not working properly.

    “But that takes a long time. ” “Now we are focused on rescuing people,” he said.

    More information was provided by Saradha, Prabhakar Tamilarasu and Asfhak Ahamed in Chennai.

  • Cyclone Michaung: Cyclone with heavy rains makes landfall in India

    Cyclone Michaung: Cyclone with heavy rains makes landfall in India

    Severe weather with heavy rain and strong winds is hitting southern Andhra Pradesh state in India as a powerful cyclone hits the area.

    Nine people, including a child, have died in Andhra Pradesh and nearby Tamil Nadu state because of the heavy rain.

    Officials have moved many people out of areas that are at risk of flooding in both states.

    Many neighborhoods are underwater and videos show cars floating in the water.

    Cyclone Michaung has hit the land between Nellore and Kavali in Andhra Pradesh, according to the state chief minister’s office. The weather department in India said that the storm will have winds up to 110km/h (68mph) but they will slow down after the storm hits land.

    Approximately 9,500 people in Andhra Pradesh have been moved to 211 relief camps.

    “Very, very heavy rain will keep falling in Andhra Pradesh. ” The storm will become less strong and turn into a depression by Wednesday morning, according to Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, who is the director general of IMD. He told reporters this.

    A 4-year-old child died in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh after a wall fell on them according to a government official. Eight people died in Tamil Nadu because of the storm on Tuesday. They were killed by falling buildings and electricity.

    Weather experts have given a warning in certain areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Many schools, colleges, and offices are not open in some areas.

    Many flights and trains have been stopped in Andhra Pradesh and farmers have reported damage to their crops.

    There are warnings for heavy rain and strong winds in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha because they are near the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Authorities have told the fishermen not to go out in the rough seas and said that the strong waves could cause big damage to homes.

    Nearly 7,000 people had to leave their homes in coastal areas of Tamil Nadu on Monday because of strong rains and winds.

    The Chennai airport, which is one of the busiest in India, was closed on Monday because its runway was flooded. It started again on Tuesday morning because the cyclone was moving away and the rain was getting lighter.

    In Chennai, which is a big place for making electronics and other things, some factories, including the ones that make iPhones, were shut down. This was reported by Reuters on Monday.

    After the rain stopped, many areas in Chennai had too much water, which made it hard to get around. Some people told BBC Tamil reporters that they were having a hard time because they didn’t have electricity and water after the rains.

  • South coast of India pounded by Cyclone Michaung

    South coast of India pounded by Cyclone Michaung

    A big storm with lots of rain and strong winds is hitting the southern coast of India. Some people have died because of it.

    Many people in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have been moved from their homes because they are in areas that could flood.

    Heavy rains have caused flooding in many neighborhoods in Chennai. The flooding has led to cars being washed away and trees being pulled up from the ground.

    Chennai airport, which is one of the busiest in India, stopped working on Monday.

    Two people died when the rain made a wall fall down in Chengalpattu, according to Reuters news agency.

    The cyclone called Michaung, with winds as fast as 110km/h (68mph), is supposed to hit Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday morning between Nellore and Machilipatnam.

    Weather experts have warned that some areas in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are in big danger, and schools should be careful. Schools and banks are closed on Monday and will stay closed on Tuesday in at least four areas.

    In Chennai and nearby areas, many factories shut down, including ones that make iPhones, according to Reuters.

    In December 2015, 400 people died in Chennai when the city was flooded.

    People are driving through a road that is full of water because it has been raining a lot in Chennai. A big storm called cyclone Michaung is about to hit the area.

    There has been a lot of rain in north Tamil Nadu, Rayalaseema, and Andhra Pradesh in the past day, and there are warnings for rain and strong winds in those areas as well as in Telangana and Odisha.

    India’s weather department has warned people to stay inside in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

    It has also said that a lot of houses in the area will be badly damaged, and it warned fishermen not to go out to sea in certain coastal areas.

    A warning for strong winds has been given for some areas near the Bay of Bengal.

    Some areas in Andhra Pradesh could receive more than 20 centimeters (eight inches) of rain in the next day.

    In the last day, some parts of Chennai have gotten a lot of rain, with Perungudi getting the most at 29cm.

    About 7,000 people have been moved from the state’s coastal areas and another 21,000 might also need to leave, depending on how bad the cyclone is, according to the media.

    There is a warning for thick fog in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh, and East Rajasthan.

    The bad weather should be gone by Wednesday morning.

  • Yoga and phone games mentioned by rescued Indian labourers

    Yoga and phone games mentioned by rescued Indian labourers

    41 Indian workers were stuck in a tunnel in Uttarakhand for 17 days, but they have been rescued and are now safe in the hospital getting better.

    In a video that was shared with the media, they can be seen eating on their hospital beds and seem to be feeling happy.

    The workers were stuck in the tunnel on November 12th because part of it caved in from a landslide.

    They were released on Tuesday evening after a big rescue effort that overcame a lot of problems.

    The whole country felt relieved when the rescuers finally brought out the last of the 41 men from the dark tunnel.

    They were carried out on stretchers through a 90cm (3ft) pipe that had been put in a wall of debris that was blocking them in.

    This good ending happened after a day of waiting, as officials said they made progress in the rescue efforts.

    Videos show the workers coming out of the tunnel, they are happy and friendly, waving and shaking hands with others.

    Their friends and family were feeling very happy and relieved. Some of them had been waiting outside the tunnel for days, hoping that the rescue would go well.

    They were putting flower necklaces on the workers, hugging them, and giving them candy.

    Chaudhary Lal, who was in a photo kissing his son Manjit, one of the workers stuck, told the media that he was really happy and relieved to see his son.

    “I already lost my son in an accident at a construction site. ” “I didn’t want to lose another person,” he said.

    Dhanpati, Ram Sundar’s mother, told the news that they celebrated Diwali in their village on Tuesday because her son came out of the tunnel safely. They didn’t celebrate it on 12 November, the actual festival day.

    The families of the workers who were trapped have thanked the rescue workers for bringing their loved ones out safely.

    At the same time, the workers have been talking to the media about what they have been through.

    One of them told ANI that he recorded a video of his coworkers at Chinyalisaur Community Health Centre, where they went for health check-ups.

    The workers are seen sitting on their beds, looking at their phones, eating, drinking tea, and taking pictures of themselves. Some people are brushing their teeth and some are talking by a water station.

    Satya Dev, one of the men stuck, said in the Times of India that it felt very cramped inside the tunnel and he was happy to finally get out.

    Another worker named Chamra Oraon told a newspaper called the Indian Express that sometimes he felt worried and anxious while working inside the tunnel, and he didn’t know when he would be able to come out.

    “I never gave up,” he said. He played games on his phone and charged it with portable chargers from rescuers who passed them through a pipe.

    “We couldn’t make any calls because there was no network, so we talked to each other and got to know each other,” he told the newspaper.

    Another worker talked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the phone. They said that they would support and encourage each other to stay positive and also have meals together.

    “He said we would walk and do yoga to stay active in the tunnel. ”

    Another worker said they only turned on their phones to see the time to save battery. But when they got chargers, they could use their phones more to have fun.

    A part of the 4. 5km (3 miles) Silkyara tunnel collapsed on 12 November. The tunnel is a part of a big government project called Char Dham. This project wants to make it easier for Hindu pilgrims to visit important religious sites in the Himalayan state by building roads.

    Environmentalists and people who live there say that building things too quickly, like the Char Dham project, has caused the land to sink. They think this made the tunnel collapse.

  • All 41 workmen saved from collapsing tunnel in India after 17-day battle

    All 41 workmen saved from collapsing tunnel in India after 17-day battle

    A group of 41 workers were greeted with cheers as they came out from a collapsed tunnel under the Himalayas. It was the end of a risky and amazing rescue mission that took weeks to drill through rocks and debris.

    The men were stuck for 17 days while teams drilled a way out of the mountain. They faced problems but eventually drilled the last few meters by hand.

    Video from the scene showed Pushkar Singh Dhami, the leader of Uttarakhand state, meeting with the workers as they came out of the tunnel. Everyone seemed very happy.

    Dhami said at a press conference on Tuesday night that all 41 workers are healthy.

    Because they have grown up in a different place, we will do what the doctor recommends. They will be watched closely at the beginning. “No one is being harsh or negative,” Dhami said.

    They don’t have any signs of being weak or having a fever, they are all healthy. They could have used stretchers to come out, but they chose to crawl out by themselves,” he said. Then he thanked the workers, engineers, and government departments who helped with the rescue.

    The workers who were saved will get a check for 100,000 rupees (about $1,200) each, Dhami said.

    Dhami said we will also ask the company if the 41 workers can go home and be with their family for 15 days, 20 days, or 1 month.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the successful rescue is making everyone feel emotional. He said this in a statement on X.

    “I want to tell the men stuck in the tunnel that your courage and patience are inspiring everyone,” he wrote.

    I also praise the determination of everyone involved in this rescue. Their courage and persistence have given our hardworking brothers a new chance at life. Modi said that everyone working on this mission has shown a great example of people helping each other and working together.

    The men were stuck since November 12 when the tunnel they were building in India’s Uttarakhand state collapsed, blocking their only way out with a lot of rocks, concrete, and metal.

    The first workers were taken out after many painful problems. The machines used to dig through the rubble broke down, so the workers had to dig by hand and use more dangerous methods to rescue them.

    The engineers tried using a drill to clear the debris, but it broke down. They had to stop using it and instead, dig by hand to rescue the trapped men.

    At the same time, rescuers were drilling down through the unstable mountain to reach the trapped men in case the first way didn’t work. However, the first plan ended up being successful.

    After finishing drilling, the rescuers put a big pipe through the exit shaft to bring the men to safety.

    The workers, who came from poor states in India, are getting food, water, and oxygen through a long pipe. The authorities say they are still healthy.

    The doctors at the location have been talking to the men inside regularly, giving them advice on how to stay positive and calm. Their families have been meeting at the end of the tunnel every day to pray for their loved ones to come back safely.

    The tunnel is a part of a big project called Modi’s Char Dham Highway. It’s supposed to upgrade the road, but some people think it’s a bad idea. The country wants to make its roads and transportation better so that people can easily get to important Hindu pilgrimage sites.

    Environmentalists are upset about the project because they think it might harm the Himalayan region, where many people are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis.

    A group of experts told India’s highest court that building highways will cause more landslides and soil erosion in a fragile environment, as stated in a 2020 court report.

    Officials are looking into why the tunnel collapsed and they will probably check if drilling on the mountain had something to do with it. CNN has reached out to the Indian government’s department for environment and climate change.

    A tunnel in India collapsed recently, adding to a list of construction accidents in the country. India has been working hard to improve its infrastructure and transportation system, spending a lot of money to do so.

    In August, a lot of workers died when a bridge being built fell down in the northeastern state of Mizoram. In June, a big bridge being built over the River Ganges in Bihar collapsed for the second time in a year. People are wondering if it was built well.

  • Indian actress asks women to raise awareness against deepfake

    Indian actress asks women to raise awareness against deepfake

    Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna recently asked people not to share deepfake videos after she was targeted with one.

    She encouraged young women to speak out if someone bullies them with that kind of stuff.

    Ms Mandanna posted the message a few weeks after a fake video of her spread quickly on social media.

    The star’s picture was changed to replace the face of a British-Indian woman in an Instagram video.

    She said the incident was “very scary” back then.

    On Monday, the 27-year-old actress said that the support she received from people in the movie industry made her realize that sharing videos like that should not be considered normal.

    “It made me feel protected and confident,” she said to the reporters on Monday.

    “I want to tell all girls that this is not normal. ” When something is bothering you, you don’t have to stay silent.

    In a post on X (formerly Twitter) right after her fake video became very popular, Ms Mandanna wrote, “If this happened to me when I was in school or college, I really can’t imagine how I could handle it. ”

    The actor thanked her family and friends for their support and asked for the problem to be dealt with quickly so that more people wouldn’t be harmed by identity theft.

    India’s Technology Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that deepfake videos are a new danger to democracy.

    Mr Vaishnaw led a meeting with social media and artificial intelligence companies where he said the government will make a plan to stop deepfakes.

    The actress has acted in different languages like Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada, and has won many awards for her acting.

    She will be in a new movie with actor Ranbir Kapoor called Animal. The movie is coming out on 1 December.

  • Drilling continues to rescue Indian labourers stranded

    Drilling continues to rescue Indian labourers stranded

    Workers are drilling again near the tunnel entrance in the Uttarakhand state of India. 41 workers have been stuck there for 10 days.

    Work stopped on Friday because rescuers heard a cracking sound while drilling.

    Authorities say they have other plans to save the men, like drilling down from the top of the mountain, and they are going well.

    The workers were digging a tunnel when part of it collapsed on 12 November because of a landslide.

    The rescue team reached the trapped men and gave them oxygen, dry snacks, and water through a special pipe that was used for the tunnel construction.

    On Monday, worried family members gathered around the tunnel felt a little better when a small camera was placed inside and showed footage of the workers. Authorities told them to show who they are on camera and promised that they would be saved soon.

    The new pipe is bigger and officials say they can now provide more oxygen, food, and other important things like medicine, phones, and chargers.

    On Tuesday, the workers received their first hot meal in 10 days. Rescuers put khichdi (a rice and lentil dish) in bottles and sent it to them.

    Rescuers started drilling again near the entrance of the tunnel at 2:00 am local time on Wednesday. Officials told the BBC. They have dug a hole 39 meters (128 feet) into the rubble up to now.

    So far, they have put in four 900mm wide pipes through the rubble. Now they are using 800mm wide pipes and a telescopic tunneling method to keep pushing through the debris.

    The idea is to send different sized pipes through a 60m wall of debris to make a small tunnel for the workers to crawl through.

    However, the rescue has been slowed down because the ground is not stable, there are big rocks, and debris is falling, which is causing delays and problems.

    On Wednesday, officials said at a press briefing that rescuers found iron rods in the debris while drilling, but it didn’t cause any problems for the work.

    Other plans are also moving forward – people are trying to reach the men through the other side of the tunnel.

    On Wednesday, a leader said they built a track and moved equipment to start drilling straight down into the mountain.

    Officials are sure they can rescue the men, but they don’t know how long it will take.

    “We are trying everything we can and we will do it,” said Col Deepak Patil, who is in charge of the rescue mission, in an interview with the BBC earlier this week.

    The person in charge said at a meeting on Wednesday that they want to tell us some good news either tonight or tomorrow. He also said that the doctors are at the place where the workers are trapped and talking to them.

    The Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district is a part of a big project by the government to make it easier for people to travel to important religious places in Uttarakhand. The hilly state has lots of tall mountains and icy rivers. It’s where important places for Hindus can be found.

    The area is not very strong against natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides.

  • Rescuers in collapsed tunnel in India modifies strategy after a week

    Rescuers in collapsed tunnel in India modifies strategy after a week

    Indian officials are trying to find new ways to save 40 construction workers who are stuck underground for more than a week.

    The workers got stuck when a tunnel they were building fell down a bit in Uttarakhand last Sunday.

    Even though the men are given food and water, a doctor said some of them are getting sick, and have been throwing up and getting headaches.

    State officials have agreed to buy more tools and hire more people to make escape tunnels on both sides of the tunnel.

    We are still thinking about drilling straight down from the top of the hill, which we are already doing.

    Rescue workers have been working without stopping to reach the trapped workers. They got a strong drilling machine on Thursday to help. But the mountain is delicate and there might be more rocks falling, making the rescue harder.

    “We are going to use a stop-and-start method to keep things balanced,” said Anshu Manish Khalkho, the director of NHIDCL.

    Officials in India asked for help from teams in Norway and Thailand who were able to successfully rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand in 2018.

    The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute said in an email to CNN that their partner Indian Railways is helping with the rescue, but their team is not involved right now.

    Khalkho told the news that rescuers used a strong drilling machine to dig about 25 meters (82 feet) into the collapsed Uttarkashi tunnel. This is about one-third of the way to the trapped workers.

    The people trying to help have 60 meters of stuff in the way of the men who are trapped. Khalkho said that special pipes for the rescue mission were put 25 meters (82 feet) into the debris and it worked. But there is still a little more distance to go before we reach the 40 workers.

    We are putting pipes into the new hole and joining them together with welding, Khalkho said.

    These pipes are connected together and will help the trapped men to escape from the part of the tunnel that has caved in.

    “Even though it may seem simple at first, we have to consider the impact of the drilling vibrations on the delicate ground when we’re working at the site,” Khalkho told reporters when asked how long the rescue mission would take, which is now in its seventh day.

    He also said that a backup drilling machine is being flown in from Indore city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh in India to help with the rescue. Reuters reported on Saturday that the first drilling machine broke on Friday and needs to be replaced.

    The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, told reporters that the rescue work is going well with help from engineers and experts from NHIDCL. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keeping an eye on the situation.

    Dhami said on Sunday that saving everyone’s life is the most important thing. The state government is ready to help all the agencies. Expert teams are working on different ways to rescue the men.

    Dhami went to the site to look at the relief and rescue work happening there. He posted about it on X on Sunday.

  • Assembly elections 2023: Significant state elections to be held in India today

    Assembly elections 2023: Significant state elections to be held in India today

    Many people have been voting in Mizoram and Chhattisgarh as important state elections started in India.

    They are one of five states having elections from November 7 to November 30. Vote counting has to be done by 3 December.

    These surveys are considered as an early indication of the upcoming national elections in the following year.

    Experts believe that they will provide information on how well the ruling and opposing parties will do in the upcoming 2024 general election.

    This month, there are also elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the north of India, and Telangana in the south.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), only holds power in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress party is in charge of governing Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and they are not the ruling party at the moment.

    Voting started on Tuesday morning in Mizoram and 20 areas in Chhattisgarh.

    At 1:00 PM IST (7:30 AM GMT), 44. 5% of voters in Chhattisgarh and 52. 73% of voters in Mizoram had cast their votes.

    This is the first vote in the country’s north-eastern area after fighting between different ethnic groups broke out in Manipur state in May. More than 200 people have died in the fights.

    Manipur, a state that borders Mizoram, is under the control of the BJP political party. Around 12,000 people who were forced to leave their homes because of the violence have relocated to Mizoram since May, according to information provided by the government.

    Last month, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga gave an interview to the BBC’s Jugal Purohit. He criticized the way the BJP is dealing with the crisis and stated that he would not stand on the same platform as PM Modi during his election campaigns.

    Mr Zoramthanga’s political party, the Mizo Nationalist Front (MNF), is competing against the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and the Congress Party in the election as it tries to regain power.

    In Chhattisgarh, the ruling Congress party is competing against the BJP. The state is one of just four states where the Congress is in control.

    The party has revealed many plans to help women, farmers, and tribal communities in the state during its election campaign.

    Twelve out of the 20 seats that were voted on Tuesday were in the Bastar region. This area is controlled by Maoist rebels. Many extra soldiers were sent to make sure everything was safe.

    Before the voting on Tuesday, a soldier who is a part of a military group got hurt in a blast. The blast was believed to be caused by the rebels according to the police. The incident took place in the Sukma region of the state.

    According to news agency ANI, three security personnel were hurt in a gunfight with the rebels in a different area of the district.