India to reopen for tourists from October 15

India will reopen for tourists from October 15 after being closed for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Thursday.

"After considering various inputs, the MHA (home ministry) has decided to begin granting fresh Tourist Visas for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from October 15, 2021," the home ministry said in a statement.

"Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so only with effect from November 15, 2021 on fresh Tourist Visas," it added. 

India suspended all visas for foreigners in March 2020 when the pandemic took off as the government imposed a strict lockdown.

Restrictions on some categories of foreigners such as diplomats and businesspeople were later lifted but tourists remained barred.

Earlier this year India was hit by a severe wave of coronavirus infections with about 400,000 cases and 4,000 deaths every day.

But cases in the country of 1.3 billion people have since slowed sharply to around 20,000 new daily infections and 200 to 300 deaths.

At the same time restrictions on most activities have been lifted.

Agence France-Presse

Canada bans passenger flights from India, Pakistan for 30 days

OTTAWA - Canada suspended all passenger flights from India and Pakistan on Thursday for 30 days, Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra announced, citing increased Covid-19 cases detected in travelers arriving from these countries.

"Given the higher number of cases of Covid-19 detected in air passengers arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan... I am suspending all commercial and private passenger flights arriving in Canada from Indian and Pakistan for 30 days," Alghabra told a news conference.

"This is a temporary measure, while we assess the evolving situation and determine appropriate measures going forward," he added.

The restriction will go into effect at 11:30 pm Eastern Time Thursday (0330 GMT Friday).

It will not apply to cargo flights, Alghabra said, particularly to ensure the continued shipment of vaccines, personal protective equipment and other essential goods.

India, which is undergoing an alarming surge being blamed on a "double mutant" variant and super-spreader events, reported a single-day high of more than 300,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that overall only 1.8 percent of travelers to Canada have tested positive for coronavirus.

While India accounts for 20 percent of recent air travel to Canada, more than half of all positive tests at the border were from flights arriving from the country, she said, adding that "a similarly high level of cases... have also been linked to Pakistan."

"It is a significant volume," she said, "and given the epidemiological situation in India, it makes sense to pause travel from that region while our scientists and researchers (try) to better understand this variance of interest, to better understand where the trajectory of the cases in that region are going."

BAN ON NON-ESSENTIAL FLIGHTS

Health Canada data showed 18 flights from Delhi and two from Lahore, to Toronto or Vancouver, in the past two weeks had at least one passenger onboard who was diagnosed with the illness.

Canada last December briefly suspended flights from Britain over concerns about outbreaks of a Covid variant. 

Earlier on Thursday Parliament voted unanimously to urge the government to ban non-essential flights from Covid hotspots where variants have surged, including India and Brazil.

Alghabra said there are currently no scheduled flights between Canada and Brazil, but added that "we will not hesitate to ban travel to other countries if the science bears that out."

Several dozen cases of the variant of the virus initially declared in India have already been identified in Canada, according to media reports.

Some countries have taken similar steps to prevent worsening outbreaks due to this variant: the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday that it will suspend all flights from India.

Britain also this week banned entry to travelers from India, and France has announced that they will be subject to a 10-day quarantine upon arrival in the country.

All travelers to Canada are already subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. They must also present a negative Covid test before boarding an international flight, and another upon arrival in Canada.

Struggling with a third wave of infections, Canada recorded 9,000 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 1,151,276 cases and 23,812 deaths.

Agence France-Presse

Asia's rising coronavirus cases a worry as vaccine doubts cloud campaigns

SINGAPORE - India, South Korea and Thailand faced mounting coronavirus infections on Thursday, undermining cautious hopes that Asia might be emerging from the worst of the pandemic as worries about safety threatened to delay vaccination drives.

India reported a record 126,789 new cases, the third day this week tallies have surged to more than 100,000, catching by surprise authorities who have blamed crowding and a reluctance to wear masks as shops and offices reopen.

More infectious variants of the virus may have played a role in India's surge, some epidemiologists say, with hundreds of cases found of variants first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil.

The alarming numbers have led to New Zealand putting a temporary ban on anyone arriving from India, even for the first time blocking New Zealand citizens from coming home, for about two weeks.

"We are temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travellers from India," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference in Auckland.

New Zealand, which has virtually eliminated the virus within its borders, recorded 23 new cases at its border on Thursday, 17 from India.

Two other countries that managed to largely keep the coronavirus under control during the first year of the pandemic were also grappling with new waves, though smaller than India's.

South Korea reported 700 new cases on Thursday, its highest daily figure since early January, and the prime minister warned that new social distancing rules would likely be needed.

Thailand, which has been planning a cautious re-opening of its tourist industry, reported a rise in new daily infections to 405 on Thursday, taking its total number of infections to 30,310, with 95 deaths.

Adding to Thai worries, it has detected 24 cases of a highly contagious virus variant first detected in Britain, its first reported domestic transmission of the variant.

Cases are also rising in parts of Europe but South America is the most worrying region of the world for infections, with cases mounting in nearly every country, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

SUSPENDING SHOTS

Asia's increasing cases comes as worries are growing over the safety of one of the most prominent vaccines against the virus.

The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday said it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine, although it said the vaccine's advantages still outweighed the risks.

Both South Korea and the Philippines have suspended use of the vaccine for people under 60 because of possible links to blood clots, while Australia and Taiwan said they would continue to use it.

Worry about the vaccine could delay immunisation drives in Asia, some of which are already dogged by supply problems. Campaigns in most parts of Asia lag those in places like Britain and the United States.

Australia's program to vaccinate its near 26 million people is more than 80 percent behind its original schedule.

Authorities there had pledged to administer at least 4 million first doses by the end of March but could only deliver 670,000. The government blamed supply issues from Europe.

While India's cases mount, vaccine centres in several parts of the country, including hardest-hit Maharashtra state, have been running out of supplies.

China, where the novel coronavirus emerged in late 2019, is driving ahead with its vaccination campaign, administering about 3.68 million doses on Wednesday, taking its total number of doses given to 149.07 million, authorities said.

Japan's vaccinations are far behind those in most major economies, with only one vaccine approved and about 1 million people having received a first dose since February, even as it struggles with new cases.

Infections in Tokyo spiked by 545 cases on Thursday, adding to worries about the Olympics and Paralympics, delayed from last year and now due to start at the end of July.

The government scrambled to calm a social media furore saying it was not looking to prioritise vaccines for its Olympic athletes, dismissing a media report that it was considering doing so.

Japan is not insisting that arriving athletes be vaccinated but there will be frequent tests while they are in Japan. There will be no foreign spectators and a decision on domestic ones has yet to be made.

-reuters

India now 2nd behind US in virus cases amid economic pain

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s increasing coronavirus caseload made the Asian giant the world’s second-worst-hit country behind the United States on Monday, as its efforts to head off economic disaster from the pandemic gain urgency.

The 90,802 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed India’s total past Brazil with more than 4.2 million cases. India is now behind only the United States, where more than 6.2 million people have been infected, according to Johns Hopkins University.

India’s Health Ministry on Monday also reported 1,016 new deaths for a total of 71,642, the third-highest national toll.

The world’s second-most populous country with 1.4 billion people, India has been recording the world’s largest daily increases in coronavirus cases for almost a month. Despite over 2 million new cases in the past month and the virus spreading through the country’s smaller towns and villages, the Indian government has continued relaxing restrictions to try and resuscitate the economy.

On Monday, the Delhi Metro, which serves India’s sprawling capital, New Delhi, and adjoining areas, resumed operations after remaining shuttered for more than five months. The commuters were scarce and stations deserted. Only asymptomatic people were allowed to board the trains, with masks, social distancing and temperature checks mandatory.

Security personnel used metal detectors attached to rods to ensure social distancing during frisking at the stations, and commuters were allowed to enter only after sanitizing their hands.

New Delhi’s streets have already returned to their normal bustle, and people are again flocking to markets. The city’s bars will reopen on Wednesday.

The reopenings come after India’s economy shrank faster than any other major nation’s, nearly 24% in the last quarter.

India’s economic pain dates to the demonetization of the nation’s currency in 2016 and a hasty rollout of a goods and services tax the next year. But the strict virus lockdown that started on March 24 further exacerbated the economic woes.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered everyone in the country to stay indoors, the whole economy shut down within four hours. Millions lost their jobs instantly and tens of thousands of migrant workers, out of money and fearing starvation, poured out of cities and headed back to villages. The unprecedented migration not only hollowed out India’s economy but also spread the virus to the far reaches of the country.

Now, as cases surge, most of the country, except in high-risk areas, has already opened up, with authorities saying they have little choice.

“While lives are important, livelihoods are equally important,” Rajesh Bhushan, the top official of India’s federal health ministry, said at a news briefing last week.

Almost 60% of India’s virus cases are now coming from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the nation’s most populous state. But infections are also returning to areas that had managed to slow the spread of the virus, offsetting marginal gains.

Initially hit hard by the virus, New Delhi had seemed to turn the tide through its aggressive screening for patients. But after reopening steadily, the state has reported a recent surge in cases and fatalities. The reopening of the metro is expected to further worsen the situation, experts fear.

The recent surge in cases also highlights the risks of India’s strategy on relying too heavily on rapid tests that screen for antigens or viral proteins. These tests are cheap, yield results in minutes and have allowed India to test over a million people a day.

But they are also less precise and likely to miss infected people, said Dr. Gagandeep Kang, an infectious diseases expert of Christian Medical College at Vellore in southern India.

India also says its recovery rate is 77.3% and that the fatality rate has declined to around 1.72%.

But the economic crisis means that people in India, especially the poor who were inordinately impacted by the harsh lockdown, have to go out and work. They are also less likely to have access to good healthcare.

The virus has already deepened misery in the country’s vast hinterlands and poorer states, where surges have crippled the underfunded healthcare system and stretched resources.

S.P. Kalantri, a public health specialist, said India’s poor face a “desperate choice” between “an immediate death versus a death that could come any time.”

“The disease is already there in the villages,” he said.

Associated Press

India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

NEW DELHI, India — Temperatures passed 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in northern India as an unrelenting heatwave triggered warnings of water shortages and heatstroke.

The thermometer hit 50.6 degrees Celsius (123 Fahrenheit) in the Rajasthan desert city of Churu on Saturday, the weather department said.

All of Rajasthan suffered in severe heat with several cities hitting maximum temperatures above 47 Celsius.

In May 2016, Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded India's highest-ever temperature of 51 Celsius (123.8 Fahrenheit).

The Indian Meteorological Department said severe heat could stay for up to a week across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh states.

Several deaths from heatstroke have already been recorded.

A red alert severe heat warning has been issued in the capital New Delhi as temperatures passed 46 Celsius, and residents were advised not to go out during the hottest hours of the day.

Even in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, where many wealthy Indians go to escape the summer heat, temperatures reached 44.9 Celsius in Una.

Several major cities, led by Chennai, have reported fears of water shortages as lakes and rivers start to dry up.

In the western state of Maharashtra, farmers struggled to find water for thirsty animals and crops.

"We have to source water tankers from nearby villages as water reserves, lakes and rivers have dried up," said Rajesh Chandrakant, a resident of Beed, one of the worst-hit districts.

"Farmers only get water every three days for their livestock."

Raghunath Tonde, a farmer with a family of seven, said the area has suffered worsening shortages for five years.

"There is no drinking water available for days on end and we get one tanker every three days for the entire village," Tonde told AFP.

"We are scared for our lives and livelihood," he added.

The Hindustan Times newspaper said many Beed residents had stopped washing and cleaning clothes due to the water shortage.

More than 40 percent of India faces drought this year, experts from Gandhinagar city's Indian Institute of Technology, warned last month.

The annual monsoon -- which normally brings much needed rain to South Asia -- is running a week behind schedule and is only expected to hit India's southern tip on June 6, the weather department said.

And private forecaster Skymet has said there will be less rain than average this year.

The Indian peninsula has seen a drastic change in rainfall patterns over the past decade, marked by frequent droughts, floods and sudden storms.

source: philstar.com

Sushmita Sen thanks ‘second home’ Philippines for 25 years as Miss Universe

MANILA, Philippines — Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen celebrates 25 years of being a Miss Universe winner by thanking Filipinos and describing the Philippines as her second home.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Sushmita posted photos of her with family members celebrating her milestone.

She began her post by thanking her home country, India, for giving her the “proudest identity.”

“What a journey!!! Thank you my Motherland India, for giving me my proudest identity #INDIAN. The love,respect & adulation I have been showered with for 25 years, is undoubtedly my life’s greatest earning!” Sushmita wrote.

She added that she thanked God for winning the Miss Universe crown in the Philippines as Filipinos continue to overwhelm her with their love.

“As we celebrate 25years of making History, of India winning Miss Universe for the very first time...I want to remember & Thank the people of my second home #philippines. I Thank God for the privilege of having Won Miss Universe in their beautiful country, they continue to overwhelm me with their love & belonging to this day, even naming their children ‘Sushmita’ #mahalkitaphilippines,” she said.

She also thanked the people who were with her in her journey as Miss Universe.

“My gratitude to Mr. Martin Brooks (then President of MU organisation) all the chaperones, travel managers, Ms. Barbara, resident manager Ms. Jane, for being such a FORCE of change, for teaching an 18year old me in 1994, the power of professionalism, Value for one’s word, earning of reputation, commanding of respect & to always have a inclusive Global view,” Sushmita said. 

“Their teachings have helped me make many important decisions in the past 25yrs, thereby shaping the Woman I am today I remember with great love all 77 contestants who competed for Miss Universe 1994!! And, of course, the beyond gracious Miss Colombia @carogomezfilm who won first runners up that year, and yet celebrated India’s first victory as if it were her own!!!” she added.

To conclude her post, she thanked everyone around her for inspiring her to keep growing and more authentic.

“Thank you God, family, friends, my children & all of you, who have consistently inspired me to keep growing & be more of my authentic self!!! Your wishes came pouring in & have me overwhelmed, THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!! “May the Universe always conspire in your favour” I love you guys, #yourstruly #43rdmissuniverse #indiasfirst #missuniverse1994 #india #duggadugga,” the 43-year-old actress said.

Following her win as Miss Universe 1994 in the Philippines, where she competed with Filipina actress Charlene Gonzales, Sushmita became one of Bollywood’s most awarded superstars.

Sen, the first Miss India to win the Miss Universe title, became famous for her answer to the pageant question, “What is the essence of being a woman?”

“The origin of the child is the mother and is a woman. A woman is one who shows a man what love and sharing and caring is all about. That is the essence of a woman,” she said.

source: philstar.com

Strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocks India

NEW DELHI, India — A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh early Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicenter of the shallow quake was about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Along, and 180 kilometres southwest of the state capital Itanagar.

It struck at 1:45 am (2015 GMT Tuesday).

Arunachal Pradesh is India's least densely populated state, but is still home to more than 1.2 million people, according to the state government's website.

China's official state news agency Xinhua said the quake was felt in Tibet, which neighbors the Indian state.

New Delhi and Beijing for decades have disputed control of Arunachal Pradesh -- a dispute that remains unresolved.

India considers Arunachal Pradesh one of its northeastern states, while China claims about 90,000 square kilometres (34,750 square miles) of the territory.

Arunachal Pradesh also borders Myanmar and Bhutan.

USGS estimated there was a "low likelihood" of casualties and damage from the quake.

source: philstar.com

India appoints Modi ally as new central bank head

NEW DELHI, India — The Indian government Tuesday named an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as new central bank head after his predecessor quit following a row about alleged government interference.

Shaktikanta Das, named in a government statement as new Reserve Bank of India governor, is a former senior finance ministry official and a key figure in Modi's controversial "demonetisation" scheme of 2016.

His predecessor Urjit Patel announced his surprise resignation late Monday following months of tensions with Modi's government over interference in policy.

The government was thought to be pressuring the RBI to enact policies to help spur growth ahead of next year's elections, when Modi will run for a second term.

It was also believed to be unhappy with the RBI over issues including its handling of interest rates, how to deploy reserves and what to do about the sliding rupee.

Modi stunned Asia's third-largest economy in November 2016 by withdrawing 86 percent of banknotes from circulation.

The move was aimed at cleaning up India's graft-ridden economy where large volumes of transactions are conducted in cash and therefore undetected by the tax authorities.

Critics said it caused unnecessary suffering to millions of India's poor who operate outside of the formal economy.

Indian growth slumped as low as 5.7 percent in mid-2017 as it reeled from the move and other economic reforms, including the introduction of a nationwide goods and services tax.

"Modi government has hired an insider who will be sympathetic to government concerns and not hold diverging opinions as the head of RBI. Unlike Patel or (predecessor Raghuram Govind) Rajan, Das will offer no independent views and was also a key member when the demonetisation decision was taken," said Ashutosh Datar, an independent economist.

"This is extremely disappointing a choice and is the final straw in chipping away RBI's integrity and freedom to set rates or take policy decisions," he said.

source: philstar.com

‘World’s cheapest smartphone’ to be launched in India

NEW DELHI, India — A little-known Indian company will on Wednesday launch a smartphone believed to be the cheapest in the world, targeting a market already dominated by low-cost handsets.

Set to be priced at under 500 rupees ($7.30/P347.00), domestic handset maker Ringing Bells’ Freedom 251 smartphone is about one percent of the price of the latest Apple iPhone.

Ringing Bells was set up in September 2015 and began selling mobile phones via its website a few weeks ago under its Bell brand, a spokeswoman said.

“This is our flagship model and we think it will bring a revolution in the industry,” she told AFP.

Ringing Bells currently imports parts from overseas and assembles them in India but plans to make its phones domestically within a year, the spokeswoman said.

Cheap smartphone handsets, many of them Chinese-made, are readily available in the Indian market but domestic competitors are making inroads, with models selling for less than $20.

India is the world’s second-largest mobile market and notched up its billionth mobile phone subscriber in October, according to the country’s telecoms regulator.

But in poorer Indian states such as Bihar, “teledensity” — the penetration of telephone connections for every hundred people — is as low as 54 percent, with a stark urban-rural divide.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Two gunmen dead in Indian air base attack - police

PATHANKOT, India - Two suspected Islamic insurgents were killed Sunday when fighting flared up again at an Indian air force base, a senior police officer said, a day after the initial bloody raid on the base close to Pakistan.

Seven soldiers and four attackers were earlier confirmed killed during the assault on the Pathankot base in the northern state of Punjab, which triggered a 14-hour gunbattle Saturday.

The attack -- a rare targeting of an Indian military installation outside disputed Kashmir -- threatens to undermine improving relations with Pakistan.

It came just about a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to Pakistan, the first by an Indian premier in 11 years

Security officials suspect the gunmen belong to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, the group that staged the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament which brought the two countries to the brink of war.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh Saturday tweeted "all five terrorists" have been killed but security officials at the site had found only four bodies.

Early Sunday afternoon security forces came under heavy fire inside the base during a search for munitions and possible militants.

The police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity the two militants were killed four hours after the first contact was made Sunday. But the search would continue before the base was declared safe.

"Both have been killed. We are yet to retrieve their bodies," the officer said.

The base commander, J S Dhamoon, told reporters separately the operation was close to completion but gave no information on any fresh casualties.

The Pathankot air base houses dozens of jet fighters and is important for its strategic location about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Pakistan border.

Rajiv Mehrishi, a top home ministry official, said troops and police had foiled the aim of the intruders to damage equipment at the base.

"Due to active intelligence and quick action taken by forces we were able to ensure there was no damage to the assets," Mehrishi told reporters in New Delhi.

Mehrishi said seven security personnel were killed and 20 injured but declined to give any details of Sunday's gunbattle.

Among the military dead was a lieutenant-colonel in the elite National Security Guard, a commando unit. Also killed was Subedar Fateh Singh, a gold medallist at the 1995 Commonwealth Shooting Championships in New Delhi, an air force spokeswoman said.

In July three gunmen said to be Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militants killed seven people including four policemen in an attack in the Sikh-majority state of Punjab.

The possible involvement of Pakistan-based militants in the latest raid could be a setback for peace overtures between the nuclear-armed rivals, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Modi Saturday termed the attackers as "enemies of humanity" but did not blame Pakistan.

Islamabad, meanwhile, moved quickly to condemn the attack which it described as a "terrorist incident".

The US State Department termed the assault "a heinous" terrorist attack and urged the two rivals to work together to hunt down those responsible.

Modi's December 25 visit to the Pakistani city of Lahore to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif indicated a potential thaw in tensions, and the foreign secretaries of both countries are scheduled to meet in Islamabad this month.

source: interaksyon.com

Angela Merkel lands in India, with trade high on the agenda

NEW DELHI, India - German Chancellor Angela Merkel landed in New Delhi late Sunday for a visit in which she is expected to push for closer trade ties, and during which India's leader hopes to draw investment from the European powerhouse.

Briefly leaving behind a refugee crisis in Europe, Merkel arrived with a delegation including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German business leaders for her first visit to India since the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power last year.

"Namaste Chancellor Merkel! Warm welcome to you & the delegation. I look forward to fruitful discussions & strengthening India-Germany ties," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on Twitter.

She will meet with Modi, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday before she heads to the southern technology hub of Bangalore for a businness conference the next day.

Modi and Merkel will hold talks on "issues of mutual interest", including trade, defence and renewable energy, according to the Indian foreign ministry.

The two are likely to discuss resuming stalled India-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations -- a market-opening pact to boost bilateral commerce.

German investments in India stand at 9.7 billion euros with about 1,600 companies in the country.

Modi officially visited Germany in April when he sought to attract more industries to set up shop in Asia's third-largest economy for his flagship "Make in India" campaign and boost the manufacturing sector.

source: interaksyon.com

In India, rice replaces ice in bucket challenge

NEW DELHI - The famous "ice bucket" challenge is inspiring thousands of Indians to follow suit, but with a twist - they are replacing ice with rice in a bid to help the country's vast population of poor, hungry people.

The challenge, going viral on social media, involves donating a bucket of rice to someone in need and clicking a picture to share online, with a tag #RiceBucketChallenge, to raise awareness.

Started by 38-year-old journalist Manju Latha Kalanidhi in the southern city of Hyderabad, the movement's Facebook page defines it as a "local challenge for local needs" and has clocked more than 52,000 'likes' so far.

The inspiration was drawn from the "ice bucket" challenge, in which people pour a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads to encourage donations for research into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disease. Celebrities such as software tycoon Bill Gates and tennis great Roger Federer have participated.

"I felt (the ice bucket challenge) was a little bizarre ... hunger is a disease anybody would connect with," Kalanidhi told Reuters.

Kalanidhi's project has started to draw mass support. Students of the Indian Institute of Management in the southern state of Kerala posted a video after donating rice, while budget airline AirAsia India said its chief executive and senior management will participate on Monday.

Mass hunger, much of it poverty-induced, continues to haunt India. The country last year ranked 63rd on a list of 78 countries tracked by the International Food Policy Research Institute's Global Hunger Index. China ranked sixth.

Tackling poverty is high on new Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda. On Thursday, he launched a banking-for-all scheme that he said should end "financial untouchability" and help lift people out of poverty.

India is the world's second-biggest rice consumer, with reserves of 21.2 million tonnes of the grain by July 1. It was the world's biggest rice exporter last year.

source: interaksyon.com

Indian 'semi-bullet train' sets new national speed record

NEW DELHI - An Indian passenger train set a new national speed record of 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles an hour) on Thursday during a test between the capital and the Taj Mahal city of Agra.

The introduction of high-speed links and bullet trains were one of the key poll campaign promises of India's new right-wing prime minister, Narendra Modi, who won elections in May.

Thursday's test, part of the government's plans to upgrade the ageing rail network, saw the train complete the 200 km between New Delhi and Agra in around 90 minutes. The top speed clocked at 10 kph more than the previous record.

"This is now the fastest train in India," Delhi divisional railway manager Anurag Sachan told AFP from inside the train. "We are recording all technical parameters during the trial run and hope to introduce it to the public by this November."

While fast by Indian standards, the train is some way from the Japanese "Shinkansen" admired by Modi which reach speeds of 320 kph.

The Indian media labelled it a "semi-high-speed train" or "semi-bullet".

Observers say the railways have been neglected by successive governments over the past three decades of rapid economic growth during which car ownership has surged and low-cost airlines have mushroomed.

But it continues to be one of the main modes of long-distance travel for most of India's 1.2 billion people, while increased use of the tracks for freight could help ease road traffic congestion.

Similar high-speed rail corridors are being planned between New Delhi and the northeastern city of Chandigarh, and the national capital and the industrial town of Kanpur 500 kilometres away.

"The cost of upgrading tracks, signal systems and other related infrastructure isn't high on some of the corridors which already have other high speed trains," Sachan told AFP.

"We are confident of expanding it once this project is completed," he added.

source: interaksyon.com

Coke plant in India ordered closed for extracting too much groundwater

LUCKNOW - Authorities in northern India have ordered the closure of a Coca-Cola bottling plant at the center of protests that it is extracting too much groundwater, an official said Wednesday.

An anti-pollution official said the Mehdiganj plant in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh had breached the conditions of its operating licence, prompting the order closure earlier this month.

"The plant is closed following our orders," Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board member secretary J.S. Yadav told AFP.

"They have also been asked to take suitable measures to recharge the depleting groundwater level by twice the amount they have extracted.

"Also, the effluents released by the plant contain pollutants beyond the permissible limits."

The company has appealed the closure order to India's environment court, the National Green Tribunal, saying the allegations were false.

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited, a unit of Coca-Cola, said the plant has been in operation for 15 years "complying with all regulatory approvals and applicable laws."

The unit said in a statement that it was confident the courts would find that it has acted in the "best interests of the communities we serve."

The company hit a hurdle earlier this year when local authorities said they would demolish the Varanasi plant, claiming it was built on village council land and was "illegal."

The authorities also imposed a 126,000 rupee ($2,000) fine on the company over the land issue.

India is one of Coke's fastest-growing markets thanks to an expanding middle class.

The bottling plant, one of 58 that Atlanta-based Coca-Cola has in India, has been at the center of protests for years.

Demonstrators accuse the company of creating major water shortages through excessive extraction of water and of polluting groundwater and soil.

Coke, the world's largest soft drinks maker, last year announced the completion of work to expand the Varanasi bottling facility which can produce 600 polyethylene terephthalate bottles a minute.

Protests have been held against Coke's bottling plants in other parts of the country, alleging depletion of groundwater and pollution.

Activists welcomed the Varanasi plant's closure, claiming the company has a dismal environmental record.

"Coca-Cola's thirst for profits in India has placed its business interests over the well-being of communities and the environment and this is not acceptable," said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center, an activist group.

source: interaksyon.com

India seeks possible US tax violations as row over diplomat's arrest worsens

NEW DELHI -- India has sought details about staff in American schools in the country for possible tax violations and revoked ID cards of US consular officials and their families, retaliatory steps for the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York.

The measures suggest that the two countries are no closer to a resolution of a diplomatic dispute over the treatment of Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade this month on charges of visa fraud and underpayment of her housekeeper.

Khobragade, who has denied the charges, was handcuffed and strip-searched while in custody, sparking outrage in India.

An Indian government official said on Friday that New Delhi had asked the US embassy to provide details about people working in American schools and other US government facilities to determine if they had permission to do so and if they were paying taxes that are mandatory under Indian law.

Diplomats' spouses who take up work in schools or other embassy facilities are supposed to inform the host country.

Violations of this kind had often been ignored, but now India would not turn a blind eye, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US embassy declined to comment on the latest steps.

India had also withdrawn some privileges that US diplomats and their families enjoy and would treat them as Indian officials are treated in the United States, the Indian official said.

US Ambassador Nancy Powell has been refused special privileges at New Delhi airport.

"We have said all access is on a reciprocal basis," the government official said. "She is not going to get the benefits that the Indian ambassador in the US doesn't get."

US consular officials and their families have been asked to surrender identity cards that gave them a degree of immunity. Under a new regime, consular officials -- but not their families -- will be given identity cards with fewer privileges.

"Spouses and children have no more immunity. So if there is a parking offence or ... something else happening in Bangalore etcetera, they would be held liable," the Indian official said.

Khobragade was released in New York on $250,000 bail after giving up her passport and pleading not guilty to visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her Indian housekeeper. She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed regret over the case in a phone call to India's national security adviser last week, but India is still demanding that the charges be dropped and that the United States apologize. US prosecutors have defended the investigation against Khobragade and her treatment. Before this diplomatic blowup, US-Indian relations were seen as cordial and improving.

UN accreditation

In a new twist, India now argues that Khobragade was accredited to the United Nations at the time of her detention, giving her immunity from arrest.

She was temporarily moved to India's UN mission in August to help with the workload ahead of the General Assembly session and a visit by the prime minister. A copy of her accreditation, made available to Reuters, lists her as an adviser for a period from August 26 until December 31.

"At no stage we were told by the US side what was going on. We were kept in the dark. A lot of these things could have come out had we been informed then," the official said, explaining that India had not been warned she might be arrested.

According to the UN Manual of Protocol website (www.un.int/protocol/3_6.html), UN accreditation alone does not appear to grant diplomatic immunity, it simply gives Khobragade access to UN headquarters in New York.

The manual says a country's UN ambassador must write to the UN secretary-general to request privileges and immunities for individual diplomats. The United Nations then submits this to the US mission to the United Nations for approval.

Separately, India did ask the United Nations earlier this month for Khobragade to be officially registered as a member of the country's UN mission in the hope she would be granted more sweeping immunity than she was entitled to as India's deputy consul general in New York.

That request has been approved by the United Nations, a UN source said on Monday. A State Department official confirmed that the United States had received paperwork from the United Nations and was reviewing the application.

source: interaksyon.com

Indian dentist couple given life in prison for daughter's murder

GHAZIABAD - A prosperous Indian dentist couple were sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for slitting the throats of their teenage daughter and domestic servant in a case that transfixed the nation.

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar had been convicted on Monday of murdering Aarushi, 14, and Nepalese employee Hemraj Banjade at their home in an affluent New Delhi suburb in 2008, following a trial whose every detail was scrutinized by the media.

Judge Shyam Lal rejected prosecution requests for the death penalty during a hearing on Tuesday, instead giving the couple life in jail for the killings that investigators allege were carried out with "clinical precision".

"Life imprisonment is the basic sentence. We are satisfied with the judgement. The case has come to an end," prosecutor R.K. Saini told a horde of reporters outside the court in Ghaziabad, a satellite city just outside the capital.

The couple's jailing was the latest twist in the long-running case that has been awash with sexual rumors and allegations of police bungling and media bias.

Investigators said the Talwars killed Aarushi in a fit of rage after finding her with the 45-year-old servant in an "objectionable position", suggesting the double murder was a so-called honor killing.

The couple, successful, middle-class dentists, vowed to appeal the conviction, while their lawyers launched a scathing attack on India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The battle is not over, it has only begun. We will file an appeal and we are convinced that the conviction will be overturned," defense lawyer Tanvir Ahmed Mir told AFP.

The trial came as India increasingly focuses on violent crime against women following the fatal gang-rape of a student in Delhi last year that sparked outrage over the country's treatment of women.

The case has also raised awkward questions about the relationship between wealthy Indian families and the poor, often-migrant servants who cook, clean and look after their every need.

Top criminal lawyer Rebecca John accused the CBI of incompetence and abuse of power. It first closed the investigation, citing lack of evidence -- only to later reopen the case at the parents' request and charge them with murder.

"For an agency that asked for a closure of the case to then ask for the death sentence, I think it is a grotesque abuse of power and it raises fundamental issues about our society in the administration of justice," John told CNN-IBN.

"I think this very demand of the CBI (seeking the death penalty) is indicative of the witch-hunt that has taken place in this case."

Aarushi, whom friends described as a chirpy, high-achieving student, was found on her bed with her throat cut one morning in May 2008.

Police initially blamed the missing domestic servant Hemraj -- only to find his decomposing body on the roof a day later with a similar cut throat and head wounds.

Officers then arrested Rajesh Talwar's dental assistant and two other local servants -- Hemraj's friends -- but they were freed for lack of evidence.

The botched probe -- police failed to seal the crime scene or to find the second body for over 24 hours -- prompted investigators to close the case in 2010, citing "critical and substantial gaps" in the evidence.

The Talwars insisted they wanted the killers found and petitioned the court to reopen the case -- only to be charged themselves with murder.

The prosecution has conceded there was no forensic or material evidence against the couple, and based its case on the "last-seen theory" -- which holds that the victims were last seen with the accused.

The case has spawned a nation of armchair detectives debating every twist and turn of the investigation, has turned the Talwars into household names and has polarized public opinion.

Salacious news reports, based often on claims by unnamed police sources, have appeared about their lives, demonizing them as decadent -- even allegedly as part of a wife-swapping club.

source: interaksyon.com

Miss Universe apologises to India over Taj Mahal photoshoot

NEW DELHI—Organisers of Miss Universe extended their "deepest apologies" to India over a photo shoot at the Taj Mahal that triggered a police case and accusations that she disrespected the famed monument to love.

Reigning Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, a 21-year-old American from Rhode Island, visited the Islamic mausoleum on Sunday during a 10-day tour of India.

During her time at the World Heritage site, she posed for cameras with branded shoes and sat on the Diana Seat, a marble ledge named after the late British princess who visited in 1992.

Acting on a complaint from the site's caretaker, police filed a case because any advertising or promotional work is banned at the site.

"The Miss Universe Organization would like to extend its deepest apologies to the people of India for the incident involving the reigning Miss Universe," said a statement sent to AFP late Thursday.

It said Culpo was making a video diary for fans. "As part of these videos, we sometimes incorporate sponsors into these shoots," it said, adding the footage was not meant for commercial purposes.

"We sincerely apologise for any unintentional harm our indiscretion and insensitivity may have caused," it added.

Indian-born fashion designer Sanjana Jon, who accompanied Miss Universe to the site, has also been booked for an alleged breach of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act.

They are likely to face a fine if found guilty, officials say.

The Taj, visited by millions of tourists each year, was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved empress, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth in 1631.

Visitors are asked to remove shoes while climbing the plinth and entering the Taj, but footwear is allowed in the surrounding garden area where Culpo posed, wearing a long peach-coloured off-the-shoulder dress.

The Mumbai-based Mid-Day tabloid quoted Taj caretaker Munazzar Ali earlier this week as saying Culpo's behaviour amounted to "disrespect and insult".

"The sandals from a bag she carried were taken and placed on the Diana Seat for shooting pictures, which is not permitted by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India). It also amounts to disrespect and insult," he told the paper.

The tabloid suggested that security personnel responsible for frisking at the entrance gates "were too impressed" with Culpo and allowed her to carry her bag inside, which is normally not permitted.

Culpo, seemingly unaware of any brewing controversy, uploaded a photo of the Taj to an Instagram account on Monday, a day after her visit to the Taj in Agra, a three-hour drive south of the capital New Delhi.

"We made it to the Taj Mahal. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!!!! So amazing," she wrote.

source: interaksyon.com

Rupee, rupiah lead emerging market slide on US Fed fears

MUMBAI/JAKARTA - India's rupee crashed to a record low and the Indonesian rupiah hit a 4-year trough on Monday, as the expected withdrawal of U.S. monetary stimulus prompts investors to shun emerging markets burdened by weak external balances, slowing economies and inflation.

It followed a slide on Friday in Brazil's real, a currency that, like the rupee, has been hammered by investor doubts that actions taken by monetary authorities last week will prove effective in stemming the sell-off.

"Our primary concern is that the policy authorities still don't 'get it' - thinking this is a fairly minor squall which will simmer down relatively quickly with fairly minor actions," Robert Prior-Wandesforde, an economist at Credit Suisse in Singapore, wrote in a note on the Indian currency on Monday.

Growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start scaling back its bond purchases as early as next month, slowing the flow of cheap money into higher yielding overseas assets, have weighed on many emerging markets.

The currencies of countries already struggling with wide current account deficits, such as India and Indonesia, are seen as among the most vulnerable to sudden capital flight and have been hit hardest.

"The market is still acting on the negative current account and fiscal deficits," said Nizam Idris, a strategist with Macquarie Capital, when asked about the two Asian laggards.

The latest blow for Indonesia's currency was delivered by central bank data released late on Friday that showed the current account deficit grew to 4.4 percent of GDP in the second quarter of the year, from 2.4 percent in the previous quarter.

"Although the current level of reserves is still equivalent to a reasonably healthy 5.5 months of imports, the Bank can't continue to burn reserves at the current rate without the market worrying about a 'crisis' scenario unfolding," Credit Suisse said in a note.

Indonesia's Finance Minister Chatib Basri said he was not worried by the rupiah weakness and predicted the current account deficit, though it would remain into next year, would narrow.

'Tapering' threat

Some analysts predicted the weakness could ripple out to other Asian markets, with Malaysia's current account data due on Wednesday likely to be closely watched.

India's tumbling currency has been the worst performer in Asia since late May, when the Fed first signaled that it may begin "tapering" its monetary stimulus this year.

Indian policymakers are grappling with a record current account deficit at 4.8 percent of GDP - and market participants aren't convinced the government can reduce the gap to a targeted 3.7 percent this financial year.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been selling dollars to support the rupee and last week announced curbs on outflows from companies and individuals, denting stock and bond markets.

"Forex intervention will continue by the central bank," said Param Sarma, chief executive at Brokerage NSP Forex. "Further measures are expected from the RBI but are unlikely to be effective."

Brazil's central bank has also intervened to try and reassure investors, but could not prevent the real from sinking on Friday to its lowest level since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009.

The real's poor record during previous bouts of market volatility and its steep gains over the past decade are some of the reasons why it is now seen as a risky trade - a "high beta" currency in the jargon of the foreign exchange markets.

Domestic concerns have also made things worse.

As with India, a previously fast-growing economy has slowed, disappointing investors. Also, like Indonesia, a cooling in China's appetite for its commodities exports has resulted in a sharp deterioration in its balance of trade.

source: interaksyon.com

India GDP figures set to deepen gloom

MUMBAI - India is set to announce dismal new economic growth figures on Friday, with expansion in the April-June quarter forecast at near nine-year-lows.

"The numbers will be bad," Siddhartha Sanyal, chief India economist with Barclays Capital told AFP ahead of the publication of the data, which is expected to deepen the gloom surrounding Asia's third-biggest economy.

"Industrial growth is likely to be flat, inflation is high and it is unclear what the government can do in the next three to six months," Sanyal said.

He forecasts India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at the same rate as the previous quarter at 5.3 percent, a high figure by the standards of developed countries but far below the near double-digit growth of much of the past decade.

Leif Eskesen, HSBC's chief India economist predicts the same, saying "growth will be muted due to global headwinds and the lack of structural reforms in India."

India's once booming industrial sector is in crisis, with output contracting by a shock 1.8 percent in June due to high borrowing costs, declining confidence and falling demand.

Overseas investor confidence in the Indian economy is also on the wane, as shown by figures for foreign direct investment (FDI) for the quarter to June which tumbled year-on-year by 67 percent to $4.43 billion,

Global rating agencies like Fitch and Standard and Poor's have lowered their outlook on India's investment-grade rating amid rising worries about the government's deteriorating finances and negative current account.

The central Reserve Bank of India has also warned the country's economic prospects are unlikely to improve in the near-term, due to high inflation, the lack of reform and the impact of poor monsoon rains on farm output.

The RBI has kept interest rates on hold since April -- when it cut rates for the first time in three years by 50 basis points -- and economists do not expect the bank to lower rates in a hurry.

While other central banks around the globe have been easing interest rates to revive their troubled economies, the RBI says a cut in government subsidies and revival of investment are needed to remove chronic bottlenecks in the economy.

Wholesale inflation stands at 6.87 percent -- above the bank's comfort level of five to six percent -- while the consumer price index, which covers a smaller band of goods, is at 9.86 percent.

Business leaders and industry want collective action from the government and the RBI to boost growth.

"Immediate policy actions are needed, both by the government and RBI, to arrest the downward spiral in industrial growth," director-general of Confederation of Indian Industry Chandrajit Banerjee said last week.

But Jigar Shah, head of research with Kim Eng Securities, warned: "The mood is downbeat and people have no hope left from the government.

"The only positive is that things possibly cannot get worse."

India's economy is expected to grow 6.7 percent in the current fiscal year, according to a forecast by an advisory panel to the prime minister, while many economists see it as even lower.

The government -- damaged by a series of corruption scandals -- is struggling to introduce legislative reforms in parliament due to protests from the opposition which is demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resign.

India's national auditor last week criticised Singh's government for giving away coal blacks since 2004 in a murky allocation process rather than selling them via a transparent auction.

In figures that have since been hotly contested, the auditor said companies given valuable resources had made windfall profits of 1.85 trillion rupees or $33 billion, a part of which could have gone to the national exchequer.

source: interaksyon.com

Power Failures Hit Half of India

NEW DELHI — About 600 million people lost power in India on Tuesday when the country’s northern and eastern electricity grids failed, crippling the country for a second consecutive day.

The outage stopped hundreds of trains in their tracks, darkened traffic lights, shuttered the Delhi Metro and left nearly everyone — the police, water utilities, private businesses and citizens — without electricity. About half of India’s population of 1.2 billion people was without power.

India, however, has an unofficial power grid in the form of huge numbers of backup diesel generators and other private power sources. That kept electricity flowing in everything from private residences and small and large businesses to hospitals and major airports.

Manoranjan Kumar, an economic adviser with the Ministry of Power, said in a telephone interview that the grids had failed and that the ministry was working to figure out the source of the problem. The northern and eastern grids cover 11 states and the capital city of Delhi, stretching from India’s northern tip in Kashmir to Rajasthan to West Bengal’s capital of Kolkata.

The failure happened without warning just after 1 p.m., electric company officials said.

“We seem to have plunged into another power failure, and the reasons why are not at all clear,” said Gopal K. Saxena, the chief executive of BSES, an electric company that services South Delhi, in a telephone interview. It may take a long time to restore power to north India, he said, because the eastern grid has also failed, and alternate power sources in Bhutan and the Indian state of Sikkim flow into the east first.

About two hours after the grid failure, power ministry authorities said some alternate arrangements had been made. “We are taking hydro power from Bhakhra Nangal Dam,” in northern India, said Sushil Kumar Shinde, the power minister, in a televised interview.

India has struggled to generate enough power of its own to fuel businesses and light homes, and the country relies on huge imports of coal and oil to power its own plants. But supply and demand may not explain away this week’s grid failures, power executives said.

The failure on Tuesday affected roughly twice as many people as the massive power outage the previous day, when the northern power grid failed and left more than 300 million people without power for several hours. No official reason for the Monday’s failure has been given, although some local news reports pointed fingers at state governments which were overdrawing power.

That assessment is too simplistic, Mr. Saxena, of BSES, said. There are controls in place on India’s electricity grids that override an outsized power demand. “We have one of the most robust, smart grids operating” in the world, he said. It would “not be wise” to give an assessment of what happened at this time, he added.

Institutions without a private backup system were shuttered. All trains stopped in the Delhi Metro, which carries nearly 2 million passengers a day. Trains were pulled to the closest stations using battery back up, and then evacuated, a spokeswoman for the Delhi Metro said, and the stations have been locked. “We had never anticipated such a thing,” the spokeswoman said.

A trade body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, or Assocham, said that Monday’s power problem “totally disturbed the normal life and has severely impacted the economic activities."

“While on the one hand it is a pity that over 26,000 megawatts of power stations are idle due to the nonavailability of coal, on the other one grid failure has brought the system collapsed,” said the group’s secretary general D.S. Rawat, noting that “the entire power situation at present is headed for disaster.”

Niharika Mandhana and Hari Kumar contributed to this story from New Delhi.

source: nytimes.com