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

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

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

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