- Wednesday, May 15, 2024
CORONAVIRUS infections in India soared past five million on Wednesday (16), as a World Health Organization envoy warned the pandemic was "still at the beginning". Global cases are rapidly approaching 30 million, with more than 935,000 known Covid-19 deaths, the global economy devastated and nations struggling to contain outbreaks. India, home to…
INDIAN and Chinese border troops had an exchange of gunfire last week just days before a meeting of their foreign ministers, Indian officials said on Wednesday (16), in a further breach of a decades-old restraint at the frontier. The two sides have had a long-standing agreement for troops not to use…
INDIA has doubled the budget for vital roads and bridges along the undemarcated border with China in recent years in response to Beijing's rapid infrastructure development on its side, the Indian defence minister said on Tuesday (15). Troops of the two countries are locked in their most serious face-offs for years along…
FOUR debut novelists were on Tuesday (15) shortlisted alongside Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga and Ethiopian-American Maaza Mengiste for the Booker Prize for best English-language fiction, to be awarded in November. Indian-American Avni Doshi's first novel Burnt Sugar will compete with fellow US debutants Diane Cook (The New Wilderness) and Brandon Taylor…
A SONG from an upcoming Bollywood film has been rewritten after social media users criticised the original lyrics as racist for glorifying fair skin and making an inappropriate reference to Black American pop star Beyonce. The offending lyrics, which translated as 'After looking at you fair woman, Beyonce would feel…
A DELHI legislative panel on Tuesday (15) warned Facebook Inc it could face contempt proceedings after its India head failed to show up at a hearing into its alleged role in fanning religious riots in the capital city earlier this year. The Delhi state parliament's committee had summoned Facebook's India managing director Ajit Mohan…
AN ASIAN entrepreneur-activist was on Monday (14) dropped as a prospective London mayoral candidate to contest against Sadiq Khan next year after her past antisemitic comments came to light. Geeta Sidhu Robb is the founder of organic food and juice products firm Nosh Detox. She was shortlisted as the Liberal…
Mantasha Bano was 28-weeks pregnant when her cries of sudden, unbearable pain prompted neighbours to call an ambulance in the rural Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It never came, and Bano's baby was stillborn. Medical workers in the northern state have reported a marked increase in stillbirths as the coronavirus pandemic…
TWO Indian officials on Monday (14) said Chinese troops were laying a network of optical fibre cables at a western Himalayan flashpoint with India, suggesting they were digging in for the long haul despite high-level talks aimed at resolving a standoff there. Such cables, which would provide forward troops with secure lines…
AN Indian court's decision to stall the release of a Netflix Inc series on four Indian tycoons facing fraud allegations "freezes free speech" and hurts the company financially, the US streaming giant has argued in a court filing. Bad Boy Billionaires is a documentary series about liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, Sahara group's…
