Death toll from India tainted liquor tragedy rises to 47
Reuters The death toll from the latest case of tainted liquor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has climbed to 47, with over 100 people still in hospital, a government official said on Friday. Since Wednesday more than 150 people, suffering from vomiting, stomach aches and diarrhoea, have needed treatment after drinking methanol-mixed […]
At least 36 die in India after drinking tainted liquor
Reuters At least 36 people died and more than 60 were being treated in hospitals after consuming tainted liquor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a government spokesperson said on Thursday. Since Wednesday over 100 people, suffering from vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhoea, have needed hospital treatment in the Kallakurichi district, 250 kilometres […]
At least 31 killed in floods in India’s Tamil Nadu
Chennai, India Reuters At least 31 people were killed in floods and heavy rain in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu this week, a top federal minister said on Friday, as rescuers struggled to reach scores still stranded in high waters. Heavy rains have paralysed several districts of the state, inundating entire neighbourhoods, roads and […]
Over 700 people tested for Nipah virus after two deaths in India
New Delhi, India Reuters The southern Indian state of Kerala shut some schools, offices and public transport on Wednesday in a race to stop the spread of the rare and deadly Nipah virus, which has killed two people. Two adults and a child were still infected in hospital, and more than 700 people were being […]
Protecting livelihoods: Indian fishermen use smartphones to map a vanishing way of life
Fishermen in Tamil Nadu are using apps to map their ancestral lands and protect old ways from new development. VISHI DOSHI and LAASYA SHEKHAR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report…
Sitting pretty? Indian shop workers win the right to a chair
Chennai, India Thomson Reuters Foundation On her feet at work for 10 hours each day,Indian shop assistant S Lakshmi lumbers home at the end of her shift to nurse her aching legs and swollen ankles. But relief may be in sight. Tamil Nadu became last month the second Indian state to enshrine the “right to sit” for […]
Declaring war on bonded labour, Indian state launches anniversary crackdown
Chennai, India Thomson Reuters Foundation Promising to eradicate bonded labour for good, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu said on Tuesday it would ensure strict enforcement to root out a form of slavery that persists despite being banned 45 years ago. India has about eight million modern slaves, according to Australia-based Walk Free’s Global […]
Rescue of 35 child workers triggers probe in India’s garment factory hub
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation Efforts to tackle child labour in garment factories in southern India are being ramped up after the rescue of 35 children from a spinning mill, officials said on Thursday, amid concerns of an increase in trafficking as coronavirus restrictions are eased. In one of the first cases of child labour reported […]
‘India’s George Floyds’ spur calls for end to police brutality
Chennai, India Thomson Reuters Foundation The rare arrest of six police officers on murder charges over the death of two men in custody has emboldened victims to speak up against targeted police brutality in India, and demand an end to impunity. Shopkeeper J Jayaraj, 59, and his son Bennicks Immanuel, 31, were beaten so badly […]
Indians pitch in to feed the hungry in coronavirus lockdown
Mumbai/Chennai, India Thomson Reuters Foundation Indian businessman Shishpal Singh was still stirring vegetables and rice at his Mumbai apartment block when migrant workers laid off in the coronavirus lockdown began queueing nearby, desperate for a hot meal. The men had travelled to the western city from the southern state of Tamil Nadu to lay gas […]