India orders probe into Kumbh festival stampede that killed dozens
Prayagraj, India Reuters Indian authorities have ordered a probe into the stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu festival that killed dozens of devotees on Wednesday as millions gathered for a “holy dip” in sacred river waters as part of the six-week event, said officials. Police said 30 people were killed in the crush at […]
India: How anti-conversion laws are fine-tuned to allow policing of Christians
While they purport to protect poor Hindus from being exploited, anti-conversion laws have been found to have a more demonstrable effect of generating violence against Christians. MOHAMMAD ALI reports for Religion News Service…
India stampede: main organiser of religious event surrenders to police
New Delhi, India Reuters The chief organiser of an Indian preacher’s event where a stampede killed 121 people this week surrendered to police on Friday, a lawyer for the preacher said, after police had launched a manhunt. Relatives mourn the death of stampede victims Kamlesh Jatav, 22, and her seven-month-old daughter in Daunkeli village, Hathras […]
India stampede killed 121 in wake of massive overcrowding, police say
Phulrai Mughal Garhi, India Reuters More than three times the permitted number of people attended a Hindu religious event in north India that culminated in a stampede, killing at least 121 people, authorities said on Wednesday, adding that most of the victims were women. About 250,000 people gathered for Tuesday’s event in the Hathras district […]
India: Rural economic distress poses post-election challenge
BHASKER TRIPATHI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports that analysts says after the election, the winners will need to address deepening hardship in Indian villages…
Indian election: Gandhi dynasty, trailing Modi, battles for political survival
RUPAM JAIM, of Reuters, reports on the status of one of India’s most storied political dynasties ahead of the upcoming election…
India stares at summer water crisis as reservoir levels slide
New Delhi Reuters India’s main reservoirs have hit their lowest March levels in five years, government data showed, indicating a possible squeeze on drinking water and power availability this summer. In major centres such as India’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Bengaluru, home to firms like Google, water supply is already being curtailed. Residents get their containers filled […]
Torrential rain, floods kill 22 across northern India
Reuters Torrential rain across northern India has killed at least 22 people, as well as causing landslides and flash floods in the region, authorities and local media said on Monday. Schools in New Delhi were closed after heavy rains lashed the national capital over the weekend, and authorities in the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh […]
Scores die in northern India as heat wave scorches region
Lucknow, India Reuters At least 54 people died in a district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh over the last few days, the Times of India newspaper reported on Monday, as authorities probed if the loss of lives was due to the heat wave in the region. Another 45 people died in neighbouring […]
Wow!: Solar power helps Indian women make light work of cotton spinning
After the national Mission Solar Charkha project, MOUSHUMI BASU, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports how one Indian state is training female cotton spinners to use solar-powered wheels…