- Wednesday, June 07, 2023
Preparations are in full swing for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha and actress Parineeti Chopra's engagement ceremony on Saturday. The ceremony, to be held at the Kapurthala House, will be attended by around 150 guests, including family and close friends, a party source said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind…
Bollywood actress Parineeeti Chopra and AAP leader Raghav Chadha are all set to get engaged after being rumoured about dating for a long time. Here is everything you need to know about the event. When and Where? The engagement vows will be taking place at the Kapurthala House in New…
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's premier investigative agency, on Sunday (26) arrested Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the now-scrapped excise policy related to the sale of alcohol, a move that could widen the political rift between the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday headed for a record victory in Gujarat as the counting of votes entered the last leg, giving the ruling party a lead in 100 seats and a win in another 57 seats in the 182-member state assembly. The Congress party was…
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed that Kashmiri Pandits were being forced to leave the Valley due to the targeted killings and demanded the Centre put forth an action plan to stop such incidents.Addressing the Aam Aadmi Party's 'Jan Aakrosh Rally at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, he also…
A 10-year-old girl in a non-discrete village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has caught national attention.Seema lost her one leg - amputated after an accident two years ago - and her labourer parents are too poor to buy her a tricycle. But her disability has not dimmed her…
ATHLETES and coaches training at a stadium in India's capital were forced to wrap training earlier than usual to make way for an IAS officer to walk his dog at the facility, according to a media report. For the past few months, people using Thyagraj Stadium in Delhi were asked…
At least 27 people died and dozens more were injured in a massive fire in a building in the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, emergency services said. "The fire has been put out now. The total number of dead is 27. Search operation is on," a fire department official…
Power outages compounded the misery of millions of people wilting in a heatwave across India and Pakistan on Friday, with experts blaming climate change for an early onset of roasting summer temperatures. In the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh hundreds of forest fires have broken out in recent weeks,…
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi and other leaders on Friday (18) wished the country on the occasion of Holi. He called on Indians to promote brotherhood as millions celebrated Holi, the festival of colours, amid a sharp dip in Covid-19 cases in the country. The festival saw restricted celebrations last year…
AN upstart political party that rules India's capital has swept an election in Punjab state, a Thursday (10) vote-count showed, bolstering its hopes of becoming the main challenger to prime minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, was…
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi's party won India's most populous state with a big majority, according to the count on Thursday (10) of a state assembly vote that could offer clues to the national mood before a 2024 general election. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won or was…
ELECTION rallies were cancelled in India's heartland Thursday (6) as authorities fret over a sudden Covid surge, driven by the Omicron variant, which has seen confirmed infections nearly triple in two days. Teeming crowds have thronged campaign events for next month's poll in Uttar Pradesh -- the country's most populous…
INDIA reported more than 27,000 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday (2), with infections sharply rising for a fifth consecutive day. The country's largest cities, including Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai, have seen a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, including those of the Omicron variant, which has triggered a fresh…
INDIA has recorded 200 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant across 12 states, mostly in the western state of Maharashtra and New Delhi, the health ministry said on Tuesday (21). The country's tally of Omicron cases has nearly doubled within a week, but there have been no deaths reported so…
INDIA has asked power producers to import up to 10 per cent of their coal needs amid fuel shortages and warned states that federal companies will curb their power supplies if they are found selling electricity on power exchanges to cash in on surging prices. India is the world's second…
INDIA has allowed power producers to expedite imports of coal to use for up to 10 per cent of blends with the domestic grade to meet increased power demand in a move that could push up already high global prices. Asia's third-largest economy is facing large-scale outages as several power…
AN official raid on the offices and residence of a noted human rights activist in India critical of its Narendra Modi government has created an outrage in the country. The enforcement directorate (ED), a government agency in India that tackles financial crime, searched the premises of Harsh Mander in Delhi…
TO curb air pollution levels, Delhi authorities have ordered a ban on the storage, use and sale of firecrackers in the Indian capital ahead of the Diwali festival. India is among the most polluted countries in the world, and air quality in Delhi and neighbouring northern states normally begins to deteriorate…
The alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old, low-caste girl sparked a third day of protests in India's capital on Tuesday (3), in the latest case to spotlight the country's high levels of sexual violence. Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets in New Delhi, holding banners reading "give…
THE Narendra Modi government came under fierce criticism on Thursday (22) after India’s tax authorities conducted raids against a popular newspaper and television channel that have been critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. While there was no official remark on…
THE Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has always been an ambitious outfit. After having done well in its first-ever election in Delhi in 2013, the party of Arvind Kejriwal came to power but thereafter, it failed to keep up the momentum. The party could not stay in power in Delhi for…
Markets and shopping malls in New Delhi will be allowed to reopen from Monday (7) in a further easing of the Covid-19 lockdown, the chief minister said as infections fall in major Indian cities after weeks of restrictions. Delhi Metro will also resume services at 50 per cent capacity, the…
SOME of India's states are easing lockdown restrictions as coronavirus infections subside, with the world's second most-populous nation on Saturday (5) logging its lowest daily case count in nearly two months. India saw 120,529 new coronavirus infections emerge over the last 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,380. The country's…
INDIAN authorities Friday (28) announced a tentative easing of the lockdown in the capital New Delhi as coronavirus infections fall in major cities after weeks of restrictions. Rural areas of the country are now seeing the brunt of a surge in cases that has overwhelmed the health care system and…
By Pooja Shrivastava INDIA’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh (UP), will spend up to $1.36 billion to buy COVID-19 shots for its people. Talks were held early this week with companies such as Pfizer and the local partner of the maker of Russia's Sputnik V, a state official said on…
AFTER India's new coronavirus cases and deaths held close to record highs on Monday (10), there was increased pressure on the government of prime minister Narendra Modi to impose nationwide lockdown. The 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths reported by the health ministry, takes India's tally to 22.66 million with…
INDIA'S toll from the coronavirus surged past 200,000 on Wednesday (28), as shortages of oxygen, medical supplies and hospital staff compounded a record number of new infections. The second wave of the pandemic has seen at least 300,000 people test positive each day for the past week, overwhelming healthcare facilities…
Prime minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution, saying the "storm" of infections had shaken India, as the country set a new global record of the most number of COVID-19 infections in a day. The United States said it was deeply concerned by the massive…
India's capital New Delhi on Sunday extended its lockdown as the country's Covid-19 crisis grew with infections and deaths hitting record highs. The announcement came as the healthcare system struggled to cope with the huge surge, with reports of severe oxygen and medicine shortages and patients' families pleading for help…
INDIA recorded the world's highest daily tally of 314,835 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday (22) as a second wave of the pandemic raised new fears about the ability of crumbling health services to cope. The health ministry data on Thursday is the most of any country since the pandemic began,…
By Lord Meghnad Desai LIKE a 1950s Bollywood romance, the scheduled meeting between the prime ministers of the UK and India keeps on getting disrupted. Each time they have planned to meet, some obstacle has intervened. The UK prime minister was scheduled to attend the Republic Day (January 26 parade)…
India, the country currently being hit hardest by the pandemic, on Tuesday (20) reported its worst daily death toll, with large parts of the country now under lockdown amid a fast-rising second wave of infections. The health ministry said 1,761 people had died in the past day, bringing India's toll…
INDIA will lock down its capital New Delhi for a week from Monday (19) night to try and control a raging coronavirus outbreak. Infections are skyrocketing in India, however, with hospitals running out of beds and the government forced to reimpose economically painful restrictions again. The Delhi lockdown came after…
India's capital New Delhi recorded 24,000 coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period and is facing an acute shortage of hospital beds, its chief minister said on Saturday, as the country overall recorded more than 200,000 cases for a third day. "The situation is very critical, worrying. Oxygen is in short…
MANY Indian state leaders have asked prime minister Narendra Modi to open up vaccinations to most of the country's hundreds of millions of adults, following a second surge in infections that has eclipsed the first wave. India breached the grim milestone of 100,000 daily infections for the first time on…
SOME of India's big cities stare at stricter lockdowns and curbs as daily infections on Saturday (3) hit a six-month high. The second wave of the virus in the country third-worst hit by the pandemic is seeing a surge in number of positive cases being reported in the last month.…
AFTER 16 days, passenger flights from the UK to India restarted on Friday (8). The flights were suspended due to the emergence of a new coronavirus variant in Britain. The first Air India flight after the suspension landed at the Delhi airport from London with 256 passengers, Gauri Agarwal, founder…
FARMERS in India launched a national day of action Tuesday(8) against reforms deregulating the agriculture sector by blocking railway tracks and highways across the country. Tens of thousands of farmers have set up barricades on roads into New Delhi since November 26, vowing not to move until the laws are…
INDIA's coronavirus caseload passed nine million on Friday(20), as hospitals in the capital New Delhi came under increasing pressure and graveyards began to fill up. The world's second-worst-hit country has now also registered more than 132,000 deaths from the disease, according to the latest official figures. India has seen a…
New Delhi, the capital city with the worst air quality worldwide, suffered its most toxic day in a year on Thursday (5), recording the concentration of poisonous PM2.5 particles at 14 times over the World Health Organisation safe limit. A raging coronavirus epidemic, with more than 400,000 confirmed cases in…
INDIA recorded more than 60,000 cases of Covid-19 for the eighth day in a row on Wednesday (26), as total cases crossed 3.2 million, data from the federal health ministry showed. The world's second-most populous country is third behind the US and Brazil in terms of total caseload, and has…
Ashwani Jain succumbed to the coronavirus in an ambulance as his family pleaded with several hospitals to take him in, the latest victim of the pandemic sweeping through the Indian capital and exposing a deadly shortage of hospital beds. "They don't care whether we live or die," said his 20-year-old…
PEOPLE trickled into temples, mosques and churches in India on Monday (8) as the federal government lifted most restrictions on public places, even as the country added a record number of infections in a single day. After imposing a severe lockdown in March, prime minister Narendra Modi's government is under…
India's prime minister Narendra Modi said on Monday (11) the country would look to ease a nearly seven-week lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, despite also reporting its biggest single-day jump in cases. Modi has faced increasing calls to end his government's stringent lockdown of the…
Officials in India's capital imposed a special tax of 70 per cent on retail liquor purchases from Tuesday (5), to deter large gatherings at stores as authorities ease a six-week lockdown imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19. Taxes on alcohol are a key contributor to the revenue of many…
Indian police fired tear gas at a crowd of protesting migrant workers in Gujarat and launched baton charges against hundreds of people queuing at liquor stores in New Delhi, even as the first steps were being taken to relax a coronavirus lockdown. The world's largest lockdown, in force since March…
India's "King of Bollywood" superstar Shah Rukh Khan told jokes and sang for his adoring fans on Sunday during an almost five-hour online benefit to raise funds for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Tens of thousands of viewers watched more than 70 of the country's biggest celebrities -- including…
DELHI chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday (24) said that plasma therapy provides a ray of hope to seriously-ill COVID-19 patients. The Indian capital has conducted plasma therapy trial on four COVID-19 patients. Kejriwal said that the test has yielded 'very encouraging' initial results. In the plasma therapy, antibodies from…
About 500 people entered self-isolation at the Presidential House in the Indian capital on Tuesday (21) after a worker's relative tested positive for coronavirus, officials said, as the number of cases nationwide neared 18,000 despite a strict lockdown. India's 1.3 billion people have been ordered to remain indoors for 40…
THE nationwide lockdown in India to contain the spread of COVID-19 is likely to be extended beyond April 14 with the government spokesperson on Saturday (11) saying the government is considering a request made by most state chief ministers in this regard during an interaction with prime minister Narendra Modi.…
Hundreds of millions of people in India, including in its two largest cities, were ordered on Wednesday (8) to wear face masks or coverings amid a nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Residents in the capital New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai, which have a combined…
Here are the latest developments from Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: - Modi asks Indians for forgiveness - India's prime minister Narendra Modi apologised to citizens for the sweeping 21-day lockdown that has brought the country of 1.3 billion people to a halt, leaving many migrant workers jobless…
Delhi will be locked down in view of the growing coronavirus threat, from 6 am on March 23, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced at a joint press conference with Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Sunday (22). The lockdown will continue till 12 midnight on March 31, Kejriwal said. During the…
TENSIONS remained high in India's capital Thursday (27), as thousands of riot police and paramilitaries patrolled streets littered with the debris from days of sectarian riots that have killed 38 people. An uneasy calm has descended over the affected northeast fringes of the Indian capital, punctuated by sporadic outbreaks of…
AT LEAST 20 people have been killed in the Indian capital during violent clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups over a new citizenship law. Indian PM Modi has urged to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged that the situation has become "alarming" and…
TEN people have been killed and more than 130 injured in some of the worst sectarian violence in India's capital in years, as rioters went on the rampage in several parts of the city, setting fire to buildings and vehicles and attacking journalists. Protests against a contentious citizenship law descended on…
A Delhi Police head constable, Ratan Lal, was killed in the stone-pelting after suffering a head injury, on Monday (24) as clashes broke out in northeast Delhi as pro and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters pelted stones at each other. Several police personnel, including Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Shahdra, Amit…
US First Lady Melania Trump is likely to visit a Delhi government school and interact with students on February 25, sources said. US President Donald Trump, accompanied by wife Melania and a high-level delegation, will arrive in Ahmedabad around noon on February 24 for a little less than 36-hour-long trip.…
Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has retained India's national capital for the third term. As per the latest trends, AAP is all set to sweep the 70-seat Delhi assembly. Five years ago AAP had won 67 seats in Delhi. Retaining a majority since the beginning of the counting, AAP…
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged party workers not to burst crackers after victory to prevent air pollution. The counting of votes in Delhi will take place on Tuesday (11). Exit polls have predicted a huge majority for the ruling AAP. Some exit…
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal landed in trouble over a 'sexist' tweet on the election day in Delhi on Saturday (8). On Twitter, he said women should heed their male counterparts' advice while casting their votes. "You must go to vote. Special appeal to all women - Just like you…
A diminutive former tax inspector is in the cross-hairs of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's ruling party as it battles to take back power in Delhi state elections on Saturday (8). Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the sprawling capital of 20 million since 2015, is standing for re-election -- much…
Bollywood actors Swara Bhasker, Shabana Azmi, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub and Taapsee Pannu, and filmmakers Aparna Sen and Hansal Mehta on Sunday condemned the violence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and urged Delhi Police to intervene. Violence broke out at JNU on Sunday night after masked men armed with sticks…
At least 23 people were hurt at a prestigious Indian university on Sunday (5) in what police said were clashes between rival student groups but which an opposition politician blamed on a student organisation linked to prime minister Narendra Modi. Unverified videos on social media appeared to show a group…
POLICE in New Delhi have arrested the owner and manager of a factory where 43 people died in the Indian capital's deadliest fire in 20 years, a spokesman said on Monday (9). The blaze started early on Sunday (8) morning when more than a hundred workers were sleeping in the…
Atmospheric scientists from the UK and India have partnered to tackle chronic air pollution, which is impacting the health of more than 20 million people in Delhi. The Indian capital, one of the country's most densely populated metropolis, has some of the worst air pollution of any city in the…
The Indian capital's notorious air pollution hit "emergency" levels again Wednesday (14), coinciding with a visit by Britain's Prince Charles. New Delhi has been choked on and off for weeks, as industrial and traffic pollution -- combined with smoke from crop stubble burning -- cast a toxic pall over the…
New Delhi banned half the Indian capital's private cars from its roads on Monday as the megacity's 20 million people spluttered with stinging eyes in the worst pollution in three years. As smog levels exceeded those of Beijing by more than three times, authorities also parked a van with an…
India's capital New Delhi was enveloped in heavy, toxic smog on Sunday - the worst levels in recent years - with hundreds of flights diverted or delayed as politicians blamed each other for failing to tackle the crisis. Every winter, the megacity of 20 million people is blanketed by a…
AUTHORITIES in New Delhi declared a public health emergency on Friday (1) and closed schools and all construction activity until next week as air pollution in the city hit its worst level this year. A thick haze has hung over the Indian capital this week caused by plumes of toxic…
SOME doctors and residents urged New Delhi authorities to shut schools and cancel outdoor sporting events in the Indian capital as air pollution remained at the most severe level for the second day running on Wednesday (30). Farm fires raging in neighbouring states have sent clouds of smoke floating over…
The free of cost travel scheme for women in Delhi public buses began on Tuesday (29) with deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia saying it will ensure their safety and increase their role in the national capital's economy. Women will be given pink tickets in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster…
Indian politicians and academics cheered the Nobel economics prize awarded on Monday to Indian-born American Abhijit Banerjee, whose proud mother told visitors crowding into her apartment that he came from "a family of economists". Nirmala Banerjee showed journalists a copy of her son's book Poor Economics as bouquets arrived at…
INDIA'S capital New Delhi will enforce strict restrictions on use of private cars from November 4-15 to curb pollution, its chief minister said on Friday (13), in an effort to help improve air quality that tends to deteriorate sharply in winter months. Private vehicles will only be allowed to use…
SHEILA Dikshit was one of the tallest leaders of the Congress who had the distinction of being Delhi's longest serving chief minister and giving the national capital Delhi its modern look. A warm and affable politician, she was a loyalist of the Gandhi family. She was handpicked by Rajiv Gandhi…
Almost a million women will enjoy free public transport as part of an attempt to make the Indian capital safer, New Delhi's government said on Monday. The city has been notorious for women's safety since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a female student on a Delhi bus that…
DELHI chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal talked to Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav over the phone on Tuesday (21) to discuss the strategy to be followed after the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll results on Thursday (23). Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh told…
He has been smeared with chilli powder and slapped, but Delhi's chief minister will still be leading the fight against prime minister Narendra Modi in Sunday's penultimate round of the Indian election. Fifty-nine seats are up for grabs across the country on the sixth voting day of the marathon ballot.…
Tens of millions voted on Sunday (12) in the penultimate round of India's increasingly bad-tempered election, with all eyes on the coveted capital New Delhi after an ugly campaign of slaps and savage pamphlets. India's almost-seven week election, the biggest on Earth with prime minister Narendra Modi seeking a new…
An Oxford-educated candidate contesting India's election broke down on Thursday (9) after a savage anonymous pamphlet accused her of being a prostitute and of having sex with a fellow teacher. An emotional Atishi Marlena, a candidate at national level in Sunday's vote, told a news conference that the accusations were…
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi fired up a big, raucous rally in a hot Delhi late Wednesday (8) as India’s almost seven-week election approaches its conclusion later this month. “When work is done with good intentions, it also yields results. Inflation used to be on a rise, it is now under…
Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday (7) launched a scathing attack on India prime minister Narendra Modi, alleging that his nationalism was fake. Speaking at a poll rally in favour of his ally Jannayak Janata Party's Dushyant Chautala here, Kejriwal projected JJP-AAP as a viable…
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be the only person responsible if the BJP comes back to power, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has said as he slammed the Gandhi scion days after both the parties failed to form an alliance in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections. He was speaking…
CONGRESS president Rahul Gandhi on Monday (15) accused AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of doing an "U-turn" on the alliance talks between the two parties and said the doors of the Congress are open, but time is running out. However, Kejriwal claimed that the talks are still on and accused Gandhi…
As pollution levels surged to "severe" and "hazardous" levels in New Delhi this week, there was little sign that residents of India's teeming capital were doing much to protect themselves. The smog, which is expected to worsen in the next few days, exposed people to as much as 24 times…
India may halt the use of private vehicles in the capital New Delhi if air pollution, which has reached severe levels in recent days, gets worse, a senior environmental official said on Tuesday (30). Toxic smog has started to envelope vast swathes of northern India, including New Delhi, as it…
Marching contingents, strategic defence weaponry and colourful tableaux were on display as India celebrated its 69th Republic Day with a grand parade watched by thousands of people along with ten ASEAN leaders who attended the event as chief guests, in a historic first. Signifying India's fast growing strategic ties with…
A documentary on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who left bureaucracy to become a social activist and then plunged into the rough-and-tumble of politics, will hit theatres on November 17. Global media giant Vice has acquired the biographical film, "An Insignificant Man", for a world-wide release. Vice has announced it…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was forced on Monday to produce his college degrees, days after bitter political rivals accused him of lying about graduating from university. At a press conference in the capital, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and ruling party chief Amit Shah released copies of Modi’s Bachelor of…
Two years after the Centre cleared the decks for its auction, Taj Mansingh Hotel will finally go under the hammer, the NDMC on Thursday decided, as it also cancelled Le Meridien Hotel’s licence over dues of Rs 523 crore (£62.8 million). The two decisions were pending since long as the…