New Delhi, India | AFP | A tiger which killed four villagers in central India has died after being electrocuted, an official said Sunday, ending a hunt by armed rangers for the beast. A court in Maharashtra state issued a shoot-to-kill order Friday against the two-year-old female tiger after its …
Read More »Pesticide poisoning kills 20 farmers in Indian state
Mumbai, India | AFP | Twenty Indian farmers have died and hundreds of others are in hospital after inhaling poisonous pesticides while spraying crops, officials said Monday, highlighting lax safety standards in the country. The farmers in the western state of Maharashtra, one of India’s most important agricultural regions, died after …
Read More »India gives 27,000 free tickets to avert World Cup ’embarrassment’
New Delhi, India | AFP | India gave away 27,000 tickets for the opening games of the Under-17 World Cup in New Delhi on Friday in a bid to avoid the embarrassment of empty stands when Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends, an official said. Thousands of children filled the Jawahar Lal …
Read More »India central bank holds rates, cuts growth outlook amid slowdown
Mumbai, India | AFP | India’s central bank held interest rates at a seven-year-low on Wednesday as it downgraded growth forecasts for Asia’s third largest economy amid a slowdown following recent high-profile reforms. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate — the level at which it lends …
Read More »Tata wins bid to make electric cars for Indian government
New Delhi, India | AFP | India’s Tata Motors has won a bid to manufacture thousands of electric cars for the government as part of a push to promote battery-powered vehicles as the nation grapples with soaring pollution levels. State-owned energy efficiency services limited (ESSL) will procure 10,000 cars from …
Read More »‘World’s heaviest woman’ dies in Abu Dhabi hospital
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP | An Egyptian believed to be the world’s heaviest woman died Monday morning of heart and kidney failure at an Abu Dhabi hospital. A team of more than 20 doctors had been caring for Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty since her arrival at Burjeel …
Read More »US calls N. Korea nuclear bomb test threat ‘shocking’
New Delhi, India | AFP | US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday it would be “shocking” irresponsibility for North Korea to carry out its threat to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific. The new comments, made while Mattis headed for India, followed a shrill war of words between the …
Read More »Indian priest thankful, even to abductors, after release from Yemen
Rome, Italy | AFP | An Indian priest kidnapped last year during a deadly attack by Islamist militants in Yemen thanked on Saturday all those involved in his release, and even had a kind word for his abductors for not harming him. “I thank in the name of the Lord God …
Read More »India’s first bullet train project fast-tracks Japanese ties
Ahmedabad, India | AFP | India’s first bullet train project, a $19-billion initiative linking Ahmedabad to Mumbai, was launched Thursday as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe hailed fast-growing ties between Asia’s two biggest democracies. The project is seen as emblematic of warming relations between New Delhi …
Read More »Indian teen rape survivor gives birth to baby boy
Mumbai, India | AFP | A 13-year-old rape survivor who was allowed to terminate a late pregnancy by India’s Supreme Court has given birth to a pre-term baby boy, a doctor said Friday. The teenager was 32 weeks pregnant, well beyond India’s 20-week legal limit after which terminations are only allowed …
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