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If you’re ever in New Delhi and think you hear a monkey, don’t assume it’s a monkey. It could be a professional monkey noise impersonator. That’s because humans have been trained to imitate the guttural grunts and shrieks of gray langurs, a type of large monkey that can scare away the smaller kinds that tend to invade city officials’ residences or disrupt state visits. This weekend, the impersonators will take on a fresh challenge: keeping monkeys, which often evade guards by swinging through tree canopies, from barging into venues for the Group of 20 summit of world leaders, the first to take place in India. The event is an important one for India on the global stage, and the government does not want monkeys to steal the spotlight.

Organizations: Group Locations: New Delhi, barging, India

☆ Welcome to Bharat: Invite to G20 Leaders Ruffles Feathers in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Sameer Yasir | More About Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There were no immediate comments from Mr. Modi suggesting he would move to officially change the country’s name to Bharat. Bharat, a Sanskrit word, is often used locally in Hindi, but in all communication in English and with other countries, the nomenclature is India. The country’s Constitution uses the term just once — “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States,” Article 1 says — but that was enough for at least one government official. “‘India, that is Bharat’ — it is there in the Constitution,” Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, told a news agency on Wednesday. “Please, I would invite everybody to read it.”The Constitution, however, refers to the nominal head of the country as the president of India.

Persons: Modi, ” Subrahmanyam, “, Mohan Bhagwat, Bharat Organizations: Constitution, of States, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Locations: Bharat, India

Ms. Mao declined to explain the reason for the decision and refused to answer questions about Mr. Xi. The Chinese leader has never missed a G20 summit, which brings together 19 countries and the European Union, since taking power in 2012. The opacity of Chinese politics and Beijing’s reticence make it difficult to know why Mr. Xi appears to have chosen not to attend the summit. Analysts say it could reflect Mr. Xi’s preference for groupings in which China is more dominant, such as the recently concluded BRICS summit of emerging nations in Johannesburg. Given that Mr. Xi would be missing an opportunity to meet with President Biden on the sidelines of the summit, the move might suggest that Mr. Xi wants to ease tensions with the United States on his own terms.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Mao Ning, Mao, Xi, Beijing’s, Biden Organizations: China’s Foreign Ministry, European Union, Russia Locations: China, New Delhi, India, United States, Washington, Asia, Johannesburg

☆ Where ‘No One Wanted Girls,’ a Dad in India Takes On the Patriarchy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Sameer Yasir | More About Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When the nurse stepped out of the delivery room, her face turned somber as she approached with a baby in her arms wrapped in a blanket. Her voice dropped to a hush, almost like she was ashamed, as she announced to the family: “It is a daughter.”Nothing about the nurse’s negative demeanor surprised Sunil Jaglan, the newborn’s father. Growing up in the northern Indian state of Haryana, he was accustomed to parents’ strong preference for having sons over daughters. But something within him snapped, he said, when he offered the nurse money as a thank you gesture, and she refused because she had not handed over a boy. “Are you also ashamed of yourself?” Mr. Jaglan recently remembered asking the nurse when his daughter was born 11 years ago.

Persons: Sunil Jaglan, Jaglan Locations: Haryana

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Delhi on Thursday after the authorities warned of widespread flooding following days of torrential rains that have battered large swaths of northern India. That forced the chief minister of the capital region, Arvind Kejriwal, to shut schools and convert them into disaster relief camps. Many migrant workers, who live on the banks of the river, were camping on the roads alongside it as their makeshift homes were swallowed by the water. Many others were looking for shelter as water enveloped sections of residential areas and historical sites like the Red Fort. So far this monsoon season, officials said, landslides and flash floods have claimed at least 91 lives in six north Indian states near Delhi, and disrupted millions of others.

Persons: Arvind Kejriwal Organizations: Central Water Commission Locations: Delhi, India

“They all have incentives to play things down and make it all look normal,” said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. While Mr. Putin was able to defuse the crisis by agreeing to allow mercenary leader, Yegveny V. Prigozhin, to leave for Belarus, the brief insurrection raised questions about his authority and future. Speaking at his first international forum since the mutiny, Mr. Putin thanked the member states for their backing after the uprising, which he claimed had no popular support in Russia. “United by the deep responsibility for the fate of the motherland, Russian political circles and all of society showed a united front against the attempted armed mutiny,” Mr. Putin said. He also sought to cast the summit as a sign of international support for his invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: ”, Ian Chong, Putin, Wagner, Yegveny, Mr Organizations: National University of Singapore, “, U.S Locations: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Thousands of Brides in India Are Abandoned by Husbands Overseas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The situation, they said, often plays out like this: Parents arrange to marry their daughter off to a returning Indian. They pay a dowry, a practice long banned in India but still common. The husband flies out, and the wife waits for a visa while living with her in-laws. In a number of cases, men have used dowry money to pay immigration agents to land in wealthy countries like Canada, where Sikhs make up about 2 percent of the population. “The boys come, they enjoy, and leave with the dowry money,” Mr. Garg said.

Persons: Kaur, ”, Rakesh Kumar Garg, ” Mr, Garg Locations: India, Canada, Punjab

They cram themselves every day by the millions onto India’s overtaxed trains, chasing a shred of economic opportunity across the vastness of the world’s most populous nation. Tickets costing about $5 — nearly a day’s wage — are all they can afford. Almost all of the 288 dead were in those three cars at the front of the train — a fact, confirmed by officials, that has gone almost unnoticed in India. Unlike the 1,200 people in reserved seats, those in the general coaches were officially nameless; the rail service had no record of their identity. Their names and other details emerged only when they were taken to hospitals, or when a loved one traveling hundreds of miles identified their bodies in a morgue.

Persons: chai Organizations: Express Locations: India

Workers toiled over the weekend to clear the wreck and restore the mangled tracks. The authorities allowed some stranded trains, limited to a speed of about six miles an hour, to run past the site on Monday, though two affected side lines remained inactive. The suspended train service had hindered families of the victims from traveling to the town of the crash, Balasore in Odisha State, and claiming their loved ones. Some had arrived via special train services, others in cars on Monday morning provided by their local governments. Still more were making the grim journey, and officials said that the focus now was formally identifying the last of the victims.

Organizations: Workers Locations: Odisha State

The crushed train cars were cleared and the jumbled tracks straightened and rejoined, as workers labored on Sunday to quickly restore an important rail line in east India two days after the country’s worst train disaster in decades. Families of the victims were still struggling to reach the site of the wreck, near the town of Balasore in Odisha State. The desperate journey to claim the bodies of loved ones was complicated for many families by a lack of train service, though by late Sunday night, some rail movement on restored tracks began in both directions. Officials said a special train would ferry relatives from the city of Kolkata, in the neighboring state of West Bengal, to Odisha. And the government of Odisha announced free bus service on the disrupted train route.

Persons: Odisha, ”, Rahul Kumar Organizations: Officials Locations: India, Balasore, Odisha State, Kolkata, West Bengal, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Bahanaga Bahanaga Bazar rail station Site of initial impact Coromandel Express passenger train Freight train carrying iron ore Bahanaga Bahanaga Bazar rail station Site of initial impact Coromandel Express passenger train Freight train carrying iron ore Bahanaga Bahanaga Bazar rail station Site of initial impact Freight train carrying iron ore Coromandel Express passenger train The New York Times; aerial drone image via ReutersInvestigators of the deadly multi-train crash in India have focused on the possibility that it was caused by an electronic signal system failure. 1 Two passenger trains approach◀ South to Chennai North to Kolkata ▶ Other freight train Second passenger train Coromandel Express Freight train with iron ore ◀ South to Chennai North to Kolkata ▶ Other freight train Second passenger train Coromandel Express Freight train with iron oreAt around 7 p.m. local time, the Coromandel Express passenger train approached from the north at a speed of about 80 miles per hour. 2 Coromandel Express veers onto occupied trackOther freight train Second passenger train (exact position unknown) Possible signal system failure Coromandel Express Freight train with iron ore Second passenger train (exact position unknown) Other freight train Coromandel Express Possible signal system failure Freight train with iron oreThe Coromandel Express veered onto an adjacent track occupied by an idled freight train that was loaded with iron ore. An Indian Railways official said that a problem with the signal system was most likely the overall cause of the crash, though investigations were still underway. 3 First passenger train collides with freight trainOther freight train Second passenger train (exact position unknown) Coromandel Express Freight train with iron ore Collision Second passenger train (exact position unknown) Other freight train Coromandel Express Freight train with Iron ore CollisionThe Coromandel Express collides with the freight train. 4 Second passenger train is hitOther freight train Second passenger train Freight train with iron ore Derailed cars strike second passenger train Coromandel Express Other freight train Freight train with Iron ore Derailed cars strike second passenger trainThe derailed cars from the Coromandel Express strike the second passenger train as it passes, causing two cars at the end of the second passenger train to derail.

Organizations: New York Times, Reuters Investigators, Coromandel, Indian Railways, Coromandel Express Locations: India, Chennai North, Kolkata, Howrah, Coromandel

A second passenger train, heading in the opposite direction, then struck some of the dislocated cars. More than 2,200 passengers in all were onboard the passenger trains, according to railway officials, and at least 23 cars were derailed. The other passenger train was a Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express train, running from a commuter hub in the southern city of Bengaluru to Kolkata, the capital of the northeastern state of West Bengal. Site of the train crash An initial government report said that the Coromandel Express passenger train derailed while traveling at full speed. In 2016, 14 train cars derailed in India’s northeast in the middle of the night, killing more than 140 passengers and injuring 200 others.

Persons: Ashwini Vaishnaw, Vaishnaw, Derailments, Jitendra Prakash, Narendra Modi, Modi, Modi’s, Amit Dave, Suresh Prabhu, Mr, Mujib Mashal Organizations: Chennai Coromandel Express, South Eastern Railway, Express, Coromandel, INDIA, Economic, Disaster Management, Reuters Rail Locations: India, Balasore, Odisha State, Shalimar, Chennai Coromandel, India’s, Howrah, Bengaluru, Kolkata, West Bengal, Odisha, Bhubaneswar, Odisha’s, Bihar, Pukhrayan, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad

The other passenger train was a Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express train, running from a commuter hub in Bangalore to Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal. India’s railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that he had ordered an investigation into the cause and that those affected by the crash would receive compensation. Site of the train crash An initial government report said that the Coromandel Express passenger train derailed while traveling at full speed. Dozens of trains had been canceled but crews were rushing to restore service after pushing off the train cars involved in the crash off the tracks. In 2016, 14 train cars derailed in India’s northeast in the middle of the night, killing more than 140 passengers and injuring 200 others.

Persons: Ashwini Vaishnaw, Derailments, Jitendra Prakash, Narendra Modi, Modi, Modi’s, Amit Dave, Suresh Prabhu, Mr, Vaishnaw, Mujib Mashal Organizations: Chennai Coromandel Express, South Eastern Railway, Express, Coromandel, INDIA, Sunday, Economic, Disaster Management, Reuters Rail Locations: India, Balasore, Odisha State, Shalimar, Chennai Coromandel, India’s, Howrah, Bangalore, Kolkata, West Bengal, Bahanaga Bazar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha’s, Bihar, Pukhrayan, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad

☆ India Train Crash Live Updates: Relatives Identify Crash Victims as Modi Visits Derailment Site
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Sameer Yasir | Mujib Mashal | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

The other passenger train was a Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express train, running from a commuter hub in Bangalore to Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal. India’s railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that he had ordered an investigation into the cause and that those affected by the crash would receive compensation. Site of the train crash An initial government report said that the Coromandel Express passenger train derailed while traveling at full speed. In 2016, 14 train cars derailed in India’s northeast in the middle of the night, killing more than 140 passengers and injuring 200 others. Within hours of Friday’s disaster, some opposition politicians were already calling for the resignation of Mr. Vaishnaw, India’s railway minister.

Persons: Ashwini Vaishnaw, Derailments, Jitendra Prakash, Narendra Modi, Modi, Modi’s, Amit Dave, Suresh Prabhu, Mr, Vaishnaw, Mujib Mashal Organizations: Chennai Coromandel Express, South Eastern Railway, Express, Coromandel, INDIA, Economic, Disaster Management, Reuters Rail Locations: India, Balasore, Odisha State, Shalimar, Chennai Coromandel, India’s, Howrah, Bangalore, Kolkata, West Bengal, Bahanaga Bazar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha’s, Odisha, Bihar, Pukhrayan, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad

The Olympic wrestlers arrived on the banks of the sacred river Ganges late on Tuesday for what they had announced as a final act of desperation. Two days before, the police had violently dismantled their protest camp in New Delhi and dragged them off to detention, striking a blow against their protracted effort to bring to account a politically powerful sports official they accuse of serial sexual harassment of female wrestlers. Now, the athletes would throw their hard-earned medals, including two Olympic bronzes for a large nation curiously bereft of global sporting laurels, into the river and then begin a hunger strike. “These medals decorating our necks no longer mean anything,” they said in a statement, adding that the authorities were “going after the victims” to force them to end their protest. “What is the point of life when you compromise on dignity?” the statement read.

Persons: ” Organizations: Olympic Locations: New Delhi

☆ India Is Scrapping Its Largest Bill. The Race Is On to Spend It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Sameer Yasir | Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Indians have been filing into gas stations, jewelry stores, fruit stands and any other businesses that still accept soon-to-be-withdrawn 2,000-rupee notes, each worth about $24. The race to spend India’s biggest bill has been on since its central bank announced this month that they would be removed from circulation by early fall. Economists say retiring the big bill may help fight corruption, bring workers into the formal economy, improve tax collection and accelerate India’s push for digital payments. But for some consumers, the move has dredged up unpleasant memories of 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sudden ban on large notes left them without enough cash for basic transactions. In an economy that is driven by rural and informal workers, some do not own bank accounts — or trust the government’s economic policies.

Persons: Narendra Modi’s Locations: India’s

☆ Overcrowded India? This State Is Desperate for More Babies.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sikkim, nestled in the Himalayas and surrounded on three sides by Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, stands out in the teeming diversity of India’s states. It also has India’s smallest population, not even three-quarters of a million people, and its lowest birthrate. That last distinction has state leaders worried about the survival of the unique culture produced by Sikkim’s blend of ethnic groups, religions and geography. The effort points to a demographic reality in India that is often overshadowed by its sheer scale. A couple of states in the underdeveloped north account for much of it.

☆ Indian Official Who Drained a Reservoir to Retrieve His Phone Is Suspended
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Sameer Yasir | Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Say you drop your brand-new smartphone into a reservoir while posing for a selfie during a picnic. Would you consider it lost and buy a replacement, or drain the reservoir to retrieve it? An Indian official who chose the latter option has been suspended from his job. Initially, some villagers he knew spent two days diving in the reservoir in an attempt to retrieve the phone, Mr. Vishwas told The Indian Express newspaper. So he rented a diesel pump and drained about three feet of water over another two days — by some estimates, enough to irrigate 1,500 acres of farmland.

☆ Cheetah Deaths in India Mar Reintroduction Efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Hari Kumar | Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For centuries, cheetahs roamed vast swaths of India and prowled among lions, tigers and leopards. Last year, the Indian government sought to bring cheetahs back by reintroducing the species to the country, bringing 20 in from South Africa and Namibia. In the latest case, a female cheetah was killed during a violent interaction with two older males after they were put in the same enclosure for the purpose of mating. Another male cheetah brought from South Africa in February died of apparent heart failure last month. And a female from the Namibia group, consisting of five males and three females, died of a suspected kidney ailment in March.

☆ At Least 22 Dead After Tourist Boat Capsizes in Southern India
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least 22 people, many of them children, were killed after a double-decker tourist boat capsized in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Sunday evening. Rescuers had found eight people with injuries by the next morning, with four of them in critical condition. The boat was carrying more than 40 sightseers, according to survivors, when it capsized at around 7 p.m.“The boat was overcrowded,” said Abdul Nazar, a local police officer. Local media reported that the vessel also lacked a required safety certificate, and was not permitted to operate that late in the day. Five passengers swam ashore and were being treated at a nearby hospital, according to V. Abdurahiman, a local legislator, who is overseeing the rescue operation.

☆ Mystery Gas Leak in India Leaves at Least 11 Dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least 11 people were killed and almost as many injured after a gas leaked in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Sunday. Officials had sealed off a section of in the city of Ludhiana and were evacuating residents as they tried to identify the gas and determine the source of the leak. All the victims were found near three businesses in the Giaspura industrial district — a dairy store, a grocery store and a clinic. Among the dead were two children, local news media reported. She said she saw about half a dozen people lying unconscious on the street near the dairy store.

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