DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Toxic smog covers Indian capital as pollution hits record levels
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-19 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI — Residents in India’s northern states woke up to another day of poor air quality on Tuesday, as a layer of dense fog shrouded most of the region, and pollution in the capital, Delhi, remained severe. India battles air pollution every winter as cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions and smoke from farm fires started illegally in the adjoining, farming states of Punjab and Haryana. The Taj Mahal, India’s famed monument of love, has been obscured by toxic smog for nearly a week. Swiss group IQAir ranked New Delhi as the world’s most polluted city with air quality at a “hazardous” 489, although that was a significant improvement from Monday’s 1,081 reading. India’s weather department said a shift in the fog layer toward the northern state of Uttar Pradesh had helped improve visibility over Delhi.

Persons: Taj Organizations: Residents, Pollution Control, IQAir, New Delhi Locations: DELHI, India’s, Delhi, India, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh’s Agra, Swiss, New, Uttar Pradesh

☆ India’s capital introduces stricter anti-pollution measures as toxic smog hides Taj Mahal
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Views of the famed Taj Mahal in Agra, India, have been obscured by smog. New Delhi has a severe air quality level of 424, according to live rankings kept by Swiss group IQAir, the worst among global capitals. The city battles smog — a toxic mix of smoke and fog — every winter as cold air traps dust, emissions and smoke from illegal farm fires. Delhi flights faced delays, with tracking website Flightradar24 showing 88% of departures and 54% of arrivals were delayed as of Thursday afternoon due to smog. Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, was rated the world’s most polluted city on Friday, in IQAir’s rankings.

Persons: Atishi, Taj, Pawan Sharma, stubble, Manish Swarup, ” Sahab Ram Organizations: DELHI, Delhi, Getty Locations: New Delhi, Agra, India, Amritsar . New Delhi, Swiss, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab’s Fazilka, Lahore, Pakistan’s

☆ Toxic smog in Pakistan is so bad you can see it from space
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-11 | by ( Helen Regan | Sophia Saifi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Record-breaking levels of thick, toxic smog that have shrouded eastern Pakistan and northern India since last month can be seen in striking satellite imagery. Air quality worsens in the winter because colder and drier air traps pollution, rather than lifting it away, as warm air does when it rises. Satellite imagery from NASA Worldview shows Pakistan’s Punjab province and parts of northwest India on August 31, 2024. NASA Worldview/CNN Satellite imagery from NASA Worldview shows heavy smog over Pakistan’s Punjab province and parts of northwest India on November 10, 2024. Meanwhile, WHO says 6.7 million people die annually from the combined effects of ambient and household air pollution.

Persons: Arif Ali, Sajid Bashir, Khuram, Raja Jahangir Anwar Organizations: CNN, NASA, World Health, Associated Press, Getty, Traders, Protection Agency, ”, EPA, Environment, WHO Locations: Pakistan, India, Punjab, New Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Pakistan’s, AFP, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, “

☆ Lahore air pollution hits historic high, forcing school closures
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-04 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

KARACHI, Pakistan — Unprecedented air pollution levels in Pakistan’s second-largest city of Lahore prompted authorities to take emergency measures on Sunday, including issuing work-from-home mandates and closing primary schools. To reduce vehicle pollution, 50% of office employees would work from home, Aurangzeb said. The government has also imposed a ban on three-wheelers known as rickshaws and halted construction in certain areas to reduce the pollution levels. Aurangzeb described the situation as “unexpected” and attributed the deterioration in air quality to winds carrying pollution from neighboring India. The smog crisis in Lahore, similar to the situation in India’s capital, Delhi, tends to worsen during cooler months due to temperature inversion trapping pollution closer to the ground.

Persons: Punjab Marriyum Aurangzeb, Aurangzeb, ” Organizations: Citizens Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Lahore, India, Swiss, Punjab, Delhi

☆ Living pollution-free is a ‘fundamental right,’ India’s top court says
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, India— Living in a pollution-free environment is a fundamental right, India’s Supreme Court said Wednesday as it urged authorities to address deteriorating air quality in the north of the country. Swiss group IQAir rated Delhi the world’s most polluted city in its live rankings. The Supreme Court pulled up the governments of both states for taking “selective action” against stubble burning, saying penal provisions were not being properly implemented. Recognizing this, the court on Wednesday directed the federal government and the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and the western state of Rajasthan to submit compliance reports. In Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab, authorities have changed school timings and suspended outdoor activities because of pollution.

Persons: ”, Narendra, Marriyam Aurangzeb Organizations: Central Pollution Control Board, Supreme Locations: DELHI, India, Delhi, Swiss, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, South Asia, Lahore, Pakistan’s Punjab

☆ Canada expels top India diplomats, links them to murder of Sikh leader
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-15 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, on Monday, linking them to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader and alleging a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada. Earlier in the day, India retaliated by ordering the expulsion of six high-ranking Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner, and said it had withdrawn its envoy from Canada, contradicting Canada’s statement of expulsion. India said it had asked six Canadian diplomats to leave by Saturday. The ministry also said it had summoned Acting High Commissioner in India Stewart Wheeler, Canada’s top diplomat in the South Asian country. Therefore, the Government of India has decided to withdraw the High Commissioner and other targeted diplomats and officials,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Persons: Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, ” Trudeau, ”, Canada’s, Trudeau, “, India Stewart Wheeler, Melanie Joly, “ We’re, ” Fen Osler Hampson Organizations: Ontario —, Commonwealth, Canadian, South, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Government of, ”, Ottawa’s Carleton University, U.S, State Department, Sikh Locations: OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, India, Canada’s, Government, Government of India, New Delhi, Ottawa, Punjab, New York, Indian, Washington

In India and China, torrential rains have killed more than 200 people in the past week. Widespread flooding has been reported in North Korea near the border with China with no word on whether anyone died. North Korea: Damage, but no information on deathsThe tropical storm also generated heavy rain in northeast China on the border with North Korea, overflowing the Yalu River, which divides the two countries. In North Korea, the rain flooded 4,100 houses, 7,400 acres of farmland and many public buildings, roads and railways. One city near North Korea asked people living below the third floor to move higher as the Yalu River rose.

Persons: ”, “, Gaemi, KCNA, Kim Jong Un, Kim Organizations: China Meteorological Administration, Rescue, ”, Ministry of Water Resources, AP, State TV Locations: India, China, Pakistan, North Korea, Asia, Kerala, ” India, Philippines, Taiwan, Pacific, Hunan, Zixing, Shanghai . China, North Korea’s, Phyongan, Jilin province, Lahore, Punjab province

☆ The Indian villages with rooftop sculptures of planes, tanks and cars
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Jacqui Palumbo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Though the designs could have been plucked from an amusement park, they were actually elaborate rooftop water tanks of private homes. Some are functional water tanks while others sit on top more traditional plumbing designs. Over the course of six trips from 2014 to 2019, Vora began to better understand the full scope of the trend. As the popularity of custom-designed water tanks grew, local builders became specialized in their craft. The remote areas of Punjab weren’t yet mapped by Google, he explained, so he visited villages and hoped for the best.

Persons: Rajesh Vora, —, ” Vora, ”, me, PHOTOINK, they’ll, Vora, “ Will, Will Organizations: CNN, ”, Maruti, Google Locations: Daulatpur, Punjab, India, Mumbai, France, Jhander Kalan, Vora, Talhan, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Mehat

☆ India’s farmers are up in arms again. Will it hurt Modi’s reelection campaign?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Vinay Dwivedi | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Narinder Nanu | AFP | Getty ImagesNEW DELHI — Farmers in India's Punjab state are raising the pitch of their ongoing protests, as the second phase of India's general elections starts Friday. Thousands of farmers continue to drum up support for their demands, foremost being a legal guarantee for minimum support prices for their produce. A Lokniti-CSDS survey earlier this month showed 59% of the respondents found the farmers' demands "genuine," while 16% deemed the protests a "conspiracy" against the government. CNBC did not immediately receive a response from India's Agriculture Ministry on queries pertaining to the farmers' demands. What India's farmers want

Persons: Narinder Nanu, Narendra Modi, Modi, Yogendra Yadav, Sanjay Kumar, Modi's, Kumar, it's, Jagjit Singh, Ayyakannu, Dallewal Organizations: AFP, Getty, DELHI — Farmers, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Modi's BJP, CNBC, India's Agriculture, Tamil Nadu, Morcha Locations: Amritsar, DELHI, India's Punjab, Punjab, Khanauri, Haryana, India, New Delhi, Delhi, Tamil, Varanasi, Tamil Nadu, Varansai, Uttar Pradesh, Samyukta

CNN —British singer Ed Sheeran wowed the stage in Mumbai with Diljit Dosanjh over the weekend as the pair sang a rendition of the Indian artist’s hit track “Lover” in Punjabi, a duet that promptly lit up India’s social media. Both artists posted videos of their performances on Instagram, with huge cheers from the crowd as Sheeran invited his singing partner onto the stage. “Got to bring out @diljitdosanjh tonight in Mumbai and sing in Punjabi for the first time. I’ve had such an incredible time in India, more to come!” Sheeran wrote in a post. Fans and Indian celebrities on social media praised Dosanjh for getting Sheeran to sing in an Indian language.

Persons: Ed Sheeran, Dosanjh, Sheeran, “, I’ve, ” Sheeran, Singer, Diljit, ”, Varun Dhawan, Sahil Bulla, ” Dosanjh, “ Hass Hass, Sia Organizations: CNN, Spotify Locations: British, Mumbai, India, London, Australia, Punjab, Pakistan

☆ Elon Musk's X suspends some India accounts after order from Modi government
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | In Charmainemariajacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's social media platform X said Thursday it will block certain accounts and posts from India in response to executive orders by the government. X said it did not agree with the order but failure to comply would subject the company to "potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment." Tens of thousands of Indian farmers — mostly from the northern state of Punjab — have been protesting since mid-February in renewed calls for better crop prices which were promised to them in 2021. In October, the Modi government warned Musk that X would have to comply to country's new and upcoming IT rules. However, it has written an appeal challenging the Indian government with accounts that are pending to be blocked, the company said.

Persons: Elon, X, Jack Dorsey —, Musk —, Narendra Modi's, Modi, Musk, Naman Tandon Organizations: Global Government Affairs, CNBC, country's Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Reuters, Twitter Locations: Punjab, Haryana, Ambala, India, New Delhi, Delhi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

☆ Why Farmers Are Marching Toward Delhi Again
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Alex Travelli | Suhasini Raj | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Once again, India’s capital is bracing itself for a siege. Not by a foreign army but by an army of Indian farmers, streaming toward New Delhi from nearby states to protest government policies. The farmers’ march has turned the city’s main points of entry into choke points, as the federal and local police go into overdrive: barricading highways by pouring concrete and stacking shipping containers to halt the advancing tractors. The authorities have blocked the social media accounts of some protest leaders and even used drones that were once billed as an agricultural innovation to drop tear-gas grenades on the demonstrators. The scenes hark back to North India’s biggest protests of 2020 and 2021, when hundreds of thousands of farmers, mostly from the states of Punjab and Haryana, forced the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abandon three bills meant to overhaul India’s agricultural economy.

Persons: Narendra Modi Locations: Delhi, Punjab, Haryana

☆ Shehbaz Sharif Set for Pakistan's Top Job as Elder Brother Steps Aside
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

Before his stint as prime minister, the younger Sharif was known more as a good administrator than a politician, having served as chief minister thrice in the country's largest province, Punjab. The deal was signed after Sharif personally called on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva last June. Although defence and key foreign policy decisions are largely influenced by the military, Sharif will have to juggle relations with the U.S. and China, both major allies. He started his political career as the chief minister of Punjab in 1997 with a signature "can-do" administrative style. As chief minister, the younger Sharif planned and executed a number of ambitious infrastructure mega-projects, including Pakistan's first modern mass transport system in Lahore.

Persons: Asif Shahzad, Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif's, Maryam, Imran Khan, Shehbaz Sharif, Khan, Shehbaz, Kristalina Georgieva, Tehmina Durrani, Ariba Shahid, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz, Monetary Fund, IMF, U.S Locations: Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam ISLAMABAD, Sharif, London, country's, Punjab, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Lahore, Panama, Karachi

CNN —The home of a Canadian Sikh activist in Brampton, Ontario, was hit by gunfire on Monday, months after the assassination of another activist sent India-Canada relations into a spiral. “It appears that only one bullet hole was found but that is subject to change,” Peel Regional Police wrote in a statement. The bullet hole in Gosal's home in Brampton, Ontario. The Canadian citizen was gunned down by masked men last June outside a Sikh temple in British Colombia. Weeks later, the United States accused an Indian government official of being involved in a conspiracy to kill another Sikh separatist, American citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, on US soil.

Persons: Inderjit Singh, Gosal, Singh, Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Weeks, Gurpatwant Singh, Pannun, Nikhil Gupta, Gupta, Nijjar, “ Organizations: CNN, Justice, Peel Regional Police, Indian Consulate Toronto, Canadian, Indian, Global Affairs Canada Locations: Brampton , Ontario, India, Canada, India’s Punjab, British Colombia, United States, Ontario, Punjab

☆ Analysis: Pakistan’s youth deliver stinging rebuke to military elite by backing jailed leader Khan
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Sophia Saifi | Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —His political party is effectively banned, his speeches are barred from television, and he faces at least 14 years in prison. But as the Pakistan election results show, Imran Khan cannot be suppressed. Independent candidates affiliated with the former prime minister’s Pakistan Tehereek-e-Insaf (PTI) party secured the most parliamentary seats in last week’s nationwide election, the election commission announced Sunday. “Now show the strength of protecting your vote.” Khan’s team has previously used AI to deliver his speeches from behind bars. Akhtar Soomro/Reuters/FileWhen he rose to power in 2018, it was, according to analysts, with the backing of the military.

Persons: Pakistan CNN —, Imran Khan, Khan, “, ”, Khan’s, –, Hashim Ali Dogar, Shayan Bashir Nawaz, Raoof Hassam, Madiha Afzal, Akhtar Soomro, Rabiya Arooj, Nawaz Sharif, Husain Haqqani, Anwar Gargash, Manahil Ahmed, Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Sundas Kalsoom, Insaaf, Gohar Ali Khan, Hasham Ahmed, Fahd Humayun Organizations: Pakistan CNN, Independent, PTI, CNN, Foreign, Brookings Institution, Pakistani, United, Hudson Institute, Washington D.C, Getty, Haqqani, Political, Neubauer, Tufts University, “ Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Lahore, “, Punjab, Washington, Imran Khan Pakistan, British India, It’s, United States, Pakistani, Abu Dhabi, Peshawar, Buner, AFP, Egypt

If no party wins a majority of 169 seats, the one with the biggest share can form a coalition government. The vote was overshadowed by violence, an unprecedented national shutdown of all mobile phone services and allegations of vote rigging. Pakistan’s national human rights body said there was no excuse for the hold-up and expressed concern about the lack of transparency. DEALS, DEALS, DEALSNo party won a majority of National Assembly seats. She accompanied her father at rallies, giving fiery and uncompromising speeches, and escorted him on polling day when he went to cast his vote.

Persons: hadn't, Imran Khan's, Salman Akram Raja, hasn’t, Nawaz Sharif, kingmaker, Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto, Zardari, Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif’s, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto, Benazir’s, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Maryam Nawaz, Bilawal, Maryam, Shehbaz, Hamza Organizations: —, National Assembly, U.S, Union, Court, Fair, PTI, Pakistan People’s Party, Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, — Pakistan, Lahore, Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan, Punjab province

☆ Factbox-Who Are the Key Players in Pakistan's General Elections?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan holds its national elections on Thursday as the country grapples with an economic crisis and political uncertainty following the ouster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022. Here are some facts about the main political figures trying to lead the nuclear-armed nation of 241 million people. NAWAZ SHARIFFormer prime minister Nawaz Sharif is considered a front-runner to lead the country, having buried a long-running feud with the country's powerful military, analysts say. Maryam, 50, was jailed along with her father shortly before the 2018 elections on corruption charges, which were later overturned. Nevertheless, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has tried to wage an unorthodox election campaign using social media and covert canvassing.

Persons: Imran Khan, NAWAZ SHARIF, Nawaz Sharif, MARYAM NAWAZ SHARIF, Nawaz, Maryam, SHEHBAZ SHARIF, Shehbaz Sharif, IMRAN KHAN, BILAWAL BHUTTO ZARDARI Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Bhutto Zardari, Asif Ali Zardari, Charlotte Greenfield, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz, International Monetary Fund, Khan's Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Punjab, Pakistan's, Khan's Pakistan, Sindh province

FORMER PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUEBusiness mogul, multi-millionaire and three-time premier, Nawaz Sharif hails from one of the top two families that have dominated Pakistani politics for decades. He also has a personal stake in keeping imprisoned Imran Khan out of the picture. FORMER PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN, PAKISTAN TEHREEK-E-INSAF PARTYA former cricket star turned Islamist politician, Imran Khan triumphed on an anti-corruption, anti-establishment platform in the 2018 election to form a coalition government. FORMER PRIME MINISTER SHEHBAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUEShehbaz Sharif, 72, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, succeeded Imran Khan as prime minister in April 2022. He won his first parliamentary seat in 2018 and became foreign minister after Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister.

Persons: it's, NAWAZ SHARIF, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Imran Khan, Khan, ASIM MUNIR, Asim Munir, Munir, IMRAN KHAN, Osama bin Laden, ” —, SHEHBAZ SHARIF, BILAWAL BHUTTO, ZARDARI, Pakistan’s, Bilawal Bhutto, Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari Organizations: —, National Assembly, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE Business, Pakistan Muslim League, Supreme, Sharif, GEN, ARMY CHIEF, LEAGUE, International Monetary Fund Locations: ISLAMABAD, — Pakistan, PAKISTAN, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Iran, Tehran, Islamabad, United States, U.S, Washington, LEAGUE Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab, London, Sindh

The highway is the most politically charged slice of a politically turbulent country. It winds 180 miles from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, through the fertile plains of Punjab Province to Lahore, the nation’s cultural and political heart. For centuries, it was known only as a sliver of the Grand Trunk Road, Asia’s longest and oldest thoroughfare, linking traders in Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. As Pakistan heads into national elections on Thursday, the road is buzzing. Politics dominates the chatter between its vendors and rickshaw drivers, their conversations seeped in a culture of conspiracy, cults of political personality and the problems of entrenched military control.

Locations: Pakistan’s, Islamabad, Punjab Province, Lahore, Central Asia, Pakistan

☆ Alleged Plot to Kill Sikh Separatist Highlights Thorn in India’s Side
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Sameer Yasir | More About Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The federal indictment this week of an Indian citizen in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme targeting a Sikh separatist in New York threatens to damage ties between the United States and India just as the Biden administration has been courting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The charges are rooted in a decades-old dispute: the demand by some Sikhs for a sovereign state known as Khalistan carved out of northern India, which the Modi government opposes. In addition to directing the unsuccessful plot in New York, the federal indictment said, an Indian government official organized the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada who was shot in June by masked gunmen outside a temple in Vancouver. The idea of Khalistan is rooted in Sikhism, a religion with 26 million followers around the world, of which about 23 million live in the state of Punjab in northern India. Sikhs make up less than 2 percent of India’s population of 1.4 billion.

Persons: Biden, Narendra Modi’s, Modi Locations: New York, United States, India, Canada, Vancouver, Punjab

☆ A Timeline of Plots Against Sikh Activists, According to Canada and the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Derek M. Norman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Federal prosecutors in the United States announced this week that they had charged an Indian national in a murder-for-hire scheme that targeted a Sikh activist in New York. The plot was foiled, they said, but it further complicated the delicate diplomatic relations between the United States, Canada and India. The U.S. prosecutors also linked the plot to a murder in Canada last June. Relations between India and Canada had soured this fall after Canadian officials accused Indian government agents of the killing. In or around May 2023American prosecutors said that, around this time, an unnamed Indian government employee recruited Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, to orchestrate the assassination of a U.S. citizen, according to the indictment.

Persons: Biden, Narendra Modi, Nikhil Gupta, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun Organizations: United States, Biden, The U.S, Indian, Justice Locations: New York, United States, Canada, India, China, Russia, The, Punjab

☆ Prosecutors Charge Indian Man With Trying to Kill Sikh Activist in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hindu nationalists at a recent rally in New Delhi held a banner depicting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the alleged target of an assassination plot. Photo: arun sankar/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesU.S. prosecutors charged an Indian man with trying to assassinate an American citizen on U.S. soil, a dramatic development that threatens to cause new rifts in the deepening relationship between allies Washington and New Delhi. In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, prosecutors said Nikhil Gupta paid someone he thought was a hit man $100,000 to murder the target, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an advocate for carving out an independent Sikh homeland from the north Indian state of Punjab.

Persons: Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, arun sankar, Nikhil Gupta Organizations: Agence France, Getty Locations: New Delhi, American, U.S, Washington, Punjab

The target in New York was identified by American officials as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is general counsel for the New York-based group Sikhs for Justice. Mr. Pannun is an outspoken proponent of independence for the northern Indian state of Punjab, which is home to a large number of Sikhs, a powerful but minority group in the nation. The indictment said that the supposed hit man hired to kill Mr. Pannun was in fact a federal agent. agents warned a number of Sikh leaders around the United States about potential threats against them. Mr. Biden himself raised the issue directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they met at the Group of 20 summit in September.

Persons: Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Pannun, Adrienne Watson, Biden, Gupta, ”, ” Ms, Watson, William J, Burns, Narendra Modi Organizations: New, National Security Council, ”, Group Locations: New York, Punjab, Vancouver, F.B.I, United States, India

☆ Man charged in alleged plot by Indian government official to assassinate U.S. citizen
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced murder-for-hire charges against a man related to an alleged plot by an Indian government official to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City. Nikhil Gupta, a 52-year-old Indian national, is charged in federal court in Manhattan with two criminal counts related to the ultimately foiled murder plot, a newly unsealed court filing shows. The Indian government official who allegedly directed the murder plot has called himself a "Senior Field Officer" with responsibilities in "Security Management" and "Intelligence," according to the DOJ. Gupta allegedly then helped broker a deal for the Indian government official to pay the purported hitman $100,000 for the assassination. The government official fed personal information about the victim to Gupta and asked for regular updates about the progress of the murder plot.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden's, Biden, Kevin Dietsch, Nikhil Gupta, Gupta, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Justin Trudeau, Nijjar, William Burns, National Intelligence Avril Haines Organizations: U.S . Department of Justice, The Justice Department, ., Department of Justice, New York City ., New York Times, Washington Post, Justice, DOJ, Indian, Intelligence, U.S, Sikh, New, Canadian, CIA, National Intelligence, Indian Embassy Locations: WASHINGTON, DC, Washington ,, U.S, New York City, Manhattan, Czech Republic, Punjab, India, British Columbia, Canada, New Delhi

☆ The U.S. Charged an Indian Man in a Plot to Kill a Sikh Activist
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Federal prosecutors accused an Indian national today of attempting to kill a Sikh separatist in New York City. The hit in the U.S. was planned by an Indian government official who told the man tapped to carry it out, Nikhil Gupta, that there was a target in New York and another in California, according to prosecutors. “We have so many targets,” the official told him. Prosecutors said that Gupta hired a hit man to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. citizen and outspoken proponent of independence for the Indian state of Punjab. The supposed hit man, however, was an undercover officer, prosecutors said.

Persons: Nikhil Gupta, “, Gupta, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun Organizations: U.S ., Prosecutors Locations: New York City, Canada, Washington , Ottawa, New Delhi, U.S, New York, California, Punjab

Search resuls for: "OF PUNJAB"

25 mentions found