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☆ Thirty-five dead, 16 hurt after roof of stepwell collapses in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Saurabh Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LUCKNOW, India, March 31 (Reuters) - At least 35 people were killed and 16 were injured after the roof of a stepwell in a temple complex collapsed in central India, a local government official said on Friday. The incident occurred in the central Indian city of Indore after a concrete slab covering the roof of a stepwell in a temple complex collapsed, crushing devotees who had gathered to celebrate the Hindu festival of Ram Navami on Thursday, officials said. Stepwells are a common feature across India, built hundreds of years ago, many of them ornately decorated, with access to a body of water through stairs and niches. "We have rescued 18 people, 35 have been found dead and 16 are injured," Ilayaraja T, a top local government official, told Reuters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences and announced compensation for the dead and injured in the incident.

☆ Thirty-six dead, 16 hurt in India after roof collapse at temple
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Saurabh Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Rescuers conduct an operation at a roof collapse site in Indore, India March 31, 2023 in this still image from video. ANI/Reuters TV via REUTERSLUCKNOW, India, March 31 (Reuters) - Rescuers used cranes and ropes to look for survivors a day after the roof of a well collapsed in a temple complex in central India killing 36 people and injuring 16, a government official said on Friday. Stampedes and accidents in religious places are not uncommon in India, where lack of crowd control and cramped spaces can spell danger. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences and announced compensation for the dead and injured in the incident. Reporting by Saurabh Sharma; writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Stephen Coates, Gerry Doyle, William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The opposition has come together after this month's conviction of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party on a charge of defamation and his disqualification from parliament. Opposition politicians say Gandhi's shock disqualification, and possible jail time, is the latest evidence of the Modi government's strongarm tactics and follows investigations and legal troubles faced in recent months by other opposition parties. A day after Gandhi's conviction, 14 political parties jointly petitioned the Supreme Court, saying opposition groups were being selectively targeted by federal investigative agencies. "The Modi government's fascist steps have given a new chance for opposition parties to be united," Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, told Reuters. "Anti Modi-ism or anti BJP-ism cannot be the glue that brings together disparate opposition parties with different aspirations and ambitions and positions," said Nalin Kohli, the BJP's national spokesperson.

[1/2] Bottles of Campa Cola and Coca Cola are displayed at a Reliance Smart supermarket in Mumbai, India March 20, 2023. Other well known tycoons have tried to go toe-to-toe with the drinks giants, and failed, most notably Richard Branson with his Virgin Cola. The smallest bottles of Campa Cola and Coke both cost 10 rupees, while Pepsi starts from 12 rupees. Reliance did not respond to a request for comment, while Pepsi said it doesn't comment on competition as a policy. Another city store employee said 30 Campa bottles were being sold for every 100 of Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

While Xiaomi remained focused on selling mobile phones under 10,000 rupees ($120), Indian consumers were willing to pay up for better looking models with richer features. According to Counterpoint, the market share of the sub-$120 phones in India fell to 26% in 2022 from 41% two years ago. And premium phones - priced above 30,000 ($360) - saw their share double to 11% in the same period. Xiaomi and Samsung both count India as a key growth market, with smartphones their top selling electronic device. And premium phones accounted for only 0%-1% of Xiaomi's total India phone shipments in the last two years, when Samsung's higher-end phones more than doubled their share to 13%, Counterpoint data showed.

The government said the BBC had failed to respond to repeated requests to clarify its tax affairs related to the profits and remittances from its Indian operations. The documentary, which was only broadcast in Britain, accused Modi of fostering a climate of impunity that fuelled the violence. Reuters spoke to eight Indian journalists, industry executives and media analysts who said that some media which reported critically on the government have been targeted with inspections by government agencies, the suspension of state advertising, and the arrest of reporters. Modi's government has vigorously denied the BBC tax inspection - the first against an international news organisation in decades - was a response to the film. Gupta said there had been complaints after the government reduced its advertising spending but that was not an assault on media freedom.

☆ Exclusive: India may issue alert on Marion cough syrup exports after toxins found
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Krishna N. Das | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Logo of Marion Biotech, a healthcare and pharmaceutical company is seen on a gate outside their office in Noida, India, December 29, 2022. REUTERS/Anushree FadnavisNEW DELHI, March 4 (Reuters) - India may issue an alert on cough syrup exported by Marion Biotech, whose products have been linked to deaths in Uzbekistan, after tests showed many of the company's drug samples contained toxins, a drug inspector said on Saturday. "The health ministry could issue an alert. Babbar has been part of a team that inspected Marion's plant four times after Uzbekistan said in December the children died after consuming the company's cough syrups. India in October suspended production at Maiden for violating manufacturing standards after the WHO said four of its cough syrups may have killed dozens of children in Gambia.

Two Marion directors were "out of the country and will be arrested as soon as they land in India," senior police official Ram Badan Singh told Reuters. Uzbekistan in December said the children died after consuming Marion's cough syrups. The same toxin was found in cough syrups exported to Gambia by another Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals. India in October suspended production at Maiden for violations of manufacturing standards after the World Health Organization said four of its cough syrups may have killed dozens of children in Gambia. The deaths in Gambia and Uzbekistan have dented the image of the $41 billion pharmaceutical industry in India, which is known as the "pharmacy of the world."

☆ Cracks begin to show in India's Himalayan building spree
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Krishn Kaushik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

"Modern connectivity is also a guarantee of national security," Modi said at an election rally at a border village in October, where he said the new transport links would bring development to remote regions. India's ministries of highways and railway, which own the state-run companies building the road and rail projects, also did not respond. Hundreds of homes have sunk and cracked in an Indian tourist town close to the Himalayan border with China. Eight of the families neighbouring Butola have now left the village, their homes riven with cracks, villagers told Reuters. Officials halted road construction work near the town, fearful of a bigger collapse.

☆ Twelve rescued after building collapses in India; more feared trapped
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Saurabh Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Police officers and rescue workers stand on the debris of a residential apartment block after it collapsed in Lucknow, India, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Saurabh SharmaLUCKNOW, India, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Rescue workers pulled 12 people, including two children, out of the rubble after a residential apartment block collapsed in the northern Indian city of Lucknow, but more were feared trapped inside, a local police official said on Tuesday. At least 12 more people were feared trapped, the official said, as rescue workers sought to clear rubble and debris from the site, located in a crowded and posh area of Lucknow, the capital of India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. Television channels showed piles of brick and concrete and police teams clearing the rubble to search for survivors. A total of 24 people were feared trapped when the building collapsed, Chauhan said.

☆ Exclusive: WHO investigating links between cough syrup deaths, considers advice for parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The deaths of children from acute kidney injury began in July 2022 in Gambia, followed by cases in Indonesia and Uzbekistan. The WHO has said the deaths are linked to over-the-counter cough syrups the children took for common illnesses and which contained a known toxin, either diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol. The WHO, working with Indonesia’s drugs regulator, also issued an alert in October about cough syrups made by four Indonesian manufacturers and sold domestically. The manufacturers are: PT Yarindo Farmatama, PT Universal Pharmaceutical, PT Konimex, PT AFI Farma. PT Universal Pharmaceutical Industries’ lawyer, Hermansyah Hutagalung, said it had pulled from the market all cough syrups deemed dangerous.

☆ Nearly 200 people in Himalayan town evacuated after homes develop cracks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Saurabh Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LUCKNOW, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Indian authorities have moved nearly 200 people from their homes in the Himalayan town of Joshimath, an official said on Saturday, after hundreds of buildings in the area popular with pilgrims and tourists developed cracks due to shifting soil. For years, experts have warned that large-scale construction work, including hydro power projects, in and around Joshimath could lead to land subsidence - the sinking or settling of the ground surface. Atul Sati, the convener of the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti that has been protesting government inaction to stop land subsidence, said local residents had been flagging the issue for months. "The concerned authorities are working on it and the only way to contain the problem is to channelise the water stream," Rautela told Reuters. Reporting by Saurabh Sharma, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant injured in car crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Cricket - Fifth Test - England v India - Edgbaston, Birmingham, Britain - July 1, 2022 India's Rishabh Pant celebrates reaching his century Action Images via Reuters/Jason CairnduffNEW DELHI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was hospitalised on Friday after being involved in a car crash, his Indian Premier League (IPL) team said. His IPL team Delhi Capitals said the crash was in the northern state of Uttarakhand. "Rishabh Pant met with an accident between Manglaur and Narsan in Haridwar district," they said in a tweet. "Praying for Rishabh Pant. Pant was part of the India test squad that sealed a 2-0 series victory over Bangladesh this month.

☆ New Delhi wrestles with 'hazardous' air pollution, primary schools shut
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Tanvi Mehta | Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Authorities in New Delhi ordered primary schools to shut from Saturday, and told schools to stop outdoor activities for older children as air in the world's most polluted capital had become a severe risk to health. The chart below shows the daily maximum PM 2.5 concentration at the U.S. Embassy New Delhi since 2015. Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said going forward 50% of Delhi government employees would be told to work from home, and he urged private firms to take similar steps. School girls walk towards a school as they reopened after remaining closed for nearly 15 days due to a spike in air pollution, on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, November 29, 2021. According to data compiled by the Swiss group IQAir, New Delhi has been the world's most polluted capital for the past four years.

☆ Family, supporters demand justice in alleged murder of Indian woman
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Saurabh Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterPolice said they had arrested Pulkit Arya, as well as a resort manager and an assistant manager on suspicion of murder. Reuters could not immediately reach lawyers and family members of Pulkit Arya for comment. Local BJP officials said Vinod Arya was expelled from the party on Saturday after his son's arrest. Reuters could not immediately reach Vinod Arya for comment. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWriting by Rupam Jain Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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