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So how did India’s population get so big, and how long will it last? The rise in population despite a drop in the fertility rate can be explained by “demographic momentum.”“When the fertility rate drops, the population continues to grow for several decades. So, even with a replacement or sub-replacement fertility rate, India’s population will continue to grow slowly because of the considerable number of women entering their reproductive years. India’s population growth is slowing downIndia may have overtaken China in total population, but UN data also shows that its growth rate has slowed. Uttar Pradesh, for instance, is home to 17% of India’s population but has only 9% of its industrial jobs.

New Delhi CNN —India’s defense minister told his Chinese counterpart on Thursday that violations of their shared border erode the “entire basis” of relations between the two Asian neighbors. Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh made the comments during a meeting with newly appointed Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in New Delhi ahead of a regional security summit on Friday. “He reiterated that violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations and disengagement at the border will logically be followed with de-escalation,” the statement added. His visit comes four days after India and China concluded the 18th round of talks to attempt to resolve the border issue. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to the country will be the most senior-level one in seven years.

New Delhi CNN —Ten policemen and a civilian were killed in blast as they were returning from an operation against insurgents in India’s central Chhattisgarh state, its chief minister said Wednesday. Rebel Maoist militants are believed to be responsible for the attack, Bhupesh Baghel told reporters, expressing his grief over the deaths. More than 2,100 civilians in India have been killed in the Maoist insurgency since 2010. In 2017, 25 police officers were killed and six others injured when hundreds of suspected Maoist rebels attacked a convoy in central India. Suspected Maoists also struck during India’s elections in 2019, allegedly gunning down a polling supervisor in the eastern state of Odisha.

CNN —Sri Lanka on Monday secured a much-anticipated loan of about $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the South Asian nation navigates its worst financial crisis in decades. The deal, nearly a year in the making, will aim to “restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability” and “unlock Sri Lanka’s growth potential,” the IMF said in a statement. In July last year, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is “bankrupt,” adding negotiations with the IMF were “difficult.”Monday’s loan approval will provide much-needed respite for the nation as it faces an uphill climb to revive its flailing economy. The IMF will immediately disburse an initial $333 million to Sri Lanka, with more funds to follow in the coming months. “For Sri Lanka to overcome the crisis, swift and timely implementation of the EFF-supported program with strong ownership for the reforms is critical,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.

☆ India, world’s largest democracy, leads global list of internet shutdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Of 187 internet shutdowns recorded worldwide, 84 took place in India, according to the report published Tuesday by Access Now, a New York based advocacy group that tracks internet freedom. India has the world’s second largest digital population, following China, with more than 800 million internet users. Pradeep Guar/Mint/Getty ImagesIn recent years, the government has repeatedly justified blocking internet access on the grounds of preserving public safety amid widespread fears of mob violence. Rest of the worldLast year saw more internet shutdowns worldwide than ever before, Access Now said, prompting the group to raise fears of “digital authoritarianism” as governments continue the trend. Apart from India, other countries that saw internet shutdowns last year include Ukraine, Iran and Myanmar.

Some staff members were asked to remain at the offices overnight on Tuesday, the BBC said. But the offices are now open for people to enter and leave as needed. A special investigation team appointed by India’s Supreme Court in 2012 found no evidence to suggest he was to blame. India’s main opposition Congress party described the ongoing tax searches at the BBC offices as a “brazen attack” on India’s free press. The raids raised fears of censorship in India, with several media organizations issuing statements condemning the government’s actions.

BBC News reported on television that people had not been allowed to enter or leave the offices. The raids come after the Indian government said it used “emergency powers” to block the documentary from airing in the country, adding that both YouTube and Twitter complied with the order. A BBC spokesperson told CNN that the organization was “fully cooperating” with authorities. The two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” criticized the then-chief minister of the western state of Gujarat in 2002 when riots broke out between the state’s majority Hindus and minority Muslims. But the riots remain one of the darkest chapters in India’s post-independence history, with some victims still awaiting justice.

☆ Amazon to donate supplies to Turkey’s earthquake victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Amazon (AMZN) has announced that it will help victims of the Turkey earthquake by donating food, medicine and equipment from its Istanbul warehouse. Amazon, which has almost 2,000 employees in Turkey, said it was preparing to donate relief items, including blankets, tents, food, baby food and medicines. “This immediate delivery is just the beginning of Amazon’s response,” Abe Diaz, head of Amazon’s disaster relief program, said in the statement. Another company that could help Turkey is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. On Monday, Musk responded to a tweet about SpaceX’s Starlink internet service, which said: “Hey @elonmusk a massive earthquake hit Turkey and neighboring countries.

New Delhi CNN —India has banned a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role in deadly riots more than 20 years ago from being shown in the country, in a move critics decried as an assault on press freedom. CNN has contacted Twitter and YouTube for comment but is yet to hear back. The two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question,” criticizes Modi, who was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat in 2002 when riots broke out between the state’s majority Hindus and minority Muslims. The Indian government had declined to reply when contacted by the BBC, the statement added. The documentary explores an unpublished British government report obtained by the BBC, which the British public broadcaster said came in the form of a diplomatic cable.

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —A nationwide power outage in Pakistan left nearly 220 million people without electricity on Monday, threatening to cause havoc in the South Asian nation already grappling with fuel shortages in the winter months. It is unclear how long the outage will last and efforts are underway to restore power to various parts of the country. The outage comes as the country’s fragile economy continues to struggle with multiple challenges, including a severe energy crisis. The decision to reduce energy usage came as Pakistan announced its foreign exchange reserves had dwindled to alarmingly low levels. Monday’s power outage is Pakistan’s most widespread power shutdown since 2021, when the nation plunged into darkness for hours after a “sudden plunge in the frequency in the power transmission system.”

Hong Kong CNN —A Hong Kong court on Saturday sentenced jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai to five years and nine months in prison for fraud, in the latest legal challenge against the pro-democracy tycoon. Along with the jail sentence, Lai was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000) and disqualified as a company director for eight years. Lai, who has been remanded in custody for almost two years, is also facing a trial under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security law. However, cases under the national security law are handled by a dedicated branch of the Hong Kong police and designated national security judges, raising concern about Beijing’s potential influence on proceedings. In November, Hong Kong’s highest court upheld a verdict to allow a British barrister to represent the tycoon in his national security case.

New Delhi CNN —At the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi, a steady flow of jeeps zigzag up the trash heap to dump more garbage on a pile now over 62 meters (203 feet) high. India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors methane via satellites. Ragpickers at the Bhalswa landfill site on April 28, 2022, in New Delhi, India. In May, CNN commissioned two accredited labs to test the ground water around the Bhalswa landfill. And according to the results, ground water within at least a 500-meter (1,600-foot) radius around the waste site is contaminated.

More than 22,000 homes were destroyed and over 58,000 people have been displaced, BNPB Major General Suharyanto said on Tuesday. “The majority of those who died were children,” West Java’s governor, Ridwan Kamil, told reporters Monday, adding the death toll was likely to increase further. “So many incidents occurred at several Islamic schools.”Villagers salvage items from damaged houses following a 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Cianjur on November 22, 2022. “We hug each other, strengthen each other, and continue to pray.”Municipality officers in Cianjur evacuate an injured colleague following the earthquake. Workers inspect a school damaged in the earthquake in Cianjur, West Java.

☆ G20's criticism of Russia reflects the rise of new Asian power: India
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“Today’s era must not be of war,” it said, echoing what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian leader Vladimir Putin during a face-to-face meeting in September. “How India united G20 on PM Modi’s idea of peace,” ran a headline in the Times of India, the country’s largest English-language paper. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo hold hands during the handover ceremony at the G20 leaders' summit, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 16, 2022. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a bilateral meeting on November 16, 2022 in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. And while this year’s G20 was looked at through the lens of the war, India could bring its own agenda to the table next year.

Sydney CNN —Australia will overturn a three-year ban on tennis player Novak Djokovic entering the country, paving the way for the former world No. 1 to contest the 2023 Australian Open. Australia’s Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will repeal the ban, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Tennis Australia’s CEO Craig Tiley said he was hopeful Djokovic will play at the Australian Open in January next year. “There’s a normal visa application process that everyone is going through right now, and everyone will go through the right timing,” Tiley told told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency.

CNN —India’s top court on Friday ordered the release of six people convicted of killing the country’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, 31 years after their imprisonment. The Supreme Court released Nalini Sriharan, the only woman convicted in the case, and five men, according to Anand Landge, the lawyer for the petitioners. Over the years, various Tamil Nadu governments have requested the release of those found guilty over the killing. In May, the Supreme Court ordered the release of A. G. Perarivalan, another man convicted in the case. Known as the “unwilling” prime minister who never wanted the job, Gandhi became India’s youngest leader at the age of 40 after his mother and former prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was shot dead by her bodyguards.

☆ Brittney Griner begins transfer to Russian penal colony, attorneys say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Abphillip Rhea Mogul | Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner is in the process of being moved to a Russian penal colony where she is due to serve the remainder of a nine-year drug smuggling sentence that was upheld in late October. Griner “is now on her way to a penal colony,” her attorneys said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. “We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination,” said attorneys Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov. “In accordance with the standard Russian procedure, the attorneys, as well as the US Embassy, should be notified upon her arrival at her destination. Last month, Griner lost her appeal against a nine-year drug sentence.

Morbi, India CNN —A marigold garland hangs across a photo frame with the faces of 12 members of the Bodha family who died when a bridge collapsed beneath them during a family outing in Gujarat, eastern India. In the days since the tragedy, few answers have emerged as to why the colonial-era suspension bridge appeared to snap, spilling dozens of people into the Machchhu River. Police investigating the case have suggested the company tasked with maintaining the bridge, Oreva, failed to conduct the appropriate repairs or tests to ensure the bridge was safe for pedestrians. Courtesy Prabhulal BodhaDiwali holidays turn deadlyThe suspension bridge has hung across the Machchhu River for as long as anyone can remember. Gujarat authorities estimate some 200 people were on the bridge when it collapsed – much more than the capacity allowed, they said.

CNN —More than 50 children are among 135 people killed in Sunday’s bridge collapse in India’s Gujarat state, according to a list of victims published by state authorities on Wednesday. Rescue workers conduct search operations after a bridge across the river Machchhu collapsed at Morbi in India's Gujarat state on October 31, 2022. A shoe lies near a damaged suspension bridge in Morbi, India, November 1, 2022. Mourners take part in a funeral procession while carrying the coffins of victims who died after a bridge across the river Machchhu collapsed at Morbi in India's Gujarat state on October 31, 2022. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the site of the deadly bridge collapse in western India on Tuesday.

☆ What do Indians think about Rishi Sunak’s rise? Like UK-India relations, it’s complicated
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Now, an Indian-origin man has become the Prime Minister of England,” a Zee News anchor said. Leon Neal/Getty Images Sunak and Boris Johnson watch as a sheep is sheared during a visit to a farm in North Yorkshire, England, in July 2019. Danny Lawson/PA Images/Getty Images Sunak speaks during a general election debate in Cardiff, Wales, in November 2019. Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty Images Sunak and Murty are seen with their daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, while campaigning in Grantham, England, in July 2022. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested as much in a tweet welcoming Sunak’s appointment.

☆ The Gandhis: from 'Kennedys of India' to the political wilderness
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“The Gandhis today are completely dwarfed and overshadowed by Narendra Modi,” said New Delhi-based political commentator Arati R. Jerath. Bettmann Archive/Getty imagesShe was elected prime minister from 1966 to 1977, and again in 1980. But with the ascendance of a new wave of right-wing politics, their party now lurks in the political wilderness, analysts say. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives a victory speech after winning India's general election, in New Delhi on May 23, 2019. But it seems unlikely he will ever become prime minister of the country, like his father, grandmother and great-grandfather before him.

Doctors are trying to save her but there (may be) no hope of survival,” the girl’s mother told CNN on Thursday. But the girl did not tell her mother about the alleged attack, and instead, like many survivors of sexual assault, lived in silence. Since we belong to the same family, we settled the matter,” said the girl’s mother, adding she now wants the alleged rapist to be hanged. The victim’s home is in a low-income neighborhood in the city of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. Devendra Singh Chauhan for CNNIf Uttar Pradesh were a country, it would be the world’s fifth largest with a population of more than 200 million.

The WHO suspects that four of the syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup – have “unacceptable amounts” of chemicals that can damage the brain, lungs, liver and kidneys of those who take them. The deaths confounded medics until a pattern emerged: dozens of patients younger than five had fallen ill three to five days after taking a locally sold syrup made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals. CNN has reached out to Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, but has not yet heard back. All of the children had consumed Maiden Pharmaceuticals’ cough syrups, authorities added. One official told Reuters that the total number of deaths nationwide was “still being determined.”Indonesia’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said this week that the cough syrups had not been registered in the country.

India has long grappled with an epidemic of violence against women and girls in the deeply patriarchal country. And campaigners say the alleged involvement of a woman in this latest case demonstrates the scale of internalized misogyny in society. ‘Loopholes in every corner’Dixit, the police official, said the alleged rape took place around three months ago in Mainpuri – about 270 kilometers (167 miles) southeast of India’s capital, New Delhi. But activists say in the seven years since its implementation, little has been done to empower women and girls, and violent crimes against women persist. Those beliefs appear to have played out in this case too, as the girl did not report her alleged rape for three months, according to Dixit.

☆ Elon Musk’s unsolicited idea for Taiwan welcomed by Beijing, slammed in Taipei
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —As tensions between China and Taiwan simmer at their highest point in decades, officials in both places have clashed in recent days over an unsolicited idea from billionaire Elon Musk. Taiwan, a democracy of 23 million people, strongly objects to Beijing’s claims to the island. In a briefing on October 7, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the “Taiwan question is China’s internal affair.”“China’s position on resolving the Taiwan question is consistent and clear. We remain committed to the basic principle of peaceful reunification and ‘one country, two systems,’” he said. “Which Elon Musk do you like more?” Zelensky asked his Twitter followers, using the social media platform’s poll function.

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