Author: Durgawati Vaknis

Authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, have shut all primary schools for two days amid worsening levels of air pollution. Air quality in the city dropped to severe levels for the first time this season on Thursday. It is expected to deteriorate further in the next two weeks, scientists say. Delhi’s environment minister has called an emergency meeting to review the situation. The capital is one of the world’s most polluted cities. Delhi’s air turns especially toxic in winter due to various factors, including burning of crop remains by farmers, low wind speeds and bursting of firecrackers during festivals. The…

India will resume issuing visas to Canadian citizens if it “sees progress” in the safety of its diplomats there, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has said. India had stopped visa services in September, saying that “security threats” were disrupting work at its missions in Canada. The two countries are in the midst of a row over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. Ottawa has said earlier that it takes “safety of diplomats very seriously”. But it has not responded to India’s specific allegations about threats to its diplomats in Canada. Ties between the countries plummeted after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September…

Whenever India and Pakistan meet on a cricket pitch, the world witnesses another instalment of what is one of sports’ most fiercely contested rivalries. And when the two meet at a World Cup, as they will on 14 October in the western Indian state of Gujarat, anticipation is driven to feverish extremes. The nuclear-armed neighbours share a fraught relationship and have fought three wars since 1947, when India was partitioned after independence and Pakistan was created. But despite the frosty relations, their cricketing history is replete with stories of love, respect and camaraderie between the two teams. Cricket’s Asia Cup,…

Two weeks in and, on the pitch, the Cricket World Cup in India is bubbling away nicely. Shock results this week – first England beaten by Afghanistan before the Netherlands’ superb win over South Africa – have breathed life into the tournament. But the crowds, or lack of them, at matches continues to be a point of discussion. BBC Sport looks at the issues involved… What have the crowds been like? India matches aside, there have been swathes of empty seats at matches involving neutral teams. The tournament began with England’s defeat by New Zealand, played at the massive Narendra…

Shyam Babu Prasad was asleep when the deluge struck his home. He and his family used to live in Lal Bazar, a busy market area located on the banks of Teesta river in India’s Sikkim state. “All of a sudden, a wave about 15ft high hit our home and all of us were thrown by its force,” Mr Prasad said. He held on to a ceiling fan to survive the torrent and was rescued the next morning. But his wife, who had been with him the night before, was missing. Mr Prasad said the water separated them. “I screamed, called…

India is interested in hosting the 2036 Olympic Games, the country’s prime minister Narendra Modi has said. In a speech at the opening ceremony of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai, Modi said India “will leave no stone unturned” in efforts to secure the showpiece. The country has never staged the Olympics, but the 2010 Commonwealth Games were in Delhi. Modi said hosting the Games is “the age-old dream” for India. “We want to realise this dream with your collaboration and support. I am confident that India will get the support of the IOC,” he told the committee.…

The Ukrainian military, with the help of a domestic kamikaze drone, destroyed a Russian T-72 tank worth $3 million in the Zaporozhye direction. He said that the destruction of the tank was a joint effort of the UAV strike company of the 110th Troops Brigade and the 10th TVZ of the State Special Communications Agency. Our military found the target and with a precise shot turned it into a pile of charred metal. Fedorov emphasized that the estimated price of the Russian T-72 is about $3 million. Let us remind you that recently Ukrainian fighters used drones to destroy the Russian…

A video showing a young girl walking around seeking help after being raped has sparked anger in India. Many people expressed outrage after CCTV footage showed a man appearing to wave the girl away when she approaches him. But police told local media that the girl, who walked around Ujjain city in Madhya Pradesh state for more than two hours, was helped by some people. A senior police official said a medical examination showed the girl was raped. Two men, both tuk-tuk drivers, were arrested on Thursday after police reviewed CCTV footage. Four others have been detained. According to the…

Israel has not only been the victim of a vicious and despicable terrorist attack. It is also the victim of a brazenly cynical move to disrupt the international stage and subvert tranquility in the Middle East. The Israeli-Palestinian powder keg conveniently served to add yet another full scale crisis putting even further pressure on a global order already strained to breaking point. Although no concrete evidence exists of any involvement in the attacks, Russia stands to gain the most from this extra flash point on the world map, as violence and war in the Middle East distracts from Putin’s unjustified…

Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia have been invited to join the BRICS economic bloc. The BRICS group of emerging economies has agreed to invite Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran to join the bloc, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday. The group currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. “We have reached an agreement on the BRICS expansion process,” Ramaphosa said on the final day of the group’s 15th Summit of Heads of State and Government in Johannesburg, which began on Tuesday. Three of the…