India stares at summer water crisis as reservoir levels slide
New Delhi Reuters India’s main reservoirs have hit their lowest March levels in five years, government data showed, indicating a possible squeeze on drinking water and power availability this summer. In major centres such as India’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Bengaluru, home to firms like Google, water supply is already being curtailed. Residents get their containers filled […]
India’s Modi says committed to farmers’ welfare, protesting leaders to expand campaign
Shambu, India Reuters Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday his government is committed to the welfare of farmers and is on a mission to make them entrepreneurs and exporters, amid a protest by thousands of farmers seeking higher prices for their produce. Modi’s comments on farmers were his first since the protests began […]
India ministers, farmers unions to hold talks hoping to end protests
Ambala, India Reuters Farmers unions in India will hold talks with government ministers on Thursday, a union leader said, after two days of protests demanding higher prices for their crops. Police have used tear gas and barricades to stop thousands of farmers from marching to the capital New Delhi to press their demands that the […]
India security forces fire tear gas at protesting farmers on drive to Delhi
Ambala, India Reuters Indian security forces fired tear gas at protesting farmers for a second day on Wednesday to stop tens of thousands from marching to the capital New Delhi to demand higher prices for their produce. Travelling on trucks and trolleys loaded with food, bedding and other supplies, the farmers began their “Delhi Chalo” […]
Indian police block roads to halt farmers marching to New Delhi
New Delhi, India Reuters Indian police on Monday blocked roads to halt farmers who were marching to New Delhi to press for the better crop prices promised to them in 2021 when thousands of growers camped out on major highways leading to the country’s capital. Some government ministers are expected to meet farm union leaders […]
Punjab’s Sikhs fear Canada-India row threatens them at home, abroad
Bharsinghpura, India Reuters A bitter row between India and Canada over the murder of a Sikh separatist is being felt in Punjab, where some Sikhs fear both a backlash from India’s Hindu-nationalist government and a threat to their prospects for a better life in North America. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a plumber who left the north […]
Muslim mob attacks three churches after accusing Christian man of desecrating Quran in eastern Pakistan
Multan, Pakistan AP Muslims in eastern Pakistan went on a rampage Wednesday over allegations that a Christian man had desecrated the Quran, demolishing the man’s house, burning churches and damaging several other homes, police and local Christians said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The scale of the violence prompted the government to deploy […]
Essay: Christians in Pakistan risk greater persecution from blasphemy laws, while living in poverty
Scholar of world religions, MYRIAM RENAUD, says – in an article first piublished on The Conversation – since the creation of the nation of Pakistan 76 years ago, the lives of Christians there have grown “ever more difficult”…
Bishop acquitted of raping nun resigns as leader of Catholic diocese in Indian city
New Delhi, India AP A bishop acquitted of raping a nun resigned as leader of the Catholic diocese in an Indian city on Thursday. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of 59-year-old Franco Mulakkal, who was Bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese in the northern state of Punjab. Bishop Franco Mulakkal greets the media as he leaves […]
South Pakistan braces for yet more flooding as waters flow down from north
Dadu, Pakistan Reuters Southern Pakistan was braced for yet more flooding on Thursday as a surge of water flowed down the Indus river, threatening further devastation in a country already a third inundated, in a growing disaster blamed on climate change. Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains have triggered floods that have […]