Four boys drowned in rough seas off the western Indian financial hub of Mumbai on Tuesday as India and Pakistan began evacuating people from coastal areas, two days before a cyclone is expected to make landfall. Classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, Biparjoy is expected to land around Thursday …
Read More »At least 11 killed in fire at Indian hospital COVID ward
At least 11 patients have died after a fire broke out in a hospital’s COVID-19 ward in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, officials said. An official told New Delhi Television that around 17 patients were in the ward in the city of Ahmednagar when the fire broke out. The …
Read More »Police arrests 29 men in India, accused of repeatedly gang-raping 15-year-old girl
Twenty-nine men were arrested in India on Thursday after being accused of allegedly gang raping a 15-year-old girl repeatedly over the course of almost eight months, CNN reported on Friday. The girl was first raped earlier this year on January 29, junior officer with the Mandapa police in Dombivli, India …
Read More »India restricts religious festivals over COVID-19 surge fears
Indian authorities are restricting major religious festivals that start this week and attract huge crowds, warning that a new COVID-19 wave had already begun in the financial capital Mumbai. State governments across the country of 1.3 billion people, which saw a devastating coronavirus surge in April-May, are clamping down on …
Read More »India Mobilises Navy for Relief Efforts as Floods Worsen in Several States
India’s Ministry of Defense said that it will use its navy for relief and rescue operations as floods worsen in several states. “With large parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa reeling under extensive flooding of both urban and rural areas caused by incessant rains and consequent overflowing of riverbanks and …
Read More »At least 112 dead in India as rains trigger floods, landslides
At least 112 people have died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities said on Friday, after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off hundreds of villages. Parts of India’s west coast received up to 594 mm (23 inches) of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing …
Read More »Mucormycosis: India records more than 4,300 ‘black fungus’ deaths
More than 4,300 people have died of the deadly “black fungus” in India in a growing epidemic that mainly affects Covid-19 patients. India has reported 45,374 cases of this rare and dangerous infection, called mucormycosis, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said. It affects the nose, eyes, and sometimes the brain, …
Read More »India presses alarm button for COVID-19 third wave
Tapering of the second wave of COVID-19 that wreaked havoc across India has begun to show since May when the country’s daily new cases recorded a declining trend. Despite the decline, Indian health bodies and the government have raised an alarm about the impending third wave of COVID-19. THIRD-WAVE IMMINENT, …
Read More »Landslides kill at least 30 in Mumbai after heavy rains
At least 30 people died in three Mumbai suburbs when several houses collapsed after landslides triggered by heavy rain, local officials said on Sunday. Rescuers were seen using their hands to dig up the ground and retrieve bodies, local television showed, and authorities said more victims could be trapped inside …
Read More »Fake COVID-19 vaccine scam sees 2,000 people allegedly injected with saltwater
Authorities in India arrested 14 people in connection with a scheme that allegedly saw 2,000 people injected with fake COVID-19 vaccines containing saltwater in Mumbai, the New York Times reported on Sunday. A total of around $20,000 was confiscated from the arrested suspects, some of whom are medical professionals. At …
Read More »India COVID-19 cases rise by 50,040 amid concern about Delta variant
India’s daily COVID-19 infections rose by 50,040 on Sunday, official data showed, as concerns grew about the detection of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus in some states.
Read More »Health experts say India missed early alarm, let deadly coronavirus variant spread
A veteran public health expert warned top Indian officials in early March that a new variant of the coronavirus was spreading quickly in a rural district in the heart of the country and that the outbreak required urgent attention. Federal health authorities failed to respond adequately to that warning, Dr …
Read More »India gingerly eases COVID-19 rules as new cases dip to two-month low
Many Indian states eased coronavirus restrictions on Monday including the capital Delhi, where authorities allowed all shops and malls to open, as the number of new infections dropped to the lowest in more than two months. Experts have cautioned against a full re-opening as India has vaccinated only about 5 …
Read More »Mumbai building collapse in monsoon rain kills at least 11, mostly children
Building collapses are common in India during the June-September monsoon season when heavy rains weaken the foundations of structures that are poorly built. A three-story dilapidated building has collapsed following the first monsoon downpour in India’s Mumbai, killing at least 11 people, including eight children. Dozens of rescuers were clearing …
Read More »India’s Mumbai Hit by Heavy Rains & Floods as Monsoon Season Starts
After nearly four months of scorching heat and humidity, the season of rains, breezes and cloudy skies has started in several Indian regions – including Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Delhi. As the Monsoon season began in India, heavy rains have hit the country’s financial capital Mumbai. The downpour has …
Read More »‘Black fungus’ new scare in India as second COVID wave ebbs
India battles a new challenge in mucormycosis, a rare fungal disease with a high mortality rate commonly referred to as ‘black fungus’. As a devastating second wave of COVID-19 ebbs with less than 100,000 new cases reported on Tuesday, India is now battling a new scare: Mucormycosis, commonly referred to …
Read More »Indian cities unlocking after declining COVID-19 infections
With COVID-19 infections coming down to the lowest level country-wide in nearly two months to 120,529 new cases in the last 24 hours, India’s major cities today announced significant relaxations in lockdowns in New Delhi and Mumbai. Government and private offices will be allowed to reopen with 50 percent attendance …
Read More »Indian navy recovers 22 bodies from barge that sank in storm
Indian navy ships recovered 22 bodies of people who were aboard a barge that sank off Mumbai as a cyclone blew ashore this week, officials said Wednesday. The search is continuing for 55 more missing people, navy spokesman Mehul Karnik said. He said the three ships and helicopters involved in …
Read More »India records the pandemic’s highest daily death toll for a single country.
India recorded 4,529 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, the pandemic’s highest single daily death toll in any country so far, the authorities said on Wednesday, as the virus spread into the country’s vast hinterlands. The previous deadliest day for a single country was recorded in the United States in January when …
Read More »Indian state braces for Tauktae, ‘most severe’ cyclone in decades
Powerful cyclone roaring in Arabian Sea moves towards Gujarat as authorities evacuate hundreds of thousands of people. Nearly 150,000 people have been moved from their homes in the Indian state of Gujarat to safety and authorities have closed ports and a main airport as the most intense cyclone in more …
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