Tag: India

India’s Modi lays foundations for renewable energy megapark

AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundations Tuesday for what he said would be the world’s largest renewable energy park, set to produce a massive 30 gigawatts of electricity. The vast project in the Kutch region of western Gujarat state spread over an area of 72,600 hectares (180,000 acres) — the size of Singapore — will contain solar panels, solar energy storage units and windmills. “The hybrid renewable energy park […]

Heavy metals found in hunt for source of India’s mystery illness

BANGLORE, India (AFP) — Traces of heavy metals such as lead and nickel have been found in samples taken from 550 people stricken by a mystery illness in a southern Indian town where some victims have collapsed in the street, officials said. The government has rushed medical experts to Eluru in Andhra Pradesh state to investigate the illness, which first appeared Saturday. One man died after showing the symptoms of seizures, nausea and chronic pain. […]

Mystery illness frays India’s coronavirus nerves

BANGLORE, India (AFP) — Hundreds of people have been treated for mystery illness in a southern Indian town, with one doctor ruling out “mass hysteria” at a time nerves are already frayed because of the coronavirus. The government rushed medical experts to Eluru in Andhra Pradesh state to investigate the illness, which first appeared Saturday causing seizures, nausea and chronic pain. Officials said nearly 500 people have been treated — with most swiftly recovering — […]

Second cyclone in a week threatens Sri Lanka, India

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka and southern India battened down the hatches for the second time in a week on Wednesday ahead of the scheduled arrival of another cyclone from the Bay of Bengal. Burevi will pack gusts of up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) an hour when it makes landfall late on Wednesday in Sri Lanka before moving west and hitting India around 24 hours later, forecasters said. Warning of a storm […]

Russia says India to produce 100 million doses of Sputnik vaccine

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — One of the developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine announced Friday that India-based drugmaker Hetero will produce over 100 million doses of the jab. “Hetero, one of India’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies, have agreed to produce in India over 100 million doses per year of the world’s first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection -– Sputnik V,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement, adding […]

Homes evacuated as cyclone threatens India

PUDUCHERRY, India (AFP) — Tens of thousands of people in southeastern India fled their homes on Wednesday, out of the path of a cyclone due to slam coastal areas after midnight, bringing with it heavy rain. Nivar, classified as a very severe cyclonic storm brewing in the Bay of Bengal in the north Indian Ocean, was expected to pack winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 145 kilometres per […]

India’s southeastern coast braces for powerful cyclone

MAHABALIPURAM, India (AFP) — Local Indian authorities banned public gatherings and closed shops as more than 1,000 rescue personnel mobilized against a powerful cyclone barrelling towards the southeastern coast, bringing heavy rains and strong winds. Cyclone Nivar is set to cross the coasts of Tamil Nadu state and the small territory of Puducherry as a “very severe cyclonic storm” late Wednesday, the Indian Meteorological Department said. Parts of Andhra Pradesh, a coastal state north of […]

India’s coronavirus cases pass nine million as Delhi struggles

  by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India’s coronavirus caseload passed nine million on Friday, as hospitals in the capital New Delhi came under increasing pressure and graveyards began to fill up. The world’s second-worst-hit country has now also registered more than 132,000 deaths from the disease, according to the latest official figures, which are widely seen as understating the true scale of infection. India has seen a drop in […]

Huge India oil well fire extinguished after five months

NEW DEHLI, India (AFP) — A massive oil well fire that raged for more than five months in northeast India has finally been extinguished, officials said Sunday. Oil India engineers had battled the blaze in Assam state since an explosion in June, weeks after the well blew out and began discharging huge quantities of natural gas. Two employees of the state-owned company died in the blast, which sent a wall of flame and massive plumes […]

12 dead in India factory blast

AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — At least 12 workers were killed Wednesday when part of a chemical warehouse collapsed following a powerful blast in western India, officials said. A fire official said the dead included five women and nine other people were injured in the incident at an industrial complex on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, a major city in western Gujarat state. “The death toll has increased to 12 which includes five women. Nine people are […]

India passes eight million coronavirus cases

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India on Thursday passed eight million coronavirus cases, with the world’s second-worst-hit country bracing for a possible second wave ahead of winter and a series of religious festivals. There have now been 8,040,203 cases and 120,527 deaths across the country of 1.3 billion people, according to the latest government figures. The United States has seen 9.1 million cases and more than 230,000 deaths. India has one of the world’s […]

Millions queue to vote as India state election gets under way

  by Prakash Singh and Archana Thiyagarajan Agence France Presse PATNA, India (AFP) — Millions of Indians turned out to cast ballots in a state election Wednesday in the world’s biggest vote since the coronavirus emerged, with booths packed out and many ignoring government advice on wearing masks and social distancing. Some 70 million people are eligible to vote in Bihar, an impoverished eastern state governed by an alliance that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s […]