India coronavirus deaths hit 50,000: health ministry

NEW DLEHI - India's death toll from the coronavirus hit 50,000 on Monday, with more than 900 new fatalities reported in 24 hours, health ministry data showed.

The country last week overtook Britain with the world's fourth-highest number of deaths, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico, and has recorded 2.6 million infections.

India's death toll from the pandemic now stands at 50,921, an increase of 941 from the previous day, according to the health ministry's website.

The world's second-most populated country, home to some of the world's biggest cities and largest slums, is already the third-most infected nation behind the US and Brazil.

Many experts however say the real numbers may be far higher due to low levels of testing and because deaths are often not properly recorded in India's chronically under-funded health system.

Despite the rising death toll, the health ministry tweeted on Sunday that India's virus mortality rate was "one of the lowest globally" at below two percent.

"Successful implementation of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently through a plethora of measures have contributed to the existing high level of recoveries," the ministry said in a statement.

Experts say India needs to ramp up testing further to get the virus under control as it spreads to rural and regional areas where healthcare systems are particularly fragile or not easily accessible.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said trials and tests on three potential vaccine candidates were being carried out in India and that his government was preparing to produce huge numbers of doses if any are found to be viable.

"Once we get a green signal from our scientists, we will launch massive production of the vaccine. We have made all the preparations," Modi said in an Independence Day speech on Saturday.

"We have drawn an outline to ramp up the production of the vaccines and to make it available to each and every person in the shortest possible time."

LOCKDOWN MISERY

Modi's government imposed in March one of the world's strictest lockdowns.

It dealt a heavy blow to Asia's third-biggest economy and caused misery for the country's poor, with tens of millions of migrant workers left jobless almost overnight.

Vast numbers trudged back penniless to their home villages from cities including New Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, many of them on foot. Some died on the way.

The lockdown has since been steadily eased but many sectors complain that they are severely short of workers. 

State and local governments across the country have meanwhile reimposed lockdown measures as the virus has spread to smaller cities and rural areas, where around 70 percent of Indians live.

In many rural regions however, anecdotal evidence suggests that measures to stop the spread such as masks and distancing are widely ignored.

In addition, a lack of public awareness has contributed to those with the virus being ostracized, making people more reluctant to get tested.

Agence France-Presse

Almost a quarter of Delhi has had coronavirus: study

Almost a quarter of people in New Delhi have had the coronavirus, according to a study that cast serious doubt on the official numbers both in the megacity and across India.

India last week became the third country after the United States and Brazil to hit one million cases but many experts have long said that with testing rates low, the true number could be much higher.

Blood tests on 21,387 randomly selected people across Delhi conducted by the National Center for Disease Control found that 23.48 percent of them had IgG antibodies -- indicating past exposure to the virus.

With Delhi's population of more than 20 million, the findings published Tuesday by the federal health ministry suggest that 4.7 million people have had the virus, almost 40 times the official tally of 125,000.

While praising government restrictions that have limited the spread of the virus, the ministry said the study "indicates that a large number of infected persons remain asymptomatic".

The survey was conducted between June 27 and July 10.

And more than 75 percent are still vulnerable, including those at higher risk, Sujeet Kumar Singh, head of the National Centre for Disease Control, told a news conference.

On Wednesday, India's health ministry reported a total of 1.19 million coronavirus cases so far with almost 29,000 deaths.

Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu states are the worst affected.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns in late March, but it has been steadily eased in recent months to lessen the devastating economic impact.

But, independently from the federal government, states have been tightening restrictions as case numbers have soared -- including in Bangalore, Bihar, West Bengal and parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Daily new cases have been steadily falling in recent weeks, with fewer than 1,000 new infections recorded on Tuesday -- the first time in 49 days -- down from a peak of almost 4,000 in late June.

Agence France-Presse

Fleeing the lockdown in India

Migrant workers are seen inside a crowded bus as they return to their villages during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Ghaziabad, India on Sunday. With a population of some 1.3 billion, India’s lockdown is the world’s largest and has forced its migrant workers, mostly day laborers, to flee New Delhi on foot back to their villages. 

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Death toll rises to 32 in religious violence in India's capital

NEW DELHI - At least 32 people have been killed in the deadliest violence to engulf India's capital New Delhi for decades as heavy deployment of security forces brought an uneasy calm on Thursday, a police official said.

The violence began over a disputed new citizenship law on Monday but led to clashes between Muslims and Hindus in which hundreds were injured. Many suffered gunshot wounds, while arson, looting and stone-throwing have also taken place.

"The death count is now at 32," Delhi police spokesman Anil Mittal said, adding the "entire area is peaceful now."

At the heart of the unrest is a citizenship law that makes it easier for non-Muslims from some neighboring Muslim-dominated countries to gain Indian citizenship.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the new law adopted last December is of "great concern" and she was worried by reports of police inaction in the face of assaults against Muslims by other groups.

"I appeal to all political leaders to prevent violence," Bachelet said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Critics say the law is biased against Muslims and undermines India's secular constitution.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has denied having any prejudice against India's 180 million Muslims, saying that law is required to help persecuted minorities.

New Delhi has been the epicenter for protests against the new law, with students and large sections of the Muslim community leading the protests.

As the wounded were brought to hospitals on Thursday, the focus shifted on the overnight transfer of Justice S. Muralidhar, a Delhi High Court judge who was hearing a petition into the riots and had criticized government and police inaction on Wednesday.

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the transfer was routine and had been recommended by the Supreme Court collegium earlier this month.

Opposition Congress party leader Manish Tiwari said every lawyer and judge in India should strongly protest what he called a crude attempt to intimidate the judiciary.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said inflammatory speeches at the protests over the new citizenship law in the last few months and the tacit support of some opposition leaders was behind the violence.

"The investigation is on," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who romped to re-election last May, also withdrew Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy in August with the objective of tightening New Delhi's grip on the restive region, which is also claimed by full by Pakistan.

For months the government imposed severe restrictions in Kashmir including cutting telephone and internet lines, while keeping hundreds of people, including mainstream political leaders, in custody for fear that they could whip up mass protests. Some restrictions have since been eased.

Bachelet said the Indian government continued to impose excessive restrictions on the use of social media in the region, even though some political leaders have been released, and ordinary life may be returning to normal in some respects.

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7 killed, 150 injured in riots in Indian capital

NEW DELHI - At least 7 people were killed and around 150 were injured in clashes between opposing groups in the Indian capital, a police official told Reuters on Tuesday, the deadliest riots in the city since protests against a new citizenship law began over 2 months ago.

"Seven persons, including one head constable of Delhi police, have died," said Anil Mittal, a police officer, adding around 150 persons were injured in the violence on Monday.

The clashes erupted in a northeastern district of the city between thousands of people demonstrating for and against the new citizenship law. Police used tear gas and smoke grenades, but struggled to disperse the stone-throwing crowds that tore down metal barricades and set vehicles and a petrol pump alight.

"Some of the people brought in had gunshot wounds," said Dr Rajesh Kalra, additional medical superintendent at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in New Delhi.

Tensions in parts of the city remained high on Tuesday with schools remaining shut in some areas amid news reports of fresh clashes. At least 5 metro stations in the city were closed.

A fire department official told Reuters that its teams were responding to reports of at least 8 separate cases of arson on Tuesday, linked to fresh protests in the city. One department vehicle was also torched by protesters on Monday, and a small number of firemen were injured in the violence, he added.

The violence on Monday began just as US President Donald Trump began his maiden visit to India. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to meet for talks on Tuesday at a venue located a few miles away from where the clashes occurred.

At a press conference early on Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed for people to maintain peace. "Whatever problems people have can be resolved peacefully," he said. "Violence will not help find a solution."

India's Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to meet Kejriwal and police officials on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the situation.

India's capital has been a hotbed of protests against the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which eases the path of non-Muslims from 3 neighboring Muslim-dominated countries to gain Indian citizenship.

This has led to accusations that Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are undermining India's secular traditions. The BJP denies any bias against India's more than 180 million-strong Muslim minority, but objectors have been holding protests and camping out in parts of New Delhi for 2 months.

The violence erupted even as Trump was praising India as being a tolerant country.

"India is a country that proudly embraces freedom, liberty, individual rights, the rule of law, and the dignity of every human being," Trump said while addressing a rally of more than 100,000 people in Modi's home state of Gujarat. "Your unity is an inspiration to the world."

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At least 2 dead after police open fire amid raging India protests

NEW DELHI—At least 2 people are dead after police opened fire at a demonstration, an official said Thursday, as fresh protests erupted across India against a contentious citizenship law that critics say is anti-Muslim.

The men -- Abdul Jalil, 49, and Samshir Kudroli, 23 -- "died in police firing during the protests," Qadir Shah, a spokesman for the deputy commissioner of the southern city of Mangalore, told AFP, adding that a curfew had been imposed in the city with schools, restaurants and bars shut.

Another man taken to the King George's Medical University Trauma Centetr in Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh with a gunshot injury died soon after, a hospital source told AFP.

His death has not been confirmed by local police, but his father told the Times of India newspaper his son was shot after getting caught in a crowd of protesters while he was out to buy groceries.

Four others were being treated at a hospital in Mangalore "with bullet injuries following the clashes," a district medical officer told AFP.

Shah said police fired their weapons after some 200 demonstrators refused to stop their march.

"They marched towards the busiest area of Mangalaru. This led to lathi (big, wooden sticks) charge. Then the tear gas was fired. When the protestors still didn't stop, the police had to open fire after that," he said, using an alternate name for the city.

Security forces and protesters had clashed in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka states, while elsewhere police bundled demonstrators onto buses, shuttered Delhi metro stations and cut cellphone access in some areas.

The protests were sparked by a new law easing citizenship rules for people fleeing persecution from 3 neighboring countries but not Muslims, stoking accusations at home and abroad that Modi wants to reshape India as a Hindu nation, which he denies.

Seven months after Modi swept to a second term, the past week has seen 6 other people killed in the northeastern state of Assam and dozens injured, while on Thursday, authorities banned gatherings across swathes of the world's biggest democracy that together are home to hundreds of millions of people.

DEMONSTRATORS DRAGGED

Fresh violence erupted in Samhbal, Uttar Pradesh, where hundreds of protesters set fire to vehicles and threw stones at security forces who responded with tear gas, local police chief Yamuna Prasad told AFP.

In Modi's home state of Gujarat, police said they baton-charged demonstrators and arrested 50 people.

As others ignored the assembly bans in Delhi and elsewhere, authorities ordered telecom firms to cut calls, text messages and data in parts of the city.

India is already the world leader in cutting the internet, activists say, and access was also restricted in parts of the northeast and in Uttar Pradesh, home to a large Muslim minority.

In Delhi, prominent rights activist Harsh Mander was detained, while in Bangalore globally renowned historian Ramachandra Guha was among those dragged onto a police bus.

Around 20,000 people took to the streets in the northeast, where the protests began last week—albeit for different reasons.

The day's biggest demonstration took place in Malegaon district of Maharashtra state with as many as 60,000 people, police said.

'SOMETHING HAS CHANGED'

In Mumbai, a crowd of thousands including tattooed students and older Muslim men wearing skullcaps brandished Indian flags, posters of Mahatma Gandhi and handed out copies of the constitution.

"Something has changed. This is the first time in a long time that people in Mumbai have come out in such large numbers to register dissent," said consultant Karishma V.

A crowd of around 40,000 people in eastern West Bengal's Kolkata city was led by the state's chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a strong Modi critic.

The protests have been fuelled by anger about alleged police brutality including at a university in Delhi on Sunday night.

Security forces in the capital have fired some 450 tear gas shells in the past 5 days, the Hindustan Times daily reported. One student reportedly lost an eye.

The demonstrations in the city have at times turned violent with vehicles set on fire and protestors hurling stones at police in heavily Muslim areas on Wednesday.

"If they show us the lathi (police baton), we will show them roses," a student in Delhi, Shivanji, told AFP as she handed flowers to police on Thursday.

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Delhi fights hazardous pollution after Diwali party

NEW DELHI - After India's biggest firework party of the year, Delhi awoke to a pollution hangover Monday with the capital forced to breathe hazardous levels of toxic particles.

A thick smog engulfed landmarks such as the capital's Red Fort and India Gate while drivers had visibility cut by the haze that built up after the Diwali holiday weekend.

With the pollution threat growing over the past decade, the Supreme Court banned most fireworks for the Hindu festival of lights. However, few revelers followed the order.

Firecrackers and rockets lit up the night sky and left clouds of smoke, adding to emissions from cars and trucks and stubble fires by farmers around Delhi that have made it the world's most polluted capital.

Tens of thousands of people set off firecrackers into the early hours of Monday, pushing the government air quality index beyond the top recordable level of 999.

While the pollution was less serious than previous years, the amount of the most harmful PM 2.5 pollutants was still more than 20 times international safe levels at several locations in the city of 20 million people during commuting hours.

The government monitoring system said air quality was "very poor" on Monday morning.

The 2.5 particulate matter (PM2.5) measures less than 2.5 microns and can penetrate the lungs through the blood system, causing serious respiratory and heart diseases.

Experts say the toxic cocktail that hits Delhi and other Indian cities each winter causes the premature deaths of more than one million people each year.

Weather officials said moderate winds will help clean the city's air but that increased fires on farms in Haryana and Punjab states was a particular threat.

Thousands of farmers in Haryana burn their rice and wheat stubble in between planting new crops sending clouds of smoke toward Delhi.

Experts say this contributes a fifth of the PM2.5 pollution that hits each year, while the millions of vehicles on the roads and unregulated construction and factory emissions are the major cause. 

The government has taken a slew of anti-pollution measures in recent years, including shutting down thermal power plants and banning construction during the pollution season.

In November, a bid to reduce road traffic will be introduced with odd and even registration plates allowed on Delhi roads on alternate days.

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At least 44 killed in north India floods

NEW DELHI, India - At least 44 people were killed and thousands moved to relief camps because of flooding caused by torrential rains in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state, officials told AFP Saturday.

Densely populated regions on the banks of two main rivers in the state, which are overflowing because of incessant rainfall in the last 24 to 48 hours, are among the worst hit.

"We had confirmed 44 deaths till late yesterday night. The authorities are focusing on rescue and relief work in the affected regions," Ravindra Pratap Sahi, vice chairman of the state disaster management authority, told AFP.

"We have moved thousands to relief shelters as there is forecast of heavy rains in the next 48 hours in most of the affected districts of the state," Sahi said.

Officials and local media reports said most people lost their lives for a variety of reasons including wall collapses, drowning, lightning and snake bites.

Flash floods after heavy rains killed at least 17 people in western India's Maharashtra state earlier this week.

Monsoon rains are crucial to replenishing water supplies in drought-stricken India, but they kill hundreds of people across the country every year.

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From apples to almonds, India hikes tariffs on US goods

NEW DELHI -- India on Sunday imposed higher tariffs on 28 items imported from the US, in retaliation to Washington's recent withdrawal of trade privileges for New Delhi.

The increased duties apply to products including almonds, apples and walnuts, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said.

India would "implement the imposition of retaliatory duties on 28 specified goods originating in or exported from (the) USA", it said in a notification.

The list initially included 29 goods but artemia, a kind of shrimp, has been removed from the list.

India is the number two market of California almonds and Washington apples.

The trade tensions come despite efforts from Washington to boost ties with India as a counterweight to China, and assertions made by both US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about their good relationship.

The stage for the row was set last year after Washington refused to exempt India from higher steel and aluminium tariffs, in keeping with Trump's decision to act against countries with which it has a large trade deficit.

India responded by saying it would raise import taxes on a slew of US goods.

But it delayed raising tariffs several times, hoping for negotiation to tackle the sticky trade issue.

However Trump's decision this month to strip New Delhi of its preferential trade status appears to have prompted the latest Indian move.

According to the new tariffs, import duty on walnut has been hiked to 120 percent from 30 percent and on chickpeas and lentils it has been raised to 70 percent from 30 percent currently.

The trade row is likely to be taken up when Trump and Modi meet at the G20 summit on June 28-29 in Osaka.

It is also likely to figure during talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who is set to visit India later this month.

US goods and services trade with India stood at an estimated $142.1 billion in 2018. The US trade deficit with India was $24.2 billion, according to official data.

Washington is already engaged in a full-blown trade war with India's regional rival China.

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Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas celebrate wedding at New Delhi reception

NEW DELHI - Priyanka Chopra, star of Indian film and US television, and Jonas Brothers singer Nick Jonas celebrated their wedding at a glitzy reception in New Delhi on Tuesday, joined by celebrities ranging from India's prime minister to Hollywood stars.

The event at a New Delhi hotel followed the couple's 3-day long wedding celebration at a heritage Indian palace atop a hill in the western city of Jodhpur, which included cricket matches and Bollywood songs.

The guest list on Tuesday's reception included Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who posed for pictures standing next to Chopra, who wore a sequined Indian outfit, and Jonas, who was dressed in a blue-black tuxedo.


Chopra, 36, and 26-year-old Jonas were engaged earlier this year after a whirlwind courtship that began at an Oscars after-party last year.

Chopra, a former Miss World, starred in 3 seasons of ABC's "Quantico," becoming the first Indian to headline a US television drama. In India, she is one of Bollywood's highest paid film stars.

Nick and his brothers Kevin and Joe formed a pop-rock band, The Jonas Brothers, in 2005 and soared to fame as members of Disney's stable of teenage stars. The band split up in 2013.

During Tuesday's gathering, the couple were also joined by their families, as well as Jonas's brother Joe's fiancée, Sophie Turner, who stars in the critically acclaimed HBO series "Game of Thrones."

The couple had largely been tight-lipped about the details of the actual wedding that took place over the weekend. Earlier on Tuesday, Chopra posted a few pictures of her wedding celebrations on her Instagram account, saying: "And forever starts now..."

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India's "Silk Road" snub highlights gulf with China

NEW DELHI - China invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and six cabinet colleagues to its "new Silk Road" summit this month, even offering to rename a flagship Pakistani project running through disputed territory to persuade them to attend, a top official in Modi's ruling group and diplomats said.

But New Delhi rebuffed Beijing's diplomatic push, incensed that a key project in its massive initiative to open land and sea corridors linking China with the rest of Asia and beyond runs through Pakistani controlled Kashmir.

The failure of China's efforts to bring India on board, details of which have not been previously reported, shows the depths to which relations between the two countries have fallen over territorial disputes and Beijing's support of Pakistan.

India's snub to the "Belt and Road" project was the strongest move yet by Modi to stand up to China.

But it risks leaving India isolated at a time when it may no longer be able to count on the United States to back it as a counterweight to China's growing influence in Asia, Chinese commentators and some Indian experts have said.

Representatives of 60 countries, including the United States and Japan, travelled to Beijing for the May 14-15 summit on President Xi Jinping's signature project.

But Ram Madhav, an influential leader of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) involved in shaping foreign policy, said India could not sign up so long as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - a large part of the "Belt and Road" enterprise - ran through parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir that India considers its own territory.

"China routinely threatens countries when it finds issues even remotely connected to its own sovereignty question being violated," Madhav said. "No country compromises with its sovereignty for the sake of trade and commerce interests."

ECONOMIC POTENTIAL

India, due to the size and pace of expansion of its economy, could potentially be the biggest recipient of Chinese investment from the plan to spur trade by building infrastructure linking Asia with Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a Credit Suisse report released before the summit.

Chinese investments into India could be anything from $84 billion to $126 billion between 2017 to 2021, far higher than Russia, Indonesia and Pakistan, countries that have signed off on the initiative, it said.

China has not offered any specific projects to India, but many existing schemes, such as a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor that has been planned for years, have now been wrapped into the Belt and Road enterprise.

China is also conducting feasibility studies for high-speed rail networks linking Delhi with Chennai in southern India that would eventually connect to the modern day "Silk Road" it is seeking to create.

But if India continues to hold back from joining China's regional connectivity plans the commercial viability of those plans will be called into question, analysts say.

China has held talks with Nepal to build an $8 billion railway line from Tibet to Kathmandu, but it ultimately wants the network to reach the Indian border to allow goods to reach the huge Indian market.

STRATEGIC FEARS

India has other worries over China's growing presence in the region, fearing strategic encirclement by a "string of pearls" around the India Ocean and on land as China builds ports, railways and power stations in country such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Ashok Kantha, who was India's ambassador to China until 2016, said India had repeatedly conveyed its concerns to China, especially about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the need to have open discussions about it.

"Where is the economic rational for CPEC?" he said. "There is no major economic driver, the drivers are essentially political and strategic in character."

Just a week before the summit, China's ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui, offered to change the name of CPEC to placate New Delhi and ensure it didn't boycott the Beijing conference.

Luo did no elaborate on the proposal, made during a speech at an Indian military think-tank, according to people who attended the meeting and local media reports. A transcript released later by the Chinese embassy did not include a reference to changing the project's name.

But Chinese officials in the past have suggested this could mean adding India to the name to make it the "China-Pakistan-India Economic Corridor".

A Chinese diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested India could build infrastructure on its side of Kashmir which could eventually be linked to the roads and power lines China planned to build in Pakistani Kashmir.

Indian experts said another proposal explored in meetings between former diplomats and academics from the two sides was renaming the project the "Indus Corridor" to overcome India's objection that the "China-Pakistan" name endorses Pakistan's claim to Kashmir. Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which they both claim in full. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying did not comment directly on any offer to change the name of CPEC, but drew attention to President Xi's remarks during the summit that China would follow the principle of peaceful co-existence and that New Delhi need not worry.

"I think the concerns from the India side should be able to be resolved," she said.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay said New Delhi had not received any suggestions through proper channels and that India wanted a meaningful discussion with China on the whole project.

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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Indians disclose $10 billion in hidden wealth

NEW DELHI -- Indians have declared almost $10 billion in hidden wealth under a government amnesty on tax evasion, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's moves to crack down on huge piles of black money.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the four-month scheme that closed on Friday had resulted in 64,275 declarations of previously undisclosed assets and income, totaling 652.5 billion rupees ($9.8 billion).

"With so many people declaring money it shows a significant number of people want to become tax compliant," Jaitley told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday.

"This figure could be revised upward once the final tabulation is done," the minister said, adding that the additional revenue would help fund public welfare schemes.

India's taxpayers are startlingly few, with only around 2.5 percent of its 1.2 billion population filing returns -- largely because the so-called unorganised sector employs so many people who are paid cash.

Modi vowed to crack down on tax avoidance to tackle the country's yawning inequality after storming to power at elections in 2014.

His government introduced a slew of rules this year including making it mandatory to declare a unique taxpayer number when purchasing goods over 200,000 rupees.

Under the scheme, authorities promised not to pursue Indians in return for coming clean on hidden wealth and paying tax on it.

But accountants and other experts remained sceptical about whether Indians would cough up their wealth. The government did not announce a public target for the initiative.

Across all levels of society, rounding up tax is difficult when dodging it is practically a national sport, from small-time landlords who request rent in cash to large-scale money laundering via state lotteries.

Only six people earning over 500 million rupees ($7.4 million) filed returns in 2012-2013, despite there being an estimated 2,100 ultra-wealthy Indians whose net worth exceeds $50 million.

Billions of dollars in unpaid taxes deprive the government of revenues that could be spent on changing lives in a country where 270 million people survive on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank.

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Mother and daughter allege gang-rape in India

NEW DELHI, India - A mother and her teenage daughter were allegedly gang-raped in a field after being dragged from their car outside New Delhi, police said on Sunday, India's latest brutal sexual attack.

A gang of robbers allegedly stopped the family's car along a busy highway early on Saturday, said additional director general of police Daljeet Chaudhary.

The mother has told officers that she and her 14-year-old daughter were pulled from the vehicle and raped by six men.

The family's four male members have said they were tied up with ropes and their belongings stolen while the attack took place, Chaudhary told AFP.

Police detained 16 people on Sunday and were still searching for the main suspect in the attack, which took place in Uttar Pradesh state, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of the capital.

"The main suspect has been identified. We are trying to arrest him as soon as possible and send him to jail under stringent sections of the law," Chaudhary said.

India toughened punishments for rapists following the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi in 2012 that shone a global spotlight on frightening levels of violence against women in the country.

But rape and sexual assault occur regularly, with attacks hitting the headlines on an almost daily basis.

The most recent official figures show 36,735 rapes were reported across the country in 2014. But activists say the true number is likely much higher as many women do not speak out because of the social stigma attached to sexual crimes.

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Italian marine arrives home after 4 years in custody in India

An Italian marine who Indian prosecutors accuse of murdering two fishermen during an anti-piracy mission returned home on Saturday after four years in custody in New Delhi.

Salvatore Girone, who was held in custody at the Italian embassy in the Indian capital, is one of two marines arrested in 2012 over the fishermen's deaths during the operation to protect an Italian oil tanker.

The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is already back in Italy after suffering health problems.

The marines say they fired on the fishing boat because they thought the Italian ship they were assigned to protect, the Enrica Lexie, was under attack. Indian prosecutors accuse them of murdering the fishermen.

India's supreme court ruled earlier this week he was free to go home at least until Italy's dispute with India over jurisdiction in the case, which is now in international arbitration, is over.

Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti embraced the uniformed Girone when he arrived at Rome's Ciampino airport. He was also greeted by the foreign minister, the navy's top admiral and relatives.

India's Supreme Court said Girone must surrender his passport when he arrives in Italy and he will be required to return to India within a month of an order from the tribunal.

The long dispute over the incident has strained relations between India and Italy and its European Union partners.

In an effort to end legal wrangling, both countries last year agreed to move their dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which also ruled Girone should be allowed to return home earlier this month.

Italy argues that the case should not be heard in India because the incident occurred in international waters. India has said it remains confident the tribunal will decide in its favour.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Helen Popper)

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India clears $4.74 billion defense purchase

NEW DELHI - India's defense ministry has cleared the purchase of military equipment worth $4.74 billion, including four long-range patrol aircraft from US aerospace giant Boeing, an official said Wednesday.

The Defense Acquisition Council, which approves big-ticket purchases, also approved an order for 428 air defence artillery guns during a meeting late Tuesday, the official said.

"The council has cleared proposals relating mainly to purchase of air defense guns and long-range patrol aircraft for the navy," the official said on condition of anonymity.

India last year lifted a cap on foreign investment in defense as the government seeks to revamp its ageing military equipment.

The right-wing government that came to power last year also wants to boost local manufacturing and end the country's status as the world's largest arms importer.

Military purchases had stalled under the previous Congress government, slowing down much-needed investment in the high-profile sector.

The order for four new planes from Boeing follows an earlier deal to buy eight P-8I aircraft from the company in 2009. India has already received seven P-8Is with the eighth expected later this year.

The United States displaced traditional ally Russia as India's top supplier of armaments in 2013 and Washington and New Delhi renewed their 10-year Defense Framework Agreement during President Barack Obama's visit in January.

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India bends it like Modi on first World Yoga Day

NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday hailed the first International Yoga Day as a "new era of peace", moments before he surprised thousands in New Delhi by taking to a mat himself to celebrate the ancient Indian practice.

Yoga-loving Modi led more than 35,000 people, including bureaucrats, students and soldiers, performing poses such as the half camel and cobra in a 35-minute mass outdoor yoga session beginning at 7:00 am (0130 GMT) on a New Delhi boulevard.

Organisers are hoping the event qualifies for the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest yoga class at a single venue.

The current title, according to the Guinness website, was set by 29,973 students in Gwalior, India, in 2005.

"Yoga is more than only physical fitness. We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace," Modi told the crowd at Rajpath avenue.

He thanked the United Nations and the 177 co-sponsoring countries for adopting his idea for a world Yoga Day.

"This is a programme for human welfare, a tension-free world and a programme to spread the message of love, peace and goodwill," said the premier, wearing a crisp white outfit with a national tricolour scarf.

Modi then surprised the crowds by leaving the stage, removing his glasses, and securing a spot at the front of the massive session to mirror the stretches, breathing, and meditative moves beamed on giant screens along the historic avenue.

He took a brief break in the middle of the session to walk around and inspect students doing yoga around him before rejoining the routine of 15 different poses, including the crocodile and "wind-releasing" posture.

The prime minister, who credits yoga for his ability to work long hours on little sleep, had been scheduled only to make a speech at Rajpath, where colourful mats were lined across the stretch that connects the president's palace with the iconic India Gate monument.



- Sea of white -

Aerial images taken near dawn showed Rajpath, or King's Avenue, as a sea of white with scores of people, clad in new Yoga Day T-shirts, bending and stretching in sync with the English and Hindi instructions to a background score of Indian classical music being played over loudspeakers.

Central Delhi was sealed off and carpeted, with dozens of metal detectors and multiple checkpoints erected for the big day that saw other VIPs including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal participate.

People in 650 districts joined in, with pictures pouring in on Twitter from across the country.

Some showed soldiers performing various yoga poses -- or asanas -- against a backdrop of soaring snow mountains at Siachen glacier, the world's highest battleground, in disputed Indian Kashmir while others showed residents stretching it out in local parks.

India will be joined by yoga enthusiasts in 192 other countries -- including in Britain, where mats will be rolled out along the banks of the River Thames.

In his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly, Modi proposed to dedicate a day devoted to the ancient Indian discipline, prompting the UN to proclaim June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

Indian scholars believe yoga dates back 5,000 years, based on archaeological evidence of poses found inscribed on stones and references to Yogic teachings in the ancient Hindu scriptures of the Vedas.

And Modi, a vegetarian who practises the art daily, has made Yoga Day a key initiative of his Hindu nationalist government since he took office 13 months ago.

He wants to reclaim yoga as an historical part of Indian culture which has been lost to the West, where it has become a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Since storming to power, the Hindu nationalist premier has set up a ministry dedicated to promoting yoga and other traditional Indian treatments, and also started free yoga classes for his government's three million bureaucrats and their families.

"Yoga is the soft power of India and through that soft power the whole world can be one global village... (and) violence can be removed with this kind of peace," Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has told reporters.

Swaraj is at the UN's headquarters in New York for Yoga Day, when scores are expected to strike a pose in Times Square.

But the government's push for "yoga for harmony and peace" met with criticism in the run-up to Sunday, with some religious minorities accusing Modi of pushing a pro-Hindu agenda in officially secular India.

A few Muslim groups have complained that chanting the sacred Hindu sound of "Om" during yoga and certain poses, such as "surya namaskar" or sun salutation, have clear Hindu overtones and were against Islam.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Uber launches autorickshaw service in New Delhi

Dealing with the notorious autorickshaw drivers of the Indian capital can be a daunting task even for a seasoned Delhiite and a rather intimidating experience for an outsider when an army of drivers swoops down on him like vultures.

Passengers often complain about being taken for a ride as most drivers seldom charge by the government approved meters and often refuse to pick up short distance travellers.

Now, online cab-hailing company Uber plans to introduce some sanity into that world.

Uber will allow passengers in New Delhi to book autorickshaws, the cheaper three-wheeled taxis, as part of a drive to boost its presence and compete with a local rival in one of its key markets.

Under the uberAUTO service, the company will not charge a fee for booking autorickshaws, users will be allowed to pay for the journey in cash, and the pricing will follow government fare rules, Uber said in a statement on April 9.

And some of the drivers seeking an extra source of income have already signed up with Uber.

Abul Hassan, one of the first drivers to get trained by Uber in using their mobile app technology for Delhi's autorickshaws, said he is happy that he took the early plunge.

"If I have tied up with them then it is because it is beneficial for me. In my free time, I get passengers. Earlier I had to drive around looking for a passenger but now I get a message on my device and I get a passenger," Hassan told Reuters Television.

The launch of the service in New Delhi marks a shift from the company's global business model. So far, Uber's mobile application that connects riders with taxis in cities around the world has charged customers through credit cards or other electronic payment means, but not in cash.

Gagan Bhatia, general manager for Uber in New Delhi, told Reuters that autos were too big a pie to be left out in India.

"Autos are, it is a lifeline of Delhi. Autos are an absolute lifeline of Delhi. People in Delhi depend on autos. There are use cases which are fulfilled only by taking an auto - whether it is a grocery run or a bank run. People prefer taking an auto instead of taking their cars out or taking a taxi and we want to cater to that segment. We want to cater to all segments and democratize the entire Uber experience," Bhatia said.

The launch in Uber's largest market outside the United States comes against the backdrop of stiff competition with India's biggest online cab-hailing company Ola, which already lets customers hail autorickshaws.

Some of the autorickshaw drivers said not everyone interested in joining would actually benefit from the engagement as several of them were semi-literate.

Luvkush Soni, one of the drivers running a mobile auto app, said: "The details of a prospective ride come in English language and we get only five seconds to read and respond to that text message. If we do not read and click on that message within five seconds, then the option moves to another driver. So, for those drivers who are not educated or literate, for them it is a big problem."

Uber's Bhatia said they were aware of the challenges lying ahead and were devising ways to address them by localizing their content to suit the needs of the Indian customers.

He added that the business potential was immense -- there are nearly 200,000 autorickshaws running on the roads of Delhi and the entire National Capital Region comprising the satellite towns of Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon along with Delhi is home to 25 million potential customers.

And if some of the customers are to be believed, they are already hitting the right gears.

Inayat Ramdas, a working girl and a frequent Uber user said she not only finds the app convenient, but also the ride safer.

"You download the app from the app store and you fill in your details, they register you online. They are very convenient - at the touch of a button you just order a cab and you can even see if they are nearby or how long it will take you to reach your destination, and the amount of money you will be spending. An app like Uber you can get your payment cut by your card as well, there is no cash payment, so, it is very easy," Ramdas said.

The launch comes at a time when Uber is battling regulatory uncertainty over how it will continue to operate in New Delhi.

Uber was banned in the city following allegations of rape against one of its drivers in December, but has found support from India's transport ministry.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Obama reveals nuclear breakthrough on landmark India trip

NEW DELHI - In a glow of bonhomie, U.S. President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled plans to unlock billions of dollars in nuclear trade and to deepen defense ties, steps they hope will establish an enduring strategic partnership.

The two countries reached an understanding on two issues that, despite a groundbreaking 2006 agreement, had stopped U.S. companies from setting up reactors in India and had become one of the major irritants in bilateral relations.

"We are committed to moving towards full implementation," Obama told a joint news conference with Modi. "This is an important step that shows how we can work together to elevate our relationship."

The new deal resolved differences over the liability of suppliers to India in the event of a nuclear accident and U.S. demands on tracking the whereabouts of material supplied to the country, U.S. ambassador to India Richard Verma told reporters.

"Ultimately it's up to the companies to go forward, but the two governments came to an understanding," he added.

Signalling warmth and determination to take ties to a higher level, Modi broke with protocol to meet and bear-hug Obama as he landed in New Delhi, then referred to him as Barack. It was a remarkable spectacle, given that a year ago Modi was persona non grata in Washington and was denied a visa to the United States.

Between a working lunch that included kebabs made with lotus stem, figs and spices and an evening banquet where Obama spoke a smattering of Hindi, the two leaders got down to talks.

They emerged with a 10-year framework for defense ties and deals on cooperation that included the joint production of drone aircraft and equipment for Lockheed Martin Corp's C-130 military transport plane.

Other deals ranged from an Obama-Modi hotline -- India's first at a leadership level -- to financing initiatives aimed at helping India use renewable energy to lower carbon intensity.

But Modi cautioned that work was still needed to create a solid partnership between the world's two largest democracies.

"We have to convert a good start into lasting progress. This requires translating our vision into sustained action and concrete achievements," he said, standing next to Obama.

On Monday, Obama will be the first U.S. president to attend India's Republic Day parade, an annual show of military might long associated with the anti-Americanism of the Cold War. He will also host a radio show with Modi.

His presence at the parade at Modi's personal invitation marks the latest upturn in a roller-coaster bilateral relationship that just a year ago was in tatters.

Up to 40,000 security personnel have been deployed for the visit and 15,000 new closed-circuit surveillance cameras have been installed in the capital, according to media reports.

NEW VITALITY

The United States views India as a vast market and potential counterweight in Asia to a more assertive China, but has frequently been frustrated with the slow pace of New Delhi's economic reforms and unwillingness to side with Washington in international affairs.

Elected last May, Modi has injected a new vitality into the economy and foreign relations and, to Washington's delight, has begun pushing back against China across Asia.

In a veiled reference to China, the leaders reiterated the "importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea". They also called for the peaceful resolution of territorial conflicts.

Obama will depart slightly early from India to travel to Saudi Arabia following the death of King Abdullah, skipping a planned visit to the Taj Mahal.

Like Obama, Modi rose from modest origins to break into a political elite dominated by powerful families. Aides say the two men bonded in Washington in September when Obama took Modi to the memorial of Martin Luther King, whose rights struggle was inspired by India's Mahatma Gandhi.

On Sunday, the two leaders talked outside over tea in an elegant garden. Modi, who sold tea on a railway platform as a child, poured a cup for Obama.

The "chemistry" they describe is striking because Modi's politics is considerably to the right of Obama's and because he was banned from visiting the United States for nearly a decade after deadly Hindu-Muslim riots in a state he governed.

Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to visit India twice, also enjoyed a close friendship with Modi's predecessor Manmohan Singh, who staked his premiership on the controversial nuclear deal that made India the sixth "legitimate" atomic power and marked a high point in Indo-U.S. relations.

The deal failed to deliver on a promise of business for U.S. companies because of India's reluctance to shield suppliers from liability, a deviation from international norms that reflects the memory of the Bhopal industrial disaster.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Woman identifies Uber cabbie as rape trial starts in India

NEW DELHI, India - A woman allegedly raped in an Uber taxi in the Indian capital "confidently" gave evidence Thursday against the driver at the start of his trial in a fast-track court, the prosecutor said.

Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, kidnap and criminal intimidation after he allegedly attacked his female passenger as she returned home from dinner with friends in December.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, formally identified Yadav as her attacker while giving evidence on day one of the trial, public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava told reporters.

"She (the alleged victim) gave her statement confidently. She saw the man and immediately said: 'He is the person'," Shrivastava said outside the court in New Delhi.

"She appeared angry, obviously. If someone curses you, you would be angry. Imagine her situation -- that anger is more than justified."

Uber was banned from operating in Delhi after the attack, with authorities accusing the web-based firm of failing to perform adequate background checks on its drivers.

The December 5 attack again raised the issue of women's safety in Delhi, which has been dubbed India's "rape capital" after a string of high-profile sex assaults.

India's legal system is usually notoriously sluggish and rape victims can often wait years for justice.

But Yadav's trial is starting less than six weeks after the assault, and in a special court that was set up two years ago in the wake of a fatal gang-rape of a physiotherapy student.

The horrific attack on a moving bus in Delhi triggered mass protests and outrage over violence against women in India.

The Uber case was adjourned until Friday when the woman is expected to be cross-examined by Yadav's lawyers.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Federer, Djokovic enthrall New Delhi

Roger Federer played Novak Djokovic to a draw in the men's singles showdown, allowing the world No. 1's UAE Royals to down the Swiss Maestro's Indian Aces in their International Premier Tennis League match-up in New Delhi.

It was a historic day for Indian tennis, as fans at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium witnessed a showdown between Federer and Djokovic in a high-power display of tennis.

"It was great to be here in India for the first time," Djokovic said after the match. "It was a unique and valuable experience. The people, the kindness, the hospitality strikes me right away."

The match between the Aces and the Royals was witnessed by a packed house that included some of India's biggest stars: Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Riteish Deshmukh and Sunil Gavaskar.

The final night of the IPTL's New Delhi leg was kicked off by the women's singles set between Kristina Mladenovic and Ana Ivanovic.

Both players performed equally well to reach even scores, but it was Mladenovic who won a gripping five-minute shootout to claim the set, 6-5.

In a match-up of past champions, a confident Goran Ivanisevic thrived on his IPTL experience, while 14-time Grand Slam Pete Sampras gave the crowds a small taste of his greatness. Sampras was eventually subbed out in favor of Aces team captain Fabrice Santoro, who tried his best but it was Ivanisevic who won, 6-3.

In the mixed doubles set, Federer replaced Rohan Bopanna to pair up with Sania Mirza, but the substitution was not enough as Maldenovic and Nenad Zimonjic racked up a 6-2 victory.

The Aces finally got on the winning track when Federer teamed up with Gael Monfils for an enthralling men's doubles set against Djokovic, who replaced Marin Cilic, and Zimonjic.

The set reached 5-5, setting in motion a shootout that went down the wire but was eventually won by the Aces.

In an encounter that the nation was waiting to watch, Djokovic and Federer met in the men's singles set an created magic on court.

With majestic shot making and geometric precision, the two giants played a neck-and-neck set, which went to another shootout but eventually ended in a 6-6 stalemate.

"The match with Novak was great," Federer said. "I think we both played a good game at a great level. I think he struggled initially, but managed to pull up in the end."

"I was also very happy with my level of performance," he added. "Playing Novak in India is special. It was a thrilling match, and I thoroughly enjoyed it."

The draw meant that Djokovic's Royals won with an aggregate score of 29-22, cutting into the Aces' lead in the overall table.

The Aces still top the table with 30 points, but the Royals and the Manila Mavericks are on their heels with 27 points. The Singapore Slammers bring up the rear with 17 points.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com