Donald Trump’s message in the visitor’s book at the Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial in New Delhi on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, mentioned the icon and praised him over his work. This happened a day after the American leader left a note at Sabarmati Ashram Ahmedabad.
Trump and his wife Melania Trump paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial at Rajghat. He also laid the wreath there after the ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan happened.
A police officer and six others were killed in days of violent clashes in India’s capital over a new citizenship law, which saw its supporters and opponents hurl stones at each other as the unrest went into a third day.
The intense clashes came as US President Donald Trump, having enjoyed a lavish welcome in Ahmedabad, arrived in the city on Monday evening as part of his 36-hour state visit to the country.
The violence that has gripped parts of India’s capital since Sunday has left over 100 people injured in addition to the seven killed as of Tuesday morning, according to News18.
The officer, 42-year-old Ratan Lal, succumbed to injuries after being struck by a stone during clashes in Gokalpuri, a district in northeast Delhi, which is now under a Section 144 order prohibiting public gatherings. The others killed are believed to have been demonstrators; two of them have yet to be identified in media reports.
In an effort to break up the clashes and disperse protesters on Monday, police fired tear gas into the crowds and carried out a number of baton charges in the districts of Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chandbagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura. While the unrest temporarily died down overnight, police continued to patrol the streets early on Tuesday morning, amid reports of additional skirmishes and stone-throwing between groups of protesters in what they deemed a “tense” situation.
US President Donald Trump had plenty of reasons to feel smug after the first day of his two-day visit to India. Despite some simmering disputes between Washington and New Delhi, day one was a triumph of optics.
From the moment he touched down on Indian soil on Monday to the time he stretched out in his presidential hotel suite in the capital in the evening, Trump saw only welcoming faces around him – in their millions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Trump and First Lady Melania at the steps of Air Force One, after its arrival in the western city of Ahmedabad. From there, Trump’s delegation – which included the president’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner – was whisked along for a tour of the Sabarmati Ashram, the place from where Mahatma Gandhi launched a few of his most memorable agitations against the British colonial rulers in the early 20th century; and then to address the largest crowd of his political career.
A visit with an eye on domestic audiences
Tens of thousands of people lined both sides of the road, as Trump’s motorcade made its way to the 100,000 capacity Motera cricket stadium for a mega-rally. For Trump, it was an optics win, with the packed-out crowd erupting into deafening cheers upon the president’s arrival. The sight of tens of thousands of Indians wearing white ‘Namaste Trump’ caps will no doubt be used by Trump to court the votes of the 4.4 million Indian-Americans watching back stateside.
Pundits in the US treated the rally – organized in return for the ‘Howdy Modi’ rally thrown for the Indian leader in Texas last year – as another one of the president’s raucous campaign stops. “Why is President Trump going halfway around the world for a 36-hour whirlwind social call in India?” asked the Washington Post’s Ashley Parker. “Hint: Huge crowds! Did we mention the crowds?”
With the pro-wrestling pump-up tune ‘Macho Man’ blaring from loudspeakers before Trump’s speech, one rally-goer told NPR that the event felt like “a concert, but for political leaders.”
Nearly 90% of the 200 cities beset by the world’s highest levels of deadly micro-pollution are in China and India, with most of the rest in Pakistan and Indonesia, researchers reported Tuesday.
Taking population into account, Bangladesh emerged as the country with the worst so-called PM2.5 pollution, followed by Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and India, according to the 2019 World Air Quality Report, jointly released by IQAir Group and Greenpeace.
Among the world’s megacities of 10 million or more people, the most PM2.5-toxic in 2019 was the Indian capital New Delhi, followed by Lahore in Pakistan, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Kolkata in India, Linyi and Tianjin in China, and Jakarta, Indonesia.
美国总统特朗普2月24日搭乘空军一号到印度进行为期两天的访问。一如过去印度总理莫迪接待外国领导人的方式，这次特朗普预计也将受到豪奢的盛情款待。
这是特朗普上任以来首次访问印度，行程安排相当丰富。此行也被视为印度媒体今年报导的重点大事。
新德里国防研究与分析研究所（IDSA）外交政策研究员帕塔乃克 (Smruti Pattanaik)告诉德国之声。印方希望特朗普此行能在安全问题、恐怖主义和贸易往来上与印度达成更多共识。
印第安纳大学布卢明顿分校印度专家，政治学教授甘古利（Sumit Ganguly）对德国之声说：“这次旅行除了具有象征意义之外，也毫无疑问地凸显了美国对印度的重视。”
他说：“这次访问也强调巴基斯坦的重要性正在下降，因为美国没有一定要在巴基斯坦过境。这也可能向中国传达一个信息，就是美国对印度的重视。”
甘古利强调，在印美战略利益日益接近的情况下，两国关系在过去几年一直稳定转好。他也说:“许多国内事务让特朗普分心，让他无法专注于世界事务，对国际政治也所知甚少，但(印美) 关系相对来说基础稳固。这主要是源于对地缘政治的关注。”
华盛顿将新德里视为所谓的“印度太平洋”（Indo Pacific）中美国战略的关键参与者。印度太平洋是美军构想的横跨太平洋和印度洋的广大区域，从美国西海岸到印度的西海岸。近年，印度添购美国军事装备，并与华盛顿建立了更紧密的国防合作。
无法化解的贸易纠纷？
专家形容当前的美印关系在国防上很稳固，但在商业方面却有分歧。美国前南亚助理国务卿兼华盛顿外交关系委员会资深研究员艾尔斯 (Alyssa Ayres)说：“我会说，美印在贸易紧张关系下，战略伙伴关系依然稳固……实际上，这是自小布什政府以来两国关系的发展轨迹。事实证明，解决战略和国防合作的某些障碍比解决贸易和经济方面的重大分歧要容易得多。”
在过去的20年中，美国和印度之间的贸易一直稳定增长。商品和服务的双边贸易从1999年的160亿美元（148.2亿欧元）猛增到2018年的1420亿美元。尽管增长如此强劲，但两国的商业关系却每况愈下。
美国长期以来一直认为印度政府的贸易保护主义措施不公平，对包括高关税和外国投资壁垒发出抱怨。特朗普也对此不断批评，并称印度是“关税王”。
印美双方在签证、商品和服务的市场准入、知识产权以及数位经济法规等方面也存在严重分歧。
艾尔斯说：“我不认为贸易或移民这些是什么新的麻烦。这些分歧以某种形式已经存在了至少10年。”
伍德罗·威尔逊国际学者中心的南亚专家库格曼 (Michael Kugelman)告诉德国之声，这些贸易分歧对印美两国关系而言“是麻烦，但不是威胁”。他说:“双方对彼此的善意足够区隔两国关系与贸易方面的问题。特朗普的访问将把这份善意和良好的关系向上提升。”
特朗普最近表示，美国和印度正在制定一项重大的贸易协议，但他不确定该协议是否会在11月美国总统大选之前完成。
库格尔曼也表示，在印度之行期间，浮夸的象征意义可能大于实质成果。他说：“我不期望出现任何实质可交付的成果。特别是贸易协议，可能性越来越小。但可能会有一些新的国防协议……主要的成果将是特朗普在印度与莫迪的对话。两人在一场盛会中共享舞台。这是最能引起他们共鸣的，这正是这两位享受大排场的领导人和他们的政府希望做到的事。”
在印度，金融动荡的脚步声正在靠近。未来坏账风险较高的“不良债权预备队”的债务比率超过整体的2成，在最近10年里增至2倍以上。印度国营银行因信贷机制不完善，不良债权增加，再加上大型非银行金融机构的经营危机，金融体系陷入困境。印度金融体系发生的信用风险将加剧经济低迷，看不到经济复苏的迹象。
自2月7日起在新德里近郊举行的的国际车展出现了异常情况。日本大型车企丰田和本田均放弃参展。原因是印度汽车销售的严重低迷。
2月中旬，记者到访德里的本田专卖店，店员叹息道“相比去年，销售额处于持续下降4成的水平。顾客要求大幅降价，可我们也无计可施”。印度汽车经销商协会联盟(FADA)统计显示，2018年以后近300家专卖店关门。汽车销售低迷的原因是向个人和企业提供汽车贷款的非银行金融机构的资金周转恶化，无法向客户放贷。
2018年夏季，印度大型非银行金融机构“ Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services（IL&FS)”陷入债务违约。以此为开端，该国银行和监管当局加强对非银行金融机构的警惕，农村地区等的个人无法获得贷款。据称，以往几乎不调查客户信用记录就放贷的当地非银行金融机构也不少。
在印度的银行贷款中，不良债权所占的比例2019年为8.9％。在5年里提高5个百分点以上，国际货币基金组织（IMF）数据显示，在G20（二十国集团）中增幅最大。
不过，关于判断贷款是否属于不良债权，银行和监管当局的自由裁量空间巨大。将连续3年无法通过营业利润（显示主业盈利）支付有息负债所需利息的企业定义为“不良债权预备队”。通过观察预备队的债务余额占上市企业整体债务余额的比率，估算了潜在的不良债权的比率。对象仅为发布财务报表的上市企业，因此如果包括非上市企业在内，比率有可能进一步提高。
在印度上市企业的整体债务中，“不良债权预备队”所占的比率为21％，达到债务整体的5分之1。虽然企业数少于欧美，但预备队的比率与世界平均（4.3％）相比明显更高。突出的是通信、钢铁和基础设施相关企业等。
“由于无法从金融机构取得预期的支援，不得不采取停飞的非常手段”，2019年4月，印度第2大航空公司杰特航空(Jet Airways)发布了这样的声明。该公司在2个月后破产。受到与廉价航空公司（LCC）竞争的影响，该公司业绩恶化，资金周转陷入困境。
印度金融体系为何会发生混乱呢？由于2016年底高额纸币的废除，压箱底现金流入银行。资金过剩的银行向政府监管鞭长莫及的“影子银行”——非银行金融机构增加了放贷。但由于IL&FS问题，银行转为采取慎重态度。
印度储备银行（央行）表示，银行对非银行金融机构的贷款余额增长比2018年顶峰时减少了一半。彭博社报道称，印度上市非银行金融机构Srei Infrastructure Finance计划撤出对基础设施的融资。以IL&FS问题为开端的惜贷如今给印度实体经济投下阴影，该国目前的增长率放缓至4％左右。经济恶化导致的企业业绩恶化有可能进一步增加不良债权预备队，这一过去曾在日本出现的恶性循环局面正在向印度走近。
As US President Donald Trump nears the end of his first term in office, his popularity among Indians is soaring, but the same cannot be said about his protectionist trade policies, which enjoy little fanfare.
On the heels of Trump’s first state visit to India early next week, the Pew polling firm has released new data on Indians’ attitudes toward the US president, showing that while his confidence rating in the realm of world affairs has jumped over four-fold since he took office in 2016 – from 14 to 56 percent – Indians are increasingly skeptical about his aggressive approach to trade.
Nearly half of those surveyed panned Trump’s penchant for tariffs, with 48 percent voicing disapproval. The figure likely reflects a burgeoning trade spat that’s erupted between Washington and New Delhi over the last year, which has seen both nations slap new duties on each other’s goods, and the US even dropping India from its Generalized System of Preferences, revoking a number of tariff exemptions.
On his first visit to India next week, US President Donald Trump is expected to wade into several domestic controversies, challenging his Indian counterpart on the state of religious freedom in the country, as well as Kashmir.
Trump will raise a number of “concerns” with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the trip, a White House official said on Friday, singling out the “religious freedom issue” as “extremely important” to the US administration.
“Prime Minister Modi in his first speech after winning the election last year, talked about how he would prioritize being inclusive of Indian religious minorities. And certainly the world looks to India to maintain religious liberty and equal treatment for all under the rule of law,” the official told reporters, making every effort to avoid offending the US ally.
With hostilities between New Delhi and Islamabad at a high point – much of it stemming from conflict over the disputed Kashmir territory – the president is also expected to urge detente for the nuclear-armed rivals. Following an attack by Pakistan-based militants that killed 40 Indian police officers in Kashmir last year and ongoing issues with terrorism in the region, New Delhi revoked Kashmir’s autonomy status, arguing the move was necessary to crack down on armed insurgents and develop the region. Pakistan has repeatedly slammed the decision, however, arguing the Indian government is oppressing citizens in its only Muslim-majority state.
“I think what you’ll hear from the President is very much encouraging a reduction in tensions between India and Pakistan, encouraging the two countries to engage in bilateral dialogue with each other to resolve their differences,” the official said, noting the process could only move forward if Islamabad ramped up its efforts against terrorism.
Four Indian astronauts are now training in Russia ahead of their nation’s first manned space mission. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, shared with RT his memories of braving Russian winters and going into orbit in 1984.
Sharma, a former wing commander in the Indian Air Force, became the first – and so far only – Indian citizen ever to travel to space. He was part of a three-man crew on the Soviet Soyuz T-11, and spent a week on the famous Salyut-7 orbital station – a project that paved the way for modular orbital habitats, including the International Space Station (ISS).
“At a personal level it was life-changing, in sense of beauty one could see and important science one could do,” Sharma told RT, recalling his time in orbit.
However, the Salyut-7 crew that also included Yury Malyshev and Gennady Strekalov had such a tight working schedule that they hardly had a chance to take in the “beautiful scenery” out of the station’s window, or “look down on Earth and see the beauty… of our planet.”
Sleeping in zero gravity
One of the most peculiar parts of space travel to an outside observer is sleeping in orbit. Astronauts and cosmonauts do not actually have beds on orbital stations – instead they have sleeping bags they have to attach to the inside of the hull, so that they do not just float around and bump into things. Orbital station cabins do not have ‘up’ and ‘down’ in the traditional earthly sense, so the astronauts can sleep in any orientation, since they are just literally hanging in the air anyway.
China has heightened prevention and control measures to protect its cropland from desert locusts that have ravaged India and Pakistan, despite assurances that the likelihood of a large-scale attack was marginal.
Locusts, which decimate almost all green vegetation including crops and trees, have swarmed swathes of agricultural land on the India-Pakistan border, an area identified as a global hotspot for the pests by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The outbreak has raised concerns in neighbouring China, where an economic downturn is already being made worse by the spread of a new coronavirus that has killed more than 2,200 people and ground business to a near halt.
However, officials at the FAO have played down the threat, saying a huge plague of locusts was unlikely.
“There is no threat to China by the desert locust because of a) the wind direction and b) they cannot cross the Himalaya Mountains because they are too tall and the air is too cold – so this is a natural barrier,” said FAO’s senior locust forecasting officer Keith Cressman by email.
China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs agreed the threat was small, but officials are not leaving anything involving national food security to chance.
China’s agriculture sector had a devastating year in 2019, hit by the crop-gobbling fall armyworms, which spread over a million hectares of farmland, as well as African swine fever that has killed about half of the country’s 440 million pigs through culling of disease.
As India awaits two major events in its political calendar, a visit from US President Donald Trump next week and a summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and EU leaders in Brussels next month, it is tempting to see the burgeoning superpower integrating itself into the Western fold. Especially given the multibillion-dollar arms deal Modi and Trump are expected to ink during the US leader’s visit.
But to assume that New Delhi has decided to wholeheartedly embrace the West would be wrong.
Far from bending the knee, New Delhi has begun to pursue independent economic and foreign policies, a move largely unappreciated in the West. India’s Foreign Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is one of the chief architects of these policies, yet few have picked up on the hints he’s dropped on the doorsteps of Europe and the US.
The fragrant smell of mutton and berry pulao wafts through Britannia & Company, one of the last remaining “Irani” cafes in Mumbai. Although it is still flourishing in Colaba’s Ballard Estate, a Mumbai business district known for its stately colonial architecture, the Britannia is a relic of a slowly disappearing cafe culture.
Mumbai’s Irani community includes the descendants of Zoroastrian, Parsi and Muslim Iranians who fled to India to escape famine or religious persecution over the centuries. Many immigrant Iranians became chaiwalas (tea sellers) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were soon known for their cafes and the tasty Irani chai, which is made with condensed milk and Assam tea from India’s northeast.
Mumbai’s Irani cafes are slowly dwindling in number, from about 400 at the peak of their popularity in the 1960s to about 30 today. The Britannia is one of those that endures.
It first opened its doors in 1923, when Mumbai was a bustling trading port and an administrative hub of the British Empire. The cafe’s walls are covered with black-and-white images of the streets of old Bombay and memorabilia dating from the days when the British Crown ruled India.
Long-time owner Boman Kohinoor, who died last year at the age of 97, was a legendary figure in southern Mumbai. Legend has it that his Zoroastrian father, Rashid Kohinoor, left Iran – or Persia, as it was then known – for India in the early 20th century. The enterprising immigrant established the Britannia and, along the way, had nine children. Now, the third generation of the family – Boman’s son Afsheen – is managing the cafe.
Over the decades, Boman Kohinoor, his wife and various family members have preserved their Iranian heritage through food – specifically Parsi cuisine, which fuses classic Iranian dishes with the strong, spicy flavours of India. The dishes symbolise the presence of the Irani community in Mumbai, where many still speak Farsi, or Persian.
印度正计划于2月20日将一架C-17运输机派往中国，以运输医疗物资，并将居住在武汉的印度公民运送回国。
印度此前已通过两次航班从武汉撤离了约640名印度人，目前仍有100余名印度人居住在武汉，其中一些人已决定不返回印度。
C-17是由美国麦道公司（现属于波音集团）制造的大型军用运输机，目前印度共装备有11架C-17运输机。
据韩媒报道，电影《寄生虫》被印度电影制作人指责抄袭，对此《寄生虫》的发行公司CJ ENM表示“印度电影制作人方面从未联络过我们，发行公司和制作公司均未收到过与此相关的消息。”
近日，印度电影制作人PL Tenapan在社交媒体上发帖称奉俊昊导演的《寄生虫》剽窃了自己的电影，正与国际律师讨论，准备提起诉讼。据印度媒体报道，1999年制作电影《Minsara Kanna》的Tenapan称，在奥斯卡颁奖典礼看到了《寄生虫》，认为《寄生虫》与自己的电影在构成方面相似，但具体是哪一部分的相似，他并没有提到。
印度电影《Minsara Kanna》讲述的是一个男人为了争取爱情而隐瞒身份，在富有的恋人家中当保镖的故事，男主的弟弟和姐姐也分别在那家当仆人和厨师，共同生活。
部分印度媒体认为批判抄袭有些荒唐。“《寄生虫》是一部讲述阶级故事和社会歧视的黑色喜剧，或许（和《Minsara Kanna》）在情节上有相似之处，但实际上是截然不同的。就电影的内容以及美学层面的部分而言，两部电影是完全不同的作品。”
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沙漠蝗虫近来肆虐非洲和亚洲部分地区，印度一些地方受灾严重，导致大面积农作物减产或绝收。但当前印度蝗灾已基本结束，目前仅西部拉贾斯坦邦部分地区仍有少数蝗虫聚集。
据《印度时报》报道，在受灾最为严重的拉贾斯坦邦，目前蝗虫只存在于一小块地区，对农作物的威胁大幅减弱。拉贾斯坦邦蝗灾防控组织负责人古加尔博士表示，目前除零星地区外，该邦灾情已完全可控。
印度此次蝗灾主要集中在西部的拉贾斯坦邦和古吉拉特邦，导致大面积农作物减产或绝收。拉贾斯坦邦情况最为严重，受灾面积超过36万公顷，古吉拉特邦受灾面积为1.8万多公顷。芥菜、蓖麻、孜然和小麦等农作物损失最为严重。
尽管当前蝗灾基本结束，但印度政府仍发布预警称，今年6月可能出现更为严重的蝗灾。印度农业与农民福利部部长凯拉什·乔杜里近日表示，预计今年6月，印度西部沙漠地区可能出现规模更大的蝗灾。印度蝗灾防控部门已着手防控准备，并计划使用直升机和无人机灭蝗。
为应对蝗灾，印度政府此前已启动灾害救助基金机制，制定了总额超过12亿卢比(1卢比约合0.098元人民币)的救助计划。其中，受灾严重的拉贾斯坦邦获得9亿卢比，古吉拉特邦获得约3亿卢比，两个邦累计有约6.5万名农民获得救助款。
印度迄今只有3个武汉肺炎确诊案例且已痊愈，武汉撤回印度的645人也全数未感染。专家认为，印度菜增强免疫力及极端气候帮助下，让印度人得天独厚地获得两道坚强防疫盾。
当印度政府宣布在克勒拉省（Kerala）确诊3名俗称武汉肺炎的2019年冠状病毒疾病（COVID-19）时，一些印度人说，这3名病患一定是在中国久待且长期没有吃印度菜，才轻易感染这种病毒。
多数印度人都相信，印度菜中的香料和元素，有助人们促进消化、增强免疫力对抗流感等病毒性疾病。
研究印度菜35年且曾出版过印度菜食谱的烹饪大师卡妲（Anju Khattar）说，印度菜大多以洋葱和番茄绞成泥作为基底，再加上含有姜、姜黄、大蒜、红辣椒粉、豆蔻等马萨拉（masala，混合香料），这些香料和基底有助促进消化、袪寒抗感冒等，长期吃印度菜，让人增加对流感等病毒疾病的抵抗力。
卡妲的说法，代表大多数印度人的观点。甚至许多印度人感冒时，都不愿意吃药，反而是把加了姜末等马萨拉泡制的印度香料奶茶（Masala tea）当药每天喝，据说感冒很快就好。
沙漠蝗猖獗发生的最大扩散区为缅甸、尼泊尔和印度。春季发生区的蝗群迁飞方向为印度—尼泊尔—缅甸—西藏南部和云南西部。
沙漠蝗在东非及西亚罕见暴发，印度555万亩农田受害
从西南亚情况看，沙漠蝗将在伊朗南部孵化并形成蝗群迁移危害，巴基斯坦蝗灾扩散暴发成灾概率大，可能造成粮食减产30%~50%，并对南亚印度等国构成威胁。
India has offered to slash trade levies on Harley-Davidson motorcycles ahead of a state visit from US President Donald Trump later this month, who has hinted at signing a trade deal with his Indian counterpart during the trip.
While New Delhi previously slapped a 100 percent tariff on Harleys as part of an ongoing trade spat with Washington, they were cut by half last year. Trump, however, still deemed that “unacceptable,” insisting they come down further. With a major trade deal now hanging in the balance, India appears ready to fulfill that request – at least partially.
“The issue of Harley-Davidson is already resolved. We will reduce the duty on the bikes above 1,600 cc to a single digit,” an official familiar with the proposal told the Economic Times, though they did not provide any further details about where the levies would ultimately land.
India classifies motorbikes by their engine capacity, measured in cubic centimeters (cc), currently broken down into four categories – 75, 250, 500, and 800cc and above. With the new proposal, India will create a new category of 1,600cc and above, and will only lower tariffs for that class of bikes. That could still mean a significant drop in trade duties, with India importing $20.6 million in bikes 800cc and above between April and December of last year, according to the Economic Times.
Donald J. Trump
Great honor, I think? Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that “Donald J. Trump is Number 1 on Facebook. Number 2 is Prime Minister Modi of India.” Actually, I am going to India in two weeks. Looking forward to it!
They say Valentine’s Day is a day filled with love. And surely it’s true. Even Delhi airport this morning tweeted Valentine’s Day wishes to all airlines from their official handle and treated followers to the kind of PDA they’ve not seen before.
The official page of Delhi Airport took to the microblogging platform on Valentine’s Day to share lovey and mushy tweets for Indigo, Air India, Spicejet and even Vistara Airlines.
“Hey @IndiGo6E, promise me you’ll never run away from my runway!” they wrote, adding the hashtag #ValentinesDay2020.
Delhi Airport feelings didn’t go unnoticed. In response, Indigo Airlines tweeted: “Oh darling, your love brings me back on-time, every time!”
Rhino, one of the most critically endangered animals in the world is a much sought-after commodity in the underground markets of China. Though traditional Chinese medicine claims that the rhino horn has several medicinal properties modern science has rejected it. Rhino horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails.
This has however not stopped Rhinos from being killed for their horns, both in Africa and Asian countries including India.
Delays and only delays
Victim’s father also requested the court not to grant legal aid to the convict. “It will be unjust to give him a lawyer,” he said.
On January 9, convicts Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh had moved the curative petitions in the top court after a Delhi court issued death warrants in their names for their hanging on January 22.
On January 17, Tihar jail had sought issuance of fresh death warrants against the four convicts after which February 1 emerged as the new date.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the plea of Vinay Sharma, a convict in the case.
Vinay has filed the petition in the top court against President Ram Nath Kovind’s decision to reject his mercy plea.
Vinay, one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case, challenged the President’s decision to dismiss his mercy petition in the apex court on Tuesday.
The convict, through his lawyer AP Singh, has requested the death penalty to be commuted to life imprisonment.
On February 1, Vinay’s mercy petition was rejected by the President.
On January 31, the death sentence of four convicts Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur were stayed by a lower court till further orders.
据《今日印度》2月11日报道，印度南部喀拉拉邦疑似爆发新冠肺炎疫情，当地政府对3252人进行了观察，隔离了另外3218人。另有34人在医院病房被隔离。
Despite the modernization of India’s defense industry, Indo-Russian military cooperation is still strong — and two Talwar-class frigates will be delivered to New Delhi in 2024. But could competition from the US get in the way?
As part of a $2.2 billion deal with Moscow, the pair of warships, currently under construction at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad, will be delivered in two years — and two additional frigates will be built domestically at India’s Goa Shipyard under a technology transfer agreement.
Relationship built over decades
India’s naval ties with Russia can be traced back to the mid-1960s when, following the 1962 Indo-China war, the government embarked on a plan for defense modernisation after suffering a humiliating defeat.
New Delhi’s efforts to solicit interest from the United States and Britain during the Cold War were largely unsuccessful, however, so India turned to the Soviet Union — sparking the rapid development of Indo-Soviet naval ties. Soviet support during the 1971 war with Pakistan then firmly established Indo-Russian defense ties and paved the way for future cooperation.
In the 50 years since, India has received a Kiev-class combination cruiser and aircraft carrier (the first fixed-wing carrier class built by the USSR), destroyers, stealth frigates, conventional and nuclear submarines, maritime reconnaissance aircraft and naval helicopters from Russia. Indeed, an estimated 70 percent of India’s defense equipment is of Russian or Soviet origin.
This means two generations of India’s servicemen have trained on, operated and maintained Russian equipment — a fact that still influences the enduring preference for Russian-made machines and a mutually beneficial arrangement for the countries.
(ភ្នំពេញ)៖ ក្នុងកិច្ចប្រជុំប្រគល់របាយការណ៍ជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ ជូនស្ថានទូតឥណ្ឌា នៅព្រឹកថ្ងៃទី១៤ ខែកុម្ភៈ ឆ្នាំ២០២០, លោកវេជ្ជបណ្ឌិត ជា ហ៊ុច អនុប្រធានមជ្ឈមណ្ឌលជាតិប្រយុទ្ធនឹងជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ ប៉ារ៉ាស៊ីតសាស្ត្រ និងបាណកសាស្ត្រ នៃក្រសួងសុខាភិបាល បានស្នើដល់រដ្ឋាភិបាលប្រទេសឥណ្ឌា បន្ដការឧបត្ថម្ភគាំទ្របន្ថែមទៀត ក្នុងការជួយលុបំបាត់ជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ទាំងស្រុង នៅកម្ពុជានៅក្នុងឆ្នាំ២០២៥ខាងមុខនេះ។
លោកវេជ្ជបណ្ឌិត ជា ហ៊ុច បានថ្លែងក្នុងកិច្ចប្រជុំ និងប្រគល់របាយការណ៍ជូនស្ថានទូតឥណ្ឌា អំពីលទ្ធផលបូកសរុបការងារអនុវត្ដគម្រោង ជំរុញការអនុវត្ដន៍ផ្ទាល់ដល់ថ្នាក់មូលដ្ឋាន សម្រាប់អន្ដរាគមព្យាបាលជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ និងការអប់រំសុខភាព ក្នុងការសុំានឹងថ្នាំជាច្រើនមុខនៅខេត្ដមណ្ឌលគិរី និងខេត្តឧត្តរមានជ័យ ដោយហៅកាត់ថា Community-Directed Intervention (CDI) ថា ការពង្រឹងការអប់រំសុខភាព និងការលេបថ្នាំព្យាបាលជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់គ្រប់ចំនួននៅសហគមន៍ គឺមានសារៈសំខាន់ណាស់ ដើម្បីកាត់បន្ថយការរីករាលដាលភាពស៊ាំថ្នាំនៅក្នុងខេត្តទាំងពីរនេះ។
ជាលទ្ធផលសហគមន៍ទាំងអស់ របស់គម្រោងក្នុងខេត្តទាំងពីរ មានការយល់ដឹងអំពីការពារជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់កាន់តែប្រសើរឡើង ហើយគ្រប់អ្នកជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ទាំងអស់ ដែលទទួលបានការព្យាបាល និងលេបថ្នាំគ្រប់ចំនួន ជាពិសេសអ្នកជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ដែលបានទទួលការព្យាបាល មិនមានអ្នកជំងឺណាម្នាក់ឈឺឡើងវិញនោះទេ។
លោកវេជ្ជបណ្ឌិត ជា ហ៊ុច បានថ្លែងបន្ដថា គម្រោងការធ្វើអន្តរាគមនៅតាមមូលដ្ឋាននេះ បានចូលរួមចំណែកពន្លឿនការងារលុបបំបាត់ជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់កាន់តែប្រសើរ តែទោះជាយ៉ាងណាក៏ដោយ ក៏ត្រូវមានការសហការជួយឧបត្ថម្ភគាំទ្របន្ថែមពីដៃគូអភិវឌ្ឍ ដើម្បីទទួលបានជោគជ័យទៅតាមផែនការដែលបានកំណត់។
ជាមួយគ្នានោះ លោកវេជ្ជបណ្ឌិត ជា ហ៊ុច អនុប្រធានមជ្ឈមណ្ឌល ក៏បានថ្លែងអំណរគុណ និងប្រគល់របាយការណ៍ ជូនលោក B. Subba Rao លេខាធិការទី២ នៃស្ថានទូតឥណ្ឌាប្រចាំកម្ពុជា ព្រមទាំងបានស្នើសុំដល់រដ្ឋាភិបាលប្រទេសឥណ្ឌា បន្តការគាំទ្រឧបត្ថម្ភ ដល់គម្រោងសិក្សាផ្សេងៗទៀត ជាពិសេសគម្រោងទាក់ទងទៅនឹងឱសថ ដែលមានភាពសាំនឹងជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ និងការទប់ស្កាត់នូវភាពសាយភាយ ជាពិសេសតំបន់តាមព្រំដែន ថៃ ឡាវ កម្ពុជា ដើម្បីឆ្ពោះទៅរកការលុបបំបាត់ជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ទាំងសុ្រងនៅកម្ពុជា នាឆ្នាំ២០២៥ ស្របតាមផែនការយុទ្ធសាស្ត្រជាតិ លុបបំបាត់ជំងឺគ្រុនចាញ់ ២០១១-២០២៥ ដែលបានផ្តួចផ្ដើម និងគាំទ្រដោយ សម្ដេចតេជោ ហ៊ុន សែន នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីកម្ពុជា៕
Officials in Ahmedabad, which is hosting a welcoming event for President Trump when he arrives in India, has brushed off reports that a wall hastily erected along the road from the airport was put there to obscure the slums.
With New Delhi preparing to roll out the welcome mat for US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania when they touch down in India on February 24, reports have emerged that some local authorities have taken pains to ensure that the US delegation is treated to a picture perfect view as they hit the road in Ahmedabad, the largest city and former capital of the state of Gujarat.
Local media reported that a wall standing as high as six feet lines the road leading from the airport to Indira Bridge. The structure, which is set to be about half a kilometer long, is built around the historic Saraniyavaas slum area, home to 2,500 people.
Pakistani singer Rabi Pirzada has been acquitted of illegally keeping exotic reptiles, including a crocodile and a python, as pets in her home and salon. Pirzada had previously used snakes in a video to threaten the Indian PM.
A court in the city of Lahore dismissed the charges brought against Pirzada by Punjab’s Wildlife Department. Pirzada’s lawyer insisted that she did not break any laws, claiming that wildlife officials pursued the case due to a personal grudge.
“I won the case against wildlife department, but I humbly say sorry if I hurt them then,” the singer wrote on social media after the verdict, promising to work on protecting animals in the future.
At least 50 Indian business executives based in New Delhi were tricked into an elaborate extortion set-up, ‘honey trapped’ on LGBT dating app Grindr and then blackmailed with their own intimate, and often embarrassing, photos.
Targeting wealthy individuals in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, and Ghaziabad, a gang of extortionists sought to bilk everything from cash, laptops, and watches from the corporate bigwigs, among them CEOs. Some 150 people fell victim to the enterprise, not all of them businessmen.
“Around 50 executives of top multinational companies in Delhi-NCR have been duped and robbed,” said Gurugram police commissioner Muhammad Akil, noting that the victims, “fearing social stigma,” were not prepared to take legal action against the culprits, even refusing to make statements to police.
In most cases, after meeting with their hoax ‘dates’ in remote locales under the guise of a romantic rendezvous, the victims were then ambushed, beaten, robbed, and photographed in the nude, with the perpetrators keeping the photos in hopes of extorting additional valuables.
Twitter will be slapped with a fine if it fails to respond to an inquiry into its revealing the identity of the victim in a shocking Hyderabad rape case, the Delhi High Court said, urging the microblogging site to repent.
The court said Wednesday that unless Twitter formally responds to a public interest complaint within the next four weeks, it will be slapped with a fine to the tune of 1 million rupees ($14,000).
The judicial bench that heard the case said it is now waiting for written assurances from the social media giant that it would not make the same blunder again.
The panel, presided by Chief Justice DN Patel, said that it used to impose fines in similar cases before and does not want to do that again. “We do not want to repeat that order,” it said.
It remains to be seen whether Twitter will heed the strongly worded advice until the next hearing, set for May 4.
The accusations against the platform stem from the horrific kidnapping, rape and murder of a 26-year-old veterinarian by four men on the outskirts of Hyderabad last November. The gruesome crime sent shockwaves across India, prompting popular outcry with tens of thousands of people flooding the streets in the aftermath.
The suspected perpetrators were shot dead by police after they were taken to the scene to reconstruct the events leading up to the woman’s death and allegedly attempted to break free.
Their death sparked widespread celebrations across the country, with people hailing the police while thanking them for bringing about swift justice upon the four accused.
印度两年一度的国际车展“新德里国际汽配展（AUTO EXPO）”2月7日在新德里近郊面向普通观众开放。为了改善大气污染情况，印度4月引入了与欧洲同等严格的全新尾气排放限制标准。因此在本次车展上，汽车厂商纷纷展出了纯电动汽车。其中最受关注的是当地大型汽车厂商马辛德拉公司（Mahindra & Mahindra），该公司发布了实际价格不超过150万日元（约合人民币9.52万元）的纯电动版SUV。源自印度的纯电动汽车低价化浪潮可能出现扩散。
“如果算上政府补贴，只需82.5万卢比（约合人民币8.06万元）就能买到”。2月5日，当马辛德拉公司公布了纯电动版SUV的价格后，现场的媒体和相关人士鼓起了掌。该公司的总经理帕万·戈恩卡笑着表示，“（这个价格的话），没理由不买纯电动汽车”。
戈恩卡表示，此次之所以成功将价格定在较低水平，凭借的是“零部件等彻底的本地化”。据称该公司在印度国内生产包括驱动装置在内的主要零部件，大幅降低了生产成本。该公司预定2020年度内发售的纯电动版SUV“eKUV100”1次充电行驶里程约为150公里。约1小时即可充电至8成，有望获取城市地区的居民和网约车服务的需求。
为应对印度新的尾气排放限制标准，各厂商以纯电动汽车为中心提出新战略，但印度汽车市场持续萎靡不振。2019年的新车销量约为381万辆，比2018年减少13%。被德国超过，下滑至世界第5位。受金融机构惜贷和经济减速影响，印度的个人消费趋冷，大多数观点认为，“虽然2020年的新车销量将高于2019年，不过预计不会快速复苏”（鲇川社长）。
另外，要想在印度普及纯电动汽车，除了车辆本身外，完善基础设施也不可缺少。在印度西部的孟买等城市地区，正在逐步设置充电桩，但是目前“还无法满足众多利用者的需求”（鲇川社长）。
低价路线和高级路线哪一个会被消费者所接受呢？生产纯电动汽车驱动马达的日本电产会长兼首席执行官永守重信指出，“如果纯电动汽车时代到来，车价将降至5分之1”。如果马辛德拉公司的纯电动汽车战略能够在当地取得成功，这一潮流可能从印度向国外扩大。
The state of Uttar Pradesh’s labor minister Raghuraj Singh has called for an outright ban on women wearing burqas, suggesting that terrorists have been using them to elude authorities.
In an apparent reference to the recent violent protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which have swept India, Singh claimed that criminals and “terrorists” were using the burqa to conceal their identities.
The poitician from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called for India to ban the Muslim veil, citing the example of Sri Lanka, which banned the headscarf after the Easter Sunday bombings which killed 259 people and injured many more. He added that it was the custom in Arab countries, but not in India which is predominantly Hindu.
When confronted by Indian media about his controversial statement, Singh doubled down, saying: “I have no remorse on what I said.”
E-commerce giant Amazon has moved to quash an antitrust investigation in India launched at the behest of local merchants, arguing the probe would do irreversible damage to the company and its reputation.
Responding to an investigation opened by India’s Competition Commission (CCI) in January over allegations the company – as well as Walmart-owned Flipkart, one of its main rivals – violated competition laws, Amazon said the probe was “bereft of foundation” and would cause “irreparable” losses in a court filing on Monday.
“(The investigation order) suffers from non-application of mind as it appears to contain no reference to the finding of an appreciable adverse effect on competition,” the filing said, as cited by Reuters.
The antitrust inquiry was kicked off last month over mounting complaints from a group of brick-and-mortar merchants, the Delhi Trade Federation, who say both Amazon and Flipkart have engaged in “predatory” trade practices, namely preferential treatment given to select sellers to the detriment of smaller businesses.
While the Competition Commission said there was a “prima facie case” that required investigation, both companies have denied the allegations, with Flipkart stating it was “fully compliant” with Indian law soon after the probe was ordered. Amazon at the time said it was “confident” it would be cleared of any wrongdoing and would “welcome” a chance to address the accusations.
Sedition accusations in India take a dramatic turn
It took more than a month after Aleem Ansari was killed in the Indian city of Meerut for his family to get the postmortem report. When they finally did, they weren’t surprised by the conclusion: a bullet wound to the 24-year-old’s head.
But what they do dispute is the account by local police that Ansari, a Muslim, was shot by a violent protester on December 20 amid unrest following passage of a controversial citizenship law.
“I don’t have an iota of belief in that,” said his older brother, Mohammad Salahuddin. “They are saying that to cover up what they did.”
Protests against India’s controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) have gripped the country since the law was passed on December 11. Critics of the CAA say it is anti-Muslim because it provides a fast track to citizenship for Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities from India’s neighbouring countries but leaves out Muslims.
Bengaluru in India takes the top spot this year with drivers spending an average of 71% extra travel time in traffic,according to the 2019 Traffic Index by TomTom, a location technology specialist based in Amsterdam. Next are Manila (70%), Bogota in Colombia (68%), Mumbai (65%) and Pune (59%), also in India.
A defense giant
Indeed, India’s purchases amounted to almost 10 percent of all global arms imports between 2014 and 2018, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Now, New Delhi is set to speed up its military modernization even further, reportedly planning to spend a colossal $130 billion over the next 5-7 years.
Yet, India is also increasingly looking beyond the simple seller-customer role, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s has tied the country’s military modernization to his ‘Make in India’ initiative. That aspect is one that all foreign companies at the Lucknow expo will be emphasizing, defense analyst and The Hindu journalist Dinkar Peri.
One of the exhibition’s top priorities will therefore be to present the nation as an “emerging defense manufacturing hub” as New Delhi expects not just offers of cutting edge military equipment, but investments and technology transfers as well.
“DefExpo will provide the opportunity to professionals and the industry to find new meeting grounds for developing military industrial enterprises,” Modi said ahead of the exhibition.
Some foreign arms manufacturers are apparently ready to share at least some of their technologies with their customers in New Delhi, while others apparently still prefer to simply rely on their most advanced product offers in a bid to kindle India’s interest.
Peri also noted that India and Russia are expected to hold the fifth joint Military Industry Conference on the sidelines of the exhibition with “over 100 Russian and over 200 Indian industry leaders” expected to participate.