India

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Engine fuel switches cut off before Air India crash that killed 260, preliminary report finds

Fuel to both engines of the Air India plane that crashed and killed 260 people last month appears to have been cut off seconds after the flight took off, a preliminary report has found.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/11/engine-fuel-switches-cut-off-before-air-india-crash-that-killed-260-report-finds?

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India wants air conditioners to be made with milder temperature settings to save energy

India’s government is seeking to limit temperature settings on new air conditioners to save electricity in the country that is considered the fastest-growing market for them. Read More.

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Indian police arrest a suspected scammer running a fake embassy near New Delhi

Indian police have arrested a man accused of running a bogus embassy from a rented residential building near the capital, New Delhi, and recovered cars with fake diplomatic plates. Read More.

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Indian authorities in Kashmir ban books by eminent writers and scholars

Indian authorities have banned 25 books in Kashmir, accusing them of promoting a "false narrative" and "secessionism." Read More.

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India’s opposition parties protest against a controversial electoral roll revision India’s opposition parties held a protest Monday calling for the rollback of a controversial revision of the voter list in one of the country’s poorest states, Bihar. Read more.

Why this matters: Bihar is a crucial election battleground state where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has only ever governed in a coalition. Poll results there could likely impact the balance of power in India’s Parliament, where Modi’s government relies on coalition partners, including a regional party from Bihar.   India’s opposition accuses the Election Commission of India of rushing through a mammoth electoral roll revision, saying the exercise could render vast numbers of citizens unable to vote. The revision of nearly 80 million voters involves strict documentation requirements from citizens, triggering concerns it could lead to the exclusion of vulnerable groups.   Critics and opposition leaders say the exercise will impact minorities the most, including Muslims, and disallow them from voting. The election agency has denied the allegations and said it has ensured no eligible voter is “left behind." Modi's BJP has backed the revision.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ How India ended up facing steep US tariffs despite its strategic partnership

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Death toll climbs to 40 after stampede at political rally for actor Vijay in southern India

NEW DELHI (AP) — The death toll following a stampede at a political rally for a popular Indian actor and politician in the southern state of Tamil Nadu has climbed to 40, the state’s health minister said Sunday, as medics treated at least 124 injured in hospitals.

https://apnews.com/article/india-tamil-nadu-rally-stampede-vijay-5176f836cb6e9277c7570fdd4e9ba060?

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Buried alive

Wrapped in a towel, barely stirring, but slightly breathing, a newborn had been buried beneath a foot of earth in a north Indian village. In the world’s most populous nation, her gender may have been the reason.

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Toxic smog blankets New Delhi, disrupting travel and plunging air quality to hazardous levels

NEW DELHI (AP) — Dense toxic smog blanketed India’s capital on Monday, pushing air pollution levels to their worst levels in weeks, disrupting travel and causing authorities to impose the strictest containment measures.

https://apnews.com/article/new-delhi-india-air-pollution-smog-880735b651034f125c4dad6644526f32?

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Caste Count Returns

India yesterday launched what is expected to be the world’s largest census, covering over 1.4 billion people and marking the nation's first effort to collect detailed caste data since 1931 under British rule. The move could reshape social programs and political representation. Discrimination based on caste—a hereditary social hierarchy rooted in Hindu scripture (read 101)—has been banned in India since 1950. Since its first post-independence census in 1951, India has tracked only the lowest caste and marginalized Indigenous groups, not the population at large. The stated intention was to phase out labels long tied to profession, neighborhood, and social life. Critics have said that largely ignoring caste downplays its continued influence. About 70% of surveyed Indian adults say most of their friends are within their caste, and the majority say stopping inter-caste marriages is very important (see data). The census, anticipated to last one year, will be the first India conducts digitally, with over 3 million government workers uploading data to mobile apps.

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'Green Boots' Recovery Mission

India’s government is soliciting bids for a mission to retrieve the remains of “Green Boots,” a climber who died 30 years ago on Mount Everest. See an image of “Green Boots” here (scroll and use the slider to reveal). In 1996, climbers attempted the first Indian ascent of Everest from the northeast side in Tibet. (Climbing from Nepal's south side is more common, accounting for about 70% of climbs.) Near the summit, the group was hit by the blizzard chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air.” Eight people died, including three Indian climbers, of whom only one body has been found. Nicknamed for his lime-colored boots, the body remains on the trail, and DNA has confirmed he is Indian soldier Dorje Morup. India wants the retrieval completed by October, despite poor weather conditions. About 200 bodies remain on Mount Everest. Efforts to retrieve them are dangerous, although some—including “Sleeping Beauty”—have been moved out of sight.

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ROBOTIC ELEPHANTS In some of India's Hindu temples, robotic elephants draw crowds and controversy In Kerala, a state in southern India, robotic elephants are replacing live ones in temple festivals. Rising concerns about elephant abuse and dangerous incidents have led to this change. Large male elephants have occupied an important place in sacred rituals and ceremonies in Kerala for centuries. Read more.

Why this matters: Activists and conservationists are now pushing for mechanical elephants, while traditionalists and elephant owners say live elephants cannot be replaced because they represent the divine.    The animal rights group PETA and other nonprofits have donated about 40 robotic elephants, costing about $6,000 each, to temples around the country to replace live elephants.     A robotic elephant is much lighter and lacks the fluid grace of the majestic pachyderm. But electric motors can move the animatron's head and eyeballs; pliable rubber body parts can get it just a little closer to the real one.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Robotic elephants are replacing live ones at Kerala temple festivals, in photos Should animals have human rights? Hawai‘i court to decide  Animal welfare groups say 3 South African zoo elephants are depressed and sue to move them  Video: Colorful procession of decorated elephants delights festival-goers in southern India

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Indian activist linked to Cockroach party moved to hospital after 20-day hunger strike

Sonam Wangchuk has been fasting to demand the resignation of India’s education minister because of alleged irregularities in medical exams

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/18/indian-activist-linked-to-cockroach-party-moved-to-hospital-after-20-day-hunger-strike?

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India’s ‘Cockroach’ movement ends protests after education minister resigns

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s “Cockroach” movement called off its weeks of protests on Saturday, saying the government had accepted all of its demands after the country’s education minister resigned over alleged exam paper leaks and irregularities in the education system.

https://apnews.com/article/india-cockroach-education-minister-56d69c289589f057c0e72cde0c3d75d3?

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After centuries in India, the last Jews in Kochi try to keep their history alive  Keith Hallegua and Elias Josephai are among the last Jews in Kochi, India, part of a community with roots dating back centuries. They represent the final chapter of a once-thriving Jewish community that lived peacefully with Hindu, Muslim, and Christian neighbors. In the 1950s, many of the Jews in Kochi immigrated to Israel, leaving behind their homes, synagogues and cemeteries. Read more.

Why this matters: Hallegua is a Paradesi Jew, the once-dominant group whose fair-skinned, Sephardic ancestors from Spain and Portugal fled the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th century.   Josephai is a Malabari Jew. The group's darker-skinned ancestors trace their roots back more than 2,000 years, to King Solomon’s time.   Both men strive to maintain their forebears' synagogues, though it's a struggle to convene enough worshippers to have a quorum for services.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Robotic elephants draw crowds and controversy in some of India's Hindu temples  1 city, 2 people — and India’s widening religious divide  India’s new citizenship law excludes Muslims. Here’s what to know