Year after India gay ruling, a battle to change attitudes

GURAGON — Vivek Kishore and Vishwa Srivastava hit it off soon after meeting at a cafe, little knowing what lay in store for them as a gay couple in India where homosexuality was a criminal offense until a year ago.

The couple’s worst fears came true when they were slapped, abused, and threatened with police action by none other than Kishore’s parents, who found out they were living together.


But life changed for the duo a year ago on Friday when India’s Supreme Court overturned a British colonial-era law that had criminalized gay sex as “against the order of nature”.

Hundreds of people had been prosecuted under the law, known as Section 377, which was often used to threaten, abuse, and blackmail members of the LGBTQ community.

“It was huge, it was like getting independence… My immediate thought was both of us can have sex, that’s not criminal anymore,” Kishore gushed.

“Legally there is nothing that my homophobic family can do now against me,” the 24-year-old said, locking eyes and toes with his partner at their home in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Battle for equality

The decades-long legal fight to legalize gay sex began in India in the 1990s when arranged marriages were the norm, with families carefully choosing a partner for their children from the same religion, caste, and status.

The community won a big reprieve in 2009 when the Delhi High Court ruled that the law could not be applied to consensual sex.

But orthodox Hindu, Muslim, and Christian groups challenged it in the Supreme Court, which then restored the law in 2013.

The LGBTQ community, however, refused to give up and in 2016 a group of high-profile petitioners including a gay dancer and a chef again approached the Supreme Court.

They were joined by others and the court began hearing emotional arguments from a community long ostracized in a country that remains socially conservative.

“It’s very important that people who have a voice should use it because it’s not easy (to come out),” said Anjali Gopalan, one of the petitioners and a gay rights activist.

Attitudes

Gopalan, however, admitted that just scrapping the law on September 6, 2018 was not enough and that the real change would only come when regressive attitudes change.

In the past year, there have been tentative signs that Indian society is becoming more relaxed about homosexuality.

Gay characters have featured in a popular online series as well as a Bollywood film, while more restaurants and cafes are declaring themselves gay-friendly.

In May, sprinter Dutee Chand became a trailblazer by becoming the first Indian athlete to reveal she is in a same-sex relationship.

Pride marches were held across India with much gusto in June as students and members of the civil society joined to show their solidarity to the community.

Colorful wedding

Kishore and Srivastava got married in a colorful Hindu ceremony in 2017, even before Section 377 was scrapped, but their union has no legal standing.


“Our life is like any other straight couple but still we can’t claim any spousal benefits like healthcare and property rights,” said Srivastava, an educator. “If one of us, heaven forbid, dies then we can’t even claim each other’s bodies. It’s so disturbing.”

Srivastava’s mother, Priti, has stood by him in his quest for rights, braving barbs from relatives and nosy neighbors.

“The law may have gone but the social stigma is still there. I try not to worry about what people are saying behind my back but I know they are,” she said.

“But if you show you don’t care if your child is gay or not, then others also don’t care.” /kga

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Modi’s vision of a Hindu India advanced by Kashmir changes

NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a Hindu India has leaped forward with his government’s decision to subsume Muslim-majority Kashmir into the federal government by eliminating its special status and allowing anyone to buy property and move into the state, raising fears among residents that they will lose their distinct identity.

He did so by pushing his agenda through a Parliament that has no united opposition, presenting him with no obstacles and suggesting that his entire Hindu nationalist agenda will enjoy a smooth passage.

This situation favoring Modi is likely to intensify next year when one third of the seats in the upper house of Parliament, where his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party doesn’t hold a majority, are up for grabs. Most of the new members are expected to come from the BJP or its allies.

“The opposition is demoralized and hasn’t got the will to put up a fight. There is no leader in Parliament to create a united opposition. The BJP is taking advantage of that. Once it has total control of Parliament next year, it will face no obstacles at all to its Hindu nationalist goals,” said political analyst Arati Jerath.

Even the Congress party, which ruled India for nearly half a century after independence from Britain in 1947, is rudderless and disjointed.

Former Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, who resigned as party chief after losing to Modi in May elections, criticized the “abuse of executive power” by the ruling party and said the move would have grave implications for national security.

But such is the drift in the party that several Congress lawmakers tweeted their support for the BJP’s maneuver on Kashmir, flouting the party line. Members of both Congress and other parties are deserting them for the BJP.

Analysts say the opposition has been spooked by Modi’s spectacular victory in the May general election, when he won a gigantic mandate. The smaller parties, they say, have become timid and reluctant to oppose the BJP.

Modi’s home minister, Amit Shah, who is considered the architect of the government’s aggressive agenda to convert India from a secular, multicultural democracy into a distinctly Hindu, culturally and politically homogenous state, sold the new policy on Muslim-majority Kashmir to Parliament by equating it with Pakistan, India’s staunch foe.

“They don’t want to be seen on the wrong side of public sentiment, which is nationalistic at the moment. In my neighborhood, people were celebrating on the street on Monday over Jammu and Kashmir. The buildup of nationalist sentiment over the past five years peaked in the general election and the opposition is nervous about opposing it,” Jerath said.

In a nationally broadcast speech Thursday evening, Modi said Kashmir’s special status was being used by Pakistan to incite anti-India sentiment in the Jammu and Kashmir region.

“I have complete faith, under this new system we all will be able to free Jammu and Kashmir of terrorism and separatism,” he said.

The BJP’s changes in Kashmir, without any prior debate or consultation, sailed through Parliament, suggesting Modi and Shah will be able to roll out other controversial measures promised in their party’s election manifesto, including creating a national register of citizens that critics say will make it easier for the government to deport Muslims of Bangladeshi descent, and to build a Hindu temple on a site where a 500-year-old mosque was torn down by Hindu hardliners.

The Hindustan Times, one of India’s largest daily newspapers, carried an editorial on Wednesday with the headline “The Abdication of the Opposition.”

“The opposition parties failed to put up a democratic fight even in a chamber where they collectively outnumber the BJP,” it said.

Even regional parties from south India who have long resisted tinkering from New Delhi supported the BJP bid to consolidate federal control in Kashmir. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded into two territories which will have limited decision-making power and no longer be permitted to have their own constitution and flag.

The parties’ reasons for voting to strip Kashmir of its special status varied. Vijay Sai Reddy, a member of Parliament for the YSR Congress party from the state of Andhra Pradesh, explained his vote for the measure by asking “How one country can have two constitutions? We can’t support that,” he said.

Ravindra Kumar, a Telegu Desam Party MP from the same state, said that Kashmir having its own constitution and flag gave it “special powers that are discriminatory.”

“Our party believes that all the people in the country should have equal rights,” Kumar said.

Apart from fear of bucking the mood of nationalism sweeping some parts of India, another reason for so few opposition parties putting up any resistance is the fear of antagonizing a strong federal government in New Delhi, and losing out on money for their states, said Mihir Sharma, a senior fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

“It is the federal government’s purse strings they’re interested in loosening,” Sharma said. /muf

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

China tells India: Let’s fight together against Trump’s unilateralism, protectionism

NEW DELHI — China says it values India’s concerns on the bilateral trade imbalance between the two Asian giants and is willing to discuss new approaches to address the issue, and has asked New Delhi to join Beijing in its fight against “unilateralism and protectionism” amidst a bruising trade war with the United States.

India for long has been pressing China to open its pharmaceutical market for Indian pharma exports to address the yawning trade deficit which last year according to Chinese figures, crossed US$ 57 billion in a $ 95.5 billion trade.

China’s new Ambassador to India Sun Weidong said: “China highly values India’s concerns on trade imbalance. But I have to point out that we have never deliberately pursued a trade surplus against India.”

China for its part, Sun said, has taken measures to increase import of rice and sugar and accelerated the process of review and approvals of Indian pharmaceuticals and agricultural goods.

He said latest figures show that China’s imports of Indian goods grew by 15 per cent and more Indian goods have found their way to the Chinese market.

India’s export of agricultural goods to China last year actually doubled, he said. “According to the statistics in the first half this year, India’s trade deficit against China is down by five per cent. So, I am convinced that with the concerted efforts the issue of trade imbalance between India and China will be gradually addressed,” he said.


“China and India have various channels for dialogue to talk about issues like trade imbalance. We are willing to discuss and find new approaches to address the trade imbalances with our Indian friends,” he said.

Sun also asked India to join China in the fight against unilateralism and protectionism, a reference to US President Donald Trump’s policy using tariffs as a weapon to assert his America first policy.

Trump kicked off a trade war with China last year by slapping 25 per cent duties on more than $ 250 billion of Chinese imports, demanding Beijing to reduce massive trade deficit which climbed to over $ 539 billion.

There has been a trade friction between India and the US on several issue. India wants foreign companies to store data locally and announced a review of the rules around e-commerce, moves that alarmed U.S. technology and financial giants.

Without directly referring to China’s current trade war with the US and India’s trade frictions with America, Sun said: “We are facing unprecedented challenge that is unseen in a century”. “We are both faced with the challenges from unilateralism and protectionism. So, we have to resolutely defend the multilateralism and economic globalization and stand against unilateralism and protectionism,” he said.

Without directly referring to concerns in India over China’s big push into South Asia with huge investments in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Sun referred to Beijing’s proposal in the past for a China-India Plus approach to address the issues involving these countries.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Celebrities flock to Indian business scions’ lavish wedding

NEW DELHI — In a season of big Indian weddings, the Wednesday marriage of two business scions is set to be the biggest of them all.

The bride, Isha Ambani, is the Ivy League-educated daughter of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, thought to be India’s richest man. Forbes estimates his net worth at over $43 billion.


The groom, Anand Piramal, is the relative pauper. His father, industrialist Ajay Piramal, is thought to be worth $10 billion.

The wedding is being held in Mumbai on Wednesday but festivities began weeks ago, starting in September with an engagement party at a lakeside Italian palace. Over the weekend, thousands attended pre-wedding parties at a 16th-century palace in the Indian desert city of Udaipur, where footage shot by partiers showed Hillary Clinton dancing with Shah Rukh Khan, one of India’s biggest movie stars, as former Secretary of State John Kerry danced just a few feet away.

The highlight, though, was a performance by Beyonce, who sang “Crazy In Love,” among other hits, with a band backing her up and a series of costume changes that included at least one India-inspired outfit.

“Beyonce Lights Up Udaipur,” the Times of India shouted on Tuesday.

Indian weddings are famously elaborate, driving many families into debt with expectations that they invite hundreds or thousands of people, and arranging professional song-and-dance shows.

The Indian media noted that the Mumbai wedding was expected to be relatively small affair, with just 600 or so people in attendance.

The competitiveness of India’s wintertime wedding season is growing more extreme, according to Archana Dalmia, a social activist in New Delhi.

“A farmer might commit suicide because he can’t save enough money to get his daughter married,” she said.

The extravagant wedding of Indian actress Priyanka Chopra and American singer Nick Jonas earlier this month — attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — was straight out of a Bollywood film.

So-called dowry deaths — brides killed when their families fail to meet in-laws’ dowry demands — constitute a substantial share of all female homicides in India, a 2018 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report found.

While opulence has always been a feature of Indian weddings, families used to hand down bridal saris as heirlooms. No more, Dalmia said.

“This generation is very different. Priyanka Chopra will never be able to wear it again and she won’t be able to pass it down,” Dalmia said. /ee

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

India launches ‘Modicare,’ world’s biggest health scheme

NEW DELHI, India — India on Sunday launched the world’s biggest health insurance scheme which Prime Minister Narendra Modi said would cover some 500 million poor people.

The program, dubbed “Modicare,” promises health cover worth 500,000 rupees ($6,900) to every poor family to treat serious ailments.

The scheme is expected to cost the central and 29 state governments $1.6 billion per year in total. Funding will be increased gradually according to demand.

Modi handed medical cards out at the launch in Ranchi, capital of the eastern state of Jharkhand, calling it a historic day for India.

He called the scheme “a big step towards providing good quality and accessible healthcare to the poor of India. Over 100 million families will benefit.”

India’s overburdened public health system is plagued by a shortage of hospitals and doctors and most people use private clinics and hospitals if they can afford to.

But a private consultation can cost 1,000 rupees ($15), a huge sum for millions living on less than $2 a day.

More than 60 percent of the average family’s spending goes on medicines and healthcare, the government estimates.
Experts have praised the latest program but say it should have included primary day-to-day healthcare instead of just secondary and tertiary care for more serious and long term treatment.

“Modicare does not extend to primary healthcare, which, we believe, is the weakest link in the provision of public health in India,” Rajiv Lall and Vivek Dehejia of the IDFC Institute think-tank said in a column for the Mint newspaper.

“The crucial point is that poorly delivered primary care inevitably increases the burden on health and finance at the secondary and tertiary levels down the line,” they said. /ee

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Indian state offers free breast implants to poor women

Thousands of poor women in India’s Tamil Nadu state have been offered free cosmetic breast surgery, including implants, its health minister said Friday, because “poor people also have a right to look beautiful.”

The southern Indian state is known for its populist schemes, which have previously included free canteens and providing thousands of disadvantaged people with goats, laptops and bicycles among other items.

It will now offer cosmetic breast surgery free of cost to all women — for aesthetic or medical reasons — with priority given to those from the poorest sections of society.

“If a poor woman desires to look beautiful, we will support her financially,” state health minister C. Vijayabaskar told AFP.

“Whether they require medical procedures or beauty treatment, it will be free.”

Tamil Nadu is ranked among the top states in India’s public healthcare system, compared with ailing government-run facilities in many other parts of the vast country.

But critics of the new scheme said the state government is wasting public money on cosmetic surgery instead of spending money on treating serious ailments.

“It is sad that we are now focusing on beauty instead of life-saving surgeries,” Dr S. Elango, a former public health official in Tamil Nadu, told the Times of India newspaper.

Cosmetic breast surgery is becoming increasingly popular in India, but private hospitals charge anywhere between $2,300 to $3,800 for a procedure — a year’s wage for most Indians.

More than 90,000 such procedures were carried out in the country in 2016, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, up from 50,600 in 2010.

The Tamil Nadu scheme was launched Wednesday at a state-run clinic in state capital Chennai, with a promise to soon expand it to other districts of the state.

V. Ramadevi, who heads the clinic, told AFP some women want such surgery because they “face psychological issues that may severely impact their lives.”

“Their career, (their) marriage are derailed because they are taunted and their confidence is shattered,” she said, adding that the clinic expects up to 150 women a month to take up the offer.

One of India’s more prosperous states, Tamil Nadu has for decades offered freebies to its marginalised population, mostly under the government of popular actor-turned-politician Jayalalithaa. She died in 2016 but her party still rules the state.  /muf

source: technology.inquirer.net

LOOK: Justin Bieber reaches out to poor Indian kids

Before performing for his fans in Mumbai, India, Justin Bieber showed generosity for youngsters who couldn’t afford to buy tickets for his concert.

In a video posted on an Instagram fan page, the 23-year-old Canadian pop star shook hands with impoverished children inside a bus and said, “You guys good?”

In another clip that surfaced on social media sites, Bieber was sighted humbly playing a game of kickball with locals. But his charity work did not conclude there—Bieber reportedly handed free VIP tickets to 100 Indian children for his one-night gig on Wednesday, according to the Hindustan Times.

Bieber also set up a lounge and pampered the children with food and beverages.

Another video of Justin Bieber playing football with kids in Mumbai, India yesterday. (May 10) pic.twitter.com/GieSxmzepr

    — JustinBieberCrew.com (@JBCrewdotcom) May 10, 2017

Since his highly anticipated “Purpose” world tour kicked off in 2016, Bieber conducted gigs in Japan, United Arab Emirates, South Africa and key cities in Europe and the US.

Starting his career with song covers uploaded on YouTube, Bieber shot to fame with the popular tracks “Baby,” “Love Yourself,” “What Do You Mean?” and “One Less Lonely Girl.”  Gianna Francesca Catolico /ra

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Apple to build iPhone in India this year—official

NEW DELHI—Apple is to start making iPhones in India this year, a local government official said Friday, as the firm looks to tap a booming middle class as sales in China slow.

The US giant has not confirmed the move, but chief executive Tim Cook said this week the company intended to “invest significantly” in India, where a pick-up in the economy provides ample opportunity for growth.

“We have an understanding with Apple and we expect them to start manufacturing in Karnataka by the end of April,” Priyank Kharge, minister of information technology and biotechnology in southern Karnataka state, told Agence France-Presse.

He said the new operation would likely assemble iPhones for the domestic market.

Apple has only a two-percent share of the Indian market, well behind rival Samsung on 23 percent, according to research firm Canalys.

However, last year it had 48 percent of the premium sector in which phones sell for $450 and above.

Experts said manufacturing locally would reduce the company’s costs and enable it to lower prices.

“They’re eager to be here because they’ve identified India as a strategic focus market,” said Jaideep Mehta of research firm IDC.

“They had a fantastic 2016 in India and shipped more two million devices to India, and now they’re looking to ultimately manufacture here as that gives them more flexibility to respond to market changes.”

Apple currently sells its phones in India through third-party retailers.

It is eager to open its own stores but Indian law would require it to procure 30 percent of the components of its products locally.

It is not clear whether the Karnataka plans would help it clear that hurdle.

Reports in Indian media said Wistron Corp., a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, was lined up to assemble iPhones at a plant on the outskirts of tech hub Bangalore.

Apple outsources all its manufacturing globally.

Analysts said that if confirmed the move would be a coup for India’s government, which has been trying to persuade foreign companies to manufacture in the country.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Chaos as millions in India crowd banks to exchange currency

NEW DELHI—Long lines have grown longer, scuffles have broken out and chaotic scenes are being seen across India as millions of people wait to change old currency notes that have become worthless after the government demonetized high-value bills.

Angry scuffles broke out Saturday in New Delhi after ATM machines ran out of bills. Minor stampedes occurred in two places when thousands of people waiting in line surged forward to enter the building.

Paramilitary troops posted at banks in some of the most congested areas of the city walked among the crowd urging people to stay calm.

Earlier in the week, India’s government made a surprise announcement that all 500- and 1,000-rupee notes had no cash value in an effort to tackle corruption and tax evasion.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

iPhone 7 to cost more in India and UK

The much-awaited Apple iPhone 7 was just introduced on Wednesday with pre-orders becoming available Sept. 9. However, there is some bad news for fans of the iPhone from the UK and India as the devices will cost a lot more than the US release.

The iPhone 7 has been given a a suggested retail price of $649 for the 32GB basic model while the Plus will start at $769. Unfortunately, The Next Web reports that there will be a significant markup for the Indian market which will raise the price to around $903 (Rs60,000). UK buyers will have it easier with just a $60 increase from the base US price, or £599 on the Apple website.

The higher prices can be attributed to the Brexit side effects where many economists already predicted that prices would increase during the run-up to the vote.

The Indian market, however, is a bit more complicated. The higher price is a result of Apple taking into account the sales tax for selling the product. They also sell through third-party partners and that requires a margin for them to make a profit. Lastly is a price buffer to compensate for fluctuations in value of the Indian rupee.

India’s woes may not last long as a recent foreign direct investment ruling in the country will allow Apple to open its own local retail stores, thereby eliminating the middleman.

Apple is currently considering opening up shops in major cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi by the end of 2017.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Indian girl invents pedal-powered washing machine

Doing the laundry and exercise are two of the least loved activities on the planet. But a girl from India managed to combine the two activities with her pedal-powered washing machine.

Remya Jose, who hails from Kizhattoor Panchayat in India, gathered together various bicycle parts to create her first invention at age 14. This idea came about to address the need of families that did not have access to electricity. Instead of washing clothes in the river by hand, the pedal-powered washing machine saved them a lot of time and effort.

The machine, according to a report from Inhabitat, is made of an aluminium cabin with a cylinder inside to hold the laundry. The cylinder is then connected to a bike chain and pedal system. Hot water and detergent is placed inside the machine and then left to soak for 10 minutes. The user can then hop on the pedal to get the cylinder spinning. Afterwards, the water can be drained via a small faucet on the cabin and then refilled for the rinse cycle. It’s a very simple solution for families who live in the rural areas and are far from the power grid.

Because of her brilliance, she was presented the National Award by former Indian president Abdul Kalam. When she reached the age of 18, Remya applied for a patent for her device. Remya is now in her mid-20s and works as a serial innovator at the National Foundation in India. She continues to create new inventions for the rural communities of her country.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Fastfood chain invents meal box that charges phones

Have a sumptuous meal while charging your smartphone with the meal box. It’s possible in India.

Fast food chain titan Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), together with Mumbai-based advertising agency Blink Digital, has developed  a techie and trendy meal box called “Watt a Box,” a limited edition 5-in-1 meal box with a built-in power bank.

Reports from news sites Times of India (TOI) and Time described Watt a Box as having a detachable 6,100Ah lithium-ion battery, a USB cable for Androids, and an Apple lightning cable for iPhones. Customers from New Delhi and Mumbai can try out the meal box by joining a contest on KFC’s Facebook page.

According to TOI, Lluis Ruiz Ribot, CMO of KFC India, articulated that the initiative, which was launched recently, objectifies serving an “abundant meal at an affordable price.”

“With the launch of Watt a Box, we have gone a step ahead and also introduced an element of utility into the box. Each one of us spends a considerable time on our smartphones daily, and the phone battery going dead is almost like a nightmare! No longer is that the case, with the Watt a Box around,” he told TOI. Gianna Francesca Catolico

source: technology.inquirer.net

Man dies inside cinema after watching ‘The Conjuring 2′

Similar to a victim in a horror film, a 65-year-old Indian man has fatally succumbed to a horrific and frightening death in a movie house in Tiruvannamalai town in India on Thursday night after watching the “The Conjuring 2″.

According to reports by the International Business Times and Times of India, two persons went to watch the screening of the horror box office hit in Sri Balasubramaniar Cinema. Towards the film’s climax, the elderly man suffered from chest pains and woefully fainted inside the movie theater. He was later rushed to the Old Government Hospital but doctors declared him ‘dead on arrival’.

His body was brought to the Tiruvannamalai Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem examination, but the deceased man’s companion took away the body and was not located since then. Authorities are currently searching for the dead man’s identity and address. Gianna Francesca Catolico

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Death toll in northeast India, Bangladesh quake rises to 11

IMPHAL, India - The powerful earthquake struck northeast India and Bangladesh on Monday has killed at least 11 people and injuring nearly 200, with efforts to reach remote areas where people may be trapped hampered by severed power lines and telecommunication links.

The US Geological Survey said the 6.8 magnitude quake was 57 km (35 miles) deep and struck 29 km (18 miles) west of Imphal, capital of India's Manipur state, which borders Myanmar.

The pre-dawn quake killed six people in India and five in neighboring Bangladesh, officials said, while shockwaves were felt in the Himalayan nation of Nepal and as far away as the Myanmar city of Yangon, about 1,175 km (730 miles) to the south.

The quake struck while many people were asleep, and roofs and staircases of some buildings collapsed in Imphal, a city of about 270,000 people.

"It was like being tossed around in a frying pan," said Joy Thanglian, a 33-year-old employee of state energy firm Bharat Petroleum.

Police and hospitals in Imphal said the death toll had reached six with 100 people injured, 33 of them seriously.

Officials in Bangladesh said as well as the five people who died of heart attacks as they fled buildings, about 90 people were injured.

Rescue workers in Imphal used hand-held drilling machines to clear rubble from the ruins of a six-storey building under construction, the site of the heaviest damage in the city.

"I didn't feel the tremor, but when I woke up the entire ceiling had collapsed on me," said R.K. Ewansana, a 21-year-old student, who was on the first floor but survived as the rest of the building collapsed around him.

Residents said people fled from their homes, and power and telecoms links were down in the remote region.

At Imphal's airport, flights were normal, although a boundary wall collapsed, and a crack appeared in the terminal building, said Thanglian, who works there.

Some people criticised what they called the authorities' slow response, saying that although the army had begun to clear debris, it appeared to be short of heavy equipment.

"We haven't seen any help from the government side," said disaster volunteer worker Kangujam. "The government has not given us any information."

The government said two teams from the National Disaster Response Force had arrived to help with the rescue.

"The rescue operations are about to start on a war footing," Junior Home Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told Reuters.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was in touch with authorities in the northeast.

Manipur is one of seven northeastern provinces joined to the rest of the India by a thin strip of territory arching above Bangladesh.

It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the state since 1957, according to academics at the department of seismological research at Manipur University. — Reuters

Alibaba in funding talks with India's Snapdeal

SHANGHAI/MUMBAI – Alibaba is in talks with Indian online marketplace Snapdeal over a potential cash investment, a source familiar with the negotiations said, in what would be the Chinese e-commerce giant's first direct investment in India.

Snapdeal competes in India with bigger rivals Flipkart.com and Amazon.com, and media reports have said it is seeking $1 billion in its latest funding round to fuel growth.

In October last year, Snapdeal secured a $627 million investment from Japan's Softbank, itself an early backer of Alibaba.

The source, who declined to be named as talks are not public, said on Wednesday that negotiations were "ongoing," confirming Indian media reports. The source said Alibaba was "looking, but there’s still no deal."

A second source familiar with the matter confirmed the two sides had spoken in the past and said investor interest was "high," but gave no detail on any current negotiations.

Snapdeal declined to comment.

Alibaba has been eyeing India for months, but has yet to invest directly in the e-commerce space. Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba controlled by senior Alibaba executives, bought a 25 percent stake in the Indian payment services provider behind Paytm last month. – Reuters

India PM Modi to auction controversial suit with his name all over it

NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to auction a controversial suit that bears his name in gold pinstripes, which he wore at a meeting with US President Barack Obama, leading to attacks he was out of touch in a nation where many live in extreme poverty.

The tailored suit, which was ridiculed by Modi's political opponents, will be auctioned in the state of Gujarat to raise money for a project he is championing to clean the Ganges river. The auction, which starts on Wednesday, will last three days.

"People are very generous in this area and we hope that it will raise a lot of money for a good cause," said Milind Torawane, the municipal commissioner of Surat, a port city home to India's diamond industry, where the auction is being held.

Modi's choice of the navy suit, which was embroidered repeatedly with his name, damaged the image of a man who in last year's election had played up his humble beginnings as a tea-seller and his personal sacrifices for India's advancement.

Political rivals, including Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who attacked the prime minister over his suit, said it had cost 1 million rupees ($16,000) and Modi should instead concentrate on delivering on his promises to India's poorest.

About a third of the world's extreme poor live in India, up from a fifth in 1981, the World Bank says. The country lags on other social indicators such as child malnutrition.

Torawane said the government would like to raise at least 3 million rupees from the suit sale.

For the auction, Modi donated about 450 objects given since being appointed prime minister in May after winning the biggest parliamentary majority in three decades.

The gifts he has received include silver cufflinks, a ceramic vase, a carpet and a silver box with precious stones, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. — Reuters

India court blocks Bayer generic drug appeal

New Delhi, India - An Indian court has rejected German drug giant Bayer's bid to block a generic version of its blockbuster cancer treatment Nexavar by a local drug maker, a move hailed by activists on Saturday.

The judges rejected an appeal by Bayer on Friday that contested a March 2012 decision by India's patent controller, who had argued the price charged by Bayer for the liver and kidney drug -- $5,500-per-person, per month in India -- was far too costly for most Indians.

Medicins San Frontieres (MSF) on Saturday hailed the ruling, calling it a boost for public health.

The court's decision "demonstrates the independence of the Indian judiciary" in upholding the nation's right to legislate "with public health interests in mind", said Leena Menghaney, South Asia regional head of the medical charity's access campaign.

The court judgment highlighted India's "critical role" in "balancing intellectual property and public health", she said, adding it was clear to the court Bayer had recouped its drug research and development costs in just one year.

The Indian government gave local pharmaceutical house Natco Pharma a license to produce a copy of life-extending Nexavar at a 97-percent discount to the original price of the Bayer medicine in India.

"We are analyzing the (court) order and will determine any future course of action afterwards," Bayer said in a statement, adding the ruling "disappointed" the company.

The ruling could stoke tensions further with Western-based big pharmaceutical companies who say India flouts international patent protection law.

India says it is fully compliant with World Trade Organization patent rules. But the United States has already put India on a "watchlist" of intellectual property violators.

Since India's new right-wing government came to power in May, New Delhi has been under heavy pressure from Washington, prodded by the powerful US pharmaceutical industry, to dilute its strict patent laws.

Indian law stipulates drugs must "satisfy the test of novelty or inventiveness" to win patent protection and does not allow minor tweaks, called "evergreening," to prolong patent life.

Western companies say India's powerhouse generics industry and stringent patent filtering reduce commercial incentives to produce cutting-edge medicines.

India'a Lawyers' Collective, another rights group, said  the "momentous" judgment held wide-ranging implications for access to other medicines.

India's vast generics industry is a major supplier of cheap copycat, life-saving drugs to treat diabetes, cancer and other diseases afflicting people locally and globally who cannot afford expensive branded versions.

But health economists say it doesn't matter how far drug prices drop in India for some of the 1.25-billion population, as they are too desperately poor to afford them. India is home to one-third of the world's poorest, according to the World Bank. — Agence France-Presse


source: gmanetwork.com

Indian landslide kills 10, scores feared trapped

NEW DELHI - Heavy rain triggered a landslide in rural western India that killed at least ten people and trapped up to 150 more after thick mud came crashing down on thatch huts and brick houses on Wednesday, a national disaster official said.

Rescue teams and local residents pulled people out of the deep mud and put them on stretchers, television images showed.

Seven teams of 42 rescue workers each arrived at the disaster site, a village 60 km (37 miles) from the city of Pune, but rain, mud and poor communications hampered efforts, Sandeep Rai Rathore, inspector general of the national disaster force, told Reuters.


Only two residents had been rescued by Wednesday evening, he said.

"The area is quite a difficult terrain," said Rathore, adding that rescuers were trying to determine how many people were caught in the landslide.

"The figure, it could be up to 150."

At least 30 brick houses and thatch huts were badly damaged in the village in the Ambegaon sub-district, he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the home minister to rush to Pune to take stock of the situation.

"The Prime Minister has condoled the loss of lives in the landslide, and directed all possible efforts to help the affected people," a government statement said.

Rainy season downpours, though vital for India's agriculture, often bring disaster.

Unprecedented rain in June last year wreaked havoc across India's Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, causing rivers and lakes to burst their banks, inundating towns and villages and killing thousands of people.

Badly managed hydro-power projects were partly to blame for those floods, an environment ministry panel said in April. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

India’s demonized mothers-in-law get bad rap in new book

NEW DELHI - Young Indian women fear and loathe her. Soap operas showcase her iron-fisted rule. And sociologists spend hours debating the torment she is accused of unleashing across the country.

Mothers-in-law have long been demonized and parodied all over the world. But they have an especially fearsome reputation in India, where stories of bitter and abusive struggles with their daughters-in-law abound.

According to a new book, relationships between mothers-in-law and their son's wives have never been more dysfunctional in India, where it says rapid modernization has collided with staunch family traditions.

"It's a phenomenon that started around the year 2000 and has been building ever since," said Veena Venugopal, author of "The Mother-in-Law: The other woman in your marriage."

"This is the worst generation for mother and daughter-in-law conflict," she told AFP.

Women, especially in isolated, rural India, have historically married young and joined their husband's family under one roof—where they were placed at the bottom of the pile and often relegated to performing household chores.

India's economic liberalization in the 1990s brought double-digit growth coupled with social progress that allowed legions more women to pursue higher education and a career in cities.

Like their peers in the Western world, these middle-class urban Indian women have also started delaying marriage and having fewer children.

But such social changes are often not accepted by their mothers-in-law many of whom are stuck in a different age, Venugopal argued.

"Daughters-in-law are more educated and have more options and want to make more decisions for themselves and yet they are trapped in these marriages," said Venugopal, an editor at The Hindu Business Line newspaper.

The book details 11 cases of middle-class women across the country and their relationships with their husband's families.

One bride, a television journalist, was forced to hand over her salary every month to her mother-in-law who also forcibly took charge of bringing up her two young children.

She was never allowed to sit on a couch, chair or bed, only a concrete surface in the home that she shared with her husband's extended family, for whom she was expected to cook and clean after finishing her day job.

"These are people you come across in your professional life and never imagine that they live such traumatized lives behind closed doors," Venugopal said.

Men 'do nothing' to resolve conflict

Venugopal, whose book was published by Penguin in May, said she hoped to kickstart a national debate about the changing roles of husbands, wives and their families which remain cornerstones of Indian society.

"I also hope that men feel slightly embarrassed about all this and get into the act. Most do nothing to resolve these conflicts, their way of dealing with it is to ignore it," she said.

For generations, boys have been favoured over girls who are less likely to receive a decent education, medical care and even food, according to governments and research groups.

Men, considered the bread winners, wield the power while the women are married off.

"The daughter traditionally is never part of the house because she is something to be gifted away," said New Delhi-based social scientist Shiv Visvanathan.

"We are a deeply patriarchal society."

Numerous soap operas on Indian television show the domineering mother-in-law battling with her younger, prettier daughter-in-law who always loses the fight over money, her husband, food and space in the home.

The shows have long been wildly popular particularly among women, many of whom can sympathise with the struggles and torments being played out on screen, Visvanathan said.

"It's very therapeutic for them."

Venugopal argued that such dysfunctional relationships appear to be passing from one generation to the next. Instead of bonding with her son's bride, the mother-in-law seizes the chance to unleash her own kind of repression and anger.

"The mother-in-law herself has been a repressed daughter-in-law. She has waited 20 years for the chance to be the powerful one in a relationship," she said.

Unfairly demonized

Not surprisingly, mothers-in-law reject the bad rap detailed in the book and are fighting back against such negative stereotyping.

Neena Dhulia said a string of laws have been introduced to protect daughters-in-law from dowry-related and other abuses, which in turn are being misused to help them obtain divorces and persecute mothers-in-law.

"Women these days are better educated. They know how to manipulate these laws," Dhulia said.

"Women are also very independent [these days], they have no tolerance and they have high ambitions."

"For them, it's as easy as ordering pizza. They ring up, file a complaint and the mother-in-law is arrested," she told AFP.

Dhulia runs a forum in southern Bangalore and other several cities for mothers-in-law who are being victimized by their families, a service that attracts 15 to 20 phone calls a week.

"We have spent 30 to 35 years taking care of our children. Are we really demons or monsters?" she said. — AFP

source: gmanetwork.com

Radar data suggests MH370 was deliberately flown toward India

KUALA LUMPUR - Military radar-tracking evidence suggests a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for nearly a week was deliberately flown across the Malay peninsula towards the Andaman Islands, sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters on Friday.

Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints - indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training - when it was last plotted on military radar off the country's northwest coast.

The last plot on the military radar's tracking suggested the plane was flying toward India's Andaman Islands, a chain of isles between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, they said.

Waypoints are geographic locations, worked out by calculating longitude and latitude, that help pilots navigate along established air corridors.

A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing increasingly on the theory that someone who knew how to fly a plane deliberately diverted the flight, with 239 people on board, hundreds of miles off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards," said that source, a senior Malaysian police official.

All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media and due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

Officials at Malaysia's Ministry of Transport, the official point of contact for information on the investigation, did not return calls seeking comment.

Malaysian police have previously said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.

The comments by the three sources are the first clear indication that foul play is the main focus of official suspicions in the Boeing 777's disappearance.

As a result of the new evidence, the sources said, multinational search efforts were being stepped up in the Andaman Sea and also the Indian Ocean.

LAST SIGHTING
 
In one of the most baffling mysteries in modern aviation, no trace of the plane nor any sign of wreckage has been found despite a search by the navies and military aircraft of more than a dozen countries.

The last sighting of the aircraft on civilian radar screens came shortly before 1:30 a.m. Malaysian time last Saturday (1730 GMT Friday), less than an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur, as the plane flew northeast across the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand. That put the plane on Malaysia's east coast.

Malaysia's air force chief said on Wednesday an aircraft that could have been the missing plane was plotted on military radar at 2:15 a.m., 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Penang Island off Malaysia's west coast.

This position marks the limit of Malaysia's military radar in that part of the country, a fourth source familiar with the investigation told Reuters.

When asked about the range of military radar at a news conference on Thursday, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said it was "a sensitive issue" that he was not going to reveal.

"Even if it doesn't extend beyond that, we can get the cooperation of the neighbouring countries," he said.

The fact that the aircraft - if it was MH370 - had lost contact with air traffic control and was invisible to civilian radar suggested someone aboard had turned its communication systems off, the first two sources said.

They also gave new details on the direction in which the unidentified aircraft was heading - following aviation corridors identified on maps used by pilots as N571 and P628. These routes are taken by commercial planes flying from Southeast Asia to the Middle East or Europe and can be found in public documents issued by regional aviation authorities.

In a far more detailed description of the military radar plotting than has been publicly revealed, the first two sources said the last confirmed position of MH370 was at 35,000 feet about 90 miles (144 km) off the east coast of Malaysia, heading towards Vietnam, near a navigational waypoint called "Igari". The time was 1:21 a.m.

The military track suggests it then turned sharply westwards, heading towards a waypoint called "Vampi", northeast of Indonesia's Aceh province and a navigational point used for planes following route N571 to the Middle East.

From there, the plot indicates the plane flew towards a waypoint called "Gival", south of the Thai island of Phuket, and was last plotted heading northwest towards another waypoint called "Igrex", on route P628 that would take it over the Andaman Islands and which carriers use to fly towards Europe.

The time was then 2:15 a.m. That's the same time given by the air force chief on Wednesday, who gave no information on that plane's possible direction.

The sources said Malaysia was requesting raw radar data from neighbours Thailand, Indonesia and India, which has a naval base in the Andaman Islands. (Additional reporting by Christine Chan in Singapore. Writing by Alex Richardson. Editing by Dean Yates) — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com