India restores e-visa services for Canadians. The move could ease diplomatic tensions
An Indian foreign ministry official says that India has restored electronic visa services for Canadian nationals two months after Canada alleged the South Asian nation was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
Indian farmers suspend year-long protest against new laws
Thousands of Indian farmers have suspended a year-long protest after the government withdrew contentious farm laws and set up a committee to consider their other demands, including guaranteed prices for key crops and the withdrawal of criminal cases against the protesters.
Protesting farmers return to camp after storming Indian fort
Sikh farmers sit inside their makeshift tent at Singhu, the Delhi-Haryana border camp for protesting farmers against three farm bills, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Farmers demanding the repeal of new agricultural laws briefly took over of the 17th-century fort, and images broadcast live on television shocked the nation. The protesting farmersโ groups were scheduled to meet later Wednesday to discuss the future course of action. Anger is now also beginning to rise among Sikhs, though the farmersโ protests remain largely driven by economic factors. Several jumped into a deep dry drain in the fort area to escape the protesters who outnumbered them at several places.
Angry farmers storm India's Red Fort in challenge to Modi
Sikhs hoist a Nishan Sahib, a Sikh religious flag, on a minaret of the historic Red Fort monument in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. Tens of thousands of protesting farmers drove long lines of tractors into India's capital on Tuesday, breaking through police barricades, defying tear gas and storming the historic Red Fort as the nation celebrated Republic Day. The government insists that the agriculture reform laws passed by Parliament in September will benefit farmers and boost production through private investment. Once producing a third of Indiaโs gross domestic product, farmers now account for only 15% of the countryโs $2.9 trillion economy. More than half of farmers are in debt, with 20,638 killing themselves in 2018 and 2019, according to official records.
India becomes 2nd worst-hit country, economic pain is urgent
(AP Photo/Anupam Nath)NEW DELHI India's increasing caseload made the Asian giant the pandemic's second-worst-hit country behind the United States on Monday as its efforts to head off economic disaster gain urgency. The 90,802 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed Indias total past Brazil with 4.2 million cases. India has been recording the worlds largest daily increases in coronavirus cases for almost a month. On Monday, the Delhi Metro a rapid transit system that serves Indias sprawling capital New Delhi and adjoining areas resumed operations after five months. Its been 169 days since weve seen you!, the official Twitter account of Delhi Metro tweeted.