Heavy rainfall triggers floods, at least 11 dead

Heavy rain continued to trigger flood and landslides in India’s north and north-east, killing at least 11 people and affecting hundreds of thousands, officials from two affected states said yesterday.In India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which has been hit by torrential rain, nine people died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours, an official bulletin said.Two people died on Monday in the north-eastern state of Assam, which has been hit by a second wave of flooding since June 16, affecting more than 600,000 people in 19 districts, and displacing more than 8,000, a state disaster management statement said.The Kaziranga national park in Assam - home to nearly 2,200 one-horned rhinos, or two-thirds of their world population - is also under water, with more than half of its 233 camps flooded, drowning four hog deer, officials said.“The flood water has now entered my house. The water has damaged my paddy and crops. I have a family of five and I have to take shelter here. If the situation worsens, I will lose my house,” Faizul Islam, a local resident told news agency ANI.Visuals from ANI showed inundated fields and roads across Assam, as people moved precious belongings and furniture from their water-filled homes.In the northeastern region of neighbouring Bangladesh, the flood situation was worsening rapidly due to continuous rain and upstream water flow from India, leaving tens of thousands of people marooned, officials said yesterday.

A family carries their belongings on a banana raft at the flood affected Mayong village in Morigaon district, Assam, yesterday.

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Asia’s richest man, billionaire Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani, yesterday launched the start of the lavish finale of his son’s wedding celebrations with mass nuptials for 52 “underprivileged” couples.Pre-wedding parties for his son have already included multi-day galas, a European cruise for 1,200 guests, a specially-built temple, and entertainment provided by performers ranging from R&B star Rihanna to the Backstreet Boys.Ambani, 67, is chairman of Reliance Industries - India’s biggest company by market capitalisation - and took part with his family in yesterday’s ceremony with some 800 guests. “Starting with this function, the family pledged to continue supporting hundreds more such weddings across the country,” his company said in a statement.Ambani’s younger son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant, both 29, are set to marry in a three-day ceremony in India’s financial capital Mumbai from July 12.The billionaire father is no stranger to throwing a costly wedding. Ambani held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost $100mn and saw US singer Beyonce perform.Ambani, for his son, has already thrown two extraordinary parties ahead of the main celebrations later this month. That included a three-day gala in February for 1,500-plus guests in Gujarat state.At that party, Rihanna performed her first concert since last year’s Superbowl to guests including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and ex-US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.A second leg in June was a four-day Mediterranean cruise, where singer Katy Perry performed at a masquerade ball at a French chateau in Cannes. The Backstreet Boys, US rapper Pitbull and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli also provided entertainment. At the wedding ceremony yesterday, at a Reliance office park in the city of Navi Mumbai, each couple was given gold and silver wedding jewellery, $1,200 in cash and groceries “sufficient for one year”, the company said.“Today marks the beginning of the festivities for our children Anant and Radhika’s wedding,” Nita Ambani, the billionaire’s wife, told reporters at the wedding venue.“As a mother, it fills me with happiness to witness the marriages here today... I pray for their happiness and well-being throughout their lives.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685899/international/title

116 killed in stampede at India gathering

At least 116 killed in stampede in north India, authorities sayCrowds were attending a religious event in Hathras, Uttar PradeshOvercrowding as people left may have played a part, official saysPolice launch an investigation into cause of stampedeSay report will be available within 24 hoursAt least 116 people, many of them women and children, were killed in a stampede at a religious gathering in northern India on Tuesday, authorities said, in one of the country's worst such tragedies in years.The stampede happened in a village in Hathras district in Utter Pradesh, about 200 km southeast of the national capital New Delhi, where authorities said thousands had gathered in sweltering late afternoon temperatures.The stampede occurred when a crowd of devotees started pushing towards the stage after the event to touch the preacher, who was coming down, said Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.While the cause was not immediately clear, Hathras district administrator Ashish Kumar suggested it may have been 'due to overcrowding at the time when people were trying to leave the venue'.Another senior state official, Chaitra V., told broadcaster India Today that people may have lost their footing as they sought water in the heat.'There was wet mud at one place where people may have slipped. Also because of the heat, people may have made their way to the spot where water was kept and that could have caused the incident as well,' she said, adding that 18 were injured and in hospital.Police said they had launched an investigation and promised action against anyone found to be responsible, adding that the gathering may have been larger than had been permitted.'Lapses by authorities will also be investigated and action will be taken on the basis of the report which will be available within 24 hours,' state police chief Prashant Kumar said.Video clips recorded by news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake, showed bodies piled into the back of trucks and laid out in vehicles.Purses and bags covered in dust, were heaped up at the venue, with people sitting on their haunches sifting through them to identify their belongings.Mobile phones were similarly piled together, waiting to be claimed by their owners.A video on social media showed a large crowd packed into a tented area, standing and listening to devotional tunes as they waved their hands in the direction of the religious leader who sat on a stage.It also showed some women hanging on to the bamboo poles holding up the canopy to get a better view above the heads of the large crowd.Reuters could not immediately verify the social media images.'There must have been about 50,000 people...at the gate on the highway, some people were going left and some people were going right, the stampede was caused in that confusion,' Suresh Chandra, a witness who was at the gathering, told local media.Seema, a woman who travelled from a town almost 60 km away to attend the event, said she was leaving the venue when the stampede occurred. She was accompanied by three relatives, two of whom were killed.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the federal government was assisting the state and announced a compensation of 200,000 rupees.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685878/international/india/116-killed-in-stampede-at-india-gathering

Palestinian Authority pledges more backing for NGOs in Gaza

The Palestinian Authority yesterday pledged to give greater backing to NGOs in Gaza as it warned that 300,000 families in the beleaguered territory are “marginalised” and need assistance.The authority held a meeting with about 15 NGOs and aid groups who have complained about increasing problems getting aid into the Gaza Strip and distributing food and other essentials around the territory where Israel has been fighting Hamas for more than eight months. While the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the occupied West Bank, has virtually no influence in Hamas-ruled Gaza, the authority’s emergency relief minister Basil al-Kafarna acknowledged the mounting dangers and said: “We are here to support the non-governmental organisations and the agencies for humanitarian relief in the Gaza Strip.”He emphasised a number of co-operation projects including two online platforms that monitor the districts and families among Gaza’s 2.4mn inhabits most in need and allow NGOs to highlight problems.Social development minister Samah Hamad said the authority would be able to provide family records from its social register. “Before (the war) we had about 120,000 families benefitting from cash transfers from the social protection scheme.”Hamad added that the PA believed 300,000 families in Gaza were now “marginalised and going through hardship.”Tens of thousands of Palestinian Authority workers still live in Gaza but the territory has been under Hamas control since 2007.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685820/international/palestinian-authority-pledges-more-backing-for-ngos-in-gaza

Japan imposes new fees on Mount Fuji climbers

Park rangers on Japan’s Mount Fuji officially started this year’s climbing season about 90 minutes before sunrise yesterday, levying new trail fees and limiting hiker numbers to curb overcrowding.At 3am, officials opened a newly installed gate at a station placed just over halfway up the 12,388-ft peak that is a symbol of Japan and a magnet for tourists, now swarming into the country at a record pace.Climbers must pay 2,000 yen ($12) and their numbers will be limited to 4,000 a day after complaints of litter, pollution, and dangerously crowded trails flowed in last year.“I think Mount Fuji will be very happy if everyone is more conscious about the environment and things like taking rubbish home with them,” said Sachiko Kan, 61, who was one of about 1,200 hikers gathered on the first day of the new measures.The yen’s slide to a 38-year low has made Japan an irresistible bargain for overseas visitors.They are injecting record sums into national coffers but are also putting strains on facilities for travel and hospitality, not to mention the patience of locals.Hordes of tourists became a traffic hazard at a nearby photography spot where Mount Fuji appeared to float over a convenience store, driving officials to put up a barrier of black mesh to obstruct the view that had gone viral online.The climbing season this year on Mount Fuji, which straddles the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka about 136km from Tokyo, runs until September 10, after which the weather gets too cold and snowy.A still active stratovolcano whose last eruption was in 1707, Mount Fuji has been a site of Shinto and Buddhist worship for centuries.The number of climbers recovered to pre-pandemic levels last year, with about 300,000 annually, the environment ministry says. Hikers typically start in the wee hours to make it to the top in time for sunrise.For their money, climbers receive a wristband giving access to the trail between 3am and 4pm excluding those with reservations for mountain huts closer to the peak, to whom the daily limit on visitors will not apply, authorities say.The new trail curbs were necessary to prevent accidents and incidents of altitude sickness, particularly among foreign “bullet climbers”, or those racing to the top, Yamanashi governor Kotaro Nagasaki said last month.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685819/international/japan-imposes-new-fees-on-mount-fuji-climbers

Nine killed in Seoul as car hits pedestrians

At least nine people were killed and four others injured when a car struck pedestrians near Seoul city hall yesterday, police said.There were six fatalities at the scene, while three others were pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital, firefighter Kim Chun-soo said.South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that a 68-year-old driver crashed into people who were waiting at a traffic signal.He was driving in the wrong direction and hit two other vehicles before ploughing into the pedestrians, Yonhap said.A man was detained by police over the incident, said Kim Suk-hwan, safety and transport director at the city’s Jung-gu district office.Investigations are underway to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved, as well as whether the deadly incident was caused by accidental acceleration, Kim said.Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon described “a very sad accident” as he visited the crash site, according to city authorities.He also ordered officials to “take the victims to the hospital quickly and thoroughly identify the cause of the accident”.Deadly transport accidents with multiple casualties are rare in South Korea, which generally has well-maintained roads and vehicles.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685818/international/nine-killed-in-seoul-as-car-hits-pedestrians

Eleven dead in Delhi rains, flights operations stutter

The death toll from this week’s sudden heavy rain has climbed to 11 in New Delhi, including four citizens who drowned in submerged underpasses, the Times of India reported, while flight operations stuttered in the Indian capital.New Delhi, which endured one of its worst heatwaves in history earlier this month, faced the biggest downpour in decades on June 28, with rainfall in a single day surpassing the city’s average for the entire month.The torrential rain caused a fatal roof collapse at one of the three terminals of Delhi’s main airport, disrupted flights, flooded underpasses, and led to massive traffic jams, power and water outages in parts of the city.Nearly 60 flights were cancelled from New Delhi’s main airport in the last 24 hours, according to data from flight tracking platform Flightaware.Operations were largely normal yesterday, with most flights from the affected terminal diverted to the other two, an airport official said but did not rule out possible flight cancellations.The Delhi airport is one of the country’s biggest and busiest.Terminal 1, the now-closed terminal, is mostly used by low-cost carriers IndiGo, operated by Interglobe Aviation, and SpiceJet, and currently has a capacity to handle 40mn passengers annually.An Indigo spokesperson did not comment on the flight cancellations and a SpiceJet spokesperson did not immediately respond to a phone call.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685756/international/eleven-dead-in-delhi-rains-flights-operations-stutter

Opposition asks Modi to look into Foxconn hiring practices

India’s opposition Congress has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to question Foxconn about its hiring practices after Reuters reported that the Apple supplier rejects married women from iPhone assembly jobs in the country.The government has sought a detailed report from the state of Tamil Nadu, site of a major iPhone factory where Reuters uncovered Foxconn’s hiring practices.The story has sparked debates on TV channels, newspaper editorials and calls from women groups, including within Modi’s party, to investigate the matter.Congress lawmaker Karti P Chidambaram wrote in a letter to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya that Foxconn receives “substantial incentives” from the federal government and the company should be asked to explain its practices to ensure it complies with “Indian laws and values”.“While foreign investment is crucial, it should not come at the cost of disregarding our cultural values,” Chidambaram wrote in the letter, posted on X.Apple, Taiwan-based Foxconn and the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Congress letter.The Reuters investigation found Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone plant on the grounds they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts.Foxconn hiring agents and HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women.Responding to the investigation, published on Tuesday, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged to Reuters lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues.All the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant, however, took place in 2023 and 2024.Foxconn said it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form”.Apple said all its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women and “when concerns about hiring practices were first raised in 2022 we immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure that our high standards are upheld”.The Foxconn positions in India offer food and accommodation and a monthly paycheque of about $200.In China, six online job ads reviewed by Reuters showed workers engaged in iPhone assembly at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant can earn $400-800 a month.The ads did not mention marital status or gender requirements.“While they don’t discriminate in China, can they do whatever in India?” Vasuki Umanath of the Communist Party Of India (Marxist), another Modi opponent, told Reuters on Thursday. “Labour unions, women’s welfare organisations and democratic forces should raise their voice against this discrimination.”The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation party said this week that action must be taken against what it said were “exploitative and discriminatory (hiring) practice”.On Friday the women’s wing of Modi’s ruling party urged the National Commission for Women to launch an investigation.“It is imperative to conduct a thorough investigation into these claims and ensure that the rights of women employees at Foxconn Hon Hai are protected,” Vanathi Srinivasan, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s women’s wing wrote in a letter to the Commission, posted on X.In response to the letter, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma, wrote on X: “We are doing the needful.”She did not elaborate.The National Commission for Women has the authority to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other legislation, its website says.It also has powers of a civil court to summon any person.In the letter, Srinivasan referred to the reported hiring practices of Foxconn as a “grave issue”.“It has come to our notice through various media sources that Foxconn has adopted discriminatory practices against married women,” Srinivasan wrote.The letter also stated that it had come to the knowledge of the BJP’s women’s wing that women employees at Foxconn are not even allowed to use the washroom during working hours, and those who stay in hostels are not permitted to take leave.Srinivasan’s letter did not elaborate on these points.Earlier this week, Modi’s labour ministry said it has requested a report from the Labour Department of Tamil Nadu on the matter.The hiring curbs at the iPhone plant show the challenge for both Apple and Foxconn in upholding their stated global standards of inclusion while expanding their supply chains in this fast-growing but largely conservative country.Modi has previously called for removal of societal impediments that prevent many Indian women from getting jobs.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685690/international/opposition-asks-modi-to-look-into-foxconn-hiring-practices

Crossbow attacker killed outside Israeli embassy in Belgrade

A Serbian police officer killed a man who shot him in the neck with a crossbow in front of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade yesterday, in what the prime minister called a “terrorist act”.Police identified the assailant as being a “convert” to Islam, who was born in 1999 in the town of Mladenovac, some 50km from Belgrade.The attack happened around 11am last morning in the Serbian capital, when the attacker shot the officer who was on duty outside the Israeli embassy.The wounded policeman shot the attacker “who died as a result of his injuries”, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.Authorities said some arrests had been made and a number of people known to the security services were suspected of being linked to the attack.Police also said they were carrying out searches in a number of locations.“There are several more persons that we are looking for, certainly for one who is on the territory of Serbia,” President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after visiting the wounded officer.The attacker and his associates had been tracked by authorities before yesterday’s attack but there was not enough evidence to arrest them, he added.The officer, who underwent surgery in hospital, was in his guard booth when the attack happened.According to authorities, the assailant had moved to live in Novi Pazar, which is a historical and political centre of the Bosniak Muslim minority in Serbia, and a centre of Islam in the country.He said several people had been arrested for “prevention reasons” and that overall security had been stepped up in Belgrade. Special prosecutors had taken over the case, added Dacic.Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic strongly condemned what he labelled a “heinous terrorist act”.“This was an act of insanity, which cannot be attributed to any religion and any nation. It is a crime of an individual,” he said, according to quotes from the Beta news agency.The prime minister said his country would firmly respond to the threat of terrorism and stressed Serbian citizens could “feel safe”.The Israeli foreign ministry called it an “attempted terrorist attack in the vicinity” of the country’s embassy in Serbia.“The embassy is closed and no employee of the embassy was injured”, it said in a statement, saying the circumstances are still being investigated.Israeli ambassador to Serbia Yahel Vilan on X voiced his gratitude to the wounded officer, “who courageously prevented the attack”.“I am convinced that the investigation by the competent authorities of this shameful attack will identify all responsible persons and further contribute to the preservation of Serbia as a safe country.”Meanwhile, Serbia’s top Islamic cleric Senad Halitovic strongly condemned the attack and wished the wounded officer a quick recovery.“Such crimes are against all religious teachings, especially the teachings of Islam. Today’s crime is the work of a mindless individual,” he said in a statement.The Balkan nation has continued arms sales to Israel. Israel’s offensive has killed at least 37,834 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685688/international/crossbow-attacker-killed-outside-israeli-embassy-in-belgrade

US apex court upholds ban on homeless camps

The US Supreme Court upheld on Friday anti-camping laws used by authorities in an Oregon city to stop homeless people from sleeping in public parks and public streets – a ruling that gives local and state governments a freer hand in confronting a national homelessness crisis.The justices ruled 6-3 to overturn a lower court’s decision that found that enforcing the ordinances in the city of Grants Pass when no shelter space is available for the homeless violates the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on “cruel and unusual” punishments.Various jurisdictions employ similar laws.The court’s conservative justices were in the majority, while its three liberal members dissented.Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored the ruling, wrote: “Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it. At bottom, the question this case presents is whether the Eighth Amendment grants federal judges primary responsibility for assessing those causes and devising those responses. It does not.”Homelessness remains a multifaceted problem for public officials in the United States as many municipalities experience chronic shortages of affordable housing.On any given night, more than 600,000 people are homeless, according to US government estimates.“Yes, people will disagree over which policy responses are best; they may experiment with one set of approaches only to find later another set works better; they may find certain responses more appropriate for some communities than others. But in our democracy, that is their right,” Gorsuch wrote.The case focused on three ordinances in Grants Pass, a city of roughly 38,000 people in southwestern Oregon, that together prohibit sleeping in public streets, alleyways and parks while using a blanket or bedding.Violators are fined $295. Repeat offenders can be criminally prosecuted for trespass, punishable by up to 30 days in jail.Proponents including various government officials have called such laws a necessary tool for maintaining public safety.“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the dissenting justices. “The city of Grants Pass jails and fines those people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow. For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”Advocates for the homeless, various liberal legal groups and other critics had said laws like these criminalise people simply for being homeless and for actions they cannot avoid, such as sleeping in public.The case, which began in 2018, involved three homeless people who filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to block the measures impacting them in Grants Pass. One of the plaintiffs has since died.US Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke ruled that the city’s “policy and practice of punishing homelessness” violates the Eighth Amendment and barred it from enforcing the anti-camping ordinances.The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Clarke’s injunction against the ordinances.The city had defended itself in the case in part by noting that homeless people have alternatives outside the city, including nearby undeveloped federal land, county campsites or state rest stops.The judge said that argument “sheds light on the city’s attitude towards its homeless citizens” by seeking to drive them out or punish them if they stay.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685659/international/us-apex-court-upholds-ban-on-homeless-camps

Roof collapse at Delhi airport kills one, heavy rain disrupts capital

Heavy rainfall and winds brought down a roof at the main airport in New Delhi on Friday, killing one person and shutting down a busy domestic terminal, while flooded streets and traffic snarls caused widespread disruption in the Indian capital.About 5.85 inches of rain fell over three hours on the airport area in the early morning, more than the average for all of June, according to the national weather office.Delhi’s main Safdarjung weather station recorded nine inches of rainfall in the 24 hours ending 8.30am (0300GMT), its highest 24-hour rainfall in June in 88 years.The city of 20mn people had faced searing heatwaves earlier this month. A wall at a building site in southwest Delhi collapsed in the downpour, with three labourers feared trapped in 12 feet of deep water and mud, a fire service spokesperson said.At the airport, a portion of roof, the canopy, a column and its supporting beams at Terminal 1’s departure area collapsed, crushing four vehicles, airport authorities said in a statement.The entire terminal complex was shut down and flight operations at the terminal were suspended indefinitely, they added.Eight injured people were taken to hospital, Atul Garg, director of the Delhi Fire Service, said, adding rescue operations were now complete.Images from ANI news agency showed a taxi crushed under a wrecked metal pillar at the entrance area of the terminal with puddles all around. A column and its supporting beams collapsed on other vehicles.At least 26 flights were cancelled and more than 180 were delayed, according to data from flight tracking platform Flightaware.Domestic carrier Spicejet said it had cancelled eight flights while IndiGo said all flights from the terminal have been cancelled until midnight. From 2pm (0830GMT) flight arrivals and departures at Terminal 1 were diverted to the airport’s other two terminals, Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said. He added that an inquiry has been ordered into the collapse.Terminal 1, one of three at the country’s biggest and busiest airport, was recently refurbished with its area more than tripled.Many other parts of Delhi were flooded, including a tunnel opposite the venue that was the site of last September’s G20 summit.Some cars were trapped in thigh-deep water in chaotic scenes across the city.Metro services were affected, people had to navigate through waterlogged roads and traffic snarls were reported. Electricity supply was switched off in some waterlogged and low-lying areas as a precautionary measure, one of Delhi’s power suppliers said.The chaos prompted complaints on social media about the capital’s creaking infrastructure.Ahead of the April-May general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of new terminal buildings at 15 airports. Both Delhi’s Terminal 1 and the terminal at Jabalpur were part of the projects.Opposition parties said projects were inaugurated in a hurry before the election.“Corruption and criminal negligence is responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi Govt,” Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party, said on X.Aviation Minister Naidu defended the government, saying the roof collapse at Delhi’s airport was part of an old building that was opened in 2009 and not the one Modi inaugurated in March.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685658/international/roof-collapse-at-delhi-airport-kills-one-heavy-rain-disrupts-capital