Ten dead as freak torrential rains flood Indian capital region
At least 10 people died in India’s national capital region after heavy rainfall led to water logging and closure of schools and offices.
The Meteorological Department issued an alert as Delhi recorded over 100mm rain in a span of an hour yesterday while the government announced the closure of schools.
Residents were advised to stay indoors after waterlogging in several areas choked traffic.
A woman and her son drowned on Wednesday in a drain in East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, as the city received its highest rain in 14 years.According to the police, the boy, Priyansh, slipped into an open drain which was not visible due to heavy flooding. The mother, identified as Tanuja, also fell inside while trying to rescue her son.
Two more people died on Wednesday, including one in a house collapse, reported India Today. A 12-year-old boy died from electrocution while he was returning home from tuition. Police have registered a case and are investigating the matter.
In the neighbouring satellite township of Gurugram, at least three people were electrocuted to death by a live wire submerged in a waterlogged area.
In Greater Noida, two people died due to a wall collapse.
Flight operations have also been hit, with diversion of at least 10 flights heading to the national capital, reported CNN-IBN. The national capital region encompasses Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
Visuals from ANI news agency showed flooding in the northern part of the city where three students drowned in a flooded basement last week.
Prime minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party found itself in the line of fire, after opposition parliamentarians raised concerns about a section of a leaking roof in the newly inaugurated parliament building.
The building, constructed as part of the government’s larger Central Vista redevelopment project, was inaugurated by Mr Modi on 28 May last year with both the Houses shifted to the new premises on 19 September.
Congress parliamentarian Manickam Tagore submitted an adjournment motion of the ongoing parliamentary session, seeking formation of special committee to inspect the “causes of the leaks, evaluate the design and materials, and recommend necessary repairs”.
Meanwhile, at least 11 people died after heavy rain lashed various parts of northern India and more than 250 people were missing after downpours in the Himalayas, including people stranded on a famous pilgrimage route.
IMD recorded 183mm (seven inches) of rain in the past 24 hours in the famous tourist destination of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
More than 50 people were missing after heavy rain over state capital Shimla and surrounding regions, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a post on X, adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Two people died after a barrage in a power project was breached, obstructing connectivity in the region, state revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi told news agency ANI.
Indian Express newspaper reported that four people were killed after a cloudburst in the state of Uttarakhand and 200 pilgrims were stranded after rain washed away a part of their walking path.
Torrential rains, which, along with unabated construction have frequently triggered deadly flash floods and landslides in the mountains of India and neighbouring Pakistan and Nepal over the past few years, have been attributed to climate change.
In the south, hopes of finding survivors began to fade as hundreds of rescuers worked through slush and rocks and pulled out bodies from debris in the hills of Kerala state, a day after 167 people were killed in monsoon landslides.
Steady rain that intensified as the day progressed and the rising water level in a local river hampered the rescue, with a temporary bridge built to connect the worst affected area of Mundakkai being washed away.
The weather department has forecast more heavy rain over the next 24 hours, Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said and urged people to be on “high alert”.
Heavy rain in Kerala, one of India’s most popular tourist destinations, led to the landslides in its Wayanad district early on Tuesday, sending torrents of mud, water and tumbling boulders downhill and burying or sweeping people to their deaths as they slept. Experts said the area had received heavy rain in the last two weeks that softened the soil.
Extremely heavy rainfall on Monday then triggered the landslides. Nearly 1,600 people have been rescued from the hillside villages and tea and cardamom estates, authorities said.
Additional reporting from agencies
India nears completion of its most advanced nuclear plant ever
India is close to completing its most advanced nuclear plant, marking a major step forward in the country’s nuclear energy programme.
The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam in the southern state of Tamil Nadu has received approval from the country’s atomic regulator to begin loading nuclear fuel.
The PFBR is a 500MW liquid sodium-cooled reactor which has been in development for the past 20 years. This approval marks the start of a controlled chain reaction in India’s most advanced and complex nuclear reactor.
While there have been concerns over the use of sodium, a hazardous material, as a coolant, the country’s atomic board said it has conducted safety reviews and assessments of the PFBR, complemented by periodic inspections.
Once operational, India will join Russia as the only two countries in the world with commercially operating fast breeder reactors.
“It is a huge milestone for India’s self-reliant atomic energy programme,” Dinesh Kumar Shukla, chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) said, according to NDTV.
Mr Shukla said the PFBR is an “inherently safe reactor”.
The PFBR has been entirely designed and constructed domestically, with contributions from over 200 Indian industries, keeping the Indian government’s push for self-reliance in mind.
Due to its complexity and the need for indigenous technology, the project has faced delays and cost overruns, now amounting to ₹68,400m (£651.43m).
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) states that the PFBR, a third-generation reactor with passive safety features, ensures safe shutdowns in emergencies. It utilises spent fuel from India’s nuclear programme, reducing nuclear waste, and the need for geological disposal.
Despite its advanced technology, the PFBR’s capital and electricity costs are comparable to other nuclear and conventional power plants.
The PFBR’s approval also signifies India’s use of plutonium as a nuclear fuel and paves the way for the future use of thorium, a resource in which India has abundant reserves.
Unlike uranium, which is limited in India, thorium presents an opportunity for long-term energy independence, potentially lasting over 300 years. Experts believe that mastering the technology to use thorium could secure India’s energy future.
Fast breeder reactors, like the PFBR, are unique because they generate more fuel than they consume, earning them the reputation of being an almost limitless energy source.
The term “fast” refers to the high-energy fast neutrons used in these reactors. India already operates a Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) at the same location, which has been functional for 39 years.
The board’s approval allows for the commencement of fuel loading and low-power physics experiments, with the reactor expected to become operational in the coming months.
The PFBR will initially use Uranium-Plutonium Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel. A uranium-238 “blanket” surrounding the core will produce more fuel through nuclear transmutation. This process, known as breeding, is what gives these reactors their name.
In the future, thorium-232 may also be used as a blanket, creating fissile uranium-233 through transmutation, which will be utilised in the third stage of India’s nuclear programme. This stage is crucial for harnessing India’s vast thorium reserves.
Nuclear energy is considered a reliable and low-carbon source of electricity, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate crisis and diversifying energy supply. However, there are concerns regarding safety and waste that researchers are trying to overcome with new technology.
Recently China unveiled the world’s first “meltdown-proof” nuclear power plant.
So far, nuclear energy only accounts for 3.11 per cent of the country’s total power generation. But India aims to have nuclear power account for nearly 9 per cent of its electricity by 2047 and it is rapidly investing in the technology.
While presenting India’s latest annual budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament that nuclear energy would “form a very significant part of the energy mix” for India’s development.
The government plans to increase India’s nuclear power capacity from 6,780MW to 22,480MW by 2031. This will involve building 18 new reactors that can produce a total of 13.8GW of electricity. After PFBR, two more fast breeder reactors are in the pipeline.
Teenager among handful of people to survive brain-eating amoeba
A teenager from southern India is among a handful of people in the world to have survived a brain-eating amoeba that has already claimed three lives in the country.
Afnan Jasim, 14, from the coastal state of Kerala, was diagnosed with Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), a disease caused by an amoeba that invades the brain.
The Naegleria fowleri amoeba, commonly known as the brain-eating amoeba, is found in warm waters and only enters the body through the nose. Such cases are rare but cause a disease with a fatality rate exceeding 97 per cent.
There have been six known cases, including three deaths, from the disease in Kerala alone this year.
Just eight other people are known to have survived the disease across four countries: Australia, the US, Mexico, and Pakistan, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The symptoms of PAM are headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, disorientation, a stiff neck, a loss of balance, seizures and/or hallucinations.
Afnan likely got infected in June after he went for a swim in a local pond with his friends in his hometown in Kozhikode district and began experiencing the symptoms five days later.
He began complaining of seizures and severe headaches before his parents took him to a doctor but his condition did not improve.
It was partly due to his father MK Siddiqui that his symptoms were linked to the disease after he chanced upon the information on PAM while reading about the Nipah virus that has caused a state-wide health alert.
Mr Siddiqui said he was reading about the Nipah virus that was behind the death of a teenager in the state when he read about the brain-eating amoeba.
“While scrolling through social media, I came across news about a brain-eating amoeba and how children swimming in ponds were getting infected. Also, no one in the family has any history of epilepsy. So I told the doctor that my son swam in a local pond four days ago, the doctor took note,” Mr Siddique told The Indian Express.
He took his son to Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode after the seizures didn’t stop and was treated by Dr Abdul Rauf.
Dr Raul told BBC that the disease was diagnosed within 24 hours after the symptoms began.
The deadly amoeba thrives in warm freshwater and infects humans through the nose. After reaching the brain the amoeba causes inflammation and destruction of the brain tissue, making it crucial to diagnose and treat it early.
Studies carried out by the CDC on brain-eating amoeba suggest climate change could be behind a number of cases in northern US states.
Julia Haston, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC, previously told NBC News that rising air and water temperatures may be having an impact.
Dr Rauf said they have informed the government to issue a public health advisory and launch awareness campaigns.
The surge in incidents has forced the state health minister Veena George to order the first batch of miltefosine – a medicine used to treat such cases and is not easily available in India.
“It is the first time that medicine for this disease has been sourced from abroad. Additional batches of Miltefosine will arrive in the coming days,” she said in a statement.
Australians dazzled by southern lights after powerful solar storm
Australians were treated to a dazzling display of southern lights on Tuesday following a powerful geomagnetic storm – and they may see more spectacular auroras tonight.
Auroras are caused when charged particles expelled from the Sun’s corona, known as coronal mass ejections, interact with the Earth’s magnetic field.
Since the Earth’s magnetic field is stronger near the poles, auroras are seen more distinctly in the skies above higher and lower latitudes.
The phenomenon is known as aurora australis in the southern hemisphere and aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere.
Australians took to social media to share pictures of the sky as pink, purple, yellow, and green lights sparkled in the dark.
Geomagnetic storms that cause auroras are denoted by the letter G and rated from 1 to 5, with 1 a minor event and 5 an extreme one.
G2 and G3 storms can interfere with power grids and lead to voltage fluctuations and solar storms of longer duration may even cause damage to transformers.
Tuesday’s aurora was the most vivid since May, when skygazers at even mid-latitudes could see the northern lights due to an intense solar storm.
Australian minister Julie Collins shared a photo of the aurora on X glowing in yellow and gold colour.
“Even the aurora australis last night turned out in green and gold for our Olympians!” Ms Collins said.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said geomagnetic activity could make auroras visible in the country’s southern states from 29 to 31 July.
“Several coronal mass ejections may impact Earth within the next 24 hours, possibly causing G1 and G2 geomagnetic storming with a slight chance for G3,” the agency said.
“If geomagnetic activity does eventuate, aurora may be visible during local nighttime hours in Tasmania and southern Victoria on 31 July.”
Auroras could also be seen in the skies above Australia on 1 August, the bureau said, but at a “reduced probability”.
People in New South Wales and Western Australia, however, may miss out on the spectacle due to cloudy conditions, the agency said.
Young people struggle to rebuild their lives after Beijing’s crackdown
After spending five months in jail for publishing seditious Instagram posts, Joker Chan returned to a harsh reality.
Chan, 30, was sentenced in 2022 for posts containing slogans like “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” which were popularly chanted during massive anti-government protests in the city in 2019. Authorities said such slogans could imply separating Hong Kong from China — a red line for Beijing.
Upon his release, Chan’s criminal record barred him from returning to the hotel industry, where he previously worked as a chef. Tattoos on his arms, legs and the sides of his neck — some related to the protests — made his job search more difficult. Now, he works as a part-time waiter, earning about half of what he used to make.
Some of his friends severed ties with him, fearing their association might lead to police investigations. His family also expressed disappointment in him, and when he went out with other former protesters they asked him whether he planned to stir trouble.
“I felt helpless. I can’t understand this,” he said, wearing a black t-shirt that read “I am Hongkonger” and with a tattoo of his inmate number on his arm.
Five years after the protests erupted, the lives of some young people who were jailed or arrested during Beijing’s political crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement remain in limbo. Unlike famed activists, these former protesters usually receive little attention from most of the city, even though their activism for the same democratic goals has exacted a similarly heavy toll.
Since the protests broke out five years ago, more than 10,200 people have been arrested in connection with the often-violent social unrest sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill, which would have allowed suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China. According to police, about one-fifth of them have faced or were facing “legal consequences” as of the end of May.
The government crackdown expanded after Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 and the enactment of similar, home-grown legislation in March. About 300 others were arrested under the two security laws and other offenses linked to endangering national security as of June, with half of them already convicted by courts, the city’s security bureau said.
Chan fought for a more democratic Hong Kong, a goal that many in the city have yearned for since the former British colony returned to China in 1997. Reflecting on his actions, Chan said he would have been more cautious if he could go back in time, but he doesn’t regret what he did.
“Regret can lead you to overturn what you originally firmly stood for,” he said.
Chan was an exception in agreeing for his full name to be published in this article. Two other interviewees The Associated Press spoke with asked to be identified only by partial names over fears of government retribution.
Another former inmate, also surnamed Chan, said he panicked every time he saw police on the streets after he finished serving his sentence in 2022, worrying he would be arrested again. Chan, who is in his 20s, refused to provide more details about his prosecution since he feared being identified by authorities.
Before he landed his current job in the creative industry, he sent applications to about 40 companies seeking employment, with only a handful offering him an interview. He said one interviewer was concerned that convicted people like him could affect their corporate image.
Even when he secured a position at another firm, he said he was treated unfairly by former pro-China colleagues. He said they also did not allow him to work on certain projects.
“Some (who were jailed) for political cases like me, when released, are treated as pariahs in society in a hidden manner,” he said.
Others who did not go to jail have also lived in fear for years. Nick, a former protester who was arrested in 2019, said he didn’t know for years whether he would be charged until police this year confirmed they had dropped his case.
Brandon Yau, secretary of the prisoners’ support group Waiting Bird, said while some former inmates could return to the industries they previously worked in, many teachers, medical professionals and social workers — whose positions are linked to a license or public sector organizations — face greater challenges in returning to their old sectors.
Convicted students who were formerly jailed are concerned about whether schools will accept them. Some institutions have been unsupportive of their students after they were arrested, Yau said.
According to his group, many of the hundreds of convicts they supported are expected to be released in the next two years. Yau said the city should plan for ways to accommodate them.
Official data show hundreds of people were sent to correctional services facilities each year over offenses linked to the protests or for allegedly endangering national security between 2020 and 2023. By the end of 2023, about 780 people were in custody for such offenses, up nearly 50% from a year earlier.
Hong Kong’s security minister Chris Tang previously said many young people who were jailed over civil disturbances were influenced or incited by others and went astray. He said local society won’t give up on them as long as they “genuinely” want to turn over a new leaf.
But critics say Tang’s remarks overlook the deeper grievances and aspirations that drove young people to protest five years ago.
Paul Yip, a professor at The University of Hong Kong’s department of social work and social administration, said local employers were becoming more accepting of these young people, possibly after seeing former inmates perform well in their jobs.
Yip, also the director of a suicide prevention research center, said the young people he hired were enthusiastic about their future and usually had a strong sense of responsibility.
He said it is important to help such people get back on track.
“We say young people are our future. They are the young people. If you don’t give them a future, then how will we have a future?” he said.
Australia first country to offer babies peanut allergy treatment
Australia has become the first country to offer oral immunotherapy treatment to babies with peanut allergies in an effort to build immunity.
Ten paediatric hospitals in five states have partnered with the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, or NACE, to run a nationwide peanut oral immunotherapy programme.
Allergic babies will be given small daily doses of peanut powder for two years under supervision and doses will be increased over time to reduce sensitivity to peanuts, officials said on Wednesday.
It is the first national peanut allergy treatment programme outside of a clinical trial, said Kirsten Perrett, head of oral immunotherapy at NACE.
“Ultimately we want to change the trajectory of allergic disease in Australia so more children can go to school without the risk of a life-threatening peanut reaction,” Ms Perrett was quoted as saying by the ABC.
She said the children will be followed in routine clinical care for at least 12 months to evaluate the quality of life and longterm outcomes. A food allergy test will be conducted at the end of the two years to determine if the treatment led to a remission.
Tim Brettig, head of the programme, said peanut powder is introduced to the babies with other food in a small amount.
“Under supervision, each child has increases in dose each month at a level that should not cause a reaction for that child,” he told the ABC.
“Eventually they will reach a maintenance dose, where they will then stay and continue this dose for up to two years before stopping to see if this treatment has been effective.”
The free programme however is only available to children under 12 months diagnosed with a peanut allergy and receiving care from an allergist at one of the participating hospitals.
Three out of 100 Australian children develop a peanut allergy before turning one and only about 20 per cent outgrow their allergy by teenage, according to government data.
Assistant minister for health Ged Kearney described the programme as a big step towards combating peanut allergies.
“This new model of care might be the gamechanger we have all wanted to stop this terrible allergy in its tracks,” the minister said.
A nine-month-old baby enrolled in the programme developed hives after having peanut butter at six months old.
“We are taking part in the programme to try and improve his chance of being able to safely eat peanuts in the future,” the baby’s mother Kirsten Chatwin said.
“Many families are desperate to protect their children from allergic reactions and anaphylaxis. To have this programme available and free at public hospitals is a gamechanger.”
The 1975 sued by Malaysian festival for $2.4m over kissing controversy
The 1975 have been sued by organizers of Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival after frontman Matty Healy protested the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws by kissing bassist Ross MacDonald during their performance last July.
The band’s members are also individually named in the suit, which seeks damages of $2.4m (£1.9m) because the band’s actions led to the festival being shut down.
In court documents filed in the UK High Court and seen by Variety, festival organizers Future Sound Asia claim that The 1975 and their management team had been made aware of various restrictions surrounding the performance.
The band had previously performed at the festival in 2016, and organizers say they were repeatedly reminded of restrictions around swearing, smoking, drinking alcohol on stage, removing clothes and discussing politics or religion.
The organizers also maintain that the band was aware of specific rules issued by the Malaysia Central Agency for the Application for Foreign Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (PUSPAL) that prohibit “kissing, kissing a member of the audience or carrying out such actions among themselves.”
They say that the band was paid $350,000 to perform and agreed to abide by these rules.
The lawsuit also states that PUSPAL had at first rejected the band’s application to perform in Malaysia in 2023 due to a 2018 article about Matty Healy’s past drug addiction. The band was able to overturn the decision after an appeal by promising that Healy would follow “all local guidelines and regulations.”
The suit goes on to claim that the band decided the night before the festival that they would not perform, then changed their mind and went ahead with “a completely different setlist” while acting “in way that were intended to breach the Guidelines”.
This included Healy making a “provocative speech” denouncing the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and taking part in a “long pretend passionate embrace” with MacDonald “with the intention of causing offence and breaching the regulations and the terms of the agreement.”
The 1975’s performance was cut short, and the following day the organizers’ license was revoked. The remaining two days of the music festival, which had been set to include a performance by The Strokes, were canceled.
At the time, Malaysia’s government called the band “extremely rude” and added that they would not be permitted to perform in the country again.
Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil tweeted that the government had “called the organisers” of the festival before it was then cancelled outright.
Healy poked fun at the controversy on his Instagram Stories after sharing Good Vibes Festival’s cancellation statement.
The singer added: “Ok well why don’t you try and not make out for Ross for 20 years. Not as easy as it looks.”
The Independent has approached the 1975 for comment.
Why do trains keep getting derailed in India?
Two people were killed and 20 injured after a passenger train derailed in eastern India on Tuesday, the latest in a series of railway accidents that has caused widespread safety concerns.
The train from Howrah in east India was on its way to Mumbai on the west coast when 22 of its coaches came off the rails at Barabamboo in Jharkhand state at around 3.45am local time on Tuesday.
Railway authorities are investigating the latest accident amid conflicting news reports about a collision.
“Two passengers died. Their bodies were recovered from the bathrooms after a coach was cut with gas cutters,” Prabhat Kumar Badiyar, a senior local administrative official, was quoted as saying by the daily Hindustan Times.
“The Howrah Mumbai Mail rammed a goods train from behind and about a dozen of its coaches derailed. A rescue operation is ongoing,” he said.
The Indian Express, however, quoted an anonymous railway official as saying that “there was no collision”.
“The derailment could be due to an operational error or some mechanical failure of the tracks, wheels. All possible angles are being investigated,” the official told the paper.
A series of deadly train collisions and derailments has caused widespread safety concerns in the country and prompted opposition leaders to accuse the Narendra Modi government of misgovernance.
Tuesday’s was the second fatal railway accident in northern India in July. At least four people were killed and 20 injured on 18 July when a train derailed in Uttar Pradesh. Ten people were killed last month when a freight train rammed into a stationary passenger train in the eastern state of West Bengal.
And in one of the country’s deadliest train accidents, over 280 people were killed in eastern Odisha state last year.
Calling the latest tragedy a “disastrous rail accident”, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked, “Is this governance?”
“This series of nightmares almost every week, this unending procession of deaths and injuries on railway tracks, for how long shall we tolerate this?” she asked.
“Will there be no end to the callousness of the government of India? My heart goes out to the bereaved families, condolences to the next of kin.”
The main opposition Congress party issued sharp criticism of federal railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said the “fail minister” has “overseen three accidents” since June resulting in 17 deaths, yet there is “no accountability”.
India’s railway network is undergoing a £24bn transformation with new trains and modern stations under Mr Modi’s push to boost infrastructure and connectivity, Mr Vaishnaw said while presenting the new rail budget on 23 July, adding that nearly £10bn will be spent to enhance the safety of the national carrier.
But despite such efforts to upgrade infrastructure, former Railway Board chairman Vivek Sahai told the BBC, derailment remains a “bugbear”.
According to a report by the Commission of Railway Safety, the number of railway accidents increased from 35 in 2021-22 to 48 in 2022-23, with serious accidents doubling in successive years.
From 2013-14 to 2019-20 in contrast, there was “a declining trend” in railway accidents.
The report noted that derailments caused the majority of the accidents, accounting for 75 per cent of the total in 2022-23 and over 77 per cent in 2021-22. Collision and fire were the next biggest causes.
Train derailment could be caused by an ill-maintained track or “a coach could be faulty or there could be an error in driving”, Mr Sahai said after the Odisha accident.
According to Hindustan Times, derailments mostly occur due to “rail fractures” from expansion or contraction during extreme summer or winter conditions. “While technology and funding issues are there, the big problem is that adequate time to carry out routine maintenance of tracks is never available as drivers are under stress to run more trains in lesser time,” Sanjay Pandhi, of the Indian Railways Loco Running Men Organisation, told the daily in 2016.
Swapnil Garg, professor of strategy management at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, however, told IndiaSpend that “one particular incident cannot cause a derailment”.
“It has to be a combination of three, four or five different mistakes before a derailment happens,” he said.
“When there is a signalling failure, mechanical failures and civil engineering failures, we find that these collectively result in a derailment.”