International

Thousands of Indian farmers packed their belongings and dismantled tent cities on the outskirts of Delhi yesterday as they headed home following a year-long protest against the government’s agriculture policies. In a rare retreat last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced and pushed through parliament the repeal of three contentious laws that farmers claimed would let private companies control the country’s agriculture sector. Hundreds of farmers danced and celebrated the victory early yesterday as they began removing roadblocks and dismantling thousands of makeshift homes along major highways. They lit firecrackers, hugged each other and distributed sweets as blaring loudspeakers played patriotic and revolutionary songs dedicated to the agitation. At Singhu, one of the protest sites, long queues of lorries and tractors packed the highway heading north into their home states of Haryana and Punjab. Farmers in India have political heft due to their sheer numbers — tens of thousands had camped out since November 2020 to protest against the laws in the biggest challenge to the Modi government since it came to power in 2014. “We were determined to protest as long as it had taken. But all of us are happy that the government accepted our demands and we are going back to our homes,” Sativinder Singh, one of the Singhu protesters, told AFP. “It is a big day for the farmers as we can peacefully go back to our homes,” he said. Protesters had initially refused to leave the sites despite the repeal of the legislation, pressing other demands including a legal guarantee for minimum benchmark rates for their produce. Some Indian states and central government set minimum prices for crops every year but farmers have long demanded a law to ensure income stability. The government said it will form a commission on fixing minimum crop prices and promised to stop prosecuting farmers for burning stubble that is blamed for polluting Delhi’s air every winter. It also agreed to pay compensation to the families of more than 700 farmers who died during the demonstrations and withdraw criminal cases lodged against protesters during the year-long campaign. The three agricultural laws passed in September 2020 aimed to deregulate farm produce markets from state control and allow private companies to enter the sector — on which two-thirds of India’s more than 1.3 billion population rely for a living.

India has detected 25 cases of the emergent Omicron variant of the coronavirus and all have shown mild symptoms, the health ministry said yesterday, adding that there was no immediate plan to authorise vaccine boosters. Vaccine supplies have surged in India in recent months thanks to the Serum Institute of India (SII), which now plans to halve the monthly output of its version of the AstraZeneca vaccine as demand has crashed. The SII and other Indian drugmakers such as Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which distributes Russia’s Sputnik vaccine, have lobbied the government to approve booster shots in a bid to lift sales. Senior health official Vinod Kumar Paul told a news briefing that government experts were studying data on boosters but “our emphatic view...is to (first) cover every adult with (just) the primary two doses.” The government has said this target can be achieved by January. India has not considered authorising booster doses yet as many in the country have been naturally infected and the government believes two vaccine doses offer sufficient protection for now, three sources said late last month. Around 87% of India’s adults, estimated at 939mn people, have received at least one dose of a vaccine and 54% of them have received the full two. Inoculations for those under the age of 18 years have not started. Paul spoke after the World Health Organisation recommended that people with compromised immunity or those who received an inactivated vaccine should receive a booster. Inactivated vaccines, which use killed or inactivated coronavirus to induce immunity, is made by India’s Bharat Biotech and some Chinese companies. At 144mn doses, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin accounts for about 11% of the total vaccine doses administered in India. Many Indian healthcare workers received Covaxin early this year and some experts say they should soon be allowed to take a booster. India’s daily new Covid-19 cases have hovered around 10,000 for the past few weeks, taking the total to 34.67mn, more than 474,000 of whom have died. Most contracted the Delta variant, though Omicron has spread to five states after India’s first two cases were reported on December 2. “All detected cases have mild symptoms,” a health ministry statement said.

India’s top general, Bipin Rawat, was cremated in New Delhi yesterday with full military honours, including a 17-gun salute, two days after he and 12 others died in a helicopter crash in southern India. Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), who led one of the world’s largest armed forces, and his entourage had been flying to a hillside military college on Wednesday when their helicopter came down in heavy fog. Only one person survived the accident. The Indian Air Force has commissioned an inquiry into the incident. Hundreds of soldiers escorted the carriage bearing the 63-year-old general’s body on its final journey through India’s capital. A dozen senior military officers had earlier kept a vigil while his body lay in state at his home. Onlookers showered flowers on his coffin during the procession, and dozens holding the Indian flag ran alongside the carriage, some shouting “Hail mother India”. The bodies of Rawat, his wife and 11 defence personnel who also died in the crash were brought to New Delhi late on Thursday, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others laid wreathes before the flag-draped coffins.

The head of India's armed forces, General Bipin Rawat, was among 13 people killed on Wednesday when the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed, the air force said. They were en route from an air force base to a hillside military college in the southern state of Tamil Nadu when the Russian-made Mi-17V5 helicopter came down near the town of Coonoor. Firemen undertake rescue operation next to the debris Local television footage showed rescuers and army personnel carrying bodies up steep slopes from the mangled wreckage. Only one of the 14 people on board survived and was in hospital with injuries. "With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, (his wife) Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died," the Air Force said in a statement. Rawat, 63, was appointed as India's first Chief of Defence Staff by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in late 2019. The position was set up with the aim of integrating India's three military services - the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Firemen and rescue workers stand next to the debris of the crash site. Several of the bodies were badly burnt, two government sources said. "Some bodies were so charred that they could not be immediately identified," one of the sources said. Modi said he was deeply saddened by Rawat's death. "A true patriot, he greatly contributed to modernising our armed forces and security apparatus," the prime minister said. In a tweet, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called Rawat's death "an irreparable loss to our armed forces and the country." The Indian Air Force ordered an inquiry into the cause of the accident. India has dozens of Mi-17s in service. They are widely deployed to transport senior army personnel and government ministers. "This is a safe, proven helicopter, I have travelled on it in difficult situations," former army chief J.J.Singh said. An infantryman with over four decades of military service, Rawat served along India's border with China, the disputed Kashmir region and on a United Nations mission in Africa, before taking charge of the Indian army in late 2016. In New Delhi, Defence Minister Singh visited Rawat's official residence and the state broadcaster said Modi had summoned a meeting of the cabinet committee on security on Wednesday evening.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday lauded India as “a great power” in New Delhi as the traditional allies bolstered their military and energy ties, despite Washington’s increasing courtship of the world’s largest democracy. India confirmed that Russia this month began deliveries of its long-range S-400 ground-to-air missile defence system, which has prompted threats of US sanctions. A 10-year defence technical co-operation agreement and a one-year oil contract were among the deals signed as Putin held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was only Putin’s second trip abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began — he skipped both the G20 and COP26 summits this year — and comes after a June summit with US President Joe Biden in Geneva. “We perceive India as a great power, a friendly nation and a time-tested friend,” Putin said in the Indian capital alongside Modi. Russia has long been a key arms supplier to India, which is looking to modernise its armed forces, and the S-400 missile system is one of their most high-profile current contracts. “Supplies have begun this month and will continue,” Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said after the summit. The deal is worth over $5bn and was first signed in 2018, but it threatens to upend the burgeoning relationship between New Delhi and Washington. The US has warned of sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which is aimed at reining in Russia, and the state department said last week that no decisions had been made on any waivers for India. “Our Indian friends clearly explained that they are a sovereign country and that they will decide whose weapons to buy and who will be India’s partner,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday. India was close to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, a relationship that has endured, with both calling it a “special privileged strategic partnership”. Putin’s visit was “hugely symbolic”, said Nandan Unnikrishnan from the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think-tank. “There has been a lot of speculation about the nature of the India-Russia relationship and whether it is fraying because of Russia’s closeness with China and India’s with the US, but this visit puts all that to rest.” In its efforts to address a rising China, Washington has set up the QUAD security dialogue with India, Japan, and Australia, raising concerns in both Beijing and Moscow.

At least 14 tribal civilians and one security personnel were mistakenly killed when Indian forces opened indiscriminate fire in the remote northeastern state of Nagaland, government and military officials said on Sunday. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said he was "anguished" at the news of civilians being killed in the incident late on Saturday night. Nagaland's chief minister Neiphiu Rio told Reuters a probe will be conducted and the guilty punished in the incident, which he ascribed to intelligence failure. At least a dozen civilians and some members of the security forces were injured in the attack, said a federal defence ministry official based in New Delhi. Locals in Nagaland have frequently accused forces of wrongly targeting innocent locals in their counterinsurgency operations against rebel groups. The incident took place in and around Oting village in Mon district, bordering Myanmar, during a counterinsurgency operation conducted by members of the Assam Rifles, a part of Indian security forces deployment in the state, said a senior police official based in Nagaland. Firing began when a truck carrying 30 or more coal-mine labourers were passing the Assam Rifles camp area. "The troopers had intelligence inputs about some militant movement in the area and on seeing the truck they mistook the miners to be rebels and opened fire killing six labourers," the senior police official told Reuters, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak with journalists. "After the news of firing spread in the village, hundreds of tribal people surrounded the camp. They burnt Assam Rifles vehicles and clashed with the troopers using crude weapons," he said. Members of the Assam Rifles retaliated, and in the second attack eight more civilians and a security member were among those killed, the official said. In recent years India has tried to persuade Myanmar to evict rebels from bases in the thick jungles of the region, which borders Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

India expects the Omicron variant of coronavirus to cause less severe disease, the health ministry said yesterday, thanks to vaccinations and high prior exposure to the Delta variant that infected nearly 70% of the population by July. Junior doctors protested to demand that staff numbers be beefed up, warning of a disastrous situation if the new variant overwhelmed healthcare facilities, although nearly half of India’s 944mn adults have been fully vaccinated. As many as 84% have received at least one dose, with more than 125mn people due for a second by the end of November, as the government pushes more to get inoculated in the face of Omicron. “Given the fast pace of vaccination in India and high exposure to Delta variant...the severity of the disease is anticipated to be low,” the ministry said in a statement. “However, scientific evidence is still evolving.” Both of India’s first two Omicron patients, reported on Thursday, showed mild symptoms, the ministry added. But concern over the prospect of a third wave of infections has grown after the variant was found in the southern state of Karnataka, in one person with no recent travel history. The ministry told parliament its immunisation experts were weighing the need for booster doses, after many lawmakers demanded a third shot for healthcare workers and the vulnerable. It added that discussions on vaccinating the 145mn children aged between 12 and 17 were underway. New cases have plateaued at about 10,000 in the last few weeks after hospitals and health care facilities were swamped in April and May by a record second surge of infections and deaths unleashed by the Delta variant. New Covid-19 infections stood at 9,216 yesterday, as some resident doctors kept away from non-critical work to press a demand to add staff by enrolling new post-graduate students. “We want justice,” shouted some students holding a protest at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the capital, while placards nearby read, “We are human, not robot.” An aide to Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Healthcare institutions across the nation are running short of adequate workforce of resident doctors,” a national grouping of such doctors at dozens of government hospitals told the minister in a letter. “With the possibility of a future Covid-19 pandemic wave looming large, the situation will be disastrous.” The government has had to delay student admissions over legal disputes on issues such as reserving places for poor applicants. India has one of the world’s worst doctor-to-patient ratios, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said it will turn out more doctors in the next decade or so than during the first 70 years since independence from Britain. India’s tally of Covid-19 infections is 34.62mn, government figures show, with the death toll rising 391 yesterday to 470,115.

India reported its first two cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant yesterday but the government said it had no immediate plan to authorise booster vaccine shots despite demands from lawmakers. The federal health ministry said two male patients with the new strain, aged 66 and 46 years, had shown mild symptoms. The health minister of the southern state of Karnataka, where the cases were detected, said the first person, a South African national, spent a week in India and left last Saturday after testing negative. More than 250 of his contacts have tested negative. The second one, an Indian physician, had no recent travel history, minister Sudhakar K told reporters. Both are fully vaccinated. Five more contacts of the doctor, who isolated himself on November 23 after feeling unwell, have also tested positive and their samples were being investigated to determine the variant. India has yet to impose new blanket international travel bans but on Monday the health ministry ordered all inbound travellers from “countries at-risk” to undergo mandatory post-arrival Covid testing, along with the random testing of other international arrivals. The nation’s biggest city Mumbai on Wednesday imposed mandatory seven-day quarantines for all passengers arriving from at-risk countries. India, which suffered a record surge in infections and deaths in April and May due to the Delta variant, has fully vaccinated just 49% of its 944mn adults despite having ample supplies of domestically made shots. About 84% have received at least one dose, while those under 18 have yet to be inoculated. Gautam Menon, a professor at India’s Ashoka University who has worked on Covid-19 modelling, said it was likely the Omicron variant entered India before it was first reported in South Africa, “since there were some delays in testing samples”. Several lawmakers urged the government yesterday to consider boosters for healthcare workers and the vulnerable, given that states had a stockpile of nearly 230mn vaccine doses. But health officials reiterated the priority was to fully inoculate all adults first. “We must not deviate from our goal of administering two doses in each eligible individual,” said senior health official Vinod Kumar Paul, adding there was no plan to shorten the duration between two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. There were 9,765 new cases in India yesterday, taking the total to 34.61mn. Deaths rose by 477 to 469,724.

India's union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Tuesday that the Omicron variant does show up on RT-PCR and RAT testing, and advised the country's states to ramp up diagnostics for early identification. All samples that test positive for Covid-19 are to be "promptly" sent for genome sequencing, Bhushan said in a meeting with state and union territory representatives to review the variant.

Malabar Gold and Diamonds launched its flagship store in Somajiguda, Hyderabad, India on Saturday. The store was inaugurated by Mohamed Mahmood Ali Gaaru, Minister for Home, Prisons & Fire Services, government of Telangana, in the presence of key Malabar Gold & Diamonds dignitaries, including Malabar Group chairman M P Ahammed, co-chairman Dr P A Ibrahim Haji, vice-chairman K P Abdul Salam, managing director - International Operations Shamlal Ahamed and managing director - India Operations O Asher, along with customers and well-wishers. The new store has been positioned as the "first-of-its-kind" large-format Artistry Concept Store from Malabar Gold & Diamonds. It offers a unique jewellery shopping experience that celebrates the art and history of the city with specially curated designs, a press statement notes. Spread across 25,000sqft, the most distinguishing aspect of the Malabar Gold & Diamonds Artistry Store is the availability of the "widest range" of jewellery designs across gold, diamond, platinum and silver with particular focus on craftsmanship. An expansive range of collections suitable for the city’s diverse communities and customs has been made available so as to cater to every need of customers. An array of lightweight designs as well as an extensive range of studded and precious jewellery have also been curated for this purpose. The store features an exclusive wedding arena for prospective brides and personalised lounges for privileged customers. It also offers "best-in-class" personalised services, including the assistance of solitaire experts and personal shoppers, for an enhanced shopping experience. Digital screens and endless aisle facilities contribute to the superior store ambience and provide an omnichannel experience to the customer. Additionally, the store boasts of one of the largest parking facilities among all jewellery stores in the city. Malabar Group chairman Ahammed said, "The first Malabar Gold & Diamonds Artistry Store aims to provide an unparalleled selection of jewellery for every occasion, for customers from all walks of life. The people of Hyderabad are sure to love the luxurious experience of our flagship store and our specially curated designs that brings the city’s varied culture and artistry to life. We are grateful to the city and its people for allowing us the privilege of being part of their vibrant culture and auspicious occasions." The inauguration of the Malabar Gold & Diamonds Artistry Store in Hyderabad further boosts the company’s retail presence in the state and is in line with the expansion strategy of the group. The brand has also released a television advertisement featuring its brand ambassador, Tamanna Bhatia, to showcase the Artistry Store's varied offerings. Recently, the company had also announced an investment of Rs7.5bn to establish its first gold refinery in India in Telangana, alongside its most renowned gold and diamond manufacturing unit in Hyderabad, which will generate at least 2,500 jobs in the state. The Artistry Store is the first initiative of the brand as part of the proposed investment. As a part of the group’s CSR initiative, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has kept aside 5% of the profit earned by the Somajiguda showroom for various charitable and philanthropic activities in the region.    

A lovestruck and historically minded Indian husband has emulated the world’s most famous display of marital devotion by building for his wife a replica of the Taj Mahal. The original ‘Monument to Love’ was constructed on the orders of heartbroken Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz, in the 17th century. Anand Prakash Chouksey’s beloved remains very much alive, and even helped consult on the project and his version of the marble wonder of the world, around one-third the size of the original. “My wife’s only demand was for a meditation room. She’s a spiritual woman,” the 52-year-old businessman said. “She says the dome creates a different environment and there is a lot of positive energy.” The original Taj Mahal - dubbed a “teardrop on the cheek of time” by writer Rabindranath Tagore - is in Agra south of Delhi, however the new replica is 800km away in Burhanpur. But the central Indian city is none other than the place where Mumtaz died while giving birth to her 14th child in June 1632, having accompanied Shah Jahan to quell a local revolt. Mumtaz’s body was even initially buried there too, and according to locals Shah Jahan had at first wanted to build the Taj Mahal for her on the banks of the river Tapti. “The soil structure back then was not suitable to build the Taj here that’s how it was decided to be built in Agra,” Chouksey explained. The city is still home to the dilapidated remains of the palace where the royals lived, including a once-beautiful hammam or bathhouse built by Shah Jahan for his wife to relax in before she died. Chouksey’s story has none of the tragedy and building his new home has taken him three years — a dozen less than the mausoleum that inspired it. It cost Rs15mn ($200,000) to build. “We used marble from Makrana to build the house, which is the same that was used to build the Taj Mahal,” he said. Chouksey plans to mount an Indian flag on top of the main dome and add symbols from India’s most popular religions to the four minarets surrounding his new manor. “We want to send a message of peace and religious harmony. There is a lot of hate around. Love solves all problems in life and Taj Mahal is a symbol of that.”

India yesterday said it will resume international passenger flights from mid-December with Covid-19 linked curbs for “at risk” countries, and ordered tightened screening at borders as fears over a new coronavirus variant spread globally. The federal health ministry said reports of mutations in the variant, identified as B.1.1.529, had “serious public health implications”, and asked states to adopt rigorous screening and testing for all passengers from South Africa and other “at risk” countries. “This variant is reported to have a significantly high number of mutations, and thus, has serious public health implications for the country in view of recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening up of international travel,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states. But India’s civil aviation ministry said it had decided to let airlines resume scheduled international flights from December 15, lifting a nearly two-year-old ban imposed to stem the spread of Covid-19. The resumption of flights would be based on the coronavirus risk levels of individual countries, according to a formal government order. Some countries in Europe and Asia have rushed to tighten border controls and restrict travel because of the new variant. India’s foreign ministry said there was no immediate information on steps the government was taking. “This is a developing incident,” foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi told a news conference. The federal health ministry did not respond to  request for further comment. The UK Health Security Agency yesterday said the new variant has a spike protein that was dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that Covid-19 vaccines are based and could make existing vaccines less effective. Britain has banned flights from six African countries, and asked returning British travellers from those destinations to quarantine. India, the world’s second-worst affected country by Covid-19, posted the smallest rise in new cases in one-and-a-half years this week, due to increased vaccinations and antibodies in a large section of its population from previous infections. Its total cases of coronavirus reached 34.56mn yesterday. India’s daily caseload has halved since September and it reported 10,549 new cases on Friday. Earlier this month, India identified 10 countries “at risk” including Europe, China, South Africa, and New Zealand, among others, and has opened its borders to 99 countries overall. Indian shares fell more than 2% yesterday, in line with declines in markets across Asia as investors fled risky assets panicking over the potential impact of the new variant. Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine maker, yesterday said it had shipped the first batch of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot to the Covax vaccine-sharing platform after an eight-month hiatus. India in March put a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca shot made by the family-run firm to inoculate its citizens during a devastating surge in Covid-19 cases. The resumption came after SII exceeded its original target to produce 1bn doses of the vaccine branded as Covishield by the end of the year, the company said in a statement. It has produced more than 1.25bn doses so far. SII said its supply of doses through Covax was expected to increase substantially into the first quarter of 2022.

The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday said the scheduled international flights to and from India and "not at-risk" countries will be resumed from 15 December. As per this announcement, 14 countries are barred in light of the new Covid-19 strain as well as rising infection rates in these countries. The nations, which do not feature on the list, include the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Singapore. The decision has been reportedly taken in consultation with the Union Health Ministry, a circular issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation dated November 26 said. Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020 due to the spread of Covid-19. However, special international passenger flights have been operating since July last year under air bubble arrangements formed with approximately 28 countries.

A lovestruck and historically minded Indian husband has emulated the world's most famous display of marital devotion by building for his wife a replica of the Taj Mahal. The original "Monument to Love" was constructed on the orders of heartbroken Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz, in the 17th century. Anand Prakash Chouksey's beloved remains very much alive, and even helped consult on the project and his version of the marble wonder of the world, around one-third the size of the original. An aerial view of the replica of the Taj Mahal "My wife's only demand was for a meditation room. She's a spiritual woman," the 52-year-old businessman told AFP. "She says the dome creates a different environment and there is a lot of positive energy." The original Taj Mahal -- dubbed a "teardrop on the cheek of time" by writer Rabindranath Tagore -- is in Agra south of Delhi, however the new replica is 800 kilometres away in Burhanpur. But the central Indian city is none other than the place where Mumtaz died while giving birth to her 14th child in June 1632, having accompanied Shah Jahan to quell a local revolt. Mumtaz's body was even initially buried there too, and according to locals Shah Jahan had at first wanted to build the Taj Mahal for her on the banks of the river Tapti. "The soil structure back then was not suitable to build the Taj here that's how it was decided to be built in Agra," Chouksey explained. The city is still home to the dilapidated remains of the palace where the royals lived, including a once-beautiful hammam or bathhouse built by Shah Jahan for his wife to relax in before she died. Chouksey's story has none of the tragedy and building his new home has taken him three years -- a dozen less than the mausoleum that inspired it. It cost 15 million rupees ($200,000) to build. "We used marble from Makrana to build the house, which is the same that was used to build the Taj Mahal," he said. Chouksey plans to mount an Indian flag on top of the main dome and add symbols from India's most popular religions to the four minarets surrounding his new manor. "We want to send a message of peace and religious harmony. There is a lot of hate around. Love solves all problems in life and Taj Mahal is a symbol of that."

Tens of thousands of Indian farmers marched overnight to reinforce protesting colleagues camping on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi to mark a year of sustained demonstrations against three farm laws introduced last year. Seeking to end the longest-running farmers' protest that galvanised growers across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week bowed to the protesters' demand to repeal the controversial laws introduced in September 2020. Modi, striking a conciliatory note, promised his government would repeal the laws in the new session of parliament, starting next week. Farmers celebrated the retreat but said the protest would only be called off when parliament repealed the laws and the government promised legislation that would ensure state-set Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all produce, not just rice and wheat. "Farmers from across the country have reached the campsites to celebrate one year of our historic protest," said Rakesh Tikait, a prominent leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union, one of the largest farmers' unions. "We thank the government for its decision to repeal the laws, but our protest will continue until there's a decision on MSPs for all crops. We also demand a committee that should look into our other demands like taking back legal cases against the farmers." Currently, the government mainly buys rice and wheat at MSPs, but the safety net benefits barely cover 6% of India's millions of farmers. Tikait said nearly 700 farmers lost their lives during the protest and the government must announce compensations for their families. Tens of thousands of protesters, including many elderly growers and women farmers, have been sitting in encampments for the last one year, braving a scorching summer, frigid winter and severe second wave of coronavirus infections. Over the months, the main protest sites have come to resemble semi-permanent settlements, replete with community kitchens, barbershops and a reasonably well equipped hospital with an onsite doctor.

An alarming fall in testing for Covid-19 threatens to undermine India’s efforts to contain the pandemic, the federal health ministry said yesterday in a letter to state governments, as worries grew over fresh waves of infection abroad. India yesterday reported 9,283 new Covid-19 cases, a day after recording 7,579 infections — the lowest in 543 days. But testing has hovered around 1mn per day for the past few weeks, less than half the capacity. “In the absence of sustained levels of sufficient testing, it is very difficult to determine the true level of infection spread in a geography,” Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter sent to the northeastern state of Nagaland, which has reduced testing by more than a third in two months. “With a majority of countries seeing multiple surges in Covid cases in recent times and a few developed countries facing even fourth and fifth waves despite high levels of Covid vaccination, there is a need for continued vigil given the unpredictable and contagious nature of the disease.” The ministry delivered the same warning to other states, though each letter contained observations specific to the various states’ circumstances. India has so far reported 34.5mn infections. The United States has the only higher total number of cases. Deaths in India rose by 437 yesterday to 466,584. Health workers have started a door-to-door vaccination campaign in India as tens of millions of Indians have not taken their second dose by the due date. India has so far administered 1.18bn vaccine doses — at least one dose in 82% of its 944mn adults and two in 44%.

A pandemic-spurred demand for flu vaccines in India has surged since a devastating second wave of Covid-19 brought the nation’s healthcare system to its knees earlier this year. Vaccinations against influenza are not very common in India due to a lack of awareness, access and steep prices, and they are also not part of the federal government’s universal immunisation programme that includes polio, tuberculosis and Hepatitis B. Still, more than 1,000 shots were administered at Manipal Hospital’s sites in the tech hub of Bengaluru in southern India between July and September, compared with about 3,000 for all of last year, according to the healthcare provider. “Initially, everyone thought if you got flu vaccines, Covid-19 won’t affect you severely,” said Dr Ram Shankar Mishra, director of internal medicine at the Max Super Specialty Hospital, Saket, in the national capital of New Delhi. Mishra added demand has increased, even as Covid-19 vaccinations gather pace. Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare are also witnessing higher demand for flu shots, including Abbott India’s imported vaccine, Influvac, the private hospital operators told Reuters.Sales in its vaccine unit rose 42.3% in the financial year ended March, largely due to the influenza prevention shot, Abbott India disclosed in its annual report. Delhi resident Deepak Kapoor, 40, said he got both his children, aged 10 years and aged 8 months, a flu vaccine.

Flushed with victory after Prime Minister Narendra Modi caved into demands for agricultural reform laws to be repealed, Indian farmers held a mass rally yesterday to demand minimum support prices be extended to all produce, not just rice and wheat. The protest movement launched by farmers more than a year ago became the most serious political challenge to the government, and resulted in Modi making a surprise commitment on Friday to roll back the reforms. Thousands gathered for the latest rally in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party will seek to hold onto power in state elections due early next year. They turned their attention to minimum support prices (MSP), which were a side issue in the agricultural reform laws. “Our battle is only half won,” Joginder Singh Ugrahan, a prominent farmers’ leader, said in an address to about 5,000 farmers waving flags of various farmer and labour organisations. “Ensuring that the government makes a law MSP is a big issue for all of us,” he said.”Our protests will end once the government passes the law on MSP.” Currently, the government mainly buys rice and wheat at minimum support prices or guaranteed prices, but the safety net benefits barely 6% of India’s millions of farmers. In a letter addressed to Modi on Sunday, the main farmers’ body said: “Minimum Support Price, based on the comprehensive cost of production, should be made a legal entitlement of all farmers (and) for all agricultural produce...” Farmers also asked in the letter for the federal government to withdraw a draft electricity bill, which they fear would lead to state governments withdrawing their right to free or subsidised power, used mainly for irrigation.

India is not considering authorising booster Covid-19 doses yet as many in the country have been naturally infected and the government believes two doses of a vaccine offers sufficient protection for now, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. As vaccine supplies have increased, some doctors and public health experts in India have urged the government to start a booster programme for the most vulnerable like many Western nations have done. But authorities will instead concentrate on having most of India’s 944mn adults complete a two-dose vaccination by January before shifting their focus to a big expansion in exports, said the sources who are involved in vaccine-policy discussions. So far, 81% of India’s adults have received at least one dose while 43% have had two doses. Vaccination for people under 18 has not yet begun. “The priority is to fully immunise the adult population,” said one of the sources. The sources declined to be named as the matter was still being discussed by policy makers. “A big majority has been naturally infected, and for them two doses are enough. That’s why we are seeing that even after recent festivals, cases are not rising.” The source said that once most adults have had two vaccine doses, the government could make boosters optional. The health ministry did not respond to a request for comment. India reported the most Covid-19 case and death figures in the world in April and May and government surveys have shown that nearly 70% of Indians were naturally infected by July. The country has so far logged 34.5mn infections — the most after the US — with more than 465,000 deaths. Many Western countries are expanding their booster programmes, even for people without compromised immunity — a policy which the World Health Organisation has heavily criticised. Indian vaccine companies like the Serum Institute of India, which produces licensed versions of the AstraZeneca and Novavax shots, expect the government to allow boosters some time early next year. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories says it is in talks with India’s drug regulator to sell Russia’s Sputnik Light as a booster dose. Indian states had more than 216mn vaccine doses in stock as of early yesterday.

At least 30 people are dead or missing after flash floods hit southern India, reports said Saturday, with three buses washed away in one incident. Rescue teams pulled out a dozen bodies after three buses were washed away in Andhra Pradesh state on Friday. At least 18 other people were still missing, media outlet The NewsMinute reported.   Analysts say unpredictable and extreme weather across South Asia is driven by climate change, exacerbated by damming, deforestation and excessive development.  Dozens have died since October in India after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, and the country’s Met office said more heavy rains were expected in several southern areas on Saturday.  At least 42 people were killed last month when heavy rains pummelled Kerala, and on Friday authorities in the state halted entry to Sabarimala, one of Hinduism's holiest shrines, due to heavy rains in the area.  Hundreds of devotees have been making the trek to Sabarimala since the shrine opened last week for the annual two-month-long pilgrimage season.  Rising water levels in the Pamba river, considered holy by the pilgrims, forced officials to stop devotees for a day, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported Saturday.