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Indian paramilitaries shot dead a civilian in Kashmir yesterday, residents said, as authorities tightened security across the territory for a visit by a top Indian minister. The victim, a milk seller in the southern Kashmir Valley, is the 12th civilian killed by militants or security forces this month as attacks increase in the region. New Delhi has about 500,000 troops and paramilitaries in Kashmir seeking to contain a rebel movement agitating for independence or the region’s merger with Pakistan. Police said the man was hit in “crossfire” during “militant action” near a police paramilitary camp in the village of Zainapora and that the incident was being investigated. Villagers said the man had been fatally shot without provocation. Amit Shah, India’s home minister and effective deputy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been in Kashmir since Saturday, adding to security concerns. It is Shah’s first trip to the region since New Delhi cancelled Kashmir’s semi-autonomy in August 2019 and placed it under direct rule. His visit follows a series of targeted killings by militants, with minority Hindus and Sikhs as well as migrant workers from elsewhere in India the main targets. Sandbag bunkers have been erected across Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar and snipers positioned on rooftops around the building where Shah is staying. Police have in recent days impounded hundreds of motorbikes in the city and intensified checks on pedestrians including women and children. Motorbikes have been used for drive-by killings. India’s chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat said security monitoring was being intensified to thwart attacks by rebels.

Cinemas began re-opening in movie-mad Mumbai yesterday, the home of Bollywood, with theatres in India’s tinseltown pinning their hopes on blockbuster releases from next month to pull back in the crowds. The pandemic torpedoed the industry worldwide but films have a special place in Indian culture. Lockdowns and a devastating surge in coronavirus cases in April and May kept Indians away from the silver screen, putting dozens of small cinemas out of business and squeezing production firms hard. Many Indians turned instead to streaming platforms such as Netflix, which saw a boom in subscribers and hosted the releases of some new Bollywood films. Yesterday, only a few cinemas took advantage of being allowed to open, showing older pictures as well as the new James Bond and US superhero caper “Venom”, and punters were few and far between. “I am an avid cinema enthusiast and I have been waiting for this day for a long time. The last movie I saw was in 2019, before the pandemic began. I am too excited to be back,” said Smer Sagar, 18, fresh from seeing No Time to Die. The industry is hoping that a string of new big-budget flicks — some made months ago but unreleased — will bring back the good times. The massive backlog will begin screening from Diwali weekend in early November with Sooryavanshi starring Akshay Kumar, one of Bollywood’s biggest stars. Bollywood, India’s Hindi-language film industry, was worth $2.5bn in 2019 and is the world’s most prolific.  Movies in other languages are also big business. Maharashtra state and its capital Mumbai are among the last to re-open theatres, multiplexes and auditoriums, but for the industry it is “very, very important”, film trade analyst Komal Nahta said.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that economic growth was getting a boost from rising vaccinations across the country and urged citizens to purchase locally manufactured products over the upcoming festive season. Modi called for vigilance against Covid-19 and recommended wearing masks during festivals. India's immunisation campaign hit a milestone of 1 billion vaccinations on Thursday. The country has covered three-quarters of its 944 million adults with at least one dose but only 31% with two.

India celebrated the milestone of administering 1bn Covid-19 vaccine doses yesterday, with the government promoting the achievement in a song and video even as a recent drop in inoculations worries healthcare providers. After a slow beginning in the middle of January, India’s immunisation campaign has covered three-quarters of its 944mn adults with at least one dose but only 31% with two. The government wants all adults to get vaccinated this year. “India scripts history,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter. “We are witnessing the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of (1.3bn) Indians.” Modi marked the occasion by interacting with healthcare workers and a security guard at a government hospital in New Delhi. The health ministry announced musical and other programmes across the country, and special illuminations of national monuments including a colonial-era jail. Nearly 90% of the vaccines administered in India have come from the Serum Institute of India (SII), which produces a licensed version of the AstraZeneca drug. SII has more than tripled its capacity since April and can now produce 220mn vaccine doses a month. SII has also slowly resumed exports for the first time since April, when the government stopped all overseas sales to meet domestic demand as infections rose dramatically. The World Health Organisation (WHO), which relies heavily on India for supplies to its global vaccine-sharing platform Covax, congratulated the country for reaching the landmark. “India’s progress must be viewed in the context of the country’s commendable commitment and efforts to ensure that these life-saving vaccines are accessible globally,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director WHO South-East Asia. Covax partner Unicef also congratulated India and said it looked forward to “hearing details about the expected timeline and volumes of supplies to be made” to the global facility. The media last week reported that India has delayed supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Covax. New Delhi has been annoyed by the WHO’s repeated delay in adding India’s own Covaxin shot to the world body’s emergency-use listing, something both parties discussed this week as well as exports.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the UN climate summit in Glasgow, the environment minister said yesterday, in a boost for efforts to agree steeper emissions cuts to tackle global warming. India is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the US, and Modi’s participation in the COP26 summit, which runs from October 31 to November 12, was seen as critical amid uncertainty over whether Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend. Both India and China, which have not yet made stronger pledges to cut emissions, known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs, face pressure to do so at the conference. “The prime minister is going to Glasgow,” Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said in an interview, adding that India was doing its bit to help tackle climate change. Summit host Britain welcomed Modi’s decision to attend. “India plays an important role in this and the prime minister has had a number of conversations with Modi on the importance of climate change, so we look forward to discussing it with them further,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman told reporters. Growing public pressure for action on climate change has spurred promises by countries and companies worldwide to contribute to the effort, which will be reviewed and amended at Glasgow. US climate envoy John Kerry has visited India twice in the past few months to urge the Modi government to raise its climate ambition and consider a net zero commitment as scores of other countries have done. Net zero means balancing out greenhouse gas emissions with actions such as planting trees, restoring soil and using technology to prevent emissions reaching the atmosphere. But energy-hungry India, which still relies heavily on fossil fuels, says it should not be expected to make deep carbon cuts like rich countries because it is a developing economy. India’s Cabinet, chaired by Modi, will decide the position to be taken at COP26, most probably within a week, an environment ministry spokesperson said. Yadav said India was doing its part to cut emissions. “India’s NDCs are quite ambitious,” he said. “We are doing more than our fair share. Our NDCs are more progressive than major polluters.” The country is on track to increase green energy capacity to 450GW by 2030, he said. It has installed more than 100GW of renewable energy, which accounts for more than 25% of overall capacity.

India administered its billionth Covid-19 vaccine dose on Thursday, half a year after a devastating surge in cases brought the health system close to collapse. According to the government, around three-quarters of adults in the country of 1.3 billion people have had one shot and around 30 percent are fully vaccinated. However, hundreds of millions of Indians under 18 -- who make up some 40 percent of the population -- have not had a single shot. India suffered a huge spike in cases in April and May, reporting more than 400,000 infections and 4,000 deaths per day, with many hospitals unable to cope and crematoriums overwhelmed. Cases have since fallen sharply, with fewer than 20,000 infections per day, and most activity has returned to normal. Mumbai, one of India's myriad teeming cities, recently reported zero deaths in a day for the first time since the pandemic began. The government was reportedly set to celebrate the milestone with Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanking health workers, special announcements at railway stations and airports and monuments lit up in the national colours. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted: "Congratulations India! This is the result of the visionary PM Modi's able leadership."   - Only adults -   Only China has administered more doses -- the Chinese government says it has given more than 2.3 billion shots. India began vaccinations in January and after a slow start, it is now administering around eight million jabs per day. "During the first wave, I remember hearing people talking about whether coronavirus was real or not," said Reham Ali, a 49-year-old taxi driver in New Delhi who said he has had one shot. "Now, people know that it is and there is less hesitancy. The second wave was an eye-opener." Exports of vaccines -- halted earlier this year -- have tentatively resumed, with officials saying the "pharmacy of the world" will be back in full swing again in 2022 Most restrictions on activity have been lifted, with crowds celebrating India's main religious festival season -- an important time for the battered economy -- for the first time in two years. This has sparked concerns about a new wave of infections and a renewed push by the government to push people to get their second shots.  Media reports last week said an expert panel of India's drug regulator recommended the use of the homegrown Covaxin -- one of seven Covid-19 vaccines approved in India -- for under-18s. "I think it is unlikely that we will see a third wave that in any way resembles the second wave," said Dr Gangandeep Kang, from the Christian Medical College, Vellore. "The only situation where that can happen is if we have a completely new virus variant. Then it'll be a new pandemic," she told AFP. Officially, India has reported just over 34 million infections and around 452,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, although this is widely seen as a major underestimate.

At least 46 people have died in flash floods triggered by heavy rains in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Indian state's report on the natural disaster stated that heavy rains led to floods and landslides, which killed many people during the past three days. The report added that 11 people are still missing, due to floods and rain-related accidents. The only railway leading to the Nainital region was washed away by the flowing waters of the Jolla River, stranding hundreds of passengers, as all flights were cancelled and dozens of highways were closed due to landslides. This comes after 11 people were killed and at least 13 others were missing on Sunday, as a result of heavy rains that caused landslides in Kerala, southern India. 

At least 41 people died and more than a dozen were missing after landslides and flash floods triggered by several days of heavy rain hit northern India, officials said yesterday. Officials in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand said 35 people were killed in fresh landslides yesterday after six died in similar incidents a day earlier. At least 30 of them were killed in seven separate incidents in the worst-affected Nainital region early yesterday, after cloudbursts — an ultra-intense deluge of rain — triggered a series of landslides and destroyed several structures. “So far 30 people have been confirmed dead, while many people are still missing,” Nainital senior civil officer Ashok Kumar Joshi said. Joshi said several remote areas in the hilly region witnessed widespread damage in the intense rainfall. Five of the dead were from a single family whose house was buried by a massive landslide, another local civil officer Pradeep Jain said. Another landslide in the northern Almora district killed five people after huge rocks and a wall of mud demolished and engulfed their home. At least six others were killed on Monday in two remote districts of the state. The Indian Meteorological Department extended and widened its weather alert yesterday, predicting “heavy” to “very heavy” rainfall in the region over the next two days. The weather office said several areas were drenched by more than 400 millimetres (16 inches) of rainfall on Monday, causing landslides and flooding. Authorities ordered the closure of schools and banned all religious and tourist activities in the state. Television footage and social media videos showed residents wading through knee-deep water near Nainital lake, a tourist hotspot, and the Ganges bursting its banks in Rishikesh. More than 100 tourists were stuck inside a resort in Ramgarh after the overflowing Kosi river deluged several areas. Landslides are a regular danger in India’s Himalayan north, but experts say they are becoming more common as rains become increasingly erratic and glaciers melt. Experts also blame construction work on hydroelectric dams and deforestation. In February, a ferocious flash flood hurtled down a remote valley in Uttarakhand, killing around 200 people. At least 5,700 people perished there in 2013.

India has delayed committing supplies of vaccine to the Covax global sharing platform, two sources said yesterday, a day after one of its key backers, the WHO, said the agency could not “cut corners” to approve a domestically developed vaccine. The world’s biggest vaccine maker resumed exports of Covid-19 doses this month for the first time since April. It has sent about 4mn to countries such as neighbouring Bangladesh and Iran, but none to Covax. On Monday, in the run-up to an October 26 meeting on Covaxin, India’s first domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it could not “cut corners” in the approval decision. One of the sources pointed out that it was “frustrating” that India had yet to confirm any supply to Covax, despite a promise last month by the health minister to meet the commitment to Covax and others during the quarter to December. The sources, who have been briefed on the export talks, declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak on the subject. The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer, has contracts to supply hundreds of millions of doses of a licensed version of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Covax and countries such as Bangladesh. Its output of the vaccine has more than tripled since April, to reach 220mn doses a month now. India’s health ministry, Serum Institute of India and Covax co-leads, the WHO and Gavi, did not respond to requests for comment. Delayed supplies to Covax could disrupt inoculation drives in many African nations that rely on it for vaccine supplies. Indian government officials have said they are confident the WHO will soon approve an emergency-use listing for Covaxin, which makes up 11% of the 990mn vaccine doses given in India, with the rest mostly from AstraZeneca. A few weeks ago, Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of SII, told the Telegraph newspaper that his company would recommence exports to Covax in October. “Initially these supplies will be small, but by January 2022, once we have satisfied domestic demands...we will see large volumes go to Covax,” he added. Before India halted overseas vaccine shipments in April so as to meet domestic demand, it donated or sold more than 66mn Covid-19 doses, including Covaxin.

At least 15 people died and over a dozen were missing after landslides and flash floods triggered by several days of heavy rain hit northern India, officials said Tuesday. Forecasters have also warned of more heavy rains in the coming days in the southern state of Kerala where floods have already killed at least 27 people since Friday. Officials in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand said 10 people were killed in fresh landslides on Tuesday after five died in similar incidents on Monday. Five of the deceased were killed after a cloudburst -- an ultra-intense deluge of rain -- triggered a landslide, completely burying a house along with its inhabitants in the town of Nainital early Tuesday. "We have recovered five bodies from the disaster site and a further search is on," local official Prateek Jain told AFP. Another landslide in the northern Almora district left five people dead after huge rocks and a wall of mud demolished and engulfed their home. The Indian Meteorological Department extended and widened its weather alert on Tuesday, predicting "heavy" to "very heavy" rainfall in the region for the next two days. The weather office said several areas were drenched by more than 400 mm (16 inches) of rainfall on Monday, causing landslides and flooding. Authorities ordered the closure of schools and banned all religious and tourist activities in the state. Television footage and social media videos showed residents wading through knee-deep water near Nainital lake, a tourist hotspot, and the Ganges bursting its banks in Rishikesh. More than 100 tourists were also stuck inside a resort in Ramgarh after the overflowing Kosi river deluged several localities. Landslides are a regular danger in India's Himalayan north, but experts say they are becoming more common as rains become increasingly erratic and glaciers melt. Experts also blame construction work on hydroelectric dams and deforestation. In February, a ferocious flash flood hurtled down a remote valley in Uttarakhand, killing around 200 people. At least 5,700 people perished there in 2013. In the south, large parts of Kerala have been battered by floods and landslides since late last week, leaving at least 27 people dead. Many dams in the state were nearing the danger mark and authorities were evacuating thousands to safer locations as major rivers overflowed. India's weather office said heavy rains will lash the state in the next two days after a brief reprieve on Tuesday.

An Indian fishing trawler has sunk after allegedly ramming a Sri Lankan navy vessel that was driving out poachers from the island nation's prawn-rich waters, officials said Tuesday. The two countries are separated by the narrow Palk Strait known for its jumbo prawns, with Sri Lankan fishermen long accusing their Indian neighbours of poaching in their territory. The incident took place late Monday, with rescuers still searching Tuesday for one of the trawler's missing crew members, the navy said in a statement. Two other fishermen from the boat were rescued, it said. "The search and rescue operation is being augmented by a team of navy divers, fast attack craft and inshore patrol craft," the navy added.  On Sunday Sri Lankan fishermen took to the sea in a protest that called on authorities to block Indian fishing boats from their waters and end bottom trawling. The practice -- banned from Sri Lankan waters in 2017 -- involves dragging heavy nets across the sea floor to catch a large volume of fish, damaging the marine ecosystem. Sri Lankan fishermen were not allowed to venture out during much of the island's decades-long Tamil separatist war that ended in 2009, allowing Indians a free run in the area. But there have been increasing tensions over poaching since Sri Lankan fishermen have been permitted at sea again. The South Asian country has regularly detained large numbers of Indian fishermen and seized their boats, but there has been no let-up in poaching, according to locals. Sri Lankan fishermen say every week, several Indian vessels enter their waters to fish. An Indian fisherman was allegedly killed by Sri Lankan forces in March 2017.

The World Health Organisation yesterday asked for further data from India’s Bharat Biotech to consider the company’s request for an emergency-use listing for its Covid-19 shot, saying the WHO could not “cut corners” in making a decision. Bharat Biotech, which developed Covaxin with an Indian state research body, started sharing data with the WHO from early July. The vaccine was given emergency-use authorisation in India in January even before the completion of a late-stage trial, which later found the shot to be 78% efficacious. Without a WHO nod, the two-dose Covaxin is unlikely to be accepted as a valid vaccine around the world and would complicate travel plans for tens of millions of Indians who have taken it. Covaxin accounts for 11% of the 985.5mn total doses administered in India, and has also been exported. “We are aware that many people are waiting for WHO’s recommendation for Covaxin to be included in the #COVID19 Emergency Use Listing, but we cannot cut corners,” the WHO said on Twitter. “Before recommending a product for emergency use, we must evaluate it thoroughly to make sure it is safe and effective.” The WHO was expecting “one additional piece of information from the company”, it added, without specifying. Bharat Biotech, which has struggled to meet production timelines for Covaxin, had no immediate comment. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Sunday its technical advisory group would meet on October 26 to consider the listing for Covaxin. She said the WHO’s goal was to “have a broad portfolio of vaccines approved for emergency use & to expand access to populations everywhere”. India is the world’s biggest producer of vaccines, with a capacity to make more than 3bn Covid shots a year, mainly the AstraZeneca one. Meanwhile, India’s vaccination campaign has slowed despite amassing record stockpiles of vaccine, health ministry data showed yesterday, as authorities maintain a wider-than-usual gap between doses in a strategy that has boosted coverage. Domestic production of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which accounts for nearly 90% of administered doses, has more than tripled since May, when a supply shortage prompted India to double the period between doses to between 12 and 16 weeks.

Leaders in the southern Indian state of Kerala opened near-overflowing dams yesterday after at least 26 people died when heavy rains lashed the region over the weekend. Rainfall across Kerala triggered flash floods and landslides in several areas, with the Indian army and navy called out to rescue residents. Opening dams could reduce the risk of potentially catastrophic overflows like those partly blamed for the state’s worst floods in a century in 2018, when at least 400 people were killed and 200,000 displaced. District collectors will be notified hours before opening the dams so that local people have enough time to evacuate,” said the office of Kerala’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. But by releasing water downstream, areas already experiencing floods could suffer more. Authorities have already opened smaller dams to prevent flooding, Kerala Power Minister K Krishnankutty said in a statement, while the state’s largest, the Idukki dam, will also be opened today morning local time. Sheeba George, the top official in Idukki district, told local media that dozens of families had been evacuated from their homes ahead of the dam openings. At least 13 people were killed by a landslide in the village of Kuttikkal, officials and witnesses said. “There were four landslides that happened there on Sunday, the hill behind me, which brought water and other items downwards,” a local resident told Reuters partner ANI on Sunday, standing in front of a now-barren hillside. P K Jayasree, the top government official in Kottayam district where the landslide took place, said six of the dead were from a single family. Kerala will receive further widespread rain, including isolated heavy downpours in many areas, for two to three days from October 20, the state government said yesterday. Thousands of people have been evacuated and 184 relief camps have been set up across Kerala, where more than 8,000 people are being provided food, bedding and clothing. The government has also announced financial aid for those who have lost houses and crops. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his condolences to bereaved families after speaking to Vijayan Kerala was also a victim to the worst floods in a century in 2018 that had killed at least 400 people and displaced around 200,000. Couple sail to wedding in cooking pot An Indian couple sailed across submerged streets in a massive cooking pot to reach their wedding venue yesterday, as heavy rains flooded the state of Kerala. The couple borrowed the pot from a local temple and enlisted two men to push the makeshift boat, images that have gone viral on social media showed. “It has turned into a wedding which we never imagined,” the bride told local media channel Asianet soon after the wedding. While their wedding venue was also partially flooded, the pair were determined to tie the knot in a small ceremony. “Should have booked a boat instead of a car...” a man can be heard saying in the background of one video. According to media reports, both husband and wife are healthcare workers. Images showed cars and buses submerged by the floodwaters after heavy rains battered Kerala over the past four days.

At least 22 people were killed after heavy rains lashed the south Indian state of Kerala over the weekend, officials said. Rainfall across the state led to flash floods and landslides in several areas, with the Indian army and navy called out to rescue residents. Some 13 of those were killed after a landslide in Kuttikkal village, officials and eyewitnesses said. "There were four landslides that happened there yesterday, the hill behind me, which brought water and other items downwards," a local resident told Reuters partner ANI on Sunday, standing in front of now-barren hillside. P.K. Jayasree, the top government official in Kottayam district where the landslide took place, said almost half of the casualties were from a single family. "One family completely lost six members," he said. Light rainfall across the state is expected to continue, although weather alerts in many areas had been withdrawn, the state's disaster management committee said in a statement. Kerala was also a victim to the worst floods in a century in 2018 that had killed at least 400 people and displaced around 200,000. India, with 1.3 billion people, relies on rainfall to support its population, many of whom live rely on farming. But excessive rainfall can cause floods, landslides and water-borne diseases.

India has resumed a small amount of exports of Covid-19 vaccines and will increase exports significantly in the next few months as domestic stocks build up and most of its own large population is inoculated, officials said yesterday. One million shots of Covaxin produced by Indian company Bharat Biotech were shipped to Iran last week, the Indian embassy in Tehran said. Vaccines have also been sent to Nepal, a government source said, adding that the effort is focused on neighbouring nations. Meanwhile, the government’s chief Covid-19 adviser said India currently has no plans to give booster doses as some nations have begun doing. India has neared the milestone of 1bn vaccine injections. Doctor Vinod K Paul said that with the country’s vaccine makers ramping up production and domestic needs diminishing, India should be able to resume being a major exporter of jabs from next year. More than 15 countries worldwide have begun issuing third doses of coronavirus vaccines to older citizens, including in Israel and in European Union nations such as France, Italy and Germany. But Paul, part of the Indian government’s advisory body NITI Aayog, said there is no clear guidance on whether a third dose is necessary, including from the World Health Organisation. “As of now we do not have a recommendation for a booster bump-up dose,” Paul told reporters, adding however that the government would “continue to watch this space very carefully”. His comments came with the number of vaccine doses administered in India set to hit 1bn in the coming days, with some 75% of those eligible receiving one shot and around 30% double vaccinated. India is the world’s largest vaccine producer but the country halted exports of Covid jabs earlier this year to focus on its domestic needs after a devastating infections surge overwhelmed hospitals. But with vaccination rates now high and coronavirus cases down sharply, exports have resumed in recent days, with a total of around 4mn doses reportedly being sent to Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Iran. Production of Covishield — the Indian-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine — and the homegrown Covaxin is currently around 250mn shots per month and is on course to reach 270mn soon, according to officials. Combined with the production of other vaccines made in India — including Johnson & Johnson with local partner Biological E — coming on line, the country could begin exporting again on a large scale next year.

India has asked power producers to import up to 10% of their coal needs amid fuel shortages and has warned states that federal companies will curb their power supplies if they are found selling electricity on power exchanges to cash in on surging prices. India is the world’s second largest coal producer, with the world’s fourth largest reserves, but a steep surge in power demand that has outstripped pre-pandemic levels means state-run Coal India’s supplies are no longer enough. Increased economic activity after the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has driven up demand for coal leading to a supply shortage, forcing north Indian states like Bihar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand to undertake power cuts for up to 14 hours a day. The power ministry yesterday asked utilities, reliant on local coal, to import up to 10% of coal needs to blend with the domestic grade to meet increased power demand, a power ministry note reviewed by Reuters said. The move could push up already high global coal prices. These power plants usually only import small amounts of coal. Over half of India’s 135 coal-fired power plants, which supply around 70% of the country’s electricity, have fuel stocks that will last three days or less. Federal government-controlled power producers such as NTPC Ltd and Damodar Valley Corporation, sign long-term power purchase agreements with distribution companies for the sale of most of their power output. But 15% of their power is controlled by the federal government, which sells this so-called “unallocated” power to the states. The ministry said if any state had a surplus of power, it should inform the federal government which would allocate that electricity to states that needed it. Some states, instead of supplying electricity to their consumers, are imposing rolling power cuts and selling power at higher prices to energy exchanges, the ministry said in a statement, without giving details. The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to complain about the rising prices on power exchanges. He said prices had trebled to Rs15 for a unit of power from mid-September to October 8. Day-ahead power prices at Indian Exchange, for example, have surged to Rs20 a unit, its website showed yesterday. Reddy asked for an increase in the supply of coal, a copy of his letter, reviewed by Reuters, said. In a series of tweets yesterday, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) announced staggered power cuts across the city, with most of the cuts scheduled for over ninety minutes in the afternoon. BESCOM managing director Rajendra Cholan said Bengaluru, home to the technology operations of hundreds of global companies, including Amazon and Infosys, has sufficient power and a scheduled outage is for laying underground power cables in the parts of the city. Other southern states, such as Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, have warned that they may have to have power cuts if the shortages continue.

China and India yesterday  blamed each other for the failure of high-level talks to ease tensions along a disputed Himalayan border between the nuclear-armed neighbours. The strategically important Galwan river valley between Tibet and India’s Ladakh region became a high-altitude flashpoint last year after one of the deadliest troop clashes in decades.  The clashes in June 2020,  left 20 Indian soldiers dead when soldiers fought with iron rods and stones in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. China also suffered an unspecified number of casualties, in the first combat losses for both countries on the border in 45 years. Senior military officials from the two countries held their first round of talks in two months, but it ended without any progress. India made “unreasonable and unrealistic demands”, Chinese military spokesman Long Shaohua said in a statement issued by the People’s Liberation Army’s western theatre command. The statement did not say what the demands were. In response, India’s defence ministry said China was “not agreeable” to discussing “constructive suggestions...(and) could not provide any forward-looking proposals”.  India said both sides have agreed to maintain communications and stability. China and India — whose border runs for 3,500km - fought a full-scale war in 1962 and have long accused each other of trying to seize territory along their unofficial border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The latest talks focused on resolving “remaining issues” along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, the Indian defence ministry said. In February, both sides had agreed to pull back troops from some areas around Pangong Tso, a glacial lake at 14,000ft, after prolonged negotiations between military commanders and diplomats of the two sides. Long said China had tried to ease tensions along the boundary area, but warned India “not to misjudge the situation” and to act “in good faith”. India has blamed the tensions on what it calls unilateral moves by China to “alter the status quo”, in violation of existing bilateral agreements. Earlier this month, India’s army chief said China was sending “considerable numbers” of troops to the border, prompting a matching deployment by New Delhi. His comments came days after Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Indian soldiers had made illegal incursions into Chinese territory, an accusation that New Delhi denied. Media in both countries have reported a border confrontation between Indian and Chinese last month, but neither side has confirmed it.

India has ample coal stocks to meet the demand of its power plants, the government said yesterday, seeking to allay fears of imminent blackouts in New Delhi and other cities. The current fuel stock at coal-powered plants is about 7.2mn tonnes, sufficient for four days, the ministry of coal said. Government-owned mining giant Coal India also has a stock of more than 40mn tonnes which is being supplied to power stations. “Any fear of disruption in power supply is entirely misplaced,” the ministry said in a statement. Earlier officials of Delhi’s power ministry, BSES and Tata Power held a meeting with Union Power Minister R K Singh at his residence yesterday on coal shortage issue. The Delhi government did not buy the central government assurances, with the deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia saying that the centre is turning a blind eye to the problem. After chairing the meeting with with the ministry of power and discoms, Singh said that Delhi is being supplied the required amount of electricity and this arrangement will continue. Denying that there was power crisis, he said”In effect, neither there was, nor there is any crisis. It was created unnecessarily. I’ve warned Tata Power CEO of action if they send baseless SMSs to customers that can create panic. Messages by GAIL and Tata Power qualify as act of irresponsible behaviour”. The clarification came a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned of a looming power crisis in the megacity which is home to over 20mn people. Several regions across India have been hit by supply shortages in recent months, with utility providers resorting to unscheduled power cuts. India’s coal-fired power stations had an average of four days’ stock at the end of September, the lowest in years. The shortage in India, the world’s second-largest coal-consuming country, follows widespread power outages in China that have shut factories and hit production and global supply chains. Coal accounts for nearly 70% of India’s electricity generation and around three-quarters of the fossil fuel is mined domestically. As Asia’s third-largest economy rebounds following a coronavirus wave, heavy monsoon rains have flooded coal mines and disrupted transport networks, leading to a sharp rise in prices for coal buyers, including power stations. International coal prices have also soared. The ministry however sounded upbeat yesterday, saying that despite heavy monsoons and a steep hike in power demand, “domestic supplies have supported power generation in a major way”.

The son of an Indian minister has been arrested on preliminary charges of murder, police said Sunday, a week after the death of eight people during a farmers' protest sparked national outrage. Ashish Mishra was detained in Uttar Pradesh late Saturday over the incident in the northern state's Lakhimpur Kheri district, where farmers were demonstrating as part of their year-long campaign against contentious agriculture laws. Farmers claimed that a convoy belonging to Mishra and his father -- the junior home affairs minister Ajay Mishra -- slammed into protesters, killing four of them. Angry demonstrators then set fire to several cars and four other people, including a driver and a journalist, were killed, according to authorities and local media reports. Mishra was arrested on grounds of "non-cooperation" and "evasive replies" during an hours-long interrogation, Deputy Inspector General of Police Upendra Kumar Agrawal told reporters. Mishra will face court on Monday and formal charges have to be filed within 90 days. Mishra and his father have denied the allegations. India's Supreme Court had said Friday that it was "not satisfied" with the police investigation of the case and questioned why the younger Mishra had not yet been arrested. The incident was the deadliest since farmers started camping on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi in November demanding a repeal of the controversial laws. The agriculture sector, which employs some two-thirds of India's 1.3 billion population, has long been a political minefield. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government says the sector is massively inefficient and in need of reform. But farmers fear the changes will leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

Small groups of militants armed with pistols have carried out a spate of targeted killings in Kashmir, sowing fear among some minority communities, according to security officials and residents. At least 28 civilians have been killed by suspected militants this year in the region, which has been wracked by an armed insurgency against New Delhi since the 1990s. Although most of those shot dead recently have been Muslims, the killing this week of a number of Hindus and a Sikh led police to say that religious minorities were now being targeted. Two teachers — one Hindu, one Sikh — who were shot dead inside a government school in the main city of Srinagar on Thursday. Based on information recovered from the body of an insurgent commander killed last month, Indian authorities believe The Resistance Front (TRF) militant group is targeting political workers and civilians, a senior police official said. In a statement on social media this week, TRF said it was not targeting people on the basis of their religion but those working for Indian authorities. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the statement. “The (cells) are small and at least three dozen militants with pistols are operating in Kashmir with a main focus on Srinagar,” the official said, declining to be named. Indian police have described the TRF as a front for militant organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. The TRF emerged in the wake of the Indian government’s move to split the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federally-administered regions in August 2019. Accompanied by a harsh lockdown and strict communications curbs, the decision was widely unpopular in the Kashmir valley and may have pushed more young people to take up arms, a security official said. “They were desperate and now they have been provided small arms including pistols and grenades,” the official said, declining to be named. Vijay Kumar, Kashmir Valley’s police chief, said militant groups had changed their strategy in response to a crackdown by security forces, but local authorities were already pursuing several leads into the recent spate of killings. But members of the Hindu Kashmiri Pandit community, some of whom returned to the Kashmir valley after leaving during the early years of militancy, were unnerved by the violence. “There is lot of fear among the community members and we are afraid of coming out of our homes,” a Kashmiri Pandit living in the northern district of Baramulla told Reuters. The senior police official said the recent killings of members of minority communities were aimed at preventing the return of the Kashmiri Pandits. Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, appealed to minority community members not to flee, urging the local administration to provide better security. “I believe these attacks are aimed to drive a wedge between the communities and to push them out of Kashmir,” Abdullah said. “We can’t let that happen.” Meanwhile, hundreds of Sikhs in Kashmir yesterday marched at the funeral of a teacher killed by suspected militants. Supinder Kour, 46, was shot dead with colleague Deepak Chand in their school on Thursday, the third in a series of attacks claimed by the TRF rebel group this week. The killings in the restive territory drew wide condemnation from residents in Kashmir and across India as well as politicians from all sides. ‘’Jammu and Kashmir has been on the road to progress but some elements do not want peace and they have started targeting the minority communities,” a BJP leader said. Angry members of the Sikh community carried Kour’s body wrapped in a white shroud along a main street in Srinagar, shouting religious slogans and demanding justice. They were joined by a handful of Muslim residents. A Sikh leader disclosed that community leaders have directed all the government employees of their community to not go to work until the security situation changes. Many residents say the condemnations for civilian killings are selective and often tied to the victims’ religion. On Thursday a resident was shot dead by security forces when his car failed to stop at a checkpoint in southern Kashmir valley, police said.