Sanjay Kumar

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AFP

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1751779155388455800

Sun, 2025-07-06 15:30

NEW DELHI: Thousands of Buddhists gathered in Dharamshala in northern India on Sunday to mark the 90th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

A Nobel peace laureate and one of the world’s most influential figures, the 14th Dalai Lama has been living in India since 1959, after he fled Tibet with thousands of others following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Dharamshala, a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, has been his place of residence over the past six decades and also hosts the Tibetan government-in-exile.

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How ancient engineering helped address Delhi’s perennial water shortage

seamus.obuachalla — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 12:42:17 +0000

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Wed, 2025-07-02 15:32

NEW DELHI: Just minutes from New Delhi’s commercial hub, Ugrasen ki Baoli is an engineering marvel worth a detour from the usual tourist path, as it bears witness to unique medieval water storage solutions that could still hold relevance today.

A baoli, or a stepwell, is a storage system that once helped the Indian capital address its perennial water shortage.

With a series of steps leading down to the water level, these structures allowed people to reach the water even when its levels changed with the seasons.

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Dalai Lama expected to reveal succession plan during 90th birthday celebrations

zaynab.khojji — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:10:03 +0000

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Mon, 2025-06-30 19:57

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama announced on Monday that he was preparing to share details about his succession, as followers gathered to attend a public ceremony ahead of his 90th birthday celebrations in Dharamshala in northern India.

The 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, has been living in India since 1959, after he fled Tibet with thousands of others following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

His residence is in Dharamshala, a town in the state of Himachal Pradesh, which also hosts the Tibetan government-in-exile.

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Investigators not ruling out sabotage in Air India crash

rbksa — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 14:40:25 +0000

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AFP

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1751196904601102400

Sun, 2025-06-29 17:32

NEW DELHI: Indian investigators are not ruling out sabotage in connection with the crash of the London-bound Air India flight that killed at least 260 people earlier this month, a minister has said, as officials began examining the plane’s black box.

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in the western Indian state of Gujarat on June 12.

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Indian entrepreneurs look to Middle East for further boost amid small business boom

dalal.awienat — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 12:09:00 +0000

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Fri, 2025-06-27 15:05

NEW DELHI: Indian entrepreneurs are increasingly looking to expand into the Middle East as small businesses in India seek to make the most of their strong growth trajectory.

The country boasts around 63 million micro, small and medium enterprises, up from 47.7 million in July 2024, latest government data shows. The sector contributes to some 30 percent of India’s GDP and 45 percent of its exports.

Amid the boom, Indian entrepreneurs seeking to scale up their businesses are now eyeing collaborations across various sectors with their counterparts in the Middle East.

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India celebrates Shubhanshu Shukla, its first astronaut in orbit after 41 years

Arbee — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 11:37:45 +0000

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Wed, 2025-06-25 14:33

NEW DELHI: India celebrated on Wednesday the launch of the Axiom-4 mission, which has taken off to the International Space Station with a crew including the first Indian astronaut in 41 years.

Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday morning, the 14-day mission is a collaboration between American startup Axiom Space, NASA, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, whose Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule carried the four-member team into orbit.

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Where does India stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

Arbee — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 13:13:45 +0000

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Sat, 2025-06-21 16:10

NEW DELHI: India is on a path of non-involvement in the growing conflict in the Middle East, experts said on Saturday, as they warned Delhi’s silence could have serious implications for the region.

Israeli attacks on Iran started on June 13 when Tel Aviv hit more than a dozen sites — including key nuclear facilities and residences of military leaders and scientists — claiming they were aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

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India’s commerce minister heads to UK to fast-track free trade deal

dalal.awienat — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 12:10:52 +0000

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Wed, 2025-06-18 15:08

New Delhi

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has embarked on a two-day visit to the UK to accelerate talks on a long-pending bilateral free trade agreement, his office said on Wednesday.

Launched in January 2022, the FTA negotiations between India and the UK were set to conclude the same year, but despite more than a dozen formal rounds, talks have stalled over issues like tariffs, rules of origin and mobility for services professionals.

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India evacuates students from Tehran as Israel hits civilian sites

zaynab.khojji — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 14:44:02 +0000

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Tue, 2025-06-17 17:38

NEW DELHI: India’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was moving Indian students out of Tehran, as many sought safety after their universities were shut down amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli attacks on Iran started on Friday, when Tel Aviv hit more than a dozen sites — including key nuclear facilities, residences of military leaders, and of scientists — claiming they were aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Daily attacks have been ongoing for the past five days after Iran retaliated with ballistic missile strikes against Israel.

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India to count its population in 2027, after six-year delay

daniel.fountain — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 15:27:19 +0000

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Mon, 2025-06-16 18:03

NEW DELHI: After a six-year delay, India is set to count its population in the 2027 census, the government said on Monday, as it prepares to also record caste data for the first time in nearly a century.

One of the world’s largest administrative undertakings, India’s population census was originally scheduled for 2021, but has faced multiple delays — mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification, declaring that the census “shall be taken during the year 2027.”

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Air India crash death toll climbs to 270 as victim identification continues

daniel.fountain — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 15:49:55 +0000

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Sun, 2025-06-15 18:17

NEW DELHI: The death toll from the crash of an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London has risen to 270, as bodies, including those of people killed on the ground, continue to be identified.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Gujarat state on Thursday.

It was carrying 242 people — 230 passengers, two pilots and 10 crew members. Only one person, a British national sitting in an emergency exit seat, survived the crash.

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Indian opposition, civil society call out government’s silence on Israel’s war on Gaza

Arbee — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 12:57:55 +0000

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Sat, 2025-06-14 15:53

NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition party and civil society members are demanding the government break its silence on Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, after New Delhi abstained from voting on a UN resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

While 149 countries at the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed the resolution demanding aid access and an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the besieged enclave on Thursday, India was among 19 countries that abstained, with 12 others voting against it.

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India in mourning after over 240 killed in deadliest aviation disaster in decades

fatimah.amjad — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 13:39:53 +0000

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Fri, 2025-06-13 16:31

NEW DELHI, India: Indian authorities were combing the site of one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters on Friday, after an Air India plane crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff, killing all but one of its passengers.

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had 242 people on board, also killed dozens more people when it crashed into a medical college hostel located just outside Ahmedabad airport and burst into flames on Thursday afternoon.

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India in mourning after deadliest aviation disaster in decades

Arbee — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:39:33 +0000

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Fri, 2025-06-13 15:37

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities were combing the site of one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters on Friday, after an Air India plane crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff, killing all but one of its passengers.

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had 242 people on board, killed dozens more people when it crashed into a medical college hostel just outside Ahmedabad airport and burst into flames on Thursday afternoon.

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Singapore-flagged ship carrying toxic oil explodes off Indian coast

zaynab.khojji — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 14:21:19 +0000

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