International relations professor Swaran Singh believes India does not want to side with the United States and the West, but neither does it want to side with Russia. In the last week, however, it has had to recalibrate itself. The risk is that the Ukraine conflict will turn into yet another frozen conflict around the Russian borders.
Educated but unemployed, or workers treated like cannon fodder. This is the picture that emerges from recent surveys on the Indian labour market. In the automotive sector, thousands of workers are seriously injured and have no protection. But the car industry is expected to be worth 300 billion dollars in 2026.
More than 200 languages have disappeared in India in the past 50 years and another 197 are considered at risk. The languages of Adivasi groups are mostly spoken. Little room is available online and in official documents for those languages with a script. Yet something has changed in recent years, as more grassroots initiatives try to preserve the cultural heritage of indigenous tribes.
Schools in Karnataka have been closed for three days after riots broke out against the ban on wearing the Islamic veil in class. The riots spread throughout the country at the same time as the opening of polling stations in Uttar Pradesh. Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash: "It is a political manipulation, the wealth of India lies in its diversity".
An in-depth report accuses the president of the NCPCR, India’s federal child protection agency, of pursuing a Hindutva-inspired agenda against Christians and Muslims. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has orphaned more than 147,000.
India has banned asbestos mining but buys it mainly from Russia. Experts are calling for a ban on trade in the dangerous mineral, which is widely used for roofs in the slums where the poorest people live. Environmental lawyer Gopal Krishna explains to AsiaNews how the Indian government has based its inaction on research financed by producers that minimise the risks.
After the international outcry, only a handful of organisations, including Mother Teresa's nuns, have had permits, which expired at the end of 2021, renewed. How the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act works and why it affects small organisations in particular. A local operator: "The Modi government is telling everyone: You may work here only by our kind permission".
The election campaign for the legislative assemblies in five Indian states has begun. All eyes are on Uttar Pradesh, which with its 200 million inhabitants is crucial for the national balance. Hindu nationalist monk Yogi Adityanath, head of the outgoing local government and Modi's would-be successor for BJP leadership, is fanning the flames of resentment against Muslims. But he has to reckon with party defections.
