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Exclusive: $9bn port, airport and military base on Great Nicobar Island will cause ‘genocide’ of isolated Shompen, academics warnAcademics from around the world have urged India to cancel a huge construction project on Great Nicobar Island, warning it would be “a death sentence” for the Shompen hunter-gatherer people who live there.The $9bn (£7bn) port project, planned to transform the Indian Ocean island of 8,000...

Reality TV star reveals social media stunt and says she is proud of what ‘death news has been able to achieve’An Indian model who faked her own death in a publicity stunt to raise awareness about cervical cancer has defended her actions, saying in a social media post that she was proud of what her “death news has been able to achieve”.Poonam Pandey, a...

Fears decision on Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi could increase religious tensions and inspire more claimsAn Indian court has ruled that Hindus can worship inside a contested mosque, a verdict that it is feared will increase religious tensions and galvanise further claims against other Muslim places of worship.Gyanvapi mosque, in the holy city of Varanasi, was built in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor...

Foreign minister draws comparison to similar claim in Canada and says India must be held to accountPakistan has said it has credible evidence that Indian agents carried out two assassinations on Pakistani soil, and drawn comparisons to the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.In a press briefing on Thursday, the foreign secretary, Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi, said India was running a “sophisticated and...

Narendra Modi hails controversial opening as fulfilment of ‘dream that many have cherished for years’More than three decades after a mob of militant Hindu radicals razed a mosque to the ground in the Indian town of Ayodhya, the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has inaugurated the new Hindu temple that will stand in its place.For some, the inauguration marks a hugely significant religious moment....

Maldivian envoy summoned and flights suspended after insults about Indian PM’s visit to Lakshadweep islandsA row has erupted between India and the Maldives after the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, visited the Indian islands of Lakshadweep to promote tourism.The visit was perceived by some in the Maldives as an attempt to draw tourists away from the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, whose economy is...

After four-month journey, Aditya-L1 will measure and observe sun’s outermost layersIndia’s solar observation mission has entered the sun’s orbit after a four-month journey, the latest success for the space exploration ambitions of the world’s most populous country.The Aditya-L1 mission was launched in September and is carrying an array of instruments to measure and observe the sun’s outermost layers. Continue reading...