States and territories of India

India's Tata Steel reports loss on Europe woes

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 13:30

India's Tata Steel, one of the world's biggest steelmakers, on Thursday swung to a quarterly net loss from a profit a year ago due to falling demand in its key European market. Tata Steel reported a consolidated net loss of 65.29 billion rupees ($1.18 billion) for the fourth fiscal quarter which ended March, compared to a profit of 4.33 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier. It was the steelmaker's third successive quarterly loss.

Militants kill five coal miners in India's northeast

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 13:46

Militants in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya shot dead five coal miners after the owners of the mine failed to pay extortion money, police said Tuesday. The outlawed United Achik Liberation Army (UALA) killed the miners Monday night in the South Garo Hills district, 500 kilometres (300 miles) from state capital Shillong. "The militants armed with automatic weapons lined up the miners and fired indiscriminately, killing five on the spot," Davies R. Marak, police chief of South Garo Hills, told AFP by telephone.

India's Tata Steel takes $1.6-bln writedown over Europe

Agence France-PresseMay 13, 2013 13:30

India's Tata Steel, one of the world's biggest steelmakers, announced a $1.6-billion asset writedown Monday, blaming slumping demand in its main European market. The company, which had sales of $26 billion in the 2012 financial year, said the writedown was due to "weak economic and market conditions" in Europe that it forecast would continue "over the near- and medium-term". Tata Steel, which bought Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus for $13.7 billion in 2007, has been struggling to improve its European unit's performance in the face of the eurozone debt crisis.

Thirty-three die as bus falls into Indian river

Agence France-PresseMay 8, 2013 14:16

At least 33 people died Wednesday when an overcrowded bus skidded off the road into a fast-flowing river in northern India, police said. "So far, 33 bodies have been retrieved from the river and 14 other people are injured and have been rushed to hospital," local police chief R.S. Negi told AFP from the crash site in Hamachal Pradesh state. The accident occurred near the popular summer resort of Kullu, 250 kilometres (155 miles) from Himachal Pradesh state capital Shimla.

Panel urges US to refuse Gujarat leader

Agence France-PresseApril 30, 2013 14:46

A panel on Tuesday urged the United States to maintain a ban on a visa to the leader of the Indian state of Gujarat over anti-Muslim riots, even though he is a favorite to run for prime minister. In a wide-ranging annual report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said that Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi should be "inadmissible to the United States" due to "severe violations of religious freedom."

Four-year-old Indian girl dies after rape attack

Agence France-PresseApril 30, 2013 03:43

A four-year-old Indian girl has died in hospital nearly two weeks after she was raped and found unconscious at a farm, hospital staff and reports said on Tuesday. The girl had been taken by air ambulance from central Madhya Pradesh state to the Care Hospital in Nagpur city on April 20, where she died on Monday night, a spokesman said. "She died from a cardiac arrest at 7:45 pm on Monday. We were taking all measures... but yesterday her condition got bad and her blood pressure went down. She was not reacting to medications," P.A. Sriram at the hospital told AFP.

Pony-tail stuntman dies on a zip-line in India

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 08:29

A daredevil Indian who held the Guinness World Record for the distance travelled on a zip-line while hanging by his hair has died while performing a new stunt, officials said Monday. Sailendra Nath Roy, a 49-year-old police driver, was attempting to cross the turbulent River Teesta on Sunday in the state of West Bengal on a 180-metre (594-foot) wire above the water.

Stunt kills man with record for zip-lining by his hair

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 06:01

A daredevil Indian who held the Guinness World Record for covering the longest distance on a zip-line while hanging by his hair has died while performing a stunt, officials said Monday. Sailendra Nath Roy, a 49-year-old police officer, was attempting to cross the turbulent River Teesta on Sunday in the state of West Bengal on a 180-metre (594-foot) wire above the water.

Scrapyard blast near Taj Mahal kills two

Agence France-PresseApril 25, 2013 07:30

An explosion in a scrapyard near the world-famous Taj Mahal in the northern India city of Agra killed two men and injured a woman, police said Thursday. The blast occurred four kilometres (two miles) from the white marble mausoleum, known as the "monument of love", as scrapyard workers attempted to separate explosives from metal scrap that had been bought from the army. "It was an accident but we will request the army to inspect the scrap before they sell it to the dealers," senior police officer S.C. Dubey said, adding that there was no damage to the Taj Mahal.

China denies its troops crossed into India

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 09:31

China dismissed as "speculation" on Monday complaints in New Delhi that its troops had crossed into Indian territory and set up a camp in a remote disputed area of the Himalayas. The Indian government claimed at the weekend that soldiers from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) entered the northeast of Ladakh and erected a camp on the night of April 15. The de facto border separating China and India is known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). While it has never been formally demarcated, the countries signed two accords to maintain peace in frontier areas in 1993 and 1996.