India

Congress party workers shout slogans during a protest accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using military-grade spyware to monitor political opponents, journalists and activists in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP/Manish Swarup)

July 23, 2021, 9:55 pm

Indian government under fire as Israeli spyware accusations pile up

Pakistan asks UN to investigate reports that PM Imran Khan’s phone was hacked and Delhi opposition chief accuses Modi of ‘treason’ over use of NSO program

By AFP and TOI staff

Illustrative: In this Septsember 14, 2020, file photo, Ramananda Sarkar, 43, who has cremated more than 450 COVID-19 victims stands by burning funeral pyres of COVID-19 victims in Gauhati, India. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)

July 20, 2021, 10:28 pm

India’s true pandemic death toll could be in the millions

Report estimates excess fatalities to be at least 3.4 million, says true number likely ‘an order of magnitude greater than the official count’ of some 414,000

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and Krutika Pathi

July 20, 2021, 6:58 pm

Protests erupt in India’s parliament over Israeli spyware scandal

Opposition party calls Modi government’s alleged use of NSO Group’s Pegasus to monitor political opponents and others ‘a national security threat’

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and Krutika Pathi

The New York Times’s South Asia bureau chief Jeffrey Gettleman (far right), reporting during the coronavirus pandemic from India. (Courtesy)

June 25, 2021, 10:48 am

Podcast: NYT India correspondent on ‘nightmarish’ Delta variant COVID wave

No stranger to danger while reporting, Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times’s South Asia bureau chief, talks about the challenges and horrors of covering a deadly pandemic

By TOI staff

National Security Guard soldiers inspect the site of a blast near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, India, on January 30, 2021. (Dinesh Joshi/AP)

June 24, 2021, 8:53 pm

India arrests 4 over January blast outside Israeli embassy

Police source tells Indian daily that officers are questioning college students from Kashmir ‘to ascertain their role’ in the explosion

By TOI staff

A person walks past a sign directing members of the public to a COVID-19 testing centre in Bolton, northwest England, on May 28, 2021. (Oli SCARFF / AFP)

June 1, 2021, 11:59 am

WHO to use Greek alphabet for COVID-19 variants

Global body says naming coronavirus strains after geographic origins is ‘stigmatizing;’ UK variant to be known as Alpha, South African Beta, Brazilian Gamma, and Indian Delta

By Agencies

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May 26, 2021, 4:54 pm

Orthodox Union launches emergency campaign to provide oxygen concentrators for India as it fights COVID surge

A Message From Rabbi Moshe Hauer, Executive Vice President, The Orthodox Union

Family members and relatives wearing protective gear stand next to the funeral pyre of a COVID-19 coronavirus victim at a crematorium in New Delhi on May 24, 2021 (Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)

May 24, 2021, 10:05 am

India’s reported coronavirus death toll passes 300,000, 3rd highest in world

4,454 new deaths in last 24 hours; true toll thought to be significantly greater; surge of infections appears to be easing in big cities but is devastating the poorer countryside

By SHEIKH SAALIQ

In this picture taken on May 5, 2021, relatives grieve as they arrive for the cremation of their loved one who died due to the COVID-19 coronavirus at a crematorium in Moradabad (Prakash SINGH / AFP)

May 8, 2021, 9:38 am

India records over 4,000 COVID deaths in a day amid devastating virus surge

Experts, who express doubts about the official death toll, say wave may not peak until the end of May; mounting calls for tough nationwide lockdown measures

By AFP

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks during a press conference at Pfizer's factory in Puurs, Belgium. (John Thys/Pool/AFP)

May 7, 2021, 8:57 am

Pfizer head Bourla says he’s ‘not at all’ in favor of US vaccine patent waiver

Pharma chief comes out against Washington proposal, insists building new plants is not the solution; comments come as India announces record COVID deaths

By AFP

A Covid-19 cornavirus patient is shifted to a ward after being admitted at the GTB hospital in New Delhi on April 29, 2021. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP)

May 7, 2021, 4:09 am

NY Jewish federation sending $200,000 in COVID relief to India

Grants from UJA-Federation of New York focused on providing equipment and relief in hard-to-reach and especially vulnerable communities in pandemic-wracked country

By Andrew Silow-Carroll

Family members of COVID-19 victims leave as their funeral pyres burn at an open crematorium set up at a granite quarry on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, May 5, 2021. (Aijaz Rahi/AP)

May 6, 2021, 10:21 am

India hits another dire record in COVID-19 outbreak with 3,980 deaths in a day

Daily caseload of infections again reaches over 400,000 as country scrambles for oxygen supplies, with demand jumping sevenfold

By ASHOK SHARMA

A funeral worker removes empty coffins that held remains that were later cremated amid the coronavirus pandemic, at La Recoleta cemetery in Santiago, Chile, April 21, 2021. (Esteban Felix/AP)

May 3, 2021, 10:18 pm

For first time, Brazilian, Chilean coronavirus variants found in Israel

Health Ministry says two vaccinated people and a baby found to have COVID strains after returning from abroad

By TOI staff

Travelers walk to a coronavirus testing area after arriving at Ben Gurion Airport on March 8, 2021. (Flash90)

May 3, 2021, 4:26 pm

Israel’s ban on travel to 7 countries over COVID variants takes effect

Israelis cannot travel to India, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Turkey; returnees, even those vaccinated or recovered, must isolate

By TOI staff

A COVID-19 patient lies in an ambulance while waiting to get an admission in a hospital in New Delhi on May 1, 2021. (Tauseef Mustafa/AFP)

May 1, 2021, 6:44 pm

India expands faltering vaccine drive as over 400,000 infections recorded in day

Hard-hit New Delhi extends lockdown by a week; vaccination opened to all adults, but Indians struggle to schedule appointments amid shortage of shots

By Bhuvan Bagga and Glenda Kwek