India

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Indian Debt Collectors See US' Dark Side

Outsourced call centers get ring-side seat for economic crash

(Newser) - Most Indian call center employees develop a fairly utopian view of the US, which seems a land of brand-name splendor and plenty. Not so at Aegis BPO Services, a call center specializing in debt collection, where employees are getting an up-close and personal look at the credit crunch. “It’...

Bollywood Strike Over; Talent Prevails

(Newser) - The 2-day-old strike involving almost 150,000 Bollywood film workers has been settled, the BBC reports. Producers agreed to abide by an agreement that limits filming sessions to 12 hours and provides generous compensation and timely payment. "The strike is over and tomorrow we will resume work," the...

India Nuclear Deal Is a Go
 India Nuclear Deal Is a Go 

India Nuclear Deal Is a Go

Congress passes agreement three years in the making to sell nuclear material

(Newser) - A deal with India to sell nuclear fuel and technology made it through Congress last night after 3 years of negotiation, the LA Times reports. The agreement, passed by the Senate moments before the bailout bill, repeals the 30-year-old ban imposed after India defied international law to develop a bomb....

150K On Strike in Bollywood
 150K On Strike in Bollywood

150K On Strike in Bollywood

Workers demand boost in pay, currently at $11-12 per day

(Newser) - Bollywood workers began an indefinite strike today, with roughly 150,000 actors, dancers, and cameramen refusing to work, according to the Hollywood Reporter. At issue are late payments, non-union labor, and notoriously poor working conditions. Many technical workers make 600 rupees per day—or about $12. “It is within...

India Readies Smoking Ban; Unruly Public Shrugs

Prohibition carries $5 penalty in country with average income of $1K

(Newser) - India is about to institute a ban on smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, hotels and hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports. The ban, which begins Thursday, is being greeted warmly by health officials, with skepticism by smokers on the ground. “Such rules are made and broken every...

177 Killed in India Temple Stampede

Cause of crush still unknown, police blame slippery slope

(Newser) - A stampede killed at least 177 worshipers at a Hindu temple in western India today, the Times of London reports. Early theories for the crush included a bomb scare and a broken barricade, but police are blaming the steep, slippery path that leads to the temple. Similar stampedes have killed...

Once-Nurtured Militants Have Pakistan Teetering on Brink

Paradoxically, insurgents strengthen after US-inspired strikes

(Newser) - Pakistan’s government is caught between two overbearing powers: the Taliban fighters who want to destroy it, and the American officials who inflame tensions between the government and its people. “The Pakistanis are truly concerned about their whole country unraveling,” a Western military official tells Dexter Filkins, who...

Fired Workers Kill Boss in India

Workers, invited to negotiate, beat Indian chief of Italian manufacturing firm to death

(Newser) - An angry mob of laid-off workers killed their former boss at an Italian manufacturing firm in India yesterday, the Independent reports. Lalit Kishore Choudhary, who oversaw Oerlikon Graziano’s auto-parts business in India, was bludgeoned to death with iron bars as he tried to negotiate with the disgruntled former employees....

Bush Is Right on Nuclear India
 Bush Is Right on Nuclear India 
OPINION

Bush Is Right on Nuclear India

Recognizing the country's status—with nukes and otherwise—sensible diplomacy

(Newser) - President Bush has taken a lot of heat for the nuclear deal he’ll celebrate during this week’s visit by Indian PM Manmohan Singh, but it’s a wise move, Gideon Rachman writes in the Financial Times. “India is going to be one of the great powers of...

India's Effort to Boost Biofuel Encounters Growing Pains

Country aims to feed boom with hardier crops, though it's a tough sell

(Newser) - Just months after India’s finance minister called converting food crops to biofuels “a crime against humanity,” the government has launched a program that aims to get 20% of India’s diesel from plants by 2017, relying heavily on hardy plants that won’t keep rob needed land....

Our Economic Cure? Innovation
 Our Economic Cure? Innovation 
OPINION

Our Economic Cure? Innovation

Innovation, and making it more efficient, can turn gray skies blue

(Newser) - Democrats and Republicans do have something in common: Both parties are wrong on how to resuscitate the flat-lining US economy, Michael Mandel argues in BusinessWeek. Tax cuts or increased government spending aren’t the cure. “Innovation is the best—and maybe the only—way the US can get out...

The Battle for India's Largest Slum

Developers see 'brand-new beautiful suburb' near Mumbai; residents beg to differ

(Newser) - With the Indian economy booming, developers have their sights on Dharavi, the vast Mumbai slum that sits at the intersection of two popular commuter train lines and conveniently close to the Mumbai airport. Visions of shanty houses and refuse-filled streets replaced by glass high-rise apartments and office parks—"a...

Vogue's India Poverty Shoot Pits Couture vs. Culture

Mag touts barrier-breaking 'power of fashion;' 'downright distasteful,' others say

(Newser) - Vogue India is taking heat for a haute couture fashion spread that uses poverty-ridden locals for models, the New York Times reports. A toothless, barefoot man holding a $200 Burberry umbrella and a rumpled baby in a $100 Fendi bib are just two examples that have irked some critics in...

India Struggles to Save Millions in Flood

Villagers turning desperate, living on uncooked rice and polluted water

(Newser) - Rescue helicopters are trying to save villagers in India after a dam flooded thousands of towns this month, killing 85, displacing 2 million, and wrecking a quarter-million acres of farmland, the Daily Telegraph reports. Torrential rain kept helicopters grounded for most of yesterday as one boat capsized, killing 20. “...

Vatican Blasts Attacks on Christians

Official: India killings underscore spread of 'Christianophobia'

(Newser) - The Vatican warned against the spread of "Christianophobia" today following attacks in India that left 13 Christians dead, Reuters reports. Thousands fled their homes this week as mobs rioted in retaliation for the murder of a Hindu leader. The Pope condemned the violence, and Italy's foreign ministry will demand...

Newborn Is Mile-High Miracle
 Newborn Is Mile-High Miracle

Newborn Is Mile-High Miracle

Baby born on flight from Hong Kong to Australia named for ocean and air

(Newser) - An Indian newborn can claim his birthplace is miles in the sky after his mother gave birth during a flight from Hong Kong to Australia yesterday, the AP reports. Four doctors helped deliver the premature 6-pound boy. Mom—who was flying for the first time ever to reunite with her...

Unrest Spikes in Kashmir
 Unrest Spikes in Kashmir

Unrest Spikes in Kashmir

Militants take family hostage, trade fire with Indian forces

(Newser) - Militants who snuck into Indian-administered Kashmir from neighboring Pakistan were holding a family hostage today in after killing several people yesterday, the Times of London reports. Tensions are high in Jammu, some 300 miles northwest of New Delhi; Muslim groups in the area have long agitated for independence from Hindu-dominated...

China's Power Pollution to Pass US

CO2 emissions will double over next 12 years, think tank predicts

(Newser) - Carbon emissions from China's mostly coal-fired electric power industry will exceed those of the US this year for the first time, the Washington Post reports. China's runaway economic growth means its power industry's carbon emissions will double by 2020, predicts the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank. Power...

Protests Threaten World's Cheapest Car

Tata, having promised Oct. launch for $2,500 Nano, considers costly factory move

(Newser) - The promised October launch of a $2,500 car by India’s Tata Motors is in jeopardy after massive protests at its West Bengal factory, Der Spiegel reports. Led by the state's opposition leader, 30,000 demonstrators promised a "fight to the finish" for land they say the government...

Yoga Blunts Menopause: Study
 Yoga Blunts Menopause: Study 

Yoga Blunts Menopause: Study

(Newser) - Menopausal women who do yoga experience fewer hot flashes and have greater mental acuity than their non-practicing counterparts, suggests a new study conducted by a yoga university in India. The research compared results from a control group against women who did yoga or stretches five days a week for 2...

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