Narendra Modi - The African Mirror

Feb

2023

India tax officers search BBC offices weeks after critical Modi documentary

KRISHNA N. DAS and KYLIE MACLELLAN INDIAN tax officers searched the BBC's bureaus in New Delhi and Mumbai, the British broadcaster said, weeks after the government banned as propaganda a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's role in the 2002 riots. The documentary focused on the Hindu nationalist politician's leadership as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat during the riots in which at least 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims, though activists put the toll at more than twice that number. The government last month dismissed the documentary, "India: The Modi Question", as propaganda and blocked its streaming…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

India blocks BBC documentary on Modi from airing in India

WORLD

INDIA has blocked the airing of a BBC documentary which questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying that even sharing of any clips via social media is barred. Directions to block the clips from being shared have been issued using emergency powers available to the government under the country's information technology rules, said Kanchan Gupta, an adviser to the government, on his Twitter handle on Saturday. While the BBC has not aired the documentary in India, the video was uploaded on some YouTube channels, Gupta said. The government has issued orders to Twitter to block…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

India ‘on war footing’ as coronavirus infections pass 24 million

WORLD

TANYI MEHTA and SHILPA JAMKHANDIKAR PRIME Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of COVID-19 through India's vast countryside on Friday, as 4,000 people died from the virus for the third straight day and total infections crossed 24 million. India is in the grip of the highly transmissible B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus, first detected there and now appearing across the globe. Modi said his government was "on a war footing" to try to contain it. "The outbreak is reaching rural areas with great speed," he said, addressing farmers in a virtual conference. "I want to once…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

India COVID cases hold close to record highs as calls widen for national lockdown

WORLD

INDIAN coronavirus infections and deaths held close to record daily highs yesterday, increasing calls for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lock down the world's second-most populous country. The 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths reported by the health ministry were off a little from recent peaks, taking India's tally to 22.66 million with 246,116 deaths as hospitals run out of oxygen and beds and morgues and crematoria overflow. (Graphic on global cases and deaths) https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi Experts have said India's actual figures could be far higher than reported. Sunday's 1.47 million tests for COVID-19 were this month's lowest…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Gandhi warns ‘explosive’ COVID wave threatens India and the world

WORLD

NIVEDITA BHATTACHARJEE and ANURON KUMAR MITRA INDIA’S main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned on Friday that unless the deadly second COVID-19 wave sweeping the country was brought under control it would devastate India as well as threaten the rest of the world. In a letter, Gandhi implored Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare for another national lockdown, accelerate a countrywide vaccination programme and scientifically track the virus and its mutations. Gandhi said the world's second-most populous nation had a responsibility in "a globalised and interconnected world" to stop the "explosive" growth of COVID-19 within its borders. "India is home to…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

India sends army to help hospitals hit by COVID-19 as countries promise aid

WORLD

SHILPA JAMKHANDIKAR and NEHA ARORA India ordered its armed forces yesterday to help tackle surging new coronavirus infections that are overwhelming hospitals, as countries including Britain, Germany and the United States pledged to send urgent medical aid. In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said oxygen would be released to hospitals from armed forces reserves and retired medical military personnel would join COVID-19 health facilities. And where possible, military medical infrastructure will be made available to civilians, a government statement said, as new coronavirus infections hit a record peak for a…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

PM Modi says India shaken by coronavirus ‘storm’, U.S. readies help

WORLD

SANJEEV MIGLANI and SUDARSHAN VARADHAN PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution, saying the "storm" of infections had shaken India, as the country set a new global record of the most number of COVID-19 infections in a day. The United States said it was deeply concerned by the massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and would rapidly send aid. The number of cases surged by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the fourth straight day of record peaks. Hospitals in Delhi and across the country are turning away patients after running out of…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Modi’s “biggest crisis yet”

WORLD

RAJENDRA JADHAV INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday appealed to devotees to keep a key Hindu festival symbolic, amid worries about the spread of COVID-19 infections as the country reported more than 200,000 new cases for a third straight day. Criticism has mounted over the Indian government's handling of the health crisis, as religious festivals and election rallies continue despite reports of shortages of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vaccination doses. India reported 234,692 COVID-19 infections over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to nearly 14.5 million, second only to the United States. Deaths from the…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Protesting Indian farmers vow to amass more supporters outside capital Delhi

WORLD

DANISH SIDDIQUI MORE than 100,000 farmers and farm workers gathered in India's northern Punjab state on Sunday in a show of strength against new farm laws, where union leaders called on supporters to amass outside the capital New Delhi on February 27. Tens of thousands of Indian growers have already been camped outside Delhi for nearly three months, demanding the repeal of the three reform laws that they say will hurt them and benefit large corporations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, which introduced the laws last September, has offered to defer the laws but refused to abandon them, arguing that…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Rihanna’s‌ ‌tweet‌ ‌prompts‌ ‌divisive‌ ‌backlash‌ ‌in‌ ‌India‌

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER ONE tweet by Barbados-native singer Rihanna supporting the massive farmer protests occurring in India has angered supporters of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government. Thousands of farmers have been protesting in India’s capital of New Delhi against new agricultural laws that the farmers say would leave them poorer and at the mercy of large corporations. The protests are challenging Modi’s billed laws that the Prime Minister saw as a measure to modernise farming across the nation. The protests started out peaceful until they turned violent on January 26, when a section of farmers riding…