Článek
Police arrest man for using camels to smuggle booze into Delhi
Police said on Tuesday they had arrested a man for smuggling illegal alcohol into the national capital using camels.
They also seized two camels and „1,938 pouches of illegal liquor,“ the Delhi Police said in a social media post on X.
The animals were used to carry the contrabrand into New Delhi through „forest routes“ from the neighboring city of Faridabad, news agency AFP reported. Taxes on alcohol are far higher in the capital when compared to its neighbors.
Indian news outlet Hindustan Times reported that the same camels had been stopped last year for alcohol smuggling. Once the alcohol was in Delhi, the smugglers would deliver it to clients on bicycles and rickshaws, it reported.
ISRO in talks to boost satellite launch operations — Reuters report
French satellite operator Eutelsat is in talks with India's space agency about future satellite launches, according to an exclusive Reuters report. It comes as Paris and New Delhi look to deepen bilateral defense and space cooperation.
Eutelsat is Europe's main rival to Elon Musk's satellite internet provider Starlink.
Jean-François Fallacher, CEO of the French firm, told Reuters that negotiations with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were ongoing, but no deal had been reached yet.
France and India have deepened their ties in areas of defense, space and maritime security in recent years as New Delhi looks to diversify technological trade and cooperation with markets beyond the US.
Fallacher said he visited New Delhi in February as part of French President Emmanuel Macron's delegation. On the trip, he met India's telecoms minister and regulators to discuss market access.
„We are preparing for the future, because launch capacity needs to be prepared very much in advance,“ he said. „India is a huge country…so getting market access is strategic.“
Several killed in Bihar temple stampede
At least eight people, all women, were killed in a crush in a temple in the eastern state of Bihar, Indian media reported on Tuesday.
The Sheetala Mata temple was overcrowded as devotees rushed in to offer prayers on the last Tuesday of the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar.
In the Hindu religious calendar, several months hold different astrological and cultural significance for devotees. It can influence what people eat, when they marry, auspicious rituals and even agricultural cycles.
Officials told Indian media that the turnout was higher than usual and that an investigation was now being conducted.
Stampedes at religious events and sites are not uncommon, and kill more than 100 people in India every year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of the dead and announced monetary compensations for their families.
„The mishap in Nalanda district, Bihar, is deeply painful. I extend my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Prayers for the speedy recovery of those injured,“ he said in a social media post.
India set to kick of population census on April 1
Over 3 million Indian officials will spend about a year collecting data on the country's population — the largest in the world — in a massive door-to-door survey.
This round of census was meant to take place in 2021 but was delayed party due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last census was conducted between 2010-11. The survey's data is crucial to the democracy which forms policy and social interventions based on the results.
The once-in-a-decade exercise will begin on April 1. The first 15 days have been allocated for a self-enumeration where citizens will be able to submit their own details online, in a first for India.
The census has traditionally involved collecting data on paper, which is later digitized and published by the government.
After the first 15 days, the census will break into two phases. The first will involve physical collection of data on houses and household conditions. The second will focus on the inhabitants of the houses and their social and economic Parameters, Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan told reporters.
India's census and the caste system
The census will also record data on caste, a rigid social hierarchy coming from India's dominant Hindu religion. The caste system dates back thousands of years and is deeply entrenched in Indian social life and politics.
It divides people and communities into „upper“ and „lower“ stratas and has been the basis of untouchability in Indian history. Even today, families from the lowest caste, Dalits, face marginalization and discrimination.
While the 2011 census did collect caste data, it was not fully published over concerns of accuracy. Those in favor of a caste census say the information is vital to ensure government assistance to those from disadvantaged castes. Critics say caste has no place in a country aiming to be a major world power.
