India is set to issue tourist visas from November 15 after a pause of 19 months for the global coronavirus pandemic, much to the cheer of Bangladeshis who account for the largest share of foreign tourist arrivals in the neighbouring country.

Liberation War veteran Lt Col (retd) Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir yesterday received Padma Shri, one of India’s most prestigious civilian awards, in recognition of his contribution to public affairs.

Four of 40 infants in the newborn-care unit of a government hospital died in central India when a fire swept through the unit late on Monday, government officials said, the latest in a string of hospital fires in the country this year that have killed dozens.

At least 89 people, including 17 children, have tested positive for the Zika virus in a surge of cases in the Indian city of Kanpur, its health department said yesterday.

Two Bangladeshis -- career diplomat Syed Muazzem Ali and scholar Dr Enamul Haque -- were yesterday honoured by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind with two highest civilian awards of India.  

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik yesterday said Aryan Khan, the son of Shah Rukh Khan, was kidnapped for ransom and “their game was ruined because of one selfie”.

Fire tore through a hospital in western India yesterday killing at least 11 coronavirus patients, officials said.

At least 10 Covid-19 patients died as a major fire swept the ICU ward of a hospital in western Indian state Maharashtra's Ahmednagar town today, officials said.

At a recent election rally, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi family that dominates the opposition Congress party, strode on stage and asked the crowd to repeat after her: “I’m a woman, I can fight.” 

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday said it had approved Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for the homegrown shot to be accepted as a valid vaccine in many poor countries.

On the winding road up to India’s Himalayan frontier is a postcard view of gushing streams and tranquil lakes -- punctuated occasionally by the sight of artillery barrels and military bunkers.

Concerned over a high number of dengue cases in nine states and federally-ruled territories across India, the country’s health ministry sent high level teams of experts to those places to support local authorities.

West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress yesterday swept all the four bypolls in assembly seats in the state wresting two of them from Bharatiya Janata Party which also suffered setbacks in bye-elections in two northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today posted a touching video clip on his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s death anniversary, recalling how she told him not to cry if something happened to her and that “she sort of sensed that she would be killed”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday asked Pope Francis to visit India, a significant opening towards the head of the Catholic

India has deployed recently acquired US-made weaponry along its border with China, part of a new offensive force to bolster its capabilities as the countries remain deadlocked over territory.

India has rejected calls to announce a net zero carbon emissions target and said it was more important for the world to lay out a pathway to reduce such emissions and avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures.

Chief Minister of India’s Uttar Pradesh and Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Yogi Adityanath, today said those celebrating Pakistan’s victory against India in the recent T20 World Cup match will face sedition charge.

Three students from Jammu and Kashmir, who are studying at an engineering college in Agra, were arrested for allegedly committing “cyber terrorism” by updating their WhatsApp status to hail Pakistan’s victory against India in the T20 World Cup cricket match three days ago.

India’s Supreme Court yesterday ordered an independent investigation into the alleged government use of Pegasus spyware on journalists, opposition politicians and activists with the chief justice calling the implications “Orwellian”.