India

NEW DELHI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - A tunnel which collapsed, trapping 41 workers in the Indian Himalayas this month, did not have an emergency exit and was built through a geological fault, a member of a panel of experts investigating the disaster said on Friday.

Rescuers are still struggling to reach the construction workers 12 days after the 4.5-km (3-mile) tunnel caved in. The men, from some of India's poorest states, have been getting food, water and medicine through a pipe.

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Afghan Embassy in New Delhi is permanently closed, it announced Friday, due to challenges from the Indian government and a lack of diplomatic support.

In a press release, it said the decision was already effective from Thursday and follows the embassy’s earlier move to cease operations starting Oct. 1 due to the absence of a recognized government in Kabul. At the time, it had said it would continue to provide emergency consular services to Afghan nationals.

NEW DELHI, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- India's top health research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said on Tuesday a comprehensive study showed that COVID-19 vaccination was not responsible for unexplained sudden deaths among young adults in the country.

The investigation, titled "Factors associated with unexplained sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India, a multicentric matched case-control study", was conducted between October 2021 and March 2023.

NEW DELHI (AP) — The 41 construction workers who have been trapped in a collapsed tunnel in northern India for over a week are finally getting hot meals Tuesday, provided through a newly installed steel pipe, as rescuers work on an alternate plan of digging toward them vertically.

The meals, made of rice and lentils, were sent through a 6-inch-(15.24 cm) pipe pushed through the rubble late Monday, said Deepa Gaur, a government spokesperson.

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - India's capital Delhi re-opened schools and some building sites on Monday amid signs of receding air pollution, although it remained classified as hazardous, while a toxic foam besmirched stretches of the Yamuna river flowing through the city.

The world's most polluted capital resumed its annual battle on pollution this month, despite government pledges to improve. Monday's air quality index (AQI) of 336 was down from Thursday's level of 509, but still "hazardous", Swiss group IQAir said.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Officials trying to reach 41 workers who have been trapped in a collapsed tunnel in northern India for eight days were contemplating alternative rescue plans Sunday after snags with a drilling machine caused them to halt digging.

A new drilling machine arrived at the accident site in Uttarakhand state on Saturday to replace one that was damaged while breaking through the rocks and debris. They had been using the drill to create a space to insert wide pipes through which the trapped workers could crawl to their freedom.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Forty workers were trapped in a collapsed road tunnel in northern India for a seventh day Saturday as rescuers waited for a new machine to drill through the rubble so they could crawl to their freedom.

On Friday, the drilling was interrupted when some machine bearings became damaged by the breaking of rocks and clearing of debris, officials said, adding a new challenge to the long-drawn rescue efforts.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Rescuers drilled deeper into the rubble of a collapsed road tunnel in northern India on Friday to fix wide pipes for 40 workers trapped underground for a sixth day to crawl to their freedom.

Drilling with a new machine started on Thursday and has covered a stretch of 24 meters (78 feet) so far, Devendra Patwal, a disaster management official, said.

It may require up to 60 meters (195 feet) to enable the trapped workers’ escape, Patwal told The Associated Press on Friday.

Shimla/Kullu, Nov 17 (PTI) The naked bodies of a couple believed to be from Russia were found at a small pond near the holy town of Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district, police said on Friday.

The bodies found Thursday bore some injury marks. Police said it appeared to be a case of suicide, but did not rule out the possibility of murder.

Kota (Rj), Nov 16 (PTI) Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spreading "lies" against the Congress, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday called him 'jhooth ke jagatguru", days after the prime minister mocked Rahul Gandhi as the "leader of fools" during campaigning for assembly polls.

Addressing a press conference here, Ramesh took potshots at the BJP and Modi and claimed the Congress will retain power in Rajasthan because of its development and welfare schemes.