Sputnik News India

2021-09-02 17:53:02 A group of prominent Indian experts, including two former federal ministers, has called upon PM Modi’s governing BJP to desist from using the developments in Afghanistan to create a schism between Hindus and the country’s 200 million Muslims.

“No political party should be allowed to use the developments in Afghanistan to communally polarise Indian society for electoral gains and any such attempts should be dealt with sternly”, a statement endorsed by 11 people reads.

Talking to Sputnik, Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former BJP lawmaker, said that the events in Kabul have led to a “whipping [up] of Islamophobia” in India.

READ MORE: https://sptnkne.ws/Hh8R Open / Comment

2021-09-02 15:53:29 Pakistan said it would no longer take in refugees from Afghanistan. The authorities say there are already more than 3.5 million in the country. But Afghans are still rushing to checkpoints at the border.

At least one person has died in the stampede, CNN reports. Open / Comment

2021-09-02 14:49:40 As the flood situation in the state of Assam worsens, it has become more difficult for frontline health workers to administer COVID-vaccines.

The workers now have to use boats in order to get to the worst-affected areas, NDTV reported after travelling with one such team.

Their goal was to get to the Tapobori char (a riverine island) and to give jabs to the 600 people living there. Open / Comment

2021-09-02 14:20:13 While a "mystery fever" continues to wreak havoc across several districts om Uttar Pradesh, India’s main opposition party has slammed the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over poor health infrastructure.

Sharing a news clip on Twitter, Congress general secretary and the party’s state in-charge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, wrote in Hindi:

“The news of the death of 100 people including children due to fever in Firozabad, Mathura, Agra and many other places in UP is worrying. The UP government has still not taken any concrete steps to strengthen the health infrastructure. Look at the condition of hospitals. Is this your 'Number 1' facility for treatment?” Open / Comment

2021-09-02 13:55:14 Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has criticised a section of Indian Muslims for celebrating the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan and said it is a cause for concern.

The Taliban ousted the government in Afghanistan and took over the control of the country after capturing Kabul last month.

Shah, in a video that has gone viral on Twitter, said every Indian Muslim must reflect on if they want "reform and modernity" in the religion or live with dated "barbarian" values Open / Comment

2021-09-02 13:30:50 A Jaipur-based IT company has declared this Friday (3 September) a holiday, so its employees could watch the new season of "Money Heist", local media has reported.

Abhishek Jain, CEO of the company VerveLogic, was quoted by ANI News as saying: "All the employees are toiling away for the past two years. We decided to give [them] some free time and thought of showing them a web series in [the] office".

But then, they came up with a better idea – and just made Friday a day off.

Media outlets reported that the CEO even promised to provide a Netflix subscription for those who don't have one. Open / Comment

2021-09-02 12:53:02 India's total COVID-19 cases rise to 32.86mln, death toll stands at 439,529 Open / Comment

2021-09-02 11:23:13 The Taliban (banned as a terrorist organization in Russia) plan to launch a military operation against the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan in the northern Panjshir province after negotiations with resistance leader Ahmad Massoud failed, Al Jazeera reports. Open / Comment

2021-09-02 11:21:32 The micro-blogging site Twitter has officially launched its "Super Follows" feature that allows creators on the platform to provide exclusive premium content to subscribers.

Twitter first announced the feature earlier in 2021, and leaks in June indicated that a launch was close.

"Today we are excited to introduce Super Follows, a new way for people to earn monthly revenue by sharing subscriber-only content with their followers on Twitter", Esther Crawford, Staff Product Manager, said in a blog post on Wednesday Open / Comment

2021-09-02 11:05:07

Popular television and film actor Sidharth Shukla, best known for his role in the long running TV show Balika Vadhu , died on Thursday, an official at the Cooper Hospital here said. He was 40 Open / Comment