Bridge collapse kills 9 in India's Gujarat state
Gujarat's Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said several vehicles were on the bridge when a portion of it collapsed, sending many into the river. He said at least five people were rescued.
The incident occurred in Gujarat's Vadodara district, which has witnessed heavy rains over the past few days. The bridge was constructed in 1985, Patel said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the accident was 'deeply saddening' and offered condolences to those who died.
India's infrastructure has long been marred by safety concerns, sometimes leading to major disasters on its highways and bridges.
In 2022, a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into a river in Gujarat, sending hundreds plunging into the water and killing at least 132.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
China says Dalai Lama succession issue a 'thorn' in relations with India
NEW DELHI: The succession of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is a thorn in China-India relations, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said on Sunday (Jul 13), as India's foreign minister prepares to visit China for the first time since deadly border clashes in 2020. Ahead of celebrations this month for his 90th birthday that were attended by senior Indian ministers, the head of Tibetan Buddhists riled China again by saying it had no role in his succession. Tibetans believe the soul of any senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated after his death, but China says the Dalai Lama's succession will also have to be approved by its leaders. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say his presence gives New Delhi leverage against China. India is also home to about 70,000 Tibetans and a Tibetan government-in-exile. Yu Jing, a Chinese embassy spokesperson, said on social media app X that some people from strategic and academic communities in India had made "improper remarks" on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Yu did not name anyone but in recent days, Indian strategic affairs analysts and a government minister backed the Dalai Lama's remarks on his succession. "As professionals in foreign affairs, they should be fully cognizant of the sensitivity of issues related to Xizang," Yu said, using the Chinese name for Tibet. "The reincarnation and succession of the Dalai Lama is inherently an internal affair of China," she said. "(The) Xizang-related issue is a thorn in China-India relations and has become a burden for India. Playing the 'Xizang card' will definitely end up shooting oneself in the foot." Indian Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who sat next to the Dalai Lama during the birthday festivities a week ago, has said that as a practising Buddhist, he believes only the spiritual guru and his office have the authority to decide on his reincarnation. India's foreign ministry said on July 4, two days before the Dalai Lama's birthday, that New Delhi does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be attending a regional security meeting under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tianjin in northern China on July 15 and hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines. This will be one of the highest-level visits between India and China since their relations nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 that killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
China says Dalai Lama succession issue a 'thorn' in relations with India
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, is served food on his 90th birthday celebration at the Tsuglagkhang, also known as the Dalai Lama Temple complex, in the northern town of Dharamshala, India, July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo NEW DELHI - The succession of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is a thorn in China-India relations, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said on July 13, as India's foreign minister prepares to visit China for the first time since deadly border clashes in 2020. Ahead of celebrations in July for his 90th birthday that were attended by senior Indian ministers, the head of Tibetan Buddhists riled China again by saying it had no role in his succession. Tibetans believe the soul of any senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated after his death, but China says the Dalai Lama's succession will also have to be approved by its leaders. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say his presence gives New Delhi leverage against China. India is also home to about 70,000 Tibetans and a Tibetan government-in-exile. Ms Yu Jing, a Chinese embassy spokesperson, said on social media app X that some people from strategic and academic communities in India had made 'improper remarks' on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. She did not name anyone but in recent days, Indian strategic affairs analysts and a government minister backed the Dalai Lama's remarks on his succession. 'As professionals in foreign affairs, they should be fully cognizant of the sensitivity of issues related to Xizang,' Ms Yu said, using the Chinese name for Tibet. 'The reincarnation and succession of the Dalai Lama is inherently an internal affair of China,' she said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Govt will continue to support families, including growing group of seniors: PM Wong at PCF Family Day Singapore From Normal stream to Parliament: 3 Singapore politicians share their journeys Business 29 Jollibean workers get help from MOM, other agencies, over unpaid salaries Singapore Segregated recycling bins found to lower contamination rate as more spring up Asia Mahathir resting in hospital after feeling fatigued during birthday gathering Singapore Government looking at enhancing laws around vaping to tackle issue of drug-laced vapes in Singapore Singapore Why the vape scourge in Singapore concerns everyone Singapore I lost my daughter to Kpod addiction: Father of 19-year-old shares heartbreak and lessons '(The) Xizang-related issue is a thorn in China-India relations and has become a burden for India. Playing the 'Xizang card' will definitely end up shooting oneself in the foot.' Indian Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who sat next to the Dalai Lama during the birthday festivities a week ago, has said that as a practising Buddhist, he believes only the spiritual guru and his office have the authority to decide on his reincarnation. India's foreign ministry said on July 4, two days before the Dalai Lama's birthday, that New Delhi does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will be attending a regional security meeting under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tianjin in northern China on July 15 and hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines. This will be one of the highest-level visits between India and China since their relations nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 that killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. Late in June, India's defence minister held talks with his Chinese counterpart in China on the sidelines of a defence ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. REUTERS
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Modi wants more Indians to speak Hindi, but some states are shouting ‘No'
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for the nationwide adoption of Hindi, the language of his power base in northern India. NEW DELHI – In India, the land of more than a thousand tongues, few things inflame passions more than language. Touching the hot button comes with political peril. Just ask the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. High-profile brawls have erupted recently over Mr Modi's push for the nationwide adoption of Hindi, the language of his power base in northern India and a symbol of his campaign to unify the country around the ideology of Hindu nationalism. Late in June , the government of Maharashtra, a state in western India governed by Mr Modi's party, was forced to retract a policy requiring that Hindi be taught in elementary schools. Opposition politicians, residents and others had called the policy an affront to Marathi, the region's native language. In Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state with a history of rioting over efforts to make Hindi mandatory, the chief minister has raged for months against an education policy pushed by the Modi government, claiming that it is trying to force students to learn the language. Tamil Nadu sued the central government in May after it said that it would withhold education funds until the state implemented the policy. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Government looking at enhancing laws around vaping to tackle issue of drug-laced vapes in Singapore Singapore Why the vape scourge in Singapore concerns everyone Singapore I lost my daughter to Kpod addiction: Father of 19-year-old shares heartbreak and lessons Singapore Organised crime groups pushing drug-laced vapes in Asia including Singapore: UN Asia Why China's high-end hotels are setting up food stalls outside their doors Business 29 Jollibean workers get help from MOM, other agencies, over unpaid salaries Singapore Geothermal energy present in S'pore, but greater study on costs, stability needed, say experts Singapore Driver arrested after 66-year-old woman dies in car crash at Geylang pasar malam 'It is common sense that pushing any one language will harm the national integration and unity of a linguistically diverse nation like India,' said Mr Niranjanaradhya V.P., an activist who studies how education affects childhood development. 'It is because of this imposition that there is so much resistance by people.' Central government officials have been careful to emphasise publicly that India's strength lies in its linguistic diversity. When they attack any of India's languages, their target is English, calling it a legacy of colonialism that must be de-emphasised to build a new India. In June , Mr Amit Shah, India's minister for home affairs, said at a book launch that Indian speakers of English should be 'ashamed' and that native languages were India's true jewels. But even as they publicly celebrate the country's polyglot nature, leaders of Modi's political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, have made the spread of Hindi a cornerstone of their overarching goal of remaking India into a Hindu-first nation. Hindi and English are India's two official languages, and Hindi is the mother tongue of the biggest group of Indians. As they work to forge what they call the new India rooted in a glorious Hindu past, Mr Modi government officials increasingly refer to the country as Bharat, a name derived from Sanskrit, the ancient language from which Hindi is drawn. The Modi government has steadily promoted Hindi across the nation by naming new public programs, such as for education, agriculture or development, in the language. In 2020, Modi's party overhauled India's decades-old national education policy to introduce more traditional, rather than Western, styles of teaching. It continued India's policy of teaching three languages in schools, but it gave states the flexibility to pick them, as long as two out of three were native to India. Tamil Nadu has refused to abide by that policy, which the state government claims is a way to force the teaching of Hindi. Its top leader, M.K. Stalin, has said that his state has no need for Hindi because it has achieved high literacy rates teaching in Tamil and English. Tamil Nadu and other southern states worry that the imposition of Hindi would wipe out their cultural heritage, including a family of languages with Dravidian, rather than Sanskrit, roots. Ordinary Tamils express pride in their language, which is rich in poetry and literature. While Tamil identity does not have much bearing on the state's politics, 'there is absolute resistance to Hindi', said Ms Nirmala Lakshman, the author of The Tamils: A Portrait Of A Community. It is a general and diffuse sentiment that can morph into outrage when there is a threat of imposition, she said. In Maharashtra, the trouble started in April after Mr Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister, issued a diktat that Hindi would be mandatory in elementary schools, in addition to English and Marathi. The blowback was immense. Mr Sushil Kedia, an investor, was trolled after posting on social media that he had struggled to learn Marathi despite being a longtime resident of the state. Vandals also attacked his offices. Mr Kedia later apologised for his comments. When the government's efforts to push Hindi create outrage, they often also generate political opportunities. The fight over Marathi reunited two prominent state politicians, estranged cousins who had a falling out nearly two decades ago and created their own political parties. 'Everyone here has forgotten party divisions for the sake of Marathi,' said one of them, Mr Raj Thackeray. 'We have come together; we will stay together,' said the other, Mr Uddhav Thackeray. The two marked their triumph over the weekend at a celebratory rally. The Thackeray reunion comes before important municipal elections and after Maharashtra's 2024 state elections, in which both of the Thackeray-led parties suffered major losses. On July 12 , Mr Stalin, the Tamil Nadu leader, congratulated the two on their 'victory'. In a post on the social platform X, he said the campaign to reject the imposition of Hindi had 'transcended state boundaries.' NYTIMES
