By , BAIHATA CHARIALI/KARALAPAKKAM, India (Reuters) - Harmahan Deka doesn’t wear a mask anymore to avoid the novel coronavirus nor does he try to keep a safe distance from others.For the 25 men and women he works with in his construction materials business near the small town of Baihata Chariali in India’s Assam state, life is more or less as it used to be, Deka says.“The virus can’t attack me, it’s weakened,” the 50-year-old diabetic said. “I often hang out at a busy neighbourhood grocery store - without masks, nothing. Both the store owner and I are fine. Maybe we’ve had it already...…By , BAIHATA CHARIALI/KARALAPAKKAM, India (Reuters) - Harmahan Deka doesn’t wear a mask anymore to avoid the novel coronavirus nor does he try to keep a safe distance from others.For the 25 men and women he works with in his construction materials business near the small town of Baihata Chariali in India’s Assam state, life is more or less as it used to be, Deka says.“The virus can’t attack me, it’s weakened,” the 50-year-old diabetic said. “I often hang out at a busy neighbourhood grocery store - without masks, nothing. Both the store owner and I are fine. Maybe we’ve had it already...WW…

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW DELHI, April 25 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution, saying on Sunday the “storm” of infections had shaken India, as the country set a new global record of the most number of COVID-19 infections in a day.The United States said it provide raw materials for one of the COVID-19 vaccines, medical equipment and protective gear to help India respond. France, Britain and Germany also promised rapid support.The number of cases in India surged by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the...…Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW DELHI, April 25 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution, saying on Sunday the “storm” of infections had shaken India, as the country set a new global record of the most number of COVID-19 infections in a day.The United States said it provide raw materials for one of the COVID-19 vaccines, medical equipment and protective gear to help India respond. France, Britain and Germany also promised rapid support.The number of cases in India surged by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the...WW…

Chimneys of a coal-fired power plant are pictured in New Delhi, India, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan AbidiRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCHENNAI, April 19 (Reuters) - India may build new coal-fired power plants as they generate the cheapest power, according to a draft electricity policy document seen by Reuters, despite growing calls from environmentalists to deter use of coal.Coal’s contribution to electricity generation in India , marking a departure from decades of growth in coal-fired power. Still, the fuel accounts for nearly three-fourths of India’s annual power...…Chimneys of a coal-fired power plant are pictured in New Delhi, India, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan AbidiRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCHENNAI, April 19 (Reuters) - India may build new coal-fired power plants as they generate the cheapest power, according to a draft electricity policy document seen by Reuters, despite growing calls from environmentalists to deter use of coal.Coal’s contribution to electricity generation in India , marking a departure from decades of growth in coal-fired power. Still, the fuel accounts for nearly three-fourths of India’s annual power...WW…

By , CHENNAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s drugs regulator on Saturday recommended for emergency use a locally developed coronavirus vaccine called COVAXIN, which is expected to be a backup to the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot.COVAXIN has been developed by Bharat Biotech, a company based in Hyderabad, with backing from the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).Not much is known about the safety and efficacy of COVAXIN. The company says it has submitted all data to the drugs regulator.The head of India’s drugs regulator is expected to share details about it at a news conference on...…By , CHENNAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s drugs regulator on Saturday recommended for emergency use a locally developed coronavirus vaccine called COVAXIN, which is expected to be a backup to the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot.COVAXIN has been developed by Bharat Biotech, a company based in Hyderabad, with backing from the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).Not much is known about the safety and efficacy of COVAXIN. The company says it has submitted all data to the drugs regulator.The head of India’s drugs regulator is expected to share details about it at a news conference on...WW…

By , CHENNAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Hundreds of millions of Indians in north India woke up on Sunday to toxic air following Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, after many revellers defied bans on using firecrackers to celebrate.The capital New Delhi was blanketed with a thick haze, with the average pollution level over 9 times what is considered safe by the World Health Organization.Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had banned the use and sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali, but the policy has been difficult to implement.Revellers in the capital let off huge amounts of fireworks well...…By , CHENNAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Hundreds of millions of Indians in north India woke up on Sunday to toxic air following Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, after many revellers defied bans on using firecrackers to celebrate.The capital New Delhi was blanketed with a thick haze, with the average pollution level over 9 times what is considered safe by the World Health Organization.Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had banned the use and sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali, but the policy has been difficult to implement.Revellers in the capital let off huge amounts of fireworks well...WW…

By CHENNAI (Reuters) - India’s Supreme Court rejected a request by power producers to extend a deadline to install equipment to cut emissions by two years to 2024, according to an order uploaded on the court’s website late on Monday.India has a phased plan for plants to comply with emissions standards, which involve installing Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) units that cut emissions of sulphur dioxide - known to cause lung diseases.More than half of India’s coal-fired power plants ordered to retrofit equipment to curb sulphur oxide emissions are set to miss deadlines which go up to the end...…By CHENNAI (Reuters) - India’s Supreme Court rejected a request by power producers to extend a deadline to install equipment to cut emissions by two years to 2024, according to an order uploaded on the court’s website late on Monday.India has a phased plan for plants to comply with emissions standards, which involve installing Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) units that cut emissions of sulphur dioxide - known to cause lung diseases.More than half of India’s coal-fired power plants ordered to retrofit equipment to curb sulphur oxide emissions are set to miss deadlines which go up to the end...WW…

By CHENNAI (Reuters) - Two people died and four others are missing, feared dead, after a fly ash dike gave way at a coal-fired power plant in the Singrauli district in central India on Friday, a local official told Reuters, the third such incident in the district in a year.Five villagers and a worker at the site owned by Reliance Power were swept up in a flow of fly ash - a powdery by-product of burning pulverised coal - which travelled at least six kilometres, said K.V.S. Chaudhary, the top public official in the Singrauli district.The flow of fly ash swallowed up whole fields in its path...…By CHENNAI (Reuters) - Two people died and four others are missing, feared dead, after a fly ash dike gave way at a coal-fired power plant in the Singrauli district in central India on Friday, a local official told Reuters, the third such incident in the district in a year.Five villagers and a worker at the site owned by Reliance Power were swept up in a flow of fly ash - a powdery by-product of burning pulverised coal - which travelled at least six kilometres, said K.V.S. Chaudhary, the top public official in the Singrauli district.The flow of fly ash swallowed up whole fields in its path...WW…

By , CHENNAI, India/SEOUL (Reuters) - Indian police have filed a culpable homicide complaint against an LG Chem subsidiary over a toxic gas leak at its chemical plant in the south of the country that killed 11 people and forced 800 into hospital for treatment from poisoning.A day after the leak, authorities doubled the evacuation area around the factory in Andhra Pradesh to a 5 kilometre (3 mile) radius, waking residents in the middle of the night and herding them into buses in case more poison should escape.Police took to the streets with loudhailers to tell residents to leave their homes...…By , CHENNAI, India/SEOUL (Reuters) - Indian police have filed a culpable homicide complaint against an LG Chem subsidiary over a toxic gas leak at its chemical plant in the south of the country that killed 11 people and forced 800 into hospital for treatment from poisoning.A day after the leak, authorities doubled the evacuation area around the factory in Andhra Pradesh to a 5 kilometre (3 mile) radius, waking residents in the middle of the night and herding them into buses in case more poison should escape.Police took to the streets with loudhailers to tell residents to leave their homes...WW…