"India’s top court bans tourism in tiger parks" by Nirmala George | Associated Press, July 25, 2012
NEW DELHI — India’s top court banned tourism in tiger reserves across the country Tuesday in a ruling that aims to protect the endangered big cats but may disrupt travel plans for tourists who booked stays at the hundreds of hotels that have sprung up deep inside the forests. The ban on tourism in the core areas of the reserves set off protests from tour operators....
--more--"
Related: Cluster bombs found in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan police raid news website
Sorry, other kind of tigers.
"Indian troops try to quell ethnic violence" by Anupam Nath and Wasbir Hussain | Associated Press, July 26, 2012
KOKRAJHAR, India — Thousands of Indian troops marched through a northeast region Wednesday to quell ethnic violence that has killed at least 38 people, but roving bands of rioters continued sporadic attacks, ripping apart homes and setting them on fire.
Nearly 200,000 people have fled homes in western Assam state, bundling meager belongings in cloths and crowding into government camps for protection from violence that erupted late last week. Hundreds of wood and thatch houses have been burned....
The clashes pit members of the ethnic Bodo community against Muslim settlers who mostly came from the former East Pakistan before it became Bangladesh in 1971. The groups have long accused each other of stealing land and have clashed over the years.
Army and paramilitary soldiers have fatally shot five people since receiving a mandate Tuesday to shoot rioters on sight, Assam Home Secretary G.D. Tripathy said....
--more--"
"India sends more troops to riot area" July 27, 2012
BIJNI, India — Indian authorities rushed more troops Thursday to quell ethnic violence in a remote northeastern state where dozens of people have been killed over the past week and villagers are frightened to return to their burned-out homes.
Clashes between members of the ethnic Bodo community and Muslim settlers in Assam state have left 42 people dead and 13 missing, state officials said. Six of the 42 were killed by security forces, who were given a mandate Tuesday to shoot rioters on sight.
The killing of four Bodo men last week sparked violent attacks by Bodo tribespeople on Muslim villages.
Hundreds of homes were torched; more than 200,000 people fled for relief camps.
On Thursday, Assam’s chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, met with Bodo and Muslim leaders to defuse tensions and restore peace, while the federal government ordered more troops to be sent to the three worst-hit districts, Kokrajhar, Dibrugarh, and Chirang.
On Thursday, the Assam government announced that $11,000 would be paid as compensation to the families of those killed.
--more--"
See if you can catch the next train out:
"A fire swept through a train car packed with sleeping passengers in southern India on Monday, killing at least 32 people and sending panicked survivors rushing for the only clear exit once the train stopped, officials said....
--more--"
Also see: One dead in labor clash at Indian plant
