By TNV Desk

This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from December 10 – December 16

New York Times – In India, There’s an App for Everything. Even Dream Babies.

• Startups big and small are adding a modern touch to the ancient practice of instilling Hindu values starting in the womb.
• Want to raise a child with the business acumen of the industrial tycoon Ratan Tata, the concentration powers of the spiritual guru Swami Vivekananda, the scientific brilliance of the nuclear hero A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and — of course — the patriotic confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
• In India, there is an app for that. In fact, many apps. For centuries, India’s mothers have drawn from rich cultural and religious traditions to pass down a store of knowledge to guide child-rearing. Underpinning this maternal inheritance is a practice known as garbh sanskar, in which the nurturing of a child, and the creation of an environment conducive to instilling a Hindu value system, begins in the womb.
• But in today’s India, the ancient ways alone are no longer sufficient. A new kind of business is taking off, largely from the entrepreneurial western state of Gujarat, catering to mothers-to-be in a country that is rushing headlong into a digital future.
• Startups big and small are offering apps that combine traditional prenatal and postnatal guidance with scientific research, weaving in wellness practices and dietary plans, as well as daily developmental activities like yoga, meditation, art, story reading and lullabies.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/16/world/asia/india-baby-apps-garbh-sanskar.html)

The Himalayan Times – Foundation stone laid for school building in Udayapur under India-assisted ‘High Impact Community Development Projects’

• The foundation stone was laid for the construction of a school building at Shree Janata Belaka Secondary School in Belaka Municipality, Udayapur, with financial support from the Indian government, on Wednesday. The stone was laid by Dr. Narayan Khadka, Member of Parliament and former Minister, and Prasanna Shirivastava, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Kathmandu. The school building, part of the ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation,’ is set to be constructed at a tendered cost of NRs. 3.79 crore.
• Public representatives, government officials, social workers, representatives of the School management, teachers, parents and students were also present on this occasion.
• “The Government of India grant under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’ will be utilized for the construction of a triple storied school building with the required class rooms and other infrastructure facilities for this school. The project is being undertaken as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP), earlier known as Small Development Projects, under an agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal. This project is being implemented through the Belaka Municipality, Udayapur,” accoording to the statement issued by the Indian Embassy in kathmandu.

(For detailed report click on : https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/foundation-stone-laid-for-school-building-in-udayapur-under-india-assisted-high-impact-community-development-projects)

BBC – Nikhil Gupta: India man accused of US murder plot appeals to court

• An Indian man accused of conspiring to kill a US-based Sikh separatist leader has asked India’s top court to intervene in his case.
• Nikhil Gupta has been charged by the US government with trying to hire a hitman to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
• Mr Gupta is in jail in Prague and has asked the Indian Supreme Court to aid his release and help him get a fair trial. His lawyer Rohini Musa has alleged that Mr Gupta has been detained illegally.
• Mr Gupta’s petition alleges that he was arrested by “self-claimed US agents” without any arrest warrant and has not been given a fair trial till now.
• It also claims that he has been under solitary confinement where his fundamental rights have been violated and that he was forced to consume beef and pork during his detention, which goes against his religious beliefs.
• The petition says that he has been politically persecuted and he is wrongly accused of conspiring with the Indian government to kill an American citizen in the US where “he has no connections or business”.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-67725935)

CNN – In India, AI-enabled cameras are sending out tiger alerts in real time

• Silently padding through the jungle, the tiger slinks between tree trunks and hanging vines, her stripes a seamless veil among the dappled shadows on the forest floor. Hard to spot for a human — harder still if you’re a deer — but not so difficult for artificial intelligence.
• Developed by US-based NGO Resolve, TrailGuard AI is an innovative camera trap that is designed to detect specific species and transmit images of them instantly.
• While the technology was originally developed to combat poaching — the camera’s first field-test was in a reserve in East Africa in 2018, where Resolve says it led to the arrest of 30 poachers — conservationists in India saw potential for its use in managing human-tiger conflict.
• TrailGuard uses an advanced vision chip with embedded AI that can recognize up to 10 species — such as tigers, leopards, elephants and humans — and transmit the data in real-time to park rangers via cell phone signal or long-range radio. Because it only recognizes select species, it uses less energy than regular camera traps, so it can stay in the field for more than two years, rather than needing its battery changed every month.

(For detailed report click on : https://edition.cnn.com/world/india-tiger-conservation-trailguard-ai-camera-hnk-spc-intl/index.html

Gulf news – India’s Supreme Court backs Modi’s move to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir

• Landmark ruling by top constitutional bench set to transform political landscape in J&K
• In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court of India affirmed the Indian government’s decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
• A 5-judge Constitutional bench delivered its verdict today based on petitions challenging the government of India’s decision to make changes to the provision, and reorganise the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh.
• “Jammu and Kashmir holds no internal sovereignty after accession to India,” Chief Justice of India (CJI), D Y Chandrachud, said in his verdict.
• Supreme Court noted that there were no maladies in exercise of power under Article 370(3) by President to issue August 2019 order. “Thus, we hold the exercise of Presidential power to be valid,”the Court said.

(For detailed report click on : https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/indias-supreme-court-backs-modis-move-to-revoke-article-370-in-jammu-and-kashmir-1.99878064)

Reuters – India court allows survey of centuries-old mosque to look for Hindu relics

• An Indian court has granted permission to survey a centuries-old mosque to determine if it contains Hindu relics and symbols, a lawyer said on Thursday, in a boost to Hindu groups which claim it was built on a site of a destroyed Hindu temple.
• The Shahi Eidgah mosque is located in Mathura city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and the site is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna, revered by India’s majority Hindu population.
• On Thursday, the Allahabad high court permitted a survey of the 17th century mosque, where Muslims still pray, to determine if there are any relics or Hindu symbols inside the complex.
• “My demand was that in Shahi Eidgah Masjid there are a lot of signs and symbols of the Hindu temple,” Vishnu Jain, a lawyer for the Hindu side, told reporters after the verdict.
• Last year, Hindu groups petitioned to keep Muslims from praying in the mosque, saying they suspected that Hindu relics inside could be removed.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-court-allows-survey-centuries-old-mosque-look-hindu-relics-2023-12-14/)

(The Report is curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa)