Monsoon Rains, Floods Kill 70 in India; Pakistani Taliban Threaten Utility Company; UN Warns of Heroin Deaths Due to Afghan Poppy Supply

India 

Monsoon rains cause flash floods in India, at least 70 dead

Authorities in India’s western state Gujarat said that heavy monsoon rains have caused widespread damage to public and private properties with more than 70 people reported to have died in flood-related incidents (BBC, NYT). More than 10,000 people have been moved to higher ground, including 1,000 who were airlifted to safety. Air force helicopters have been dropping food in affected areas. Heavy rains have triggered house collapses in the worst affected Saurashtra region with some reports saying these are the worst floods in 90 years. The coastal district of Amreli is the worst affected, where more than 600 villages have been affected. Meanwhile, flood warnings have been issued in Indian-administered Kashmir state where floods killed about 300 people last year. The Jhelum river in the state’s main city of Srinagar was flowing above the danger mark, reports said. In the northern state of Uttarakhand, authorities have halted pilgrimage to Kedarnath and other Hindu holy sites due to heavy rains. India receives 80 percent of its annual rainfall during the monsoon season, which runs between June and September. 

RBI Governor says the world may be slipping into a 1930s- styled depression

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan asked central banks from across the world to define “new rules of the game” as he warned that the global economy may be slipping into problems similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s (HT, NDTV, TOI). Rajan, who has been warning against competitive monetary policy easing by central banks, however, said the situation is different in India where RBI still needs to bring down lending rates to spur investments. Speaking at an event in London, he expressed concern that the world may be slipping into the kind of problems of the depression of the 1930s and an international consensus needed to be built over time.  Asked specifically about interest rate cuts from an Indian perspective, he said: “I try to shut out market reactions as far as I can. We (India) are still in a situation where we have to spur investment and I am worried more about that.”

NBA picks its first Indian player

Nineteen-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamra has become the first Indian player to have been drafted into the professional American basketball league, the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Friday (PTI, HT, Hindu). Singh was picked in the 52nd draft and second list of the NBA. Talking to journalists, Singh said: “The feeling is of course unreal but it has happened and I feel that my entry will certainly open the doors for many aspiring basketballers in India to dream big.” Singh belongs to a small village near Ludhiana in the westerns state of Punjab. He has represented the Indian national team and recently moved to Florida for training. 

Pakistan

Taliban threatens utility company in Karachi

The Pakistani Taliban warned on Friday that it would target the country’s main electrical company if it did not end power outages in the country’s south, where intense heat has killed over 1,000 people in the past week (AP). Mohammad Kurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, also expressed his condolences over the deaths in the port city of Karachi. Chronic power cuts caused public protests in the city, but K-Electric, the private company responsible for providing electricity to the city’s residents, said that technical faults and surging demand were to blame.

Pakistani accused of 2009 Peshawar bombing arrested in Italy

A Pakistani suspected of involvement in the Peshawar market bombing in 2009 has been arrested in Rome, Italian police said on Friday (AFP). The man, who had been living in Italy, is accused of taking part in the attack on a market, which killed 134 people, including many women and children. Anti-terrorist police believe he also hid “suspected suicide attacker who was supposed to carry out an attack” in Italy. The man was not identified in reports.

Afghanistan

UN warns of more heroin deaths due to record poppy supply

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned on Friday that record poppy production in Afghanistan will translate to a spike in heroin-induced deaths, with death rates already rising in the United States and Britain (Reuters). Afghanistan accounts for about 85 percent of opium production and 77 percent of worldwide heroin production, according to UNODC’s annual World Drug Report. Angela Me, one of the authors of the report, said: “We know there is much larger supply of opiates that will be translating into heroin … It’s important to warn that the supply is there.” She added: “In the (United States) and in (Britain)… we see a market with increased supply particularly of cheap heroin and we already see some impact in terms of deaths.” Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record high last year.

NATO to assess fighting season before deciding on mission’s future

NATO says it will decide how quickly to scale back its military training and support mission, called Resolute Support, in Afghanistan after assessing how well local security forces perform in this year’s fighting season during the summer months (RFE/RL, Pajhwok). However, NATO defense ministers are reassuring Afghanistan that it can count on the alliance’s continued help after Resolute Support ends (AP). Alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that ministers committed their governments to maintaining “a civilian-led presence” in the country. But Stoltenberg also said that in “the long run, no country can be dependent on a high number of foreign forces.” 

— Emily Schneider and Shuja Malik

Edited by Peter Bergen