India: 5 baby orangutans rescued, smuggling suspected
Deutsche Welle · LC · trust 68/100
Five young orangutans, not native to India, were found in an Odisha forest, sparking suspicion of an international smuggling operation. Meanwhile, India said it was not involved in the BAPS-Eiffel Tower row.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MITS Orangutans are native to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia Image: YAY Images/IMAGO Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know Forest officials have rescued five baby orangutans thousands of kilometers from their native habitat Indian officials say they have nothing to do with the BAPS-Eiffel Tower controversy Preparation for the BRICS summit is in full swing, but staying at a luxury hotel could burn a serious hole in your pocket Below is a roundup of the top headlines from India from Wednesday, September 9.
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09/09/2026 September 9, 2026 Delhi faces luxury hotel crunch ahead of BRICS summit The Summit is expected to increase demand across a wider time period, with delegates arriving early or extending their trips Image: Bhawika Chhabra/REUTERS As New Delhi prepares to host world leaders for the 18th BRICS summit set for this weekend, the Indian capital's luxury hotel sector is experiencing a shortage of space along with price increases, according to local media reports.
A check of booking platforms found no availability at the Taj Mahal and The Oberoi for September 11-12, while the Taj Palace had no rooms for September 10-12 and The Leela Palace wasn't accepting bookings for the same dates, according to local media.
At the ITC Maurya, where rooms were available, starting nightly rates exceeded Rs 230,000 ($2400/€2100), news agency PTI reported.
India's difficult BRICS chairship To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
K B Kachru, president of the Hotel Association of India, said the summit is exposing gaps in India's hospitality capacity.
"The BRICS Summit alone will put considerable focus on room inventory and that spotlight is exposing a hard truth: our hospitality infrastructure has not kept pace with our tourism ambition," he said.
He told PTI that India has only about 200,000-220,000 branded hotel rooms nationwide.
The summit is also compressing demand across a wider window as delegates arrive early and extend stays, potentially forcing other travelers to pay a premium, look farther from central Delhi, or shift travel dates.
09/09/2026 September 9, 2026 India distances itself from Eiffel Tower row over Hindu group's visit The Eiffel Tower reopened to the public a day after the staff strike Image: Sarah Meyssonnier/REUTERS India's Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday distanced itself from the controversy arising from Hindu group Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha's (BAPS) visit to the Eiffel Tower.
BAPS had earlier apologized after the Eiffel Tower closed Monday when staff went on strike over allegations that female workers were sidelined during a visit by roughly 100 members of the organization.
"As to the particular issue pertaining to the Tower, this is a matter purely between the entities concerned," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing, confirming India was aware of the controversy following BAPS's inauguration of France's first traditional Hindu temple near Paris on Sunday.
Jaiswal also addressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's virtual address at the temple's opening, calling it standard practice for the government to convey "good wishes" on such occasions and saying there was "no cause for any comment" on the matter, local media reported.
BAPS said the visit had been pre-coordinated with the tower's operators and that, to its knowledge, no one was denied access, though it apologized to anyone "hurt or inconvenienced."
Outrage in France over Eiffel Tower removing female staff To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Tower operator SETE acknowledged accepting a request to limit "interactions with women," calling it a mistake it should not have agreed to.
Eiffel Tower staff, in their own statement, condemned what they called instructions that left female employees "sidelined, replaced, and rendered invisible based on their gender," saying some were told to leave their posts or avoid certain areas while the delegation was present.
09/09/2026 September 9, 2026 Baby orangutans rescued, sparking international smuggling probe Indian forest officials rescued five baby orangutans in the eastern state of Odisha on Tuesday, with authorities suspecting the great apes were smuggled into the country from Southeast Asia.
The animals, not native to India , were found in a forest in the Balasore district. Local legislator Goutam Buddha Das told The Telegraph newspaper that villagers first spotted the orangutans dangling from a tree and initially mistook them for monkeys, before alerting forest officials that their appearance didn't match.
He said the area's coastal location suggested the animals could have arrived by sea from Indonesia.
"I demand a high-level inquiry to find out who is involved in the racket," Das said.
Balasore forest officer Pratik Prakash Indalkar said the three male and two female orangutans were examined by veterinarians, found to be in good health, and given food and oral rehydration solution before being transferred to Nandan Kanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar for quarantine.
Odisha Environment Minister Ram Singh Khuntia said the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is now investigating how the animals reached India .
"We suspect that an international racket might be involved in this," he told the IANS news agency. Authorities are also examining whether the animals were destined for sale to buyers in Kolkata.
Orangutans are native only…
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