India has authorised Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, a leading local drugmaker said Tuesday, in a boost for the nation's inoculation drive as virus cases mount.

Five people were killed in fresh election bloodshed in the Indian state of West Bengal on Saturday, including four shot dead by paramilitary troops "in self-defence", officials said.

India will carry out a deeper review of post-vaccination side effects from the AstraZeneca shot next week although no cases of blood clots have been reported so far, an official told AFP Saturday.

The sound of men punching holes into colourful rubber sheets reverberates across a tiny studio in India's largest slum -- an unlikely birthplace for luxury handbags made by a marginalised community seeking to reclaim its identity.

Iran has received a shipment of 150,000 doses of an Indian Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, local media reported Thursday, as the Islamic republic combats the Middle East's deadliest outbreak of the illness.

India on Saturday hit back at UN rights experts who accused the country of jailing a British arms dealer extradited from the United Arab Emirates in a suspected swap for a runaway princess.

At least 19 people were killed and dozens hurt in a blast at a firecracker factory in India, authorities said Saturday.

Indian rescue workers battled through tonnes of rock and mud Tuesday searching for survivors in a choked Himalayan tunnel after a deadly flood -- apparently triggered by a glacial burst -- smashed through two mountain dam projects.

Eighteen people were confirmed dead on Monday and at least 200 others were missing after a devastating flash flood in India thought to have been caused by a chunk of glacier breaking off.

Indian police tightened security Saturday around camps where farmers have been protesting against new agricultural reform laws, as thousands more arrived to join the campaign.