AFP: A daredevil Indian who held the Guinness World Record for covering the longest distance on a zip-line while hanging by his hair has died while performing a stunt, officials said Monday.

Sailendra Nath Roy, a 49-year-old police officer, was attempting to cross the turbulent River Teesta on Sunday in the state of West Bengal on a 180-metre (594-foot) wire above the water.

Photo: Indian stuntman Sailendra Nath Roy attempts to cross the River Teesta on a zip-wire, on April 28, 2013 (AFP, Diptendu Dutta)

India celebrates Holi, Hindu festival of colors

AFP: Holi, a Hindu festival that marks the arrival of spring, takes place Wednesday. It’s a popular holiday, especially in northern India and other parts of the world with large Hindu communities.

This year, Bollywood stars have joined calls to temper celebrations and reduce water wastage when central parts of Maharashtra state are reeling under a severe water shortage with no rain due until the monsoon in June.

The festival is celebrated with wild “rain dances” and the throwing of buckets of water, water-filled balloons and paint.

Photo: A boy sprays colored foam during Holi celebrations near the Bankey Bihari temple in Vrindavan, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on March 26. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India. (Vivek Prakash / Reuters)

Inquest confirms Indian woman was denied abortion in Ireland

Staff at Galway University Hospital have backed up claims by the husband of Savita Halappanavar that she had asked for and was refused an abortion at the hospital just days before she died last October.

The Irish Times reports:

Halappanavar had been 17 weeks pregnant when she presented at the hospital a week earlier with severe back pain and was found to be miscarrying.

Her husband said, following her death, that she had been in pain and repeatedly asked for a medical termination over a three-day period but this was refused as a fetal heartbeat was still present and they were told “this is a Catholic country.”

She died in the hospital’s intensive care unit, four days after the fetal heartbeat stopped.

Photo: This handout picture from the Irish Times on November 14, 2012, shows Indian national Savita Halappanavar who died after being refused a termination of her pregnancy at a hospital in Galway. (AFP - Getty Images)

Indian gang-rape victim’s condition deteriorating, hospital says

The condition of a 23-year-old Indian medical student, whose gang rape in New Delhi triggered nationwide protests, has deteriorated and there are signs her vital organs have failed, the Singapore hospital treating her says.

Reuters reports that family members “have been informed that her condition has deteriorated and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her,” Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

Photo: Indian students and activists carry signs at India Gate during a protest following the gang-rape of a student in New Delhi on Dec. 19, 2012. (Sajjad Hussain / AFP - Getty Images)

Tear gas used to quell India gang rape protests

Reuters:

The Indian government moved on Sunday to stamp out protests that have swelled in New Delhi since the gang-rape of a young woman, banning gatherings of more than five people, but still thousands poured into the heart of the capital to vent their anger. 

Police in riot gear used tear gas and batons to hold crowds back from marching on the presidential palace, just as they did the day before in clashes that media reports said injured more than two dozen protesters.

Photo: Several thousand students rallied at the India Gate monument in New Delhi, India, on Sunday. (Sajjad Hussain / AFP - Getty Images)

Indians protest following New Delhi gang rape case

NBC Photoblog: Indians are demanding authorities take action to stop violence against women after a 23-year-old physical therapy student was gang-raped for hours and nearly beaten to death on a bus. Agence France-Press reports the attack has sparked new calls for greater security for women in New Delhi, which registered 568 rapes in 2011 compared to 218 in Mumbai in the same year.

Photo: Indian students and activists carry placards at India Gate during a protest following the gang rape of a student in New Delhi on Dec. 19. (Sajjad Hussain / AFP - Getty Images)

India lights up for Diwali

India celebrates Diwali, the festival of lights, on Tuesday. The holiday generally celebrates Hindu god Rama’s return home after many years of exile. View more photos on NBC News.

Photo: A girl lights candles inside a cricket ground on the eve of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad on Nov. 12.(Jitendra Prakash / Reuters)

McDonald’s reportedly opening 1st vegetarian only restaurant in India

BBC:McDonald’s plans on opening its first vegetarian outlet in India. According to the AFP news agency, the company will open the location in the middle of next year, near the Golden Temple in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India.

According to reports, the chain also plans to open another vegetarian outlet in northwestern India, near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Kashmir, a Hindu pilgrimage site.

Photo via AFP

Floods strand villages, kill 77 in India’s Assam state

Reuters:

At least 77 people have been killed and nearly 2 million affected by heavy monsoon rains that caused floods in India’s northeastern Assam state, in what the prime minister on Monday called one of the worst such disasters to strike recently.

Authorities have given shelter, food and medicines to thousands of homeless people, and deployed mobile medical teams to prevent the outbreak of disease.

Photo: An Indian Air Force helicopter distributes relief materials at a flood hit area in Sonitpur, Assam, India, on July 1, 2012. (AP)