Inside India: August 28, 2013

Vendor Brij Kishore processes the ration card of a customer at his Fair Price Shop, a government food dispensary in the northern district of Jahangirpuri of New Delhi. The Indian government's new USD19billion food scheme to feed two thirds of the population, as well as the ruling party's political fortunes, largely depend on hundreds of thousands of shopkeepers like Brij Kishore. Robert Schmidt / AFP

A shopkeeper holds up a wedding garland made from Indian rupee notes in a market of New Delhi. India's rupee plunged more than 3.6 percent to a new record low against the dollar. Maral Deghati / AFP

Hindu pilgrims journey past accumulated rubbish lying along the track to the Amarnath cave. Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims trek through treacherous mountains in revolt-torn Kashmir, along icy streams, glacier-fed lakes and frozen passes, to reach the Amarnath cave, located at an altitude of 3,857 meters (12,729 feet), where a Shiva Lingam, an ice stalagmite shaped as a phallus and symbolising the Hindu God Shiva, stands for worship. Tauseef Mustafa / AFP

In Amritsar, a girl dressed as the Hindu goddess Laxmi adjusts her nose ring before taking part in a religious procession on the eve of Janamashtmi. Janamashtmi celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth of the ten incarnations of Hindu God Vishnu. Raminder Pal Singh / EPA

A young boy dressed as a Hindu god sits in front of the fans to protect his makeup from sweat as he waits to take part in a religious procession on the eve of Janamashtmi. Raminder Pal Singh / EPA

Police try to stop an activist of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) as he shouts slogans during a protest against police crackdowns on VHP activists in New Delhi, India. EPA

A model puts on make-up backstage before the show of Indian designers Shyamal and Bhumika during the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2013 in Mumbai. Divyakant Solanki / EPA

A view of news and daily life on the Indian subcontinent.