India’s festive mood raises fears of surge of coronavirus

NEW DELHI (AP) — The crowds filling shopping areas ahead of the Diwali festival of lights on Saturday are raising hopes of India’s distressed business community after months of lockdown losses but also spawning fears of a massive coronavirus upsurge. People who’ve restricted their purchases to essentials for months appear to be in a celebratory mood and traders are lapping it up, said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of the Confederation of…