Last month, two reports were tabled in the Assam Assembly on the Nellie massacre – one of the largest mass killings in post-independent India.

Both the reports arrived at different conclusions.

The Tewary Commission, which had been set up by the Congress state government, said that the Indira Gandhi government’s decision to hold Assembly elections in Assam at the peak of an anti-foreigners’ movement was not to blame for the violence in 1983.

In February that year, 1,800 Bengali Muslims were massacred in Assam’s Morigaon district days after Assembly elections were held under President’s rule. No one has been punished for the killings in all these years.

A different narrative was put forward by a second commission formed by Mukti Jujaru Sanmilan and organisations spearheading the Assam movement, which mobilised people against so-called illegal migrants. The Justice (retired) TU Mehta Commission ascribed the violence squarely on the imposition of the elections against the wishes of the people.

The Himanta Biswa Sarma government’s decision to table the “unofficial” Mehta Commission findings has revived the narrative about the anxiety over “illegal immigrants” ahead of the Assembly election.

But, as the Japanese scholar Makiko Kimura pointed out, neither report addresses the question of justice for the dead.

Kimura wrote The Nellie Massacre of 1983: Agency of Rioters (2013), one of the few, scholarly investigations into the violence, which looks into the reasons for the riots, why the attackers participated in the violence, the role of organisations like the All Assam Students’ Union and the government and its agencies.

In this interview with Scroll, Kimura explains the motivations of the two commissions and what happens when justice eludes victims for decades. Excerpts:

What do you think of the Assam government’s decision to table two reports on the 1983 Nellie massacre after so many years?
I have no clue why the government decided to make them public now. Most probably, it is just to divert the attention of the public from some other issues, as many others say.

What are the major differences in the findings of the two commissions? What did both say about the violence against the Muslims peasants? Did they hold anyone responsible for the massacre?
As I say in my book, from the beginning these two commissions represented the interest of the organisations or institutions which asked them to report on the violence.

Both the Tewary Commission report and Mehta Commission Report do not provide details regarding the attackers involved in the collective violence.

The role of the top leaders of the AASU or the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad in any of the incidents has not been established beyond the reports in newspapers, weekly journals, and other publications.

The commissions were, from the beginning, biased towards certain organisations, and their work was utilised to show either the central government’s or [the Assam movement] leaders’ perspectives.

The conclusion of the Tewary commission report is very ambiguous about the cause of the violence. It shies away from criticising the government. It criticised the students’ movement leaders but not very strongly. It only blamed the lower rank police officials for negligence and was guilty and punished. That’s it.

The responsibility of the government and their decision to hold elections in such unusual conditions has never been touched upon.

The Tewary commission did not say anything about what kind of measures should be taken for compensation or justice. I don’t think the government has ever discussed this topic either.

The Mehta Commission Report is also silent on the Assam movement leaders and their responsibility. I am sure that they were pretty aware that if they continued with their boycott of the elections, something would happen especially because the local police were influenced by the movement leaders and their propaganda that they have to drive out foreigners of Assam.

It is regrettable that there has been no neutral and third-party investigation into the Nellie massacre, such as the ones conducted by the Peoples Union for Democratic Rights or People’s Union for Civil Liberties after violent incidents in other parts of India.

Tell me a little about your experience visiting Nellie over the years. What struck you about the survivors?
I was struck by the fact that most people had stayed in the same village even after the attack. Every family has lost members of their family. Sirajuddin, who was quoted in my book, and who gave testimony in the documentary by Subasri Krishnan, What the field remembers, lost four daughters. And his family is not an exception.

Many people said they have lost 10, 20 family members. And they live with those memories.

I have visited a few times. The last time was on February 18, 2023. Every year, they conduct some memorial, but it was smaller and more discreet that year. I heard the organisers were afraid there could be repercussions.

The Tewary Commission in its conclusion said that the 1983 violence was not communal, though over 2,000 Muslims were killed. How do you read this finding?
A recent article in The Print quotes the commission as saying: “It is entirely unwarranted to give a communal colour to the incident’s under enquiry. All sections of the society suffered as a result of the senseless violence.”

It is true that there were numerous violent incidents, and there were no fixed victims or attackers. But I am sure the Muslims were most targeted. There was no other incident on the same scale as Nellie.

It is clear that the Assam police overlooked warnings on possible disturbances in Nellie because they were sympathetic to the movement.

In your view, what led to the 1983 violence and what role did the Assam movement leaders and the government play?
As I say in my book, the first and foremost case was the central government’s failure in handling the situation skillfully and, to some extent, the AASU’s failure. The Assembly election became an occasion for both the Congress and the AASU to pursue success in their attempt to gain control in Assam, and thus, the two powerful organisations’ interests clashed.

To sum up, both the AASU and the Union government did not make enough effort to prevent the violence that had easily been predicted. Instead, both parties tried to utilise the opportunity to gain power to their own end. In this way, neither can escape the criticism of instigating small-scale violence and creating an atmosphere where everybody felt threatened.

Why could the violence not be prevented in the initial days? Why did the state machinery fail to stop the riots?
In a report in India Today on May 15, 1983, Arun Shourie pointed out three things. It helps you to understand why the state machinery could not stop the Nellie incident.

First, ensuring a free and fair poll was not the priority for the police and administrative officers, as well as security personnel. For them, the goal was to be able to proclaim one way or another that the ritual of the elections had been gone through. Thus, police and security personnel were made to concentrate on the polling booths in order to protect the 8,000 officers who had been airlifted for polling duty, and the candidates and their families.

Second, the local policemen were not satisfied with the Centre’s decision, and they became very hostile towards the state apparatus. There was obvious hostility between the local Assam police and the CRPF Personnel.

Third, there was a wireless message sent on February 15 by the Nagaon police station that warned of a possible attack in the area. The village residents had visited the officer-in-charge of the Nagaon Police

station, Zahirud Din Ahmed, and requested him to take some action. There was a specific warning from the district headquarters to the police station in Jagiroad, but the concerned officers failed to take any action.

The government was not really concerned about the violence, they were mostly focused on the elections. They did not have the will to prevent the violence.

What does the lack of justice for riots like this do to communities?
I think overall, Muslims keep losing trust in the government and their own country. When you isolate and marginalise minorities, it sows seeds of future trouble. In the end, it destabilises the country.

The telecom ministry has asked smartphone manufacturers to mandatorily preload all new devices with a government cyber security app that users cannot uninstall, Reuters reported on Monday.

The order issued by the Department of Telecommunications on Friday gave manufacturers three months for compliance, Reuters reported. The Sanchar Saathi app has been developed by the department.

The app allows users to report suspected fraud, block lost or stolen mobile handsets and check the mobile connections registered in the person's name.

In the phones that are already being sold, the ministry told the manufacturers to add the app through a software update. Reuters reported that the order was not made public, but sent privately to select manufacturers.

The app is essential to combat “serious endangerment” of telecom cybersecurity from duplicate or spoofed International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers that could enable scams or misuse of the network, the ministry was quoted as saying.

The app has been available since May 2023 for users to download voluntarily. There is also a Sanchar Saathi website providing the same services.

The order is based on the belief that it will make reporting of fraud easier, an unidentified telecom department official told the Hindustan Times.

“Right now, reporting time varies because users have to go to the website to report fraud or stolen mobile phones,” the official said.

United States-based technology giant Apple, South Korea’s Samsung, and Chinese electronics manufacturers Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi are among the companies that have been asked to comply, according to Reuters.

In 2018, Apple was in loggerheads with India’s telecom regulator over the development of an anti-spam mobile app by the government.

In August, the Russian government had made it mandatory for smartphone and tablet manufacturers to pre-install the state-backed MAX Messenger, a WhatsApp rival.

In Kerala, the demand for river sand, one of the primary materials used in construction, has increased in line with development. The state has experienced rapid expansion in modern housing, partly fuelled by remittances from the Gulf since the 1970s oil boom and large-scale migration from the state. As Kerala’s demand for sand grew sharply, the state’s riverbeds bore the brunt – leading to falling groundwater levels, disrupted stream flows, and weakened bridges.

To prevent these consequences, in June 2015, the Kerala government banned sand mining in six rivers and restricted it in five others. In January 2016, the central government amended the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006, mandating prior environmental clearance for the mining of minor minerals, including sand, in areas less than or equal to five hectares.

While this was a well-intended move, a new study shows that the ban on river sand mining may have led to an unexpected boom in stone quarrying across the Western Ghats. The study was published by a team of three researchers from the National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode.

The study attains added significance in the light of the Revenue Department of Kerala issuing an order in May 2025, approving new guidelines for the resumption of river sand mining in the state, effectively lifting a nearly decade-long moratorium.

The study noted that the state’s construction industry, the largest consumer of the mined river sand, reacted to the ban by replacing river sand with manufactured sand (M-sand). M-sand is artificially made from crushing hard rocks into fine particles.

Though it is thought to be more environmentally friendly than river sand, there are no studies proving that the environmental trade-offs are worth the shift. “This is especially true when the quarries supplying stones for the manufacture of artificial sand are located near ecologically sensitive areas,” notes the paper, published in the journal The Extractive Industries and Society.

As M-sand became the new construction staple, the Western Ghats, which is rich in granite and charnockite – a hard, dark, coarse-grained rock with a greenish tint, quarried widely in southern India – became the quarrying frontier, increasing the threats to this biodiverse ecosystem.

Expanding scars

Based on data from the state mining portal, Kerala Online Mining Permit Awarding Services, the researchers identified 355 operational quarries spread throughout 32 talukas (of 12 districts). Of these, 72 quarries fall within the 10-kilometre buffer zone around 20 protected areas in the Western Ghats region.

“Using Google Earth tools and GIS, we analysed the expansion in the area of these quarries for 10 years, from 2011 to 2021. We noticed a more-than-normal increase in the year 2016,” says George K Varghese, one of the authors of the study and an associate professor in the NIT department of civil engineering.

Between 2011 and 2015, 64 of the 72 quarries grew by a tenth of their original size. But the growth accelerated from 2016 to 2021, with 66 quarries expanding by at least another 10%. Five quarries increased more than fivefold – one even growing nine times larger. Overall, 90% of the quarries grew by over 50% during the decade. “The highest increase in the area was observed in quarries located in the 5 to 10-kilometre buffer zone,” the study noted.

Put together, the 72 quarries expanded by over 250 hectares between 2011 and 2021. Of this increase, 17.4 % occurred in 2016.

Lekshmi Ashok, co-author of the study and a NIT doctoral candidate, carried out a survey among residents near protected areas. “The majority considered stone quarrying as the most important threat,” says Varghese, who co-guided Lekshmi’s doctoral work along with Santosh G Thampi, a professor in the same department.

Blast, din dust

Beyond the removal of rocks, quarrying activity is accompanied by loud noises, dust, ground-shaking blasts, says the study, causing harm to the region’s biodiversity.

The study particularly noted that some quarries are very close to the protected areas. Silent Valley National Park has three quarries just four kilometres from its boundary, and the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, spread across Kozhikode and Wayanad districts, has 15 quarries within its 10 kilometre buffer, the study pointed out.

“Six quarries, two each in the buffer zones of Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary and Peechi-Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary, and one each in the buffer zones of Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary and Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, more than doubled their area in 2016 when compared to 2015,” the study noted.

The NIT team reviewed how quarrying affects local ecosystems, combing through academic databases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus to assess how noise pollution, dust, and vibrations affect birds, mammals, and plant life in ecologically sensitive areas.

Combined with real-time sound monitoring near active quarry sites they could show that blasting produced noise levels well above safe thresholds – posing risks to wildlife and human settlements. The study involved deployment of a sound level meter near the quarry sites.

During blasting the noise level measured was 98 decibels (dB) at 50 m from the blast location, and the equivalent noise level (Leq) measured was 70 dB at 50 m of operational quarries. The equivalent noise level (Leq) is a single decibel value that represents the total sound energy of fluctuating noise over a set period as if it were a constant level. At noise levels above 40dB the density of birds species decreased near the quarrying sites, as an earlier study found.

Better balance and enforcement

Meanwhile experts have pointed out in formal reports and media comments the widespread presence of many illegal quarries in the Western Ghats.

Eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who has studied the region for decades, told Mongabay India that conservation laws are often poorly enforced. He cited the influence of powerful lobbies that bypass protections and pressure local communities to surrender their rights. “We need the rule of law,” Gadgil said in reference to illegal quarrying in the Western Ghats.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has often defended the criticism about illegal mining in the Western Ghats, especially in landslide-affected areas.

Commenting on the relevance of study, Raghunathan Pillai, a former director of GSI, underscored the increasing use of concrete in Kerala. “Use of stones for basement construction is minimal now with the practice of making pillars even for small houses; but sand is an essential material for construction,” he said. “Rather than depending too much on M-sand, river sand can be brought from neighbouring states, and shipped from Gujarat. Another option is recovery of sand resources off Kerala coast after clearing environmental concerns. Use of suitable boards and wood in construction also can reduce consumption of sand,” he said.

GSI has identified approximately 750 million tonnes of construction-grade sand in offshore deposits off the Kerala coast – from Ponnani to Kollam – sufficient for nearly 25 years of the state’s demand. However, the Kerala government has opposed the move on environmental and procedural grounds.

By-products of industrial processes, crushed stone dust from quarries, recycled glass, demolition concrete waste, rice husk ash and coal combustion waste such as fly ash and bottom ash are some the other alternatives, as studies suggest.

Meanwhile, the NIT paper authors has called for an urgent overhaul of Kerala’s quarrying regulations. They recommend that ecologically sensitive zones be designated strictly off-limits for new quarry approvals, and that any major expansion in extractive activity undergo a strategic environmental assessment. Crucially, they call for mandatory public disclosure of quarry expansion data and biodiversity assessments – steps they argue are essential to restore transparency and accountability in the sector.

This article was first published on Mongabay.

The Indian rupee fell to an all-time low of 89.7 against the United States dollar. This came amid sluggish trade activity and portfolio flows, coupled with uncertainty about a trade deal between Washington and New Delhi.

United States President Donald Trump had said on November 10 that his country was getting close to a “fair deal” with India. However, the delay in the announcement of the trade deal and the resulting uncertainty about the future of exports were creating a stir across the market.

Washington’s tariffs on Indian exports have dented trade and portfolio flows into equities, leaving the Indian rupee reliant on interventions by the central bank for support. Read on.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded an audit of 1.2 crore digitisation entries made between October 26 and October 28 in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The party has alleged irregularities in the exercise, claiming that the rise in the digitisation numbers from 5.5 crore to 6.7 crore was “an abnormal and statistically impossible”.

It also alleged that the surge was achieved not by booth-level officers, but by a political consultancy group, “known to be very close to the ruling TMC”, illegally performing the digitisation tasks.

After meeting Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari also alleged that the names of Bangladeshi citizens had been illegally added during the revision process. He said that the BJP had filed complaints against 5,000 booth-level officers. Read on.

In Bengal, BJP faces growing anger of Hindu migrants over SIR

The Supreme Court has refused to extend the December 6 deadline for waqf properties to be registered on the UMEED portal. The bench told the petitioners that they can approach the Waqf Tribunal, which has the power, under the 2025 Waqf Amendment Act passed in April, to extend the time limit for registering properties.

The petitioners had told the court that only six months were provided to register the properties on the portal, which was “very less” because not all details were available. They also said that the portal had several glitches and that they were only seeking more time to comply with the registration, as required by the Act.

However, the Union government contended that the tribunal can make exemptions on a case-by-case basis. Read on.

How the Supreme Court ruling on Waqf act puts properties in administrative limbo

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a show-cause notice to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with alleged foreign exchange violations by Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board. Notices have also been issued to former state finance minister TM Thomas Isaac and the board’s Chief Executive Officer KM Abraham.

Isaac described the ED action as a politically motivated gimmick ahead of local body elections in Kerala.

The central agency is investigating whether about Rs 2,150 crore raised through masala bonds issued in 2019 and listed on the International Securities Market in London were used to purchase land in alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act norms. Read on.

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The Supreme Court on Monday refused to extend the December 6 deadline for waqf properties to be registered on the UMEED portal as required by the 2025 Waqf Amendment Act passed in April, Live Law reported.

The Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development portal was developed by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs to create a digital inventory of waqf properties by geo-tagging them.

A waqf is an endowment under Islamic law dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.

On Monday, a bench of Justices Dipankar Dutta and AG Masih said that petitioners seeking an extension can approach the Waqf Tribunal. Section 3B of the Act gives the tribunal the power to extend the time limit, it noted.

Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, had said that while the amendment to the waqf law took effect on April 8 and the portal was operationalised on June 6, the rules were framed on July 3.

The court’s interim order on pleas challenging the amendments to the contentious Waqf Act came on September 15, he added.

The managers or trustees of waqf properties had only six months to register the details on the portal.

Sibal contended that the time provided to register the properties was “very less” because not all details were available.

“We do not know who the waqif [who creates the endowment] is for waqfs of 100, 125 years old,” Live Law quoted Sibal as having said. “Without these details, the portal won’t accept.”

Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the portal had several glitches and that the petitioners were only seeking more time to comply with the registration requirement.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that as per Section 3B of the Act, the tribunal can extend the deadline. The tribunal can make exemptions on a case-by-case basis, he was quoted as saying.

Sibal said that this would mean 10 lakh representations being made to the tribunal for extension of the deadline, Live Law reported.

On September 15, the Supreme Court stayed several provisions of the Act but said that no case had been made to stay the entire amendment.

The court had also declined to stay the requirement for all waqfs to be registered, saying that the requirement existed before the amendment, Bar and Bench reported.

The court was, at the time, hearing a batch of petitions challenging the amendments made to the Waqf Act, which critics say discriminate against Muslims and interfere with waqf property management. The Union government has defended the law, saying it aims to prevent misuse of waqf provisions to encroach on public and private land.

Also read: How the Supreme Court ruling on Waqf act puts properties in administrative limbo

Another booth-level officer allegedly died by suicide in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district on Sunday, citing work pressure related to the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in the state, PTI reported.

Sarvesh Singh, an assistant teacher posted in a school in Bhagatpur Tanda village in Moradabad, was found hanging in his home in Baheri village by his wife at about 4 pm on Sunday.

Circle Officer (Thakurdwara) Ashish Pratap Singh said that Sarvesh Singh died by suicide and had left behind a note claiming that he had been unable to cope with the burden of his duties as a booth-level officer.

His body has been sent for post-mortem, the officer added.

Sarvesh Singh was assigned as a booth-level officer on October 7, PTI reported.

Amid the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the country, at least eight suicides by booth-level officers and two deaths due to stroke have been reported.

The revision exercise is underway in 12 states and Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh. Booth-level officers began distributing enumeration forms on November 4.

Booth-level officers are typically primary school teachers and anganwadi, or health care workers, who are employed by state governments. They are responsible for distributing and collecting enumeration forms as part of the ongoing exercise.

They are required to go door-to-door, check the identities of new voters and verify the details of those who have died or permanently moved out of an area.

The Election Commission on Sunday extended by one week the timeline for the revision of the electoral rolls in all 12 states and Union Territories.

The last date of submitting the forms was extended to December 11 from December 4. As per the updated schedule, the draft electoral rolls will be published on December 16 instead of December 9.

The final electoral rolls are to be published on February 14 instead of February 7.

Several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court against the exercise over concerns that the special intensive revision of voter rolls could disenfranchise eligible voters.

The National Investigation Agency on Monday conducted raids at eight locations in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts in connection with the November 10 Delhi blast, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying.

The central agency raided the homes of Adeel Ahmad Rather in Kulgam and Muzamil Shakeel Ganai at Koil village in Pulwama, The Indian Express quoted officials as saying. The homes of Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay in Shopian and Amir Rashid at Samboora village in Pulwama were also raided.

All four men had been arrested in connection with an alleged terror module, which also included Umar Nabi, the doctor who is believed to have been driving the car that exploded near the Red Fort metro station in Delhi on November 10. The blast killed 13 persons.

Nabi was a key person in the terror network spanning Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, according to reports.

Hours before the blast, the police said that it had cracked an “inter-state and transnational terror module” in Haryana’s Faridabad and Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur. Rather and Ganai, also doctors, were among those arrested in the case at the time.

Rashid and Wagay were arrested after the blast.

The raids came after the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday carried out inspections at mosques and madrasas as part of a crackdown on “individuals and networks associated with terrorist organisations”.

Al-Falah group chairperson sent to 14-day judicial custody

On Monday, a Delhi court sent Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, the chairperson of the Al-Falah group, to 14-day judicial custody in a money-laundering case linked to alleged fraudulent accreditation claims and financial irregularities at the group’s educational institutions, PTI reported.

The Al-Falah Medical College in Faridabad, which is owned by the Al-Falah group, has been under scrutiny in the investigation linked to the Delhi blast. The college is part of Al-Falah University.

On November 18, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Siddiqui in the money-laundering case. A day later, he was sent to the agency’s custody for 13 days.

On Monday, Additional Sessions Judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan sent him to judicial custody till December 15.

The Delhi Police has alleged that the key suspects in the Delhi blast, including Nabi, who was a faculty member, used a room on the Al-Falah Medical College campus to plan logistics for transporting ammonium nitrate for multiple blasts in the National Capital Region.

The vehicle used in the blast had been parked inside the campus for nearly 20 days, the police said.

Siddiqui, who has also been the chancellor of the Al-Falah University since 2014, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after investigators examined material seized during searches conducted on November 18.

The Enforcement Directorate’s case is based on two first information reports filed by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, which alleged that the Al-Falah University had falsely claimed accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council and misrepresented its eligibility under the University Grants Commission Act.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council is an autonomous body under the University Grants Commission that assesses and accredits higher educational institutions such as colleges and universities to determine their “quality status”.

The University Grants Commission has said that the Al-Falah University is recognised only as a state private university and has never been eligible for central grants.

Also read: How a Kashmir probe into Jaish posters nearly unmasked Delhi blast plot

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed a case pertaining to rioting and unlawful assembly against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

In January 2020, the Chandigarh Police booked Mann and seven AAP legislators under the Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to rioting, unlawful assembly, assault and voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty during a protest against a hike in electricity tariff.

The AAP leaders had planned to surround the residence of then-Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Bar and Bench reported. However, the police used water cannons to stop them, allegedly prompting them to throw stones.

On Saturday, Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya observed that “ingredients of none of the offences alleged can be said to have been made out against any of the petitioners even prima facie”.

The judge further stated that there was no reason for the police to stop the protesters, as no prohibitory order had been issued.

“Nobody has been named from amongst the persons present who allegedly pelted stones on the police force,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying. “Besides, it is not the case that the petitioners asked them to do so.”

It added that the “nature of alleged instigation by the petitioners” had also not been mentioned, nor specific words or gestures attributed to them.

The judge added that the “immediate trigger for the mob turning furious and behaving the way it did, appears to be shooting of water on them as per orders of the district magistrate”, Bar and Bench reported.

The nature of the injuries suffered by the police officers, which included abrasions, pain and swelling, could also be the result of the shoving and jostling by the mob in an effort to push its way ahead, the court said.

“The investigating agency has failed to come up with any material indicating any definite role to the petitioners in this regard as well,” Bar and Bench quoted the judge as saying.

A Central Industrial Security Force head constable allegedly shot a 17-year-old boy dead in Delhi’s Shahdara for entering a wedding celebration uninvited in search of food, PTI reported on Sunday.

The head constable allegedly shot the boy on Saturday near a community centre at DDA market in Mansarovar Park. The official, identified as Madan Gopal Tiwari and posted in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur, was among those who attended the wedding, the Hindustan Times reported.

He has been arrested on charges of murder.

A preliminary investigation into the incident suggested that the shooting was the result of an altercation between the minor and the head constable at the venue, an unidentified police officer told the news agency.

“We got to know that the victim came to eat food after he witnessed a function was going on,” PTI quoted the police officer as saying. “He jumped a wall and was initially stopped by some locals.”

The officer claimed that Tiwari, who was also there, pulled out a gun and shot him dead in a fit of anger.

Shahdara Deputy Commissioner of Police Prashant Gautam said that the minor, who was living in the New Modern area, was taken to a hospital but was declared dead. He said that the head constable has been taken in custody, and the pistol suspected to have been used in the shooting has been seized.

The accused was being interrogated to find out the sequence of events, the police said, adding that it was also being ascertained whether the weapon used in the incident was a service firearm or a personal one.

Following the incident, the father of the 17-year-old boy said that he did not know that his son had gone to the venue, the Hindustan Times reported.

“I was told later that my son and three other boys went to attend the procession,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “They didn’t even enter the venue. They just wanted to dance or maybe eat some food. What was the need to kill him?”

He added: “…His friends told me he was near the horse when two men started hitting him and accused him of stealing.”

The Indian rupee on Monday fell to an all-time low of 89.7 against the United States dollar.

The plunge came amid sluggish trade activity and portfolio flows, coupled with uncertainty about a trade deal between Washington and New Delhi, Reuters reported.

As of 3.20 pm, the rupee had recovered to 89.5.

The positive Gross Domestic Product number released on Friday offered little respite to the rupee. The Indian economy grew by 8.2% year-on-year in the July-September quarter, up from 7.8% in the previous quarter, showed data released by the National Statistics Office.

The economy had recorded 5.6% growth in the same period last year.

However, the rupee remains under pressure from the lack of progress on a US-India trade deal, importer hedging activity and a balance of payments position that has turned less supportive, Reuters quoted bankers as saying.

Bilateral relations between New Delhi and Washington deteriorated in August after US President Donald Trump doubled the tariffs on Indian goods to 50% for purchasing Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly alleged that India’s imports were fuelling Russia’s war on Ukraine.

On November 10, Trump said that Washington would bring down the tariffs imposed on India “at some point” and claimed that New Delhi had substantially reduced its purchase of Russian oil.

Trump also said that his country was getting close to a “fair deal” with India.

However, the delay in the announcement of the trade deal and the resulting uncertainty about the future of exports were creating a stir across the market, The Financial Express reported.

The tariffs have dented trade and portfolio flows into equities, leaving the Indian rupee reliant on interventions by the central bank for support, Reuters reported.

Additionally, foreign investors have pulled out more than $16 billion from the Indian equity market this year, according to the news agency. The merchandise trade deficit, or when imports of goods exceed exports, also hit an all-time high in October.

The rupee’s rough patch has further brought down its 40-currency real effective exchange rate to undervaluation territory, Reuters reported. In October, this rate stood at 97.4, the news agency quoted data from the central bank as saying.

The real effective exchange rate, which is seen as a measure of competitiveness, is the weighted average of a country’s currency in relation to an index or basket of other major currencies. A level below 100 indicates that a currency is undervalued relative to those of its trading partners.

The Enforcement Directorate has issued show-cause notices to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former state finance minister TM Thomas Isaac and Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board Chief Executive Officer KM Abraham in connection with alleged foreign exchange violations by the board, The Hindu reported on Monday.

Isaac said the agency has filed its report with the special director (adjudication) in Delhi, and that he, Vijayan and Abraham have been asked to give their explanations to the adjudicator.

The central agency is investigating whether about Rs 2,150 crore raised through masala bonds issued in 2019 and listed on the International Securities Market in London were used to purchase land in alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act norms, The Hindu reported.

Masala bonds are bonds that are issued outside India but are denominated in Indian rupees. They allow Indian companies to raise capital from foreign investors in Indian currency, and are usually used to fund infrastructure projects.

Isaac described the Enforcement Directorate’s action as a politically motivated gimmick ahead of local body elections in Kerala, Manorama News reported. He claimed that the bonds were issued in compliance with Reserve Bank of India norms.

“A portion of the funds was utilised only to acquire land for a KIIFB project,” he said. “As per the rules, masala bonds should not be used for land purchase. We did not do that – we only acquired land.”

Further, Isaac claimed that the RBI restriction on land purchase did not apply when the masala bond was issued, according to Manorama News.

“The ED only wants to create political sensation during the local body elections,” he alleged. “This is part of the BJP’s conspiracy.”

Local body polls in the state are due to be held in two phases on December 9 and December 11, with votes scheduled to be counted on December 13.

Opposition parties on Sunday alleged the Election Commission’s decision to extend the schedule for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls by a week showed that the exercise had been launched in haste and was “ill-conceived”, PTI reported.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that a one-week extension was not enough, and that the timeline should have been extended by three months.

“The Election Commission did not pay any heed to this logical and practical demand,” he said. “It appears that the commission has lost all sensitivity, and has no concern for the problems of the voters.”

Yadav said that booth-level officers implementing the process on the ground were being overburdened, which was harming their physical and mental health.

The Trinamool Congress said the change was “an open admission that the original schedule was impossible, irresponsible and dangerous”.

“The Commission may try to reset dates, issue statements, or hide behind procedure, but the lives lost in this manufactured panic are on their conscience,” the party said. “And no deadline extension can wash away that guilt.”

The party’s West Bengal vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar claimed the poll body had announced the entire exercise “just to cater to the interest of the ruling party at the Centre, the BJP,” PTI reported.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said the poll body had “itself realised” that the work could not be completed within the initial timeline, PTI reported.

He urged the poll body to adopt a more extensive schedule similar to the one used in 2003 and extend the dates further.

On Sunday, the Election Commission extended by one week the timeline for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls underway in 12 states and Union Territories.

Booth-level officers had begun distributing enumeration forms on November 4.

The last date of submitting the forms has been extended to December 11 from December 4.

The final electoral rolls are to be published on February 14 instead of February 7.

The exercise is underway in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Several suspected suicides of booth-level officers allegedly because of the work pressure related to the revision process have been reported in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala and Rajasthan.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed ahead of the Assembly polls in November, at least 47 lakh voters were excluded from the final electoral roll published on September 30.

Concerns had been raised after the announcement in Bihar that the exercise could remove eligible voters from the roll. Several petitioners also moved the Supreme Court against it.

There is no road to Bargur. To get to the village, in the Kotagiri taluk of Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, you have to step down from a tar road onto a mud path that leads to a stream below. Then, you cross the stream and follow the path up to the village.

When I visited the village in early October, Mari Manday was still grappling with a tragedy. Manday, who said he was between the ages of 50 and 55, is a member of the Irula community, a Scheduled Tribe in the Nilgiris. The previous week, Manday’s eight-year-old granddaughter had died.

Manday is not sure what had caused his granddaughter’s death. “The first day she had fever, vomiting and diarrhea, and the second day it continued,” Manday said. “The third day, we took her to the hospital. But she died almost immediately after she reached the hospital.”

The child’s parents had also fallen ill and were admitted to the hospital along with her – their condition had improved and they were out of danger.

Manday was distraught that they could not save the child, particularly because they could not afford to take her to the hospital in time. If they had, he said, “Maybe she would have survived.”

Conversations with others who live in the area revealed that such struggles to access healthcare were commonplace.

The cost of an auto, jeep or car to the nearest hospital in Kothagiri, about 20 km away, is at least Rs 700. This cost is prohibitive to residents, many of whom are daily wagers and earn between Rs 200 and Rs 300 per day. Locals explained that in some emergency cases, hospitals send ambulances free of cost, but that in other instances, they have to pay.

Public transport in the area is unreliable. Jyothi N, a resident from a hamlet near Manday’s settlement said that a bus that usually passed through the area had not arrived for the last few weeks because the roads were in a poor condition. “We have to fully rely on private vehicles to go to the doctor now,” Jyothi said.

Jyothi herself was struggling with this problem when I met her. “My daughter, like so many others here, has also been ill,” she said. “I should take her to the doctor soon.”

Because travel is unaffordable, many in the area undertake arduous walks across the terrain, particularly challenging when they are ailing.

Dr Ajith JS, a community health specialist who works in the Gudalur Adivasi Hospital, explained that the risks of such journeys are far greater than they may seem. “In a two-dimensional view, it may seem like the distance to a primary health centre or a government hospital is only 4-5 km but if you look at it three-dimensionally, there could be a hill or a forest patch or a private estate in between the nearest primary health facility and the residence of the patient,” said Ajith.

He added, “It is either uphill or a dangerous slope. The roads are made of concrete and cement, which is often slippery, especially during rains. And so by the time they get to a road where they can access public transport, they are completely enervated.”

Doctors, too, cannot easily access some of these villages. “There are some areas which we can visit only two or three times a year,” Ajith said.

Manday recounted that one of his daughters experienced the immense risks of these journeys a few years ago. “We were carrying her in a makeshift stretcher and could not make it to the road on time and right when we were crossing the stream, she gave birth,” he said.

Efforts to bring better healthcare to locals are few and unreliable. In a neighbouring hamlet, a nurse visits once a week but since she does not have any fixed timings, Manday and his neighbours often miss her. Sometimes, a van operated by a local NGO makes rounds in the area, but they miss it also because they cannot see the road from their homes. “Unless one of us happens to be on the road, we have no idea that it is close by,” Manday said.

These challenges are particularly striking in light of Tamil Nadu’s overall strong performance in the field of health. The state has switched between the second and third positions over the last few years in NITI Aayog’s Health Index, indicating that it provides affordable healthcare, and also offers a high degree of specialised services. It is well known for drawing patients from other states and even countries to its hospitals.

But in the Nilgiris, the district in the state with the highest density of Adivasi population, a combination of factors has meant residents have little access to even basic health services. These include the villages’ remoteness and discrimination that locals face when they seek out health services. As activists and experts noted, these challenges are further exacerbated by the social and cultural alienation they experience as a result of their displacement from their traditional homes and ways of life.

While many in the region first seek help at hospitals closest to them, typically run by NGOs, since these are usually small, patients are often referred on to government hospitals. Locals said when they visited these, they often felt discouraged by the poor treatment they were met with.

Mallika Suresh, who lives in Sri Madurai panchayat in Gudalur taluk, is the mother of three children. Suresh, who is in her late thirties, and belongs to the Kattunayakan community, recounted that after her third and fourth child died shortly after birth, doctors and nurses at the government hospital in Gudalur had warned her that having another child was not advisable.

After losing two children, Suresh was heartbroken, but she had two sons, and now yearned for a daughter.

When she got pregnant again, for the first four months, Suresh did not visit the hospital, worried that she would be scolded.

But when Suresh’s due date approached, an NGO-run hospital in Gudalur referred her to the government hospital in Udhagamandalam, more popularly known as Ooty, 50 km away.

There, she recounted, she had one of the worst experiences of her life. Suresh, who was carrying her daughter in her arms as she spoke, wiped away tears streaming down her face as she recalled her ordeal. “They spoke to me very rudely, humiliated me for getting pregnant again,” she said. “I could not tolerate the way they were behaving. It left me very distressed.”

She added, “At one point, I felt it would have been better to die than to remain in the hospital. But just for the sake of my child, I held on to whatever little strength I had and stuck on.”

She delivered her daughter at the hospital, but said that she would hesitate to return to it. “We look at doctors like they are gods, but they treat us so badly,” she said.

Kamalachi, a social worker who also belongs to the Kattunayakan community, said that the rights of Adivasi women and men over their own healthcare choices were often violated.

As a particularly egregious example, she noted that Adivasi women are often compelled to get sterilised after the birth of two children. “They somehow make us say yes even if we don’t want to,” she said. She added, “Sometimes they insert Copper-T and don’t tell women about it” – referring to the reversible contraceptive device.

People that Scroll spoke to also said that they were often given medication without being told what diseases they suffered from, and what the medication was meant to treat.

Manday, for instance, recounted that on one visit, he was given pills to take, but could only guess that they were for “BP or sugar”.

Patients are denied clear information even in more serious situations. “Once a neighbour called me and said the doctors had asked her to transfer her son to a hospital in Kozhikode and I was helping coordinate,” Kamalachi said. “The next thing I heard was that he had been brought dead to Kozhikode. We were not given any information of what had happened to him or how he died.”

Even this treatment is an improvement from what was meted out to locals just four or five years ago, Kamalachi explained. Then, she noted, healthcare workers actively segregated Adivasi patients from others.

“They would make Adivasis sit in a separate line and wait for a long time, but we would see that they would allow other people to go in first,” she said. “And when we went in to see the doctor, they would barely touch us and just write a prescription.”

Among the key structural factors that affects the health of Adivasis in the region is malnutrition.

One study, by the Association for Health Welfare in the Nilgiris, which surveyed more than 1,000 children under five years of age in the Gudalur and Pandalur regions, found that almost half were malnourished.

Manday also said that his granddaughter had been malnourished and had frequently fallen sick.

On the day I visited Manday’s house, residents in the neighbouring Adivasi settlements said that almost every house had someone who was running a fever or had a cold. They explained that they had become more susceptible to illnesses in the last few years.

A crucial reason for their low immunity and malnutrition, they argued, was the changes their diets had seen as a result of their displacement from their original settlements.

In 2008, the government, acting on the orders of the Supreme Court, resettled more than 800 families inside the district’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve outside the forest. Over the years, many Adivasi families have also been forced to move out of forests to make way for expanding tea estates, as well as an increasing number of settler communities in the region.

Even in Suresh’s case, she and her neighbours from the settlement had been displaced from the heart of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve to different parts of Gudalur. While some were settled in government-constructed houses near existing villages, some were given money to purchase land outside the reserve.

These locations are far away from their traditional hunting and foraging grounds, which also served as cultural centres for their communities.

Every Adivasi person I spoke to said they missed the food that they previously foraged from the forests. This included various kinds of leafy vegetables, native tubers, different types of millets, ragi, honey, pumpkin and mushrooms.

“We would eat so many different kinds of greens and that would keep us very strong,” an elderly woman who was Suresh’s neighbour, and who used to live in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, recalled with a smile. “None of that is available to us now.”

In a neighbouring hamlet, Velkan Verai, another elderly man who could not recall his age, and was displaced from his original home, said that when he was younger, he never needed to go far to get food or water.

“We would get fresh water all through the year and we would pluck so many greens, potatoes and vegetables from the forest,” said Verai, who is from the Paniya tribe, which is classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. “And we had enough land to grow anything else that we wanted. There was never a dearth of nutritious food for us.”

“Today, we don’t even have proper water,” added Verai, who, along with a few other Paniya families, lives in a government-constructed house.

Kamalachi said she too felt there was a significant difference in her own body from the time she lived inside the forest to the present, when she lives closer to the town. “Those days we could walk long distances, carrying heavy loads and not feel tired. The previous generation too had more strength and stamina,” she said. “Now we never have any strength to do anything.”

“Look at us now,” she added, showing me her thin arms. “We barely weigh anything.”

Communities’ displacement and their current low incomes particularly affect their intake of protein, a major part of their diet when they lived in forests. “We used to eat all kinds of meat when I was younger,” said an elderly man in Kil Kothagiri, who was herding his cows. “That’s what made us strong. Now we barely eat meat.”

Even those families who live closer to forests cannot easily access produce they once could because their entry into them is restricted.

“The forest department prevents us from going into certain parts,” said Manday, who still lives close to the forest.

Adivasi communities are now solely dependent on the food provided to them by the government – mainly rice, lentils, oil and sugar. Their displacement “has caused Adivasis to become heavily dependent on the public distribution system”, Ajith said.

Rice, which they receive in the greatest quantity, forms the bulk of their diet. Ajith noted that while it satisfied hunger, it did not provide adequate nutrition.

Further, the quantity of rice they are provided is not always sufficient. “We cook only once a day and eat only one meal a day, which is mainly just rice,” Suresh said.

Ajith noted that the government had been making some efforts to remedy the situation. “In the last few years, the Public Distribution System has been providing millets alongside rice, but dietary diversity in most households remains a persistent challenge,” he said.

The Association for Health Welfare in the Nilgiris has also been supporting the government’s work by providing families with nutritional foods such as dates, peanuts, and a millet-based mix. Ajith said that these various efforts have led to a slow and sustained improvement in the levels of malnutrition over the last two years.

But he explained that this was not “a magic bullet solution” since the problem is often “intergenational” – that is, “malnourished mothers carry and give birth to low-birth-weight babies, who grow up to become malnourished children”. Thus, he noted, “We can’t bring them up to normal weight by merely supplementing their diets with high calories, as this might give rise to future metabolic disorders like high blood sugar and blood pressure during adulthood.”

Another pressing problem that the Adivasi communities are facing that is linked to their displacement is alcohol addiction. “Alcohol dependence is a massive issue among Adivasi communities,” social worker K Mahendran said.

In early October, as Mahendran spoke with the residents of a Paniya settlement about some compensation that was due to them as part of their relocation, he advised them not to spend it on drinking.

All the women instantly began to complain to him about how they were tired of putting up with their husbands’ addiction.

“They are not going to listen to us,” one visibly angry woman said.

Kamalachi’s husband died as a result of an alcohol addiction. “When we lived inside the forest, he didn’t have that much access to alcohol,” she said. She recounted that he would typically remain busy with work through the day. “But once we were moved closer to the town, it became easier for him to buy,” she said. “He began drinking all the time and eventually died due to it.”

She added, “Now there is a liquor shop in every nook and corner, and many Adivasi men end up spending most of their money on liquor.”

Ajith, who runs community health initiatives to address malnutrition and mental health in the region, has also found that alcohol dependency is a matter of great concern. “It is safe to assume that in the backdrop of undernutrition in these communities, consumption of alcohol will have much more addictive and toxic effects,” Ajith said.

Mahendren explained that suicides also occur often as a result of addiction. “Sometimes fights break out and we have had cases where often Adivasi individuals impulsively commit suicide,” he said.

In fact, the suicide rates among Adivasis in the Gudalur and Pandalur regions is also significantly higher than the general population, Ajith pointed out. While data from 2022 shows that the national average of suicides in the country is 12 per 100,000 persons, these regions saw 19 suicides among 34,000 persons in 2023-’24.

Ajith explained that in his research on mental health in the region, he had found that another factor behind the high suicide numbers was the inequality that communities had been exposed to in recent years.

“Just across the road from an Adivasi hamlet, they are able to see signs of development and prosperity, and people who are not struggling like them, which leads to a sense of hopelessness,” he said.

In contrast, most resettled Adivasis live in small, cramped houses. In one Paniya settlement close to Gudalur town, families lived in two-room houses around 300 square feet in area. Though they once had access to land to forage in and cook in, they now largely survived by cooking inside their homes, which had resulted in soot settling on the walls, turning them black. Many residents suffer from difficulty in breathing as a result of inhaling smoke indoors.

Displacement has also weakened community bonds. “They have become isolated, and now every individual has to look out for themselves, which is very different from the way community kinship bonds usually operate in Adivasi communities,” Ajith said.

He added, “Land alienation, rapid and unsustainable urbanisation, economic hardship made worse by restricted access to forests, and the flattening of cultural identities, all lead to a sense of alienation, further exacerbating feelings of social isolation.”

Dr Mrudula Rao, the medical superintendent and family physician at the Gudalur Adivasi Hospital, noted that a major obstacle to improving healthcare in the region was the reluctance of communities to seek help when they needed it. “There used to be a lot of fear about what we would do to them,” she said.

She explained that the Gudalur hospital was making an effort to address this problem and had seen improvement. For instance, the administration sought to ensure that Adivasis were consulted and made part of the process of delivering care. “The patients trust us as they see people from their own community and who speak their language treating them,” she said.

But persuading them to follow through on referrals to other, bigger hospitals, remains a challenge.

“In government hospitals, which often have big campuses, it’s easy to get lost if you don’t have help.”

The doctors said it would benefit the Adivasi population if doctors were sensitised to their needs. “Doctors sometimes see hill districts as punishment postings,” said Ajith. “Many doctors who get transferred here are on bonds, so they may not have an understanding of what the needs of the patients are.”

He added, “It’s important to make doctors go through sensitivity training so they treat Adivasi patients with extra care in order to encourage them to seek healthcare.”

Rao said that one way to address this problem would be for the government to sanction more tribal counsellor posts in healthcare centres and hospitals. As the website of the National Health Mission Tamil Nadu states, these counsellors help communities overcome “cultural shyness, lack of education/awareness, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance of cause of diseases, hostile environment”. In effect, they act as a link between health systems and tribal communities.

“It would be beneficial if there are tribal counsellors in every healthcare centre,” Rao said. “It would help patients get the care they deserve.”

Eleven people were killed and over 50 were injured on Sunday evening after two state-run transport buses collided in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district, The Hindu reported.

The crash occurred around 5 pm near Vivekananda Polytechnic College on the Tirupattur-Karaikudi road. One bus had been travelling from Kangeyam towards Karaikudi and the other was operating on the Karaikudi to Dindigul route when they collided, the police said.

“Eight people died on the spot,” an unidentified officer told The Indian Express. “Three more succumbed to injuries at the Tirupattur Government Hospital.”

Among those who died on the spot was the driver of one of the buses, P Sendrayan, according to the police.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu | 7 dead in a head-on collision between two buses near Tirupattur in Sivaganga district. Visuals from the spot. https://t.co/9qT04EUqeK pic.twitter.com/2K85EfL3Fc

— ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2025

The injured were taken to hospitals in Karaikudi, Thirupattur, Sivaganga and Pudukottai. Six of them were referred to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, The Hindu reported.

Initial inquiries indicate that both buses may have been travelling at high speed on a narrow stretch of the road.

The police have filed a case and are investigating the cause of the accident.

Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his condolences and announced compensation of Rs 3 lakh for the families of those killed, Rs 1 lakh for passengers with serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries.

Political dynasties are omnipresent in Indian politics. “Dynasts” turn up in parties across the ideological spectrum, at every level of political contestation and in practically every state. Yet, despite their ubiquity, the critique of dynastic politics has become a potent rhetorical weapon used by some parties against others.

During the campaign for the Bihar assembly elections, the ruling BJP-Janata Dal United alliance, its allies, and Prashant Kishor’s Jan Swaraj left no stone unturned in dismissing their principal challenger, the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav, as representing a “monarchist mindset” and running a “family company.” These attacks came despite the presence of Chirag Paswan – a political “dynast” himself – in the BJP’s alliance.

Conventional wisdom about Indian politics tends to lump all dynastic politicians in the same bucket, and to assume that the heirs of prominent leaders are simply placed on the throne without internal contestation. A closer examination, however, turns up two separate elements of dynastic politics – elected representatives and party leaders who belong to established political families, and parties that are led and controlled by one political family – each of which are driven by different factors.

While the latter are often critiqued as moribund political units beholden to a single family with selfish interests that are less responsive to the electorate’s needs, a number of these dynasty-led parties – MK Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, and Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD – have achieved success in recent years. Understanding why requires going beyond the simplistic narrative of dynastic politics to examine the context in which these parties function and, in some cases, the political resilience of the dynasts involved when faced with intra-dynastic competition.

Popularity of dynastic politics

The structural persistence of dynastic leaders and elected representatives across Indian political parties, whether national or regional, has been put down to a number of key factors: name recognition, economic and socio-cultural resources, and deep-rooted political networks that are perceived as advantages for dynastic candidates to fight elections more successfully than non-dynastic candidates.

As Gilles Verniers and Christophe Jaffrelot observed, “parties are also risk-averse and seek to mitigate electoral risk by picking candidates among tried and tested families”. Moreover, dynastic candidates with established and long-term associations with the party leadership find it easier to get party nominations to win elections. Such leaders ensure “self-perpetuation of power” within the party and use their proximity to party leadership to seek party nominations for their family members. On the other side of the ballot, voters have regularly rewarded dynastic politicians, and at least one survey revealed a voter belief that such candidates are “better at politics because it is their family profession”.

However, the phenomenon of dynasty-led parties is quite different. There are several political parties in India whose most prominent leadership face comes from a single political family across generations, ranging from the Congress led by the Nehru-Gandhis, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam previously led by former chief minister M Karunanidhi and now his son, MK Stalin, the National Conference led by the Abdullah family over three generations, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha led by the Soren family, the Nationalist Congress Party led by the Pawars amongst many other family-based parties.

In a paper for the Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, I propose two different categories for dynasty-led parties: those that are “dynastic-by-practice”, meaning they were not founded as vehicles for a political family but have ended up that way, such as the Congress and the DMK; and those that are “dynastic-by-design,” which are structured for dynastic control from their inception, like the RJD, Samajwadi Party and the National Conference, among others.

While the conditions that lead to “dynasticism” in each of these categories are distinct, once they have become “dynastic,” these parties tend to exhibit a few oft-criticised characteristics: limited accountability, a lack of inner-party democracy, the absence of an ideological lynchpin, and inadequate or denuded institutional counter-weights.

While all Indian political parties have extremely centralised decision-making structures, especially with regard to leadership choices, once dynasticism has set in, it results in a historical path dependence that makes it extremely difficult for the party to deviate from its reliance on the “first family”. Due, in part, to the lack of an ideological lynchpin or institutional checks and balances, support to the family is seen as the best way to protect the party against intense factional fights – entrenching dynastic succession. As the family comes to personify the party name, its resources, and its political capital, it becomes inextricably linked to the fate of the party.

Intra-dynastic competition

Under what circumstances might leaders in a dynasty-led party face competition and accountability challenges? Most political parties led by a single political dynasty seldom see leadership challenges from outside the “first family,” even following poor electoral results or in the face of political decline. The Shiv Sena in Maharashtra is the rare exception in recent times of a party in which dynastic control was successfully challenged by a leader – in this case Eknath Shinde – from outside the political dynasty.

Competition, however, may come from within the family. Over the last two decades, many leaders in dynasty-led parties have faced challenges to their leadership position from other members of the family, triggering intra-dynastic competition. Given that each of the competitors in these cases hails from the same political family, they often have equally compelling claims to leadership.

For example, Stalin has faced a challenge from his brother MK Alagiri for leadership of the party; Tejashwi Yadav had to withstand resistance from his brother Tej Pratap Yadav; internal competition within the Pawar family saw the Nationalist Congress Party split into two; and the Samajwadi Party saw a succession battle between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.

Such intra-dynastic competition for party leadership positions acts as pressure on the incumbent dynastic leadership to perform electorally and legitimise their leadership position over other rebel relatives in the party. There is a possibility that in the face of such intra-dynastic resistance, dynasts who cannot perform well in keeping the party together or making it win elections might lose the pole position to another assertive family member within the party.

The example of the Paswan family feud between Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother Pashupati Kumar and Paswan’s son Chirag is a case in point. In 2021, sensing Chirag Paswan’s political vulnerability after Ram Vilas Paswan’s death, Pashupati staged a coup ousting Chirag Paswan from all key party positions and claiming a cabinet berth in the Union government.

Chirag Paswan was caught off-guard and found himself “left in a political wilderness” with only a faction of the original party. But in the 2024 national elections, it was Chirag Paswan’s faction that won all five seats it contested from Bihar, cementing his effort to be seen as the real heir to Ram Vilas Paswan’s political legacy.

It would, therefore, be erroneous to make the absolutist claim that dynastic parties in India do not face any credible leadership challenges, as a number of leaders from political families have had to confront strong intra-dynastic competition. Numerous instances show that the dynastic successors who received support from the founding or supreme leader, were able to take control of the party resources and win the trust of the party cadres and functionaries, allowing them to fend off rebel relatives, often elders, to assert leadership positions within the party. Other examples include Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav.

Intra-dynastic competition offers no guarantee that the leader who emerges on the other end will be electorally successful. Nor is it the only path for dynastic parties to develop the resources to succeed electorally. Other dynasty-led parties like the National Conference, which have not faced such intra-dynastic competition, have managed to win electoral contests in recent years. However, intra-dynastic competition in some dynastic parties reveals that their leadership are not always immune to internal challenges, rebellions, and accountability demands.

As discussed above, the differences between dynastic representation and parties led by a single political family, the distinct contexts of dynastic-by-practice and dynastic-by-design parties, and the potential for intra-dynastic leadership challenges all complicate the simplistic understanding of India’s dynastic politics. At a time when a number of family-led parties in India are at or have crossed the threshold of generational change, it is worth unpacking these elements to better understand the context and circumstances of dynastic politics in India.

Ambar Kumar Ghosh is a political analyst based in Kolkata working on political leadership, dynastic politics and political and governance institutions in India. He is a Non-resident Young Researchers’ Network (YRN) Fellow with European Partnership for Democracy, Brussels.

The article was first published in India in Transition, a publication of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania.

The Rajasthan government on Sunday withdrew an order directing schools to observe December 6, the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, as “Shaurya Diwas”, PTI reported.

The order, circulated late on Saturday on an official WhatsApp group, had instructed government and private schools to hold activities to promote “patriotism, nationalism, bravery, cultural pride and national unity” to mark the occasion, The Indian Express reported.

The Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot where the Hindu deity Ram was born. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.

In November 2019, the Supreme Court held that the demolition of the Babri mosque was illegal, but handed over the land to a trust for a Ram temple to be constructed. At the same time, it directed that a five-acre plot in Ayodhya be allotted to Muslims for a mosque to be constructed.

The Ram temple was inaugurated in Ayodhya in a ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024.

On Sunday morning, Education and Panchayati Raj Minister Madan Dilawar recalled the order citing scheduled school examinations, The Indian Express reported.

“All schools in the state are currently conducting examinations, which will be held from December 5 and 6,” the newspaper quoted Dilawar as saying. “Therefore, it is not possible to conduct any other activities or events in schools during the examination period. Therefore, the ‘Shaurya Diwas’ celebrations are postponed.”

However, Director of Secondary Education Sitaram Jat told PTI that no such instructions had formally been issued to schools and that he did not know how the circular had been disseminated.

The withdrawn order, issued following instructions, had proposed a full-day programme for December 6.

Schools were asked to conduct essay and speech competitions on themes such as “Indian culture and the Ram temple movement, as well as painting and poster-making activities themed on the Ayodhya Ram temple”, The Indian Express reported.

The circular also proposed patriotic song performances, folk dances, short plays, group surya namaskar sessions, yoga practice and a special assembly beginning with hymns and aarti dedicated to the deity Ram, the newspaper reported.

Schools were also encouraged to host “Shaurya Yatras” within their premises and invite military personnel, social workers and history enthusiasts to address students.

Roadside shops selling steaming hot chai and samosas were among the first to down their shutters. The lull then spread gradually across this bazaar, located in front of a major thermal power plant in eastern India, with shop after shop winding up business after their sole customer base, the plant’s workers, were forced to leave after the plant’s closure four years ago.

“This road was a thoroughfare,” said Nrupati Jena, 65. “Workers thronged my shop through the day; I had a daily business of Rs 4,000.” Jena still sells biscuits, cigarettes, and paan [betel leaves] at the wide gate leading to the old plant, his shop the only one standing amidst shuttered ones.

“For three years now, my income has dropped to less than half,” he told Mongabay-India. “Nobody has asked us how we are surviving.”

The National Thermal Power Corporation, India’s largest power company, retired its 460-MW Talcher Thermal Power Station in the mining hub of Odisha in March 2021. The move was fiercely contested by worker unions in court, as worker unions cited insufficient notice – of less than a month – given to the contractual workers who lost their jobs. The court finally allowed the plant’s closure in October of the same year, said officials of the National Thermal Power Corporation.

While National Thermal Power Corporation employees were transferred to other projects of the power giant, and nearly three-quarters of the contractual workers who lost their jobs have since been reinstated at the new under-construction plant, the invisible collateral damage was the approximately 120 shops in the two nearby market areas.

Many shopkeepers from there returned to the undependable work of farming in the villages they had migrated from decades ago, while others took up odd jobs.

A few, like Jena, stayed on.

Warning for the future

This experience of Talcher’s shopkeepers, energy transition experts say, must guide India’s future actions to cushion fossil-fuel-dependent communities from the impact of imminent mine and thermal plant closures as the country builds its renewable capacity, aiming for a net-zero target by 2070.

The last of the shopkeepers in Talcher, where decades of coal mining and thermal plant operations have plummeted the town’s air quality to levels poorer than Delhi’s on occasion, now await a revival – in the form of a new, bigger thermal plant with a total 1,320 MW capacity, with one unit expected to be functional by March 2027, National Thermal Power Corporation officials said.

The Indian government, citing the ever-growing demand for energy and the need for energy security, is currently expanding coal mines and has decided not to shut any more thermal plants until 2030.

Energy transition experts note that the luxury of time this affords is an opportunity to strategise and build a post-coal future for local economies in coal-rich regions.

“The future of coal is uncertain, and planning to retire, repurpose, or upgrade a plant must begin 10 years before the closure. It is not like closing a small shop. It is a large-scale industry,” said Manideep Gudela, director, energy transition at the Centre for Energy, Environment and People, a Jaipur-based research and policy advocacy nonprofit, who has visited Talcher among other thermal plants in the country to study the socio-economic impact of the plant’s closure.

Gudela said that communities, particularly in areas such as Talcher, are deeply linked to coal mining and power operations and risk severe impacts if the government and businesses do not plan well in advance. Citing local estimates, he said that nearly 500,000 people were directly or indirectly dependent on the Talcher plant’s operations for a living.

“There was time to plan for a post-closure industrial diversification,” he said, citing findings from his research into government records on thermal plant closures that show that the National Thermal Power Corporation proposed to the CEA in June 2017 their intent to retire the existing 460 MW plant by December 2023. “There are other industries (beyond coal) that can be drawn to such regions. But the current focus of closures is to transition from coal to coal. This is a missed opportunity.”

The decline

Ice-cream parlour owner Biswanath Nahak, 56, had sensed an imminent decline in the years preceding the plant’s closure, even though shopkeepers like him were the last to find out about what workers said was a “sudden decision” to shut the plant.

The steady stream of children who cycled to his shop for cones and ice-lollies had gradually thinned out, and officers who would stop by on a late evening stroll had one by one said their goodbyes.

“People were retiring and there were no new hires,” said Nahak, standing in his shop, now a photocopying centre, located inside the sprawling National Thermal Power Corporation residential quarters, which in its prime housed nearly 5,000 people living in over 2,000 flats. The complex now wears a deserted look, with shopkeepers estimating that fewer than 200 people live here.

Nahak was drawn to the opportunity the thermal town offered as a young boy in the early 1990s. He was visiting his married sister in Talcher, from Ganjam, a district nearly 300 km away, but stayed on after seeing the town bustling with hundreds of workers.

There would always be work here, he thought. His bet paid off. He started work as a newspaper boy, soon opened a photocopying shop, and finally set up an ice-cream parlour. “It was a bull run,” he said of the market.

Until the closure

India decided to close Talcher Thermal Power Station along with those of 19 other thermal facilities across the country between 2021 and 2023, following “a detailed technical and economic evaluation”, according to a National Thermal Power Corporation and Indian government statement.

The closure led to 879 contractual workers losing their jobs while those on the company’s payroll were transferred to other National Thermal Power Corporation plants, according to the corporation Workers’ Union president Bishnu Mohan Rath and officials.

Of the laid-off workers, 678 have been reinstated, 135 appointments are pending, 30 have reached retirement age since the closure, 24 have passed away, and the rest have moved to other jobs, Rath said.

Those reinstated speak of being offered labour jobs rather than the technical roles they handled at the old plant, though Rath said those concerns would also be sorted in a couple of years once the new plant was operational.

The National Thermal Power Corporation said that most contractual workers affected by the closure were subsequently reemployed in the new project or provided employment through various agencies, with experienced workers given priority.

Officials cited new emission norms, the plant’s poor efficiency, and overall obsolete technology for the decision to close the plant, which dates back to 1967, when it was a major installation to serve India’s growing power demand. It went on to create jobs and nurture a local economy.

While the Indian government has stated that labourers and casual workers who may lose their jobs following thermal plant closures can be reemployed in other available jobs at National Thermal Power Corporation, there is no such assurance for impacted shopkeepers.

Biswanath Behera, 55, owned a small repair shop for bicycles and motorbikes but was forced to close it after the workers left. “Now I cook food at wedding parties,” he said, adding that he earned Rs 500 a day at his shop but now makes as little as Rs 200 as a kitchen help, that too when he gets work. His biggest regret, however, is that he could not fund the higher education of his two sons, who have also taken up odd jobs.

Officials from Odisha’s industries department and Talcher’s district administration did not respond to phone, email, or WhatsApp queries about the state’s plan for industrial diversification in coal-dependent regions such as Talcher.

According to local media reports, in May this year, the state cleared proposals to set up industries of steel, iron and ferro alloys, industrial gases, logistics, food and beverage, agro-processing, tourism and hospitality, chemicals, and apparel and textile in 11 districts of Odisha, which include Angul, where Talcher town is located.

The National Thermal Power Corporation said that the plant’s closure in 2021 “has served as a valuable learning experience”. The energy giant told Mongabay-India that key takeaways included the need for “early engagement with stakeholders, structured re-skilling programmes, proactive communication with affected communities, and closer collaboration with state employment and development agencies”.

“These insights are actively shaping the company’s approach to future decommissioning or transition projects to minimise socio-economic disruptions,” the National Thermal Power Corporation spokesperson said.

Burden of disease

The industrial district of Angul is dotted with coal mines, and steel and aluminium plants, its highways always busy with massive trucks ferrying metals and coal.

India’s Central Pollution Control Board categorises Talcher as a “critically polluted region,” its 2017 data showing its deteriorating air quality. It cites the town’s disease burden due to air pollution as “the second-largest risk factor responsible for premature deaths in Odisha.” Air pollution has also fuelled cases of ischaemic heart disease – when the heart muscle does not receive enough oxygen – and lower respiratory tract infections.

Respiratory diseases ranging from asthma to tuberculosis are common, said Dr Madan Mohan Pradhan, chief district medical officer of Angul district, adding that compromised lungs were more prevalent among adults and the elderly due to their longer exposure to unclean air.

Shopkeeper Jena’s wife has been suffering from asthma for 15 years. She takes regular medication for her condition and has a nebuliser at home. Jena attributes his wife’s condition to the toxic air they breathe in Talcher, but said, “Our problems will not shut down the coal business.”

Like in most coal-dependent regions, despite polluted air and water, and the impact of mining and thermal power on all life forms, the fossil fuel remains a lifeline.

But communities in regions such as Talcher cannot be blamed for not being able to imagine a life beyond coal, said sociologist and water activist Ranjan Panda, convenor of Water Initiatives, a network that works on water, environmental, and climate change advocacy, especially for vulnerable communities.

“The conversation around ‘just transition’ [an equitable shift to a green, sustainable future that leaves no one behind] is elitist so far,” he said. “The communities are not being seen as primary stakeholders in this transition dialogue, which mainly involves technocrats. There are discussions on redesigning, repurposing technology, and reducing emissions. But communities that had coal thrust upon them decades ago are non-entities.”

A new thoroughfare

Meanwhile, another bazaar is taking shape about a kilometre from the old market, on a once-quiet stretch of road that is now a thoroughfare for workers and officials. Shops selling soft drinks, crisps, tobacco, groceries and even clothes and medicines have come up in the past six months on this road, which leads to a new gate constructed for labour entry to the new plant.

Local shopkeepers estimate that more than 2,000 workers have already come in from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat for the ongoing work on the new plant.

Among those who have set up shop here is Draupadi Raut. Her matchbox-sized store is stacked with bags of crisps, cookies, and dozens of small tobacco pouches in a polythene bag. The 47-year-old worked at the old plant for over two decades, earning a monthly income of Rs 12,000, which she said was steady, unlike her income now.

But the new plant promises assured business, with an endless stream of customers stopping by to purchase water, tobacco, or a small packet of potato wafers on a hot, sleepy afternoon. In the past six months, the road has been widened and streetlights installed.

The old market’s shopkeepers said they had no access to the land alongside the new road, as it was privately owned and they didn’t have the funds to lease a shop there.

For Jena, the gate of the old plant remains home.

“I haven’t thought of moving. This is my shop. I have been here since I was a 10-year-old, helping my father. Many shops have closed down, but the market is still there,” said Jena, sitting idle behind the counter on a weekday morning, a couple of local men hanging around for a chat.

“With the plant’s revival, I do hope workers will return to this market. Business might then improve,” he said.

This story is co-published by Mongabay-India and The Migration Story.

This article was first published on Mongabay.

Cyclone Ditwah was on Sunday moving north along the coast of Tamil Nadu, leading to heavy rainfall in the region.

This came after the cyclonic storm caused devastation in Sri Lanka.

It is unclear where and when the cyclone will make landfall.

Here are the top updates:

• The India Meteorological Department said on Sunday afternoon that the cyclone was located about 170 km south-southeast of Chennai, 110 km northeast of Karaikal and 100 km east-southeast of Puducherry. It had moved at a speed of about 7 km per hour since morning.
• The cyclonic storm was very likely to move nearly northwards parallel to the northern Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast in the next 24 hours. It would be within a minimum distance of 30 km from the coastline by Sunday evening, the weather department added.
• Three persons have died in rain-related incidents, the state’s Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran said. The deaths occurred in Tuticorin, Thanjavur and Mayiladuthurai.
• Ramachandran said 28 disaster response teams are on stand-by and additional 10 teams have reached Tamil Nadu from other states, PTI reported.
• The weather department on Sunday issued a red alert warning for heavy to very heavy rain, with extremely heavy rain likely in one or two places in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur and Ranipet districts. An orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain was issued for parts of Kancheepuram, Chennai, Chengalpattu and Vellore districts.
• In Andhra Pradesh, a red alert warning of extremely heavy rain was issued for Prakasam and SPSR Nellore districts.
• Two IndiGo flights operating between Chennai and Jaffna in Sri Lanka were cancelled on Sunday, The Indian Express reported.

Sri Lanka

• In Sri Lanka, the toll from flooding and landslides triggered by the cyclone increased to 212, The Hindu quoted the country’s Disaster Management Centre as saying. More than 200 persons are missing.
• The northern areas of Colombo were flooded as the water level in the Kelani River increased rapidly because of the heavy rainfall, AFP reported.
• Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency on Saturday to deal with the devastation caused by the cyclone. He also appealed for international help. More than 25,000 homes have been destroyed and 1.4 lakh persons were taken to temporary shelters, AFP reported.
• India’s National Disaster Response Force sent two teams to Sri Lanka to assist in relief operations. The Indian Air Force said it has positioned helicopters in Colombo for humanitarian assistance. Transport aircraft have also been earmarked for large-scale evacuation of Indians and to deliver essential relief material.

The Election Commission on Sunday extended by one week the timeline for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls underway in 12 states and Union Territories.

Booth-level officers had begun distributing enumeration forms on November 4.

The last date of submitting the forms has been extended to December 11 from December 4.

As per the updated schedule, the draft electoral rolls will be published on December 16 instead of December 9.

Voters will be able to file their claims and objections between December 16 and January 15, and hearings will be held by February 7 instead of January 31, according to the updated timeline.

The final electoral rolls are to be published on February 14 instead of February 7.

The exercise is underway in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The task of preparing voter lists before elections is typically assigned to primary school teachers and anganwadi or health care workers, who are employed by state governments. They are required to go door-to-door and check the identities of new voters and verify the details of those who have died or permanently moved out of an area.

In the commission’s parlance, they are called booth-level officers. Each booth level officer is responsible for maintaining the voter list for one polling booth, which can sometimes have as many as 1,500 registered voters.

Several suspected suicides allegedly because of the work pressure related to the revision process have been reported in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala and Rajasthan.

On November 24, reports stated that more than 60 booth-level officers and seven supervisors were booked in Noida for allegedly failing to comply with orders from senior officials during the revision process.

In Bahraich district, the administration has ordered first information reports against five booth-level officers, withheld salaries of 42 personnel and suspended a village-level revenue officer for alleged negligence.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed ahead of the Assembly polls in November, at least 47 lakh voters were excluded from the final electoral roll published on September 30.

Concerns had been raised after the announcement in Bihar that the exercise could remove eligible voters from the roll. Several petitioners also moved the Supreme Court against it.

Also read: I struggled to fill SIR forms. BLOs have it much worse

The Department of Telecommunications has issued directions to app-based communication service providers to make it impossible for their users to use services without a SIM. This comes after the DoT notified the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025, which bring in the category of telecommunication identifier user entity under the scope of telecom regulations.

The amendment introduced a new category of service provider called the Telecommunication Identifier User Entity, which would fulfill a range of cybersecurity obligations, including using a Mobile Number Validation Platform to verify the customers or users associated with a telecommunication identifier for services linked to such an identifier.

Besides validation, the government can also direct TIUEs to stop using a specific telecom identifier to identify customers or deliver services.

When the rules were first introduced, many raised concerns that the TIUE category was too broad and would cover almost any business collecting customer phone numbers to provide a service. This could range from food delivery platforms like Swiggy or Zomato to a local grocery store sending e-receipts via mobile numbers.

The new directions, which have been sent to WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Arattai, Snapchat, ShareChat, JioChat, and Josh, effectively recognise these companies as TIUEs. They require platforms to ensure that SIM cards remain continuously linked to their services within the next 90 days. For website or web-app-based access, TIUEs must ensure users are logged out periodically (not later than six hours) and must offer an option to relink accounts through a QR-code-based method.

The rationale

According to the directions, the government has observed that some apps using mobile numbers for customer validation allow access even when the underlying SIM is not present in the device. The government argues that this creates vulnerabilities exploited from outside India to commit cyber fraud. This reasoning aligns with the Cellular Operators Association of India’s August statement supporting SIM binding.

“Presently, the binding process between a subscriber’s app-based communication services and their mobile SIM card occurs only once during the initial installation and verification phase, after which the application continues to function independently on the device even if the SIM card is later removed, replaced or deactivated,” the industry body had explained.

This creates situations where a removed SIM does not prevent the use of an OTT communication app for criminal activity from any location. Without an active SIM, authorities have no verifiable link, such as call records, location data, or carrier logs, to establish where the service was used. As such, the Cellular Operators Association of India said that persistent SIM is binding on OTT communication services, which remains active beyond initial installation.

“This would ensure that the communication service cannot operate without the authenticated SIM physically inserted in the device, maintaining critical traceability between the user, the number and the device,” the association had mentioned in its statement. “COAI believes that this will not only help reduce the occurrence of spam and fraud communications significantly over these applications, but also help mitigate financial frauds by acting as a deterrent against misuse of app-based communication platforms, thus bringing relief to both the telecom service providers and the OTT communication platforms.”

Other sectors

Several financial applications, including banking and Unified Payment Interface apps, already enforce strict active-SIM rules to prevent fraud.

In February, the Securities and Exchange Board of India proposed hard-binding trading accounts to SIM cards, similar to the UPI system, ensuring only the actual trader can access the account. SEBI also suggested mandatory biometric or facial recognition checks to mitigate unauthorised trading risks.

How effective will SIM binding be?

At a 2023 MediaNama event, cybersecurity researcher and DeepStrat co-founder Anand Venkatnarayan explained that scammers frequently use loaned or forged IDs to procure SIM cards, bypassing KYC norms.

“They need 10 SIM cards for scamming a hundred victims; they don’t reuse SIM cards,” he said. He added that the scammers only need to procure two to three IDs per year to conduct their activities. In such cases, binding communication services to SIM cards may offer limited benefits, as fraudsters can simply acquire new SIM cards and resume operations.

Industry professionals had pointed out similar concerns during MediaNama’s discussion on the telecom cybersecurity amendment rules when they were in a draft stage. “Video KYC verification process through the ASTR database has been there for at least two years,” MediaNama Editor Nikhil Pahwa asked. “Frauds have not reduced. So if frauds have not reduced, how is bringing the same identifier to a different ecosystem going to increase trust?” ASTR is the AI- and facial-recognition-powered telecom subscriber verification system deployed by the DoT in 2023.

Pahwa also questioned whether the rules adequately address the issue of mule accounts. Responding to this, COAI Deputy Director General Vikram Tiwathia said the government’s goal is to maximise the usefulness of the telecom database.

“Now, where is the government coming from?” he said. “You see, there is a serious problem of cybersecurity plus fraud. Which is the most prevalent KYC? Is the mobile number devices. Correct. That’s the most prevalent, most updated, most monitored compared to any other device. So, the intent of the government is, how can I squeeze more juice out of this national resource?”

Full text of the directions

1. WHEREAS, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has, vide Notification No. CG-DL-E-21112024-258808 dated 21st November, 2024, notified the Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Rules, 2024, and has subsequently amended the same vide Notification No. CG-DL-E-22102025-267074 dated 22nd October, 2025 (hereinafter collectively referred to as “the Rules”);

2. AND WHEREAS, Rule 2(i) of the Rules defines “Telecommunication Identifier User Entity (TIUE)” to mean a person, other than a licensee or authorised entity, which uses telecommunication identifiers for the identification of its customers or users, or for provisioning or delivery of services.

3. AND WHEREAS, Rule 4(3) of the Rules obligates every telecommunication entity and TIUE to ensure compliance with the directions and standards, including timelines for their implementation, as may be issued by the Central Government for the prevention of misuse of telecommunication identifiers or telecommunication equipment, network, or services for ensuring telecom cyber security

4. AND WHEREAS, Rule 10(2) of the Rules permits the Central Government to use secure modes of communication, other than the designated portal, for issuance of orders, directions, or instructions to telecommunication entities, TIUEs, manufacturers, or importers of telecommunication equipment, or for collection of any information from such entities

5. AND WHEREAS, it has come to the notice of Central Government that some of the App Based Communication Services that are utilizing Mobile Number for identification of its customers/users or for provisioning or delivery of services, allows users to consume their services without availability of the underlying Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) within the device in which App Based Communication Services is running and this feature is posing challenge to telecom cyber security as it is being misused from outside the country to commit cyber-frauds

6. AND WHEREAS, it has become necessary to issue directions to TIUEs providing such App Based Communication Services to prevent the misuse of telecommunication identifiers and to safeguard the integrity and security of the telecom ecosystem;

7. NOW THEREFORE, the Department of Telecommunications, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under the Rules, hereby directs TIUEs providing App Based Communication Services utilizing Mobile Number for identification of customers/users or for provisioning or delivery of services in India, to:

   • From 90 days of issue of these instructions, ensure that the App based Communication Services is continuously linked to the SIM card (associated with Mobile Number used for identification of customers/users or for provisioning or delivery of services) installed in the device, making it impossible to use the app without that specific, active SIM.

   • From 90 days of issue of these instructions, ensure that the web service instance of the Mobile App, if provided, shall be logged out periodically (not later than 6 hours) and allow the facility to the user to re-link the device using QR code.

8. All TIUEs providing App Based Communication Services in India shall submit compliance reports to the DoT within 120 days from issue of these directions.

9. Failure to comply with these directions shall attract action under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, the Telecom Cyber Security Rules, 2024 (as amended), and other applicable laws.

10. These directions shall come into force immediately and shall remain in force until amended or withdrawn by the DoT.
    
    This article first appeared on Medianama.

Key Maoist leader Vikas Nagpure alias Navjyot alias Anant surrendered before the police in Maharashtra’s Gondia district on Friday along with 10 others.

Anant was the spokesperson of the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh special zonal committee of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Days earlier, he had issued a press release urging the chief ministers of the three states to halt anti-insurgency operations, and setting January 1, as the deadline by when the Maoists would surrender, The Indian Express reported.

Ankit Goyal, the deputy inspector general of police (Gadchiroli range), camp Nagpur, told the newspaper that multiple factors had led to Anant’s surrender.

“We tried to convince him, and the operations were also going on, and probably he felt that this was the right time to surrender,” Goyal said.

महाराष्ट्र-मध्यप्रदेश-छत्तीसगढ (एम. एम. सी.) झोन मधील स्पेशल झोनल कमेटी मेंबर विकास नागपुरे उर्फ नवज्योत यांचेसह एकूण ११ माओवाद्यांनी गोंदिया जिल्हा पोलीस समक्ष केले आत्मसमर्पण pic.twitter.com/ztWNnXm9mg

— गोंदिया पोलीस - Gondia Police (@Gondiapolice) November 29, 2025

Anant was among the key Maoist leaders in the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh zone, with only one Central Committee member – Ramdher – above him in the CPI (Maoist) hierarchy, the official said, according to The Indian Express.

“Ramdher’s group is still there in the northern part of the region, but we are sure that he will surrender soon,” Goyal further said.

The others who surrendered on Friday were divisional committee commander Nagasu Golu Wadde, Rano Poreti, Santu Poreti, Sangeeta Pandhare, Pratap Bantula, Anuja Kara, Puja Mudiyam, Dinesh Sotti, Sheela Madavi and Arjun Dodi, the Hindustan Times reported.

Gondia Superintendent of Police Gorakh Suresh Bhamare told the newspaper that the surrendered Maoists carried a collective reward of Rs 89 lakh.

The Union government has repeatedly vowed to end Maoism by March 31, 2026.

Since January, 114 Maoists have surrendered before the Maharashtra Police, the Hindustan Times reported. On October 15, 61 Maoists, including CPI (Maoist) politburo member Mallujola Venugopal alias Bhupathi, had surrendered in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, about 2,400 Maoists have surrendered in recent times, while 1,792 have been arrested and 485 killed by security forces, the Hindustan Times reported.

Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.

Also read:

• Skill training for surrendered Maoists or forced detention by Chhattisgarh police?

• Rs 5 crore bounty: Are rewards making anti-Maoist operations more deadly?

The Delhi Police has filed a fresh first information report against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on the basis of a money-laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate related to the National Herald newspaper, PTI reported on Sunday.

The move comes six months after the agency submitted a chargesheet naming the two leaders and five others in connection with the case.

According to the complaint lodged on October 3 by Enforcement Directorate Assistant Director Shiv Kumar Gupta, government properties originally allotted to Associated Journals Limited at concessional rates for public welfare activities were allegedly “diverted for personal gain”, The Indian Express reported.

The FIR invokes sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to cheating, criminal conspiracy, dishonest misappropriation of property and criminal breach of trust.

It names Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise Private Limited, its promoter Sunil Bhandari, Associated Journals Limited and other unidentified persons, The Indian Express reported.

The Enforcement Directorate alleges that the case concerns a “serious form of criminal conspiracy and financial fraud”, asserting that Young Indian, which is owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, fraudulently took control of Associated Journals Limited properties worth more than Rs 2,000 crore for a “paltry sum” of only Rs 50 lakh.

“The accused persons have exploited these assets by engaging in fraudulent activities such as collecting bogus rents or generating fake revenue through sham advertisements, thereby laundering illicit money under the guise of legitimate transactions,” the newspaper quoted the complaint as saying

The Economic Offences Wing registered the FIR based on the Enforcement Directorate's request under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which allows the agency to share evidence to enable registration of predicate offences, PTI reported.

The Congress criticised the FIR, accusing the Union government of “mischievous politics”.

In a statement on X, party leader Jairam Ramesh said the “Modi-Shah duo is continuing with its mischievous politics of harassment, intimidation, and vendetta against the top leadership of the INC”.

“Those who threaten are themselves insecure and afraid,” he said on social media. “The National Herald matter is a completely bogus case. Justice will ultimately triumph.”

The Modi-Shah duo is continuing with its mischievous politics of harassment, intimidation, and vendetta against the top leadership of the INC. Those who threaten are themselves insecure and afraid.

The National Herald matter is a completely bogus case. Justice will ultimately…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 30, 2025

The allegations

In April 2008, the National Herald, which was founded and edited by Jawaharlal Nehru before he became India’s first prime minister, suspended operations as it had incurred a debt of over Rs 90 crore.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint against the newspaper in 2012, alleging that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi set up Young Indian to buy the debt using the funds from the party.

Swamy alleged that Young Indian paid only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.2 crore that the Associated Journals Limited owed to the Congress.

The Congress has claimed that there was no money exchange, and that only debt was converted into equity to pay off certain dues including employee salaries.

The Congress on Saturday said that Delhi’s escalating air pollution was like “slow poison” and that the government must be held accountable on the matter.

Party leader Sandeep Dikshit said an MP-level committee should be considered to coordinate action, warning that residents were suffering while the Punjab and Delhi governments were exchanging political accusations.

The Aam Aadmi Party is in power in Punjab, while the Bharatiya Janata Party is at the helm of the Delhi government.

Dikshit, addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, noted that doctors have said that air pollution in Delhi reduces the life of an average person by 6 to 7 years, and that the risk is even greater for those suffering from diseases.

दिल्ली की प्रदूषित हवा हर सीमा पार कर चुकी है। दिल्ली में अभी जो गंभीर हालात हैं, वो स्लो-पॉईजन जैसा है।

डॉक्टरों का भी कहना है कि दिल्ली की प्रदूषित हवा एक सामान्य व्यक्ति का जीवन 6 से 7 साल तक कम कर रही है और बीमार व्यक्ति को खतरा ज्यादा है।

वायु प्रदूषण के कई कारण हैं, लेकिन… pic.twitter.com/P6viKrurce

— Congress (@INCIndia) November 29, 2025

The Congress leader said Delhi’s air quality had deteriorated to such an extent that “the city is no longer worth living in”.

Dikshit argued that while stubble burning and festive firecrackers contributed only marginally and seasonally, the biggest source of air pollution was year-round vehicular emissions, which he estimated contributed to “around 30 to 45%” of the pollution.

Also read: Delhi’s failure to act against the biggest source of its air pollution – vehicles

He said increasing congestion and deteriorating road conditions had slowed down traffic compared with the years when Delhi was developing. Public transport, particularly buses, had “collapsed”, he claimed, adding that the number of private vehicles had risen even as metro expansion had stalled.

“Another major cause of pollution is industrial pollution, which uses dirty fuel,” the Congress leader added. “Illegal factories in Delhi cannot operate without the connivance of the MCD, police, and politicians.”

He also said garbage burning and the decline of proper waste-segregation systems were further aggravating factors.

“Previously, dustbins were installed in many places in Delhi, where waste was kept separately,” he said. “The people of Delhi participated enthusiastically in this, but now everything is gone.”

“Money should be invested on road infrastructure, bus system, and the metro,” he added. “You will get enough time to do populist politics – if governments spend all funds for giving things free, there will not be finances for basic facilities.”

On Sunday, Delhi’s average Air Quality Index stood at 269, categorised as “poor”, showed the Sameer application, which provides hourly updates published by the Central Pollution Control Board, at 11.05 am.

An index value between 0 and 50 indicates “good” air quality, between 51 and 100 indicates “satisfactory” air quality and between 101 and 200 indicates “moderate” air quality. As the index value increases further, air quality deteriorates. A value of 201 and 300 means “poor” air quality, while between 301 and 400 indicates “very poor” air.

Between 401 and 450 indicates “severe” air pollution, while anything above the 450 threshold is termed “severe plus”. An Air Quality Index in the “severe” category signifies hazardous pollution levels that can pose serious risks even to healthy individuals.

Air quality deteriorates sharply in the winter months in Delhi, which is often ranked the world’s most polluted capital.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, along with the lighting of firecrackers during Diwali, vehicular pollution, falling temperatures, decreased wind speeds and emissions from industries and coal-fired plants contribute to the problem.

Delhi has been recording air quality in the “poor” or worse categories since mid-October, leading to Stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan being imposed on November 11.

On Wednesday, the Commission for Air Quality Management withdrew the Stage 3 restrictions, citing improved air quality. The restrictions under the GRAP 1 and GRAP 2 remain in force.

Also read: What the air-pollution advisory from India’s health ministry hides

The authorities in Assam’s Nagaon district on Saturday launched an eviction drive to clear encroachments from 795 hectares of reserved forest land, where about 1,500 families – all of them Bengali-speaking Muslims – had been living.

The eviction was carried out in the Lutimari area of the Nagaon district.

The administration had issued notices three months ago directing the families to leave the area within two months, PTI reported. The families had asked for an additional month to vacate the area, to which the administration agreed, the news agency quoted an unidentified official as saying.

When the demolition drive took place on Saturday, more than 1,100 families had already dismantled their homes and left with their belongings. The remaining homes were demolished in the drive, the official told the news agency.

The Assam Tribune quoted one of the evicted residents as saying that they did not have a place to stay after the drive. “It would have been better if the government had provided a place for us,” the individual said. “We left voluntarily as per the order, and we want rehabilitation.”

Forest Department Special Chief Secretary MK Yadava said that clearing the encroachments from the area would help curb human-elephant conflict on the forest land, the Assam Tribune reported.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Assam in 2016, multiple demolition drives have been conducted across districts, mostly targeting areas populated by Bengali-speaking Muslims.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed that since he took over the post in May 2021, over 160 square kilometres of land had been freed from encroachments.

Many of those displaced have claimed that their families had been living in the areas for decades, and that their ancestors had settled in the areas after their lands in riverine areas were washed away because of erosion by the Brahmaputra river.

The Election Commission’s revision of voter lists in 12 states and Union Territories has been marred by suspected suicides of booth-level officers, or BLOs, since the exercise began on November 4.

There have been at least two cases reported from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and one each from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kerala. There are also news reports of BLOs dying due to SIR-related stress and work pressure.

What is it about this current round of special intensive revision that has put so much pressure on booth-level officers?

BLOs are part-time employees of the Election Commission. They do this work in addition to their roles as school teachers, post-office employees, anganwadi workers or local revenue officials. Till August, they were paid Rs 500 a month for their election duties. After that, it was hiked to Rs 1,000.

These BLOs are accountable to Electoral Registration Officers, who are usually sub-divisional magistrates. According to The Indian Express, during the entire span of the Bihar special intensive revision, 39 BLOs were suspended and 42 had first information reports filed against them. In just one week in Uttar Pradesh, 60 FIRs have been filed against BLOs in Noida alone.

Imagine a day in the life of a BLO who is a school teacher in Uttar Pradesh. School begins at 9 am in the winter and ends at 3 pm. When clubbed with pre-work preparation and the commute, this alone takes about eight hours of the day.

Then comes the special intensive revision work. A polling station in Uttar Pradesh has 953 electors on average. The BLO has to distribute enumeration forms to all these electors and guide them on how to fill them. She has to make inquiries about electors who are enrolled in the village but have migrated for work, since they too need to submit the forms.

The special intensive revision now underway puts more work on the BLO than the Bihar exercise did. Its order says that BLOs need to mention probable cause for electors they cannot find. After inquiries with neighbours, they need to be labelled as “absent”, “shifted”, “dead” or “duplicate”.

Most crucially, BLOs in Bihar were not bound to search for the names of electors in the 2003 electoral roll. In some pockets of the state, they were simply collecting filled forms with Aadhaar details – even before the Supreme Court ordered Aadhaar to be included as one of the documents to prove one’s identity. I observed this first-hand while reporting in Purnia district.

BLOs outside Bihar do not have this luxury. For the ongoing revision, the Election Commission has categorically laid down that “no document is to be collected from electors during the enumeration phase”.

Instead, this revision has a more detailed enumeration form that demands excruciating detail. In addition to information about themselves, their parents and spouse, electors have to put down the serial number, booth number and the Assembly constituency number as it was in 2003 for themselves and their relatives.

“Hardly anyone in our village has bothered to fill in these details,” Pawan Kumar Tripathi, a BLO in Raini village in Uttar Pradesh’s Mau Assembly constituency, told me. “They are busy working in the fields. Many are occupied with wedding duties because this is the wedding season. Instead, we have to find the 2003 precedents of each elector ourselves and fill them in.”

Last week, I found out how difficult this could be when I decided to fill all the special intensive revision forms in my family. The hardest part is figuring out the polling station my parents were registered in 22 years ago.

The Election Commission adds and modifies polling stations every year, which means your local booth had a different number than 2003.

What complicates this further is that polling stations split and merge over time. So while my locality might have its own booth now, two decades ago, it shared one booth with two other colonies.

To get around this, I had to download the voter lists of several booths around my area. Only after a couple of hours of painstaking work could I find my parents’ names in the roll.

Unlike me, a BLO in Uttar Pradesh has to do this for 953 people. It must be done before December 4, while struggling with patchy internet, that too while juggling it with her school duties, commute, family chores and, if she is lucky, some much-needed rest.

Here is a summary of last week’s top stories.

The contentious labour codes. Kerala’s Labour Minister V Sivankutty said the state will not implement the Union government’s new labour codes. He said that the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment had convened a meeting of all states in October, during which Kerala reiterated its position against adopting the codes.

The Union government on November 21 notified the implementation of four labour codes, which replace 29 labour laws.

The Centre claims the new codes are aimed at extending coverage of statutory protection to platform workers. This includes need-based minimum wages, non-hazardous working conditions and universal social security entitlements.

However, critics have argued that the codes fail to extend social protection to the vast majority of informal sector workers.

Polygamy ban. The Assam Assembly passed a bill to ban polygamy. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma contended that the new law is not against Islam, and said that several Muslim-majority countries have also prohibited the practice.

However, Opposition leaders argued that the draft law violated constitutional provisions pertaining to the freedom of religion and the freedom to manage religious affairs.

The 2025 Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill had been introduced on Tuesday. It proposes up to seven years of imprisonment for persons convicted of polygamy. Those found guilty of having concealed their previous marriage can face punishment of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Sarma also said that if he returns as chief minister, he will introduce a Uniform Civil Code in the first Assembly session.

The Ram temple. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted a saffron flag atop the Ram temple in Ayodhya, marking the completion of its construction. He claimed that the event marked “centuries-old injuries” being healed, and “centuries of torture” finding respite.

However, the Congress’ Rashid Alvi said that India has no religion as per the Constitution, and questioned whether Modi would similarly hoist a flag atop a mosque, gurdwara or church.

The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992, by Hindutva extremists because they believed that it stood on the spot on which the deity Ram had been born. The Ram temple that now stands at the site was built in line with a Supreme Court verdict from 2019.

Also on Scroll last week

• How Tata Group became BJP’s biggest donor weeks after Modi Cabinet cleared its semiconductor units
• As Ladki Bahin squeezes Maharashtra welfare schemes, will discontent surface in civic body polls?
• Why the police claim that a protest against Delhi pollution had ‘Naxal’ links
• Adani-led firm charged Rajasthan PSU over Rs 1,400 crore it wasn’t entitled to: Jaipur court
• What the air-pollution advisory from India’s health ministry hides
• Bangladesh: The death sentence for Hasina makes India’s hand stronger
• Harsh Mander: The incomplete dream of constitutional socialism in free India
• The rugged and tender charms of movie legend Dharmendra (1935-2025)
• ‘Gustaakh Ishq’ review: The real romance is between words rather than humans
• ‘Perfect Family’ review: Many home truths in a show about a dysfunctional clan

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The National Investigation Agency has arrested a cleric and one of his associates from the Haldwani district in Uttarakhand in connection with the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10, PTI reported.

The two men – Mohammed Asif, the imam of the Bilali mosque in Haldwani, and electrician Nazar Kamal – were arrested on Friday night by a team of the central agency with the help of police officials in Delhi and Haldwani. They have now been taken to the national capital.

Asif and Kamal were arrested from Haldwani’s Banbhulpura area based on call records from a mobile number linked to Umar Nabi, the doctor who was believed to have been driving the car that exploded near the Red Fort, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying.

After their arrests, a large number of police personnel from several stations, led by Haldwani City Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Katyal and Lal Kuan Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepshikha Agarwal, were deployed in Banbhulpura.

The police have increased security around the cleric’s home and around the Bilali mosque, PTI quoted Katyal as saying.

The blast near the Red Fort metro station left 13 persons dead. Two days after the explosion, the Union government described it as a “terrorist incident”.

On November 16, the agency arrested an aide allegedly linked to Nabi, who was identified as Amir Rashid Ali. The NIA alleged that the Hyundai i20 car used in the blast was registered in Ali’s name. This was the first arrest in the case.

The others arrested in the case till now have been identified as Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish, Muzammil Shakeel Ganai, Adeel Ahmed Rather, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay, Shaheen Saeed and Soyab.

This is a good time to think about the consistent attacks on a university system that, under the most constrained circumstances, has rivalled the best in the world. One, whose graduates have contributed to a wide variety of knowledge systems both within India and beyond it. Its modern history has something to tell us about what we stand to lose.

It is 1901 and Rabindranath Tagore is addressing a group of young boys on the model of education he favours. He would not like them, he says, to be soldiers, bank clerks or businesspeople. Rather that they should be “the makers of their own world and their own destiny”.

The Tagore family’s fortune derived from a combination of zamindari, money-lending and commercial activities and the privileged scion of a prominent landholding clan had a peculiar take on the educational needs of critical modernity. The latter requires something other than Tagore’s self-satisfied views on world-making.

Coming to Punjab

It is 1966 and 19-year-old Somalian Nuruddin Farah – employed as a clerk in the Ministry of Education in the national capital of Mogadishu – is about to make a decision about his university studies.

Local universities are in a state of intellectual and infrastructural disrepair and Farah has been offered scholarships at two institutions outside Somalia. One is at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the other, the University of Panjab, Chandigarh. Farah is an aspiring writer and an American mentor tells him. “If you don’t go to the United States, you will never become a writer.” Farah chose to study literature and philosophy at the University of Panjab.

Born in 1945, Nuruddin Farah published his first novel, From a Crooked Rib (1970), at the age of 24. He is widely regarded as one of the key figures of African and global literature. In September this year, he – along with lawyer Rebecca John and historian Ramachandra Guha – was awarded an honorary doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

My congratulations and best wishes to mentor Nuruddin Farah on being awarded an honorary doctorate by SOAS.

I first read "From A Crooked Rib" - Nuruddin's debut first novel - while still a child in primary school and found it extremely captivating.

Big talent. Deserving of… pic.twitter.com/2sbDGRZxZ6

— Rashid Abdi (@RAbdiAnalyst) September 2, 2025

When I heard him tell of his choice of Chandigarh over Madison – and their respective universities – I was taken aback. On the one hand, there was the apparently infinite promise that – within Africans and Asian imaginations of the 1960s – marked the idea of an American education. And, on the other, the instant disadvantage that might come from an enrolling at an Indian university, one that might have ranked quite a few stages below even others within India, such as those in Calcutta and Delhi. Why the University of Panjab, I wondered.

Some part of the answer lies in the Nehruvian promise of educating bank clerks, merchants, soldiers and engineers to be both clerks, merchants, soldiers and engineers as well as poets and philosophers.

In a recent conversation, I asked Farah if, when making the choice of Panjab over Wisconsin, he did not fear that he was condemning himself to a future life of disadvantage. Others, I suggested, would have jumped at the opportunity of taking up a fully funded place at a major American university. His responses tell me that my line of questioning was out of time, unable to capture the spirit of an age.

For, though by the time Farah arrived in India, Jawaharlal Nehru had been dead for two years, the Nehruvian promise of the possibility of a non-western modernity – nurtured by local educational and cultural institutions – was still alive. “I thought,” Farah said to me, “that India and Africa could become closer to each other and that is one of the reasons I went to study in India.”

The Nehruvian promise

Nuruddin Farah came to India, he says, as he “had faith in India and the goodness of its intellectual class”. The Nehruvian promise emerged, to borrow the words of the great Italian thinker Antonio Gramsci, through pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. It was premised on the hard work of understanding and undoing the negative effects of the past – pre-colonial and colonial – without ever being overwhelmed by the task.

What attracted Farah to Panjab University was a fundamental promise of decolonising the mind through the pessimism-optimism framework. Pessimism is a condition of the mind that reflects its capacity to analyse and optimism is a condition of thought that seeks solutions to the problems that pessimism identifies. This Nehruvian model of decolonisation – the belief in the capacity of all people to think, reflect and act – was fundamental to the attraction that was India.

When the novel “From a Crooked Rib” by Nuruddin Farah was published in 1970, I heard there were calls from sectors of #Somali society denouncing the book for immorality. I read the book years ago and the only thing that can be construed as “immoral” are short passages describing… pic.twitter.com/TruwNeF8qN

— Macawisle (@nololfiican) February 29, 2024

Nuruddin Farah’s much-celebrated From a Crooked Rib was written during his Indian sojourn and is frequently regarded as a parable of Somalian modernity: a story about its structures of colonial and gendered oppression and possible ways beyond them. Of this novel and of the time in which it was written, Farah has written that his literary skills were developed “in the iron words of a fiery truth that was given shape to and etched on the skin of lived history”.

While it would be both simplistic and unfair to entirely attribute the young Farah’s literary and political sensibilities to his time in India, it is reasonable to say that he found himself in an environment of debate and discussion that nurtured them. He was thrown into the middle of a bracing storm where “lived history” emerged out of a questioning of the past – rather than romanticising it – and directed him to imagine alternative futures. That was the Nehruvian promise.

As we conclude our discussion about his time in India, I ask Farah if he experienced personal anxiety as he prepared for his Indian stay. No, he says: “Even at that young age, I had the belief that Somalians were special and that I would be able to make my way in the world.”

At an Indian university in the mid-1960s, the young Somalian government clerk found himself in the crucible of a time and a promise where the “specialness” of non-western identities could be nurtured through the pessimism of critical thinking and the optimism of analytical thought. The clerk continued his journey to other worlds of possibilities.

Now, when university education seeks to promote the obedience that is inherent in clerical thinking, this is the world that we are in the process of losing. The problem, notwithstanding Tagore, isn’t to do with producing clerks and merchants. Rather, it concerns the making of an educational system that valorises clerical thinking as the ideal of national character.

Sanjay Srivastava is a Distinguished Research Professor in the department of anthropology and sociology, SOAS University of London.

Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922) was a woman on the move. An Indian feminist, activist, and reformer, she journeyed to the United States in the 1880s – having previously traveled to Great Britain where she converted to Christianity.

In the US, she gave lectures to packed audiences across the country and raised funds to support and educate Hindu child widows. On her return to India, she wrote a book in Marathi explaining America and its customs, institutions, and people to her fellow Indians.

Radha Vatsal appeared as a guest on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s programme Ideas to discuss Ramabai’s life and legacy in an episode titled, “How this 19th-century Indian feminist flipped the travelogue on its head”. Here, Vatsal speaks to producer Pauline Holdsworth, to go deeper into Ramabai’s story and the making of the episode.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

What interested you about Pandita Ramabai when you first heard about her?

I’ve always been really interested in travel narratives and what it is that people observe or are drawn to when they travel. I was really struck by, first, the clarity and sharpness of Ramabai’s voice, and she’s also very funny and very strong minded. She is moving through all of these spaces and learning from them and shaping them, as well as maintaining her own autonomy.

I was also really interested in her travels within India, and the fact that she had a childhood that was on the move. From a very young age, she was speaking in public, and encountering people of all different backgrounds and it made me think about how somebody shaped by that kind of life would develop her own moral center.

The other thing that I was struck by was her writing about American democracy, especially in this 21st-century moment where there’s a lot of discussion about a crisis of democracy, not just in the United States, but worldwide. Reading her initial hope and faith in democracy as a political system made me wish that we could read what she would write about the state of democracy worldwide today.

You took Ramabai’s story and opened it up so that it was more than just a narrative of her life. Can you talk about your process and how you found the areas that would be the most helpful to expand on?

I’m always fascinated by looking at both microcosms and macrocosms. And that’s something I’m always looking for when I’m working on episodes for Ideas – which is a programme on CBC radio that’s been running since the 1960s. On the show, we try and look at how ideas play out across time and space, and Pandita Ramabai is, of course, somebody who is moving across time and space in a really interesting way.

One of the things I wanted to explore were the dynamics between her and the different white women that she was encountering. I came across an article by Dr Tarini Bhamburkar [research affiliate at the University of Bristol] in which she points out that there hasn’t been a lot of attention paid to women’s relationships with women across race during this time period.

Dr Bhamburkar says that Victorianists love to theorise women’s relationships across race through the label of female friendship, but there’s a lot more that’s going on under the surface. And that was something that came up in the letters between Pandita Ramabai and her two friends and mentors in England, Sister Geraldine and Dorothea Beale. They were not very happy with the way that Ramabai was not accepting their Christian beliefs – because she had converted at this point, and that’s something that, when she returned to India later in her life, was quite controversial.

There’s one moment where they’re trying to get her to accept teachings that they consider to be proper Christianity. And Ramabai writes back: “I am not prepared to accept an essential doctrine which I shall not find in the Bible. I hope you will not be vexed with my freedom of speech.”

At another point, one of them says that she needs to come to them in a humble, childlike, teachable spirit. And Ramabai ends up replying: “Far be it from me to listen to such teaching. It is not humility, but a gross cowardice.”

When you read her writing, it’s hard not to be compelled by her as a figure, and by her very independent mind.

So when you put the episode together, you have read material about her and found out these interesting things. Do you try to get your guest speakers to hit on those points, or do you ask the questions and see where they lead?

I feel like I can never exactly hear what the final form will be when I’m starting an episode or even when I’m doing the interviews… And I often find that when the interviews lead me in directions that I couldn’t have anticipated, it makes for a richer episode.

When you and I spoke first, I had a sense of the chronological narrative arc of Ramabai’s life and her travels, and I thought that that would probably be a through line for the episode, and then I had in my mind, a sense of certain aspects that would open up. But speaking with Dr Sandeep Banerjee [associate professor of English at McGill University] opened up other questions around the British colonial travelogue and how it narrates space, as well as the formation of solidarity across geography between, say, African Americans and Indians.

Pandita Ramabai is very engaged with the work of people like Harriet Tubman [former slave who became a prominent abolitionist], and I think she really sees that as a model or inspiration for India.

So when you first reached out to me about Pandita Ramabai, I was really excited because I think there’s so much in this larger archive that is so fascinating.

For instance, there are also Indian travelers in this time period going to China, going to the Middle East – they’re not just looking towards the West. They’re looking to other parts of Asia, and these travelogues give us really interesting insights into the formation of transnational connections.

For me it always a reminder that transnational connections are not new. Particularly now, when there’s so much rhetoric about immigration, it makes us feel that all these connections and immigration and travel, it’s all relatively recent. But that’s not correct, it’s been going on for a long time.

Yes. So all of these worlds keep opening up from the interviews, and I’m trying to figure out how can I have a balance between the forward momentum of the story of Pandita Ramabai’s life with also, doors opening up from it.

You can listen to the episode on Pandita Ramabai, How This 19th-century Indian Feminist Flipped the Travelogue on its Head, here.

Pauline Holdsworth is a producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where she produces radio documentaries for Ideas, CBC’s national program for intellectual history and contemporary thought.

Radha Vatsal is the author of No. 10 Doyers Street and other novels. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Atlantic, LitHub, Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere.

The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. A maze of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands, shaped by the ebb and flow of the Bay of Bengal, it stretches across 10,000 sq km of the India-Bangladesh border.

The Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers all meet the sea here, forming a rich habitat for Bengal tigers, spotted deer, saltwater crocodiles, fishing cats, monitor lizards and a wide variety of birds and fish.

What is sometimes overlooked is that millions of people also reside here. Behind the famous biodiversity lies a complex history of human dispossession, migration and climate adversity that shapes these people and threatens their existence.

Settlements and historical marginalisation

The Sundarbans has long been a site of resource extraction and exploitation, from Mughal settlements and Portuguese smugglers to East India Company rule. By the late 18th century, colonial rulers began clearing vast tracts of the mangrove forests for agriculture, with timber production displacing ecosystems and communities. Today, mangroves are still being lost due to a variety of factors including climate change and overexploitation, making the Sundarbans even more vulnerable.

Communities of Dalit and Adivasi make up the majority of the population. Locals told me how their ancestors migrated as early as the 1820s from the Chota Nagpur Plateau in eastern India, nearby towns, and parts of eastern Bengal.

Both Dalits and Adivasis are historically oppressed communities who face ongoing discrimination. Caste discrimination against the Dalits has led to atrocities such as the Marichjhapi Massacre in 1979. While Adivasi communities only arrived in the Sundarbans after being forcibly relocated by the British and colonial-era landlords, who needed labour to clear the forest.

As a result, these communities have lived, adapted and protected this mangrove ecosystem for centuries, yet remain largely invisible in conservation frameworks that prioritise wildlife over human rights. The Sundarbans is often portrayed as largely uninhabited, but it is home to 7.2 million people. These people now experience more frequent and destructive cyclones and flooding, as well as riverbank erosion caused by the rising sea and, as a result, increased salinisation of fresh water.

Climate effects

Life in the Sundarbans is labour-intensive, harsh and, thanks to the tigers, crocodiles and venomous snakes – often dangerous. Fishing and agriculture have been the two main forms of work for a long time but now climate change is taking its toll.

During my visit, a fisherfolk family told me they lost half their land in 2020 to rising sea levels. Sadly, they are not alone. Since the 1960s, 210 sq km of Sundarbans land has been lost to the rising sea.

Farmers told me they cultivate rice in paddies, vegetables, fruits such as watermelon and lately pulses (moong daal). The cultivating period is largely from July to November and harvesting takes place from December to February. From March to May the land remains fallow.

Locals said farming has become more and more challenging. Older generations shared stories about difficult but prosperous harvest cycles. Growing traditional crops becomes harder each year, damaging livelihoods and food insecurity.

“The water was sweet [here] before,” one farmer told me in the village of Namkhana, the gateway to the Sundarbans. “We could grow rice, and vegetables easily and the yield was good. Now… the water has become saline. It ruins our crops.”

Extreme weather events

Sundarbans and its residents are surviving in severe environmental stress and anxiety. The locals I spoke to recalled the devastation caused by Cyclone Aila in 2009, which destroyed 778 km of mud embankments that protected fields and aquaculture ponds from saltwater intrusions.

At the time, a project worth Rs 50 billion ($570 million) was proposed to rebuild the British-era embankments, but 10 years later only 15% of the project had been completed. When the more intense Cyclone Amphan hit in 2020, the region was once again devastated. Some 250 people died and the environmental losses were huge.

In the Indian portion of the Sunderbans, ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss costs Rs 6.7 billion ($147 million) per year, equivalent to 5% of the region’s GDP in 2009, according to a 2014 World Bank study. “Floods are common here,” one local told me. “Every year the sea is so fierce it breaks the bandh.”

Bandh means embankments. Here they are supposed to be installed and maintained by the local government, though around the coastline all that is seen are incomplete or broken structures.

One farmer said floods last year killed freshwater fish in two of the ponds in his village. “We saw all the fish die and their eyes turning hazy within minutes of the flood. We had no fish for consumption that whole season,” he said.

Another farmer said soil in the Sundarbans is now too muddy for cultivation because of the rising salt content. Salt is known to lower the drainage capacity of soils.

Fishing problems

Some farmers have decided that fishing and fish farming offer better sources of income even though they are also impacted by climate change. “At least there are still fish to catch,” one said. “There is less and less land to grow with each passing year.”

The rise of commercial seafood farming – mainly crab and shrimp – has brought its own problems, however. To walk around the villages is to see many pond-like structures used for aquaculture. Mangroves are cleared to construct these, further weakening defences.

The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, a tourist attraction that will soon be expanded, brings yet more problems for local fishers. Designed to protect the endangered Bengal tiger, it currently covers over 2,585 sq km in West Bengal. Of this, 885 sq km acts as a buffer zone, and is the only area small-scale fish farmers are allowed to operate in. If they cross into the rest of the area, called the “core zone”, their boats are likely to be seized.

Small-scale fisherfolk are fighting another battle on the coastlines. Fish workers said the number of trawlers has sharply increased, reducing their catch. One told me: “I have been fishing for 30 years here, before that my father. We could catch 100 kg of fish in a season, but now I am lucky if it’s even 25 kg.”

Over 300 species of fish have been recorded in the mangroves. The small-scale fishers and fish farmers are natural custodians of these water bodies. One farmer said: “We don’t catch small fishes, we know where the breeding grounds are, we place our catch far away from there.”

Women fish workers who I had the chance to meet shared a slightly different experience. They told me they make up half of the workforce, if not more, but remain under-represented in labour discussions, collective bargaining efforts or are represented tokenistically for political gains.

Then there is the annual fishing ban. In India, the government bans fishing for two months each year to help stocks regenerate. During this period, local and state governments provide welfare to affected fishers. But in West Bengal, where fishing is restricted from mid-April to mid-June, this does not happen. After protests, the local government announced it had introduced its own scheme in 2019. But locals told me they have not received any support funds since the announcement.

In the wake of recent climate disasters like Cyclone Amphan, however, grassroots organising has emerged, with local groups asserting their rights to land, livelihood and dignity. During my visit I was told that across West Bengal, 8,000 small-scale fishworkers organised a protest against repressions by local governance bodies. The group held a press conference demanding recognition of small-scale fish workers and for smooth processing of licence applications. They say the process is currently riddled with corruption and delays.

Climate resilience

One local leader, who is part of a small-scale fish worker union, told me: “The future of the Sundarbans and its inhabitants cannot be fulfilled by tokenistic approaches to conservation or short-term climate projects.”

Another union leader, who has been organising inland and oceanic fishworkers across West Bengal, added: “The need of the hour is to support grassroots movements and collectives who are forging new paths for themselves to advocate for and amplify their demands for economic alternatives, sustainable management of resources, and decolonising authoritarian structures.”

When asked about sustaining life and livelihoods in Sundarbans, many members of the local Dalit and Adivasi communities have a constant fear of displacement. A “managed retreat” of the population has been floated for over a decade, but locals I spoke to were strongly against the idea.

One of the locals said: “We have been witnessing hardships since we were young, now our children are growing up. We still face the same fears, all the restrictions are for us, but the tourist departments, forest departments have to follow no rules.”

While discussing how to adapt to these changes, many locals echoed that fisherfolk and farmers should be involved in restorative actions planned for the region. They believe that until Indigenous and local knowledge of the region is taken into account, the efforts will fail.

Puja Mandal is a feminist social worker focusing on gender, labour, caste and migration. As associate senior manager of labour rights organisation SLD, her expertise lies in community organising, feminist action research and documentation. She works with various human rights based collectives in India.

This article was originally published on Dialogue Earth under the Creative Commons BY NC ND licence.

At least 123 persons died and more than 130 were missing in Sri Lanka due to floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, AFP quoted the country’s Disaster Management Centre as saying on Saturday.

The Sri Lankan government also declared a state of emergency.

The cyclone has since exited the island nation and is moving towards the south Indian coast, the country’s meteorological department said.

In a release issued at 2 pm, the India Meteorological Department said that Cyclone Ditwah was centred over northern parts of Sri Lanka and the adjoining parts of the southwest Bay of Bengal.

At 4.46 pm, the weather agency said on social media that the cyclonic storm over the southwest Bay of Bengal was moving north-northwest and was expected to approach the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry-south Andhra Pradesh coast by early Sunday.

“Residents are advised to follow safety instructions and stay indoors during severe weather,” it added.

The IMD also issued a red alert for heavy to extremely heavy rainfall on Saturday for Chengalpattu, Viluppuram, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, along with Puducherry and Karaikal in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

It also warned of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall across Tamil Nadu, south Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry for the next two days, the Hindustan Times reported.

Tamil Nadu Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management KKSSR Ramachandran told ANI that about 6,000 relief camps had been set up all over the state ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Ditwah.

“We have placed as many camps for people to stay in the cyclone-affected areas,” the minister told the news agency. “But people have come in very small numbers.”

Ramachandran added that 28 teams of both the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force had been deployed. “We have asked extra 10 teams,” he told ANI. “They are also coming through the flight now. We have also asked the Coast Guard for help if any disaster happens...”

Amid the adverse weather, 54 flights have been cancelled across several districts in Tamil Nadu, ANI reported, quoting officials at Chennai Airport.

Sixteen flights from Chennai to Thoothukudi, Madurai and Trichy have been cancelled, the news agency reported. Similarly, 16 flights from Thoothukudi, Trichy and Madurai to Chennai were also suspended.

Another 22 flights from Madurai, Trichy and Puducherry to Bengaluru and Hyderabad have also been suspended.

Meanwhile, an Indian Air Force aircraft reached Sri Lanka with 80 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, including four sniffer dogs, along with relief supplies and rescue equipment.

An IL-76 IAF aircraft arrived in Sri Lanka carrying 80 NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) personnel, including four females, four sniffer dogs, disaster relief supplies and rescue equipment to support ongoing relief operations.#IAF #il76 #NDRF #DisasterRelief pic.twitter.com/eQDakTbh0L

— Sri Lanka Air Force (@airforcelk) November 29, 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the cyclone in Sri Lanka.

“Standing with our closest maritime neighbour, India has immediately provided relief, essential humanitarian support, and disaster assistance under the Sagar Bandhu mission,” he said on social media. “As the situation develops, we are prepared to provide further assistance and support.”

Modi added: “In line with the policy of ‘neighbour first’ and the ocean vision, India stands strongly with Sri Lanka at this moment when Sri Lanka needs help.”

The Mumbai unit of the Congress on Friday claimed that there were 11 lakh duplicate voters in the draft electoral roll released for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections and demanded that the list be made public, The Hindu reported.

A delegation of the Opposition party members led by Varsha Gaikwad, Lok Sabha MP representing Mumbai North Central and Mumbai Congress chief, met the state election commissioner and sought an immediate clarification.

This came after the State Election Commission on Wednesday extended the deadline for the final publication of voter rolls for all local body elections in Maharashtra from December 5 to December 10, The Hindustan Times reported.

The extension was granted after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies received a large number of complaints about erroneous shifting of voters and duplicate entries.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is the governing civic body for Mumbai.

This is the second extension and is likely to further delay the local body elections in the state, including for the zilla parishads, panchayats and municipal corporations.

Elections in 27 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, along with 243 nagar parishads and 289 panchayats, have been stalled since 2022 due to a Supreme Court case on reservations for Other Backward Classes.

This means that most urban and rural bodies in the state have been functioning without elected representatives, whose terms ended between 2020 and 2022.

In September, the Supreme Court also criticised the State Election Commission for its failure to adhere to an earlier timeline set by the court to conduct local body elections in the state. The court set January 31, 2026, as the final deadline.

On December 2, polling for smaller urban and rural bodies – 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats – will be held, with results on December 3. Elections to the larger municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, are expected in January 2026.

An unidentified official from the state urban development department told the Hindustan Times on Wednesday that the State Election Commission had planned to hold the local body elections between January 15 and 20.

“But with this extension [on the publication of the final voter list ahead], the elections are expected to be delayed at least by two weeks,” the official was quoted as saying.

On the alleged duplicate names in the draft voter list for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, Gaikwad on Friday claimed that district collectors and civic deputy commissioners had been unable to explain the anomaly or the procedure to address them, The Hindu reported.

The Congress leader claimed that the draft list had been released without proper coordination between the State Election Commission and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation administration.

“Officials say affidavits may be required from duplicate voters,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “This will only create more confusion and could reduce voter turnout. Citizens are being subjected to unnecessary harassment.”

The Lok Sabha MP said that the state poll panel should publish a list of duplicate voters and specify where each duplicate entry has been recorded.

The Congress has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of large-scale vote rigging, including in the Maharashtra Assembly polls held in November 2024, alleging what they called “industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of national institutions.”

The Election Commission has rejected these allegations

On November 5, a day before the first phase of polling for the Assembly elections in Bihar took place, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged at a press conference that there was large-scale rigging in the 2024 Haryana polls as well.

He claimed that about 25 lakh fake voters were added to the electoral rolls of the state ahead of the polls held in October 2024.

A political row erupted in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday after the Jammu Development Authority demolished the home of journalist Arafaz Ahmad Daing in Jammu’s Narwal area, claiming it had been built on its land, NDTV reported.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Bharatiya Janata Party both questioned the manner in which the demolition was carried out.

The National Conference is in power in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the lieutenant governor, who functions under the BJP-ruled Union government, is in charge of law and order.

Amid the uproar, a Hindu neighbour gifted a plot of land to the journalist.

The single-storey structure, belonging to Daing’s family, was pulled down by Jammu Development Authority officials on Thursday morning, The Indian Express reported. The authority said the house had been constructed on land belonging to it.

Jammu Development Authority Vice Chairperson Rupesh Kumar said that the action was a “routine exercise” and part of an ongoing drive to remove encroachments from its land, the newspaper reported.

He said the family had been served a first notice on October 29, and when no reply was received, a second notice was issued on November 18.

Daing later submitted in writing that the Narwal house did not belong to him or his family, The Indian Express quoted the chairperson as saying.

The journalist, however, told reporters that the now-demolished home had been built nearly 40 years ago and was owned by his father, NDTV reported.

He had moved into the home after his house in Bhatindi was demolished by another agency last year as it was constructed over government property, The Indian Express reported.

Videos of the demolition on Thursday were circulated widely on social media.

Abdullah described the action a “conspiracy” to defame the elected government in the Union Territory and accused officials posted by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha of carrying out demolitions without approval, NDTV reported.

“No one supports encroachment on government land,” NDTV quoted the National Conference leader as saying. “But there cannot be a pick-and-choose approach by the JDA. I see a clear design to defame and discredit the elected government.”

He also claimed that a particular community was being targeted.

“Was this the only place in Jammu where encroachment had taken place?” Abdullah asked.

The chief minister also asked the JDA to provide a full list of illegal encroachments in Jammu.

Former Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, however, said that the demolition was “selective” and blamed the elected government for the action, NDTV reported

“The lieutenant governor has not used the bulldozer,” Raina was quoted as saying. “I spoke to him and he said no such orders were issued. Where did the order come from? I won’t politicise it.”

He added: “Our Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] believes in giving houses to the poor, not demolishing them. We will ensure all help.”

Following the demolition, Daing’s neighbour Kuldeep Sharma, who belongs to the Hindu community, gifted him a plot of land, NDTV reported.

“I will not let down my brother,” the news outlet quoted Sharma as saying. “Whatever it takes, I will rebuild their home. I am giving this plot to him. They have destroyed his home on a three Marla plot. I’m gifting him a five Marla plot.”

Sharma also criticised the chief minister for not being able to exercise his authority. He said if Abdullah cannot prevent such demolitions, remaining in office serves no purpose.

Daing, who runs a news portal in Jammu, had been arrested in 2022 for reporting on protests against a demolition drive, NDTV reported.

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure. However, the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

In November, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had recently said in the Assembly that over 16,000 kanals of land belonging to the JDA had been encroached in Jammu.

The Gauhati High Court has quashed the detention of All India United Democratic Front MLA Aminul Islam under the National Security Act more than six months after he was arrested for his statements about the Pahalgam terror attack, The Indian Express reported on Friday.

A bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Rajesh Mazumdar directed that the legislator, who represents the Dhing constituency in Assam, be released if he is not wanted in any other case.

Islam was arrested on April 24 after he alleged that the attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 was a “conspiracy to incite hatred and violence against Muslims” by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government.

The authorities had alleged that his statements were “misleading and instigating”. The remarks, which were widely shared online, also had the “potential to create an adverse situation”, the police had claimed.

The AIDUF MLA was arrested under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including one pertaining to acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, The Indian Express reported. This is similar to the charge of sedition under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code.

Islam received bail in the case on May 14, the newspaper reported. However, he was detained under the National Security Act on the same day.

The Act allows the Union or state government to order the detention of a person “with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations with foreign powers, or the security of India”.

It may also order detention to prevent them from acting in any manner prejudicial “to the security of the state”, the “maintenance of public order” or the “maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community”. The police and district magistrates have the power to issue detention orders, subject to approval by the state government within 12 days.

Islam’s detention under the Act was based on an order by the Nagaon district commissioner, citing a report from the superintendent of police that said that the MLA had engaged in “activities prejudicial to maintenance of public order and the security of the state”, The Indian Express reported.

It was also claimed that Islam “was likely to continue engaging in activities prejudicial to public order and the security of the state”.

The legislator filed a representation against this order on May 23, which was addressed to the principal secretary to the state government, the Home and Political Department and to the chairperson of the state Advisory Board for the National Security Act.

This representation was forwarded to the authorities on June 4, after 12 days had lapsed.

In its judgement on Thursday, the High Court ruled that the order to detain Islam under the National Security Act stood vitiated due to an unexplained delay by authorities in dealing with his representation.

“The affidavits filed by the district magistrate and the joint secretary to the Government of Assam, respectively, do not attempt to explain the delay caused in forwarding the representations to the concerned authorities,” the newspaper quoted the High Court as saying.

It also referred to an observation made by the Supreme Court in the KM Abdulla Kunhi vs Union of India & Others case, which said that there was no period prescribed either under the Constitution or under the detention law within which a representation should be dealt with.

“The requirement, however, is that there should not be supine indifference, slackness or callous attitude in considering the representation,” the Supreme Court had said then.

It had added: “Any unexplained delay in the disposal of representation would be a breach of the constitutional imperative, and it would render the continued detention impermissible and illegal.”

The High Court noted that the Nagaon jail superintendent had forwarded Islam’s representations on May 23 itself.

It added that the MLA had also been informed of his right to represent before the Union government only 23 days after he was detained.

“In the present case, there is no explanation for the time consumed by any of the authorities while dealing with the representation filed by the petitioner,” The Indian Express quoted the judgement as saying.

Directing that Islam be released, the High Court said that it did not consider it necessary to go into the other points raised during the proceedings as it was “satisfied that for the said one reason alone, the detention order stands vitiated…”

The terror attack at Baisaran near Pahalgam town on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

Following the attack, about 58 persons, including Islam, had been arrested across Assam for “defending Pakistan on Indian soil”. At the time, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had described those who had been arrested as “anti-nationals” and “traitors”.

Protests have erupted in Assam’s Kokrajhar after the state Cabinet cleared the Group of Ministers report that recommends granting Scheduled Tribe status to six communities, reported India Today.

The report that recommends including the six communities – Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Motok, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes (Adivasis) – in the Scheduled Tribes list was cleared on Wednesday.

It will be tabled in the Assembly during the ongoing Winter Session before being sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration.

Communities that are already part of the Scheduled Tribes list have been holding protests against the move. They have alleged that the decision to expand the Scheduled Tribes list is “politically motivated” in view of the state polls, expected to be held in the first half of 2026.

They have also argued that adding more communities to the Scheduled Tribes list would hurt the rights of the tribes already on the list.

On Friday, tribal students of Science College in Kokrajhar held a demonstration at the entrance of the institution against the Cabinet’s move, reported India Today.

They alleged that the decision to expand the Scheduled Tribes list would negatively impact their educational and employment opportunities.

A day earlier, tribal students of Bodoland University held a protest outside the main gate of the campus, forcing all third-semester examinations to be cancelled for the day, reported The Telegraph.

They reportedly shouted slogans against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

On Thursday evening, organisations representing the Bodo, Rabha and Garo communities, part of the Scheduled Tribes list, held a torchlight rally in Kokrajhar to express their opposition to what they said was a “detrimental political move”.

They alleged that the state government was including “advanced and populous” communities to the Scheduled Tribes list, according to The Telegraph.

The six communities named in the report are currently part of Assam’s Other Backward Classes list and comprise about 27% of the state’s population.

The demand to be included in the Scheduled Tribes list increased in recent weeks ahead of the Assembly elections.

Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a bill proposing to include the six groups in Assam’s Scheduled Tribes list was introduced in the Rajya Sabha. However, it was not taken up for discussion or passed. The Group of Ministers was constituted based on the directions by the Union home ministry that year.

Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the six communities that they would be granted the Scheduled Tribes status.

Following the delimitation exercise of 2023-’24, the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the 126-member Assam Assembly increased from 16 to 19. Delimitation is the process of fixing boundaries of territorial constituencies.

Also read: BJP claims to protect ‘indigenous’ groups in Assam. But they are protesting against its government

The Delhi Police on Friday re-arrested eight students, soon after they were granted bail in connection with another case pertaining to a protest against air pollution in the national capital, reported The Indian Express.

After the protest on Sunday, 23 students were detained from India Gate, Kartavya Path and later from outside the Parliament Street police station.

Two first information reports were registered – one against six persons at the Kartavya Path police station and another against 17 persons at the Parliament Street police station.

The cases were initially filed under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to assault, obstruction of public servants and outraging the modesty of women. On Tuesday, the police also added charges pertaining to making assertions prejudicial to national integration to the FIR registered at the Kartavya Path police station.

On Friday, Judicial Magistrate First Class Sahil Monga granted bail to nine of the protesters booked in the FIR registered at the Parliament Street police station, reported The Indian Express.

“The concerns regarding absconding or tampering with evidence can be addressed by imposing reasonable conditions,” Monga was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

He added that the investigation does not require the persons accused in the matter to be in jail.

However, soon after, the police re-arrested eight of those who were granted bail. The ninth student had already been arrested in the FIR at the Kartavya Path police station.

The eight persons were sent to seven days of judicial custody, according to Hindustan Times.

Seven others, who were in judicial custody in connection with the Parliament Street police station FIR and had not been granted bail, were also arrested in the second case, reported The Indian Express.

The students were accused of using criminal force against police personnel and shouting pro-Maoist slogans at the protest at India Gate on Sunday.

Some of the protesters had allegedly used pepper spray on police personnel while being removed from the site, while some had allegedly displayed posters and shouted slogans hailing Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, who was recently killed in a gunfight with security forces.

The protest on November 23 was mainly organised by an environmental research and action collective called Himkhand, student group Bhagat Singh Chatra Ekta Manch and the discussion forum Scientists for Society.

Scientists for Society, however, said on November 24 that it joined the protest only on the subject of pollution, and that the agitation was “not the appropriate forum” to discuss Hidma’s killing.

A booth-level officer engaged in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls died of cardiac arrest in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, PTI reported on Friday.

Zakir Hossain, a primary school teacher, complained of severe chest pain and collapsed within minutes, his family said. He died on Thursday night, The Telegraph reported.

Hossain’s family alleged he had been under “tremendous pressure” balancing voter roll revision duties alongside regular teaching work. They also alleged that the school had not relieved him of classroom responsibilities despite repeated requests, The Telegraph reported.

West Bengal is among 12 states and Union Territories where the Election Commission began the enumeration phase of the exercise on November 4.

This is the fourth death of a booth-level officer reported in the state since the exercise began.

Earlier this month, a booth-level officer in the Purba Bardhaman district died of a heart attack, PTI reported.

One official was found hanging in her home in Jalpaiguri district on November 19, while another was found hanging at her home in Krishnanagar in the Nadia district on November 22. The families of both the women alleged that they had been under severe pressure because of the revision workload.

The deaths have sparked a political row in the state.

The Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has accused the Election Commission of burdening BLOs with an “inhumane” and “unplanned” workload.

On November 20, Banerjee urged the poll panel to suspend the revision of electoral rolls in the state, saying “the human cost of this mismanagement is now unbearable”.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, however, rejected the allegations, saying that the stress that the officers faced stemmed not from the Election Commission’s directives but from political and administrative pressure exerted by the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress.

Amid the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the country, at least seven suicides by booth-level officers and two deaths due to stroke have been reported.

The task of preparing voter lists before elections is typically assigned to primary school teachers and anganwadi or health care workers, who are employed by state governments. They are required to go door-to-door and check the identities of new voters and verify the details of those who have died or permanently moved out of an area.

In the commission’s parlance, they are called booth-level officers. Each booth-level officer is responsible for maintaining the voter list for one polling booth, which can sometimes have as many as 1,500 registered voters.

The draft electoral rolls for the 12 states and Union Territories will be published on December 9, while the final ones will be published on February 7.

Several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court against the exercise over concerns that the special intensive revision of voter rolls could disenfranchise eligible voters.

The voter list revision in Bihar was announced by the poll panel in June and completed ahead of the Assembly elections in November. In the final electoral roll published on September 30, at least 47 lakh voters were excluded.

In an act of unprecedented haste, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has granted clearance for a mega project to build an International Container Transhipment Port at Galathea Bay in Great Nicobar Island. The Detailed Project Report, prepared by Kamarajar Port Ltd, is complete.

However, at the time of writing, it has not yet been submitted to the Union Shipping Ministry for the necessary final approval. The project will only proceed to the tender stage, where private players can participate, once this ministerial approval is secured. The port is planned in phases, over decades, finally acquiring an annual handling capacity of more than 16 million TEUs or Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, the standard unit of measurement for shipping container capacity.

Euphemistically titled the “Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island”, the mega project spearheaded by NITI Aayog entails severe and irreversible environmental consequences. The plan involves constructing an international transhipment port at Galathea Bay, an international airport, a 450-MVA gas/solar power plant, and a 160-sq km township on this tectonically sensitive and ecologically unique island.

The promoters aim to develop an urban landscape that rivals Singapore’s and Hong Kong’s, utilising the island’s strategic location on the Malacca Strait. The proposed built environment, covering approximately 80% of the project area, is intended to include hospitals, shopping and entertainment centres, luxury tourism infrastructure and residences for an estimated population of 350,000 people.

Fundamental transformation

This scale of development represents a fundamental transformation to an urban landscape. The island’s current population of approximately 8,000 would increase by an unprecedented 4,000%. In essence, this is not merely a development project; it is a plan to convert a globally significant biosphere reserve – a haven of unique biodiversity – into a sprawling commercial and strategic hub, raising critical questions about the true meaning of “holistic” and “sustainable”.

The proposed Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island has generated significant opposition from a broad coalition of scientists, environmentalists, and social experts, who cite grave concerns over its potentially irreversible ecological, social, and geological impacts. This critical perspective has been extensively documented in leading media outlets such as The Hindu, Frontline and The Wire, as well as in Pankaj Sekhsaria’s book, The Great Nicobar Betrayal. These analyses argue that labelling the initiative as “holistic development” is a profound misnomer, contending that it will effectively convert a vital tropical forest into an urban concrete jungle.

The debate intensified most recently on October 27, when over 70 prominent experts issued an open letter directly responding to Union Minister Bhupender Yadav’s defence of the project. In their collective response, they urgently called on the minister and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to prioritise a scientific assessment of the project’s grave and irreversible implications over political considerations.

A shipping hub is coming up in Great Nicobar.

The environmental costs are staggering.

At risk – a million trees, if not 10, and tribal communities who have little say in the great disruption of their lives.@_Vaishnavi_R reports from ground zero. https://t.co/qc21kM59tZ

— Amrita Dutta (@damrita) November 8, 2024

Economic rationale

The Indian government’s push for the Great Nicobar project is driven by a strategic ambition to recapture 75% of India’s transhipped cargo currently handled by foreign ports such as Colombo, Singapore and Klang. The vision is to transform the island into a free-trade zone akin to Hong Kong or Singapore to attract multinational corporations.

Indonesia and India are jointly planning another transhipment port in Sabang, Indonesia, located just 190 km away, which could directly compete for the same maritime traffic and undermine Great Nicobar’s economic viability.

As Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated at the India Maritime Week 2025, the project is positioned as a major boost to India’s global trade, with a 30-year implementation timeline expected to draw nearly 400,000 people – a figure equivalent to the current population of the entire Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

Great Nicobar is being drummed up as a deep draft and a strategically located port that could outpace its competitors. But this vision is fraught with logistical and economic contradictions that challenge its feasibility.

As pointed out by Retired Rear Admiral Kapil Gupta, many of India’s previous attempts to develop transhipment terminals (for instance, Vallarpadam in Kochi, Mundra in Gujarat, and Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram) have not been a success in terms of their ability to attract sufficient traffic due to the draft limitations, limited hinterland connectivity, and competition from other international players.

A critical, understated factor is that Great Nicobar is fundamentally unsuitable for a major transhipment hub. Unlike Singapore or Hong Kong, it is an isolated, thickly forested island located more than 1,000 km from the mainland with no supporting hinterland for cargo generation or consumption.

This internal contradiction is starkly evident in the project’s own documentation. A 2021 technical report by M/S AECOM India Limited paints an optimistic picture of a “greenfield city” with a diverse economy. Yet, a July 2016 technical note from the same consultant to the Ministry of Shipping concluded that a Free Trade Zone and transhipment hub “may not be a favourable option due to insufficient hinterland demand and supply”.

Furthermore, the project faces stiff external competition. Indonesia and India are jointly planning another transhipment port in Sabang, Indonesia, located just 190 km away, which could directly compete for the same maritime traffic and undermine Great Nicobar’s economic viability.

Ecological and social cost

The promoters of the Great Nicobar project systematically downplay the immense, irreversible cost of destroying natural assets and ecosystem services – a critical loss for a country already facing severe environmental degradation. India’s ambition to become a maritime leader comes at an incredible ecological price, threatening one of its most unique and protected landscapes.

The project area is part of a protected forest within the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, a Unesco-recognised site covering 85% of the island. This area provides a sanctuary for approximately 24% of all local species. The government’s plan to clear approximately one million trees from this tropical rainforest will devastate a critical ecosystem that regulates the regional monsoon cycle through evapotranspiration. The proposal for compensatory afforestation in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh is scientifically meaningless, as these areas cannot replicate the unique, evolved ecology of the Great Nicobar Islands.

The proposed port at Galathea Bay will directly devastate extensive coral reefs and marine habitats. The Environmental Impact Assessment report suggests translocating these organisms, a method with unproven success. This proposal is especially alarming given that corals worldwide are at a tipping point due to ocean warming and bleaching; translocation would add further stress, likely resulting in widespread mortality.

The island’s forests host 650 species of angiosperms, ferns, gymnosperms, and bryophytes, many of which are endemic. Its unique fauna includes: 11 species of endemic mammals, 32 species of endemic birds and seven species of endemic reptiles. Critically, Galathea Bay is a vital nesting ground for the globally endangered leatherback turtle, whose habitat would be irrevocably lost.

The island is home to the indigenous Nicobari and Shompen communities, the latter classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group with a history spanning over 10,000 years. More than three-fourths of the 900-sq-km island is designated as a tribal reserve under the Andaman and Nicobar Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation (1956). Anthropologists and social experts unanimously argue that the project brazenly bypasses the Forest Rights Act and other legal safeguards, proceeding without the free, prior, and informed consent of the tribal communities, thereby threatening their very survival and cultural integrity.

This project represents not merely an ecological miscalculation but a profound ethical and legal failure.

2020: govt map shows corals.
2021: updated map, corals gone.
No natural event explains it. Except perhaps the Great Nicobar Project, whose proposed port happens to be right where the corals “no longer exist.”https://t.co/iEWNfrB0b1 pic.twitter.com/09qoYXcTFK

— Vaishnavi Rathore (@_Vaishnavi_R) October 23, 2025

Permanent tectonic strain

Unlike the stable geology of Singapore and Hong Kong, the Great Nicobar Island region is under permanent tectonic strain, rendering it highly vulnerable to seismic activity and constant land-level changes in an area that is also predicted to witness a climatically driven sea-level rise. This fundamental geological reality poses an existential threat to any large-scale, permanent infrastructure extending out onto the sea.

The island is located perilously close to Banda Aceh, Indonesia—the epicentre of the catastrophic 2004 magnitude 9.2-9.3 megathrust earthquake. In response to that event, the Great Nicobar region itself experienced a sudden coseismic subsidence of 3 metres to 4 metres. This is not an isolated event but part of an ongoing tectonic cycle.

The region undergoes a predictable yet hazardous cycle of strain build-up and release. GPS data show the land slowly uplifting over the years during the interseismic interval as tectonic strain accumulates. This built-up stress is released during major earthquakes (coseismal phase), causing the land to subside abruptly.

This cyclical movement of “slow uplift and sudden subsidence” along an active subduction zone inherently destabilises engineered structures along the coast over the long term, making the integrity of a port, airport, and city fundamentally untenable.

Scientific studies confirm that the megathrust fault abutting the Sumatra-Andaman plate boundary is segmented, with each segment capable of generating great earthquakes independently. The historical record reveals a pattern of major seismic events affecting the region, including: the 1861 Nias-Simeulue earthquake (M~8.5); the 1881 Nicobar Islands earthquake (M 7.9); the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (M 9.2-9.3), and the 2007 Sumatra earthquake (M 8.4).

This history demonstrates not isolated incidents, but a recurring pattern of great earthquakes along various segments, confirming the high and continuous tectonic strain variability around Great Nicobar.

The proposed mega infrastructure, including the International Container Transhipment Port and the new township, would be located directly in one of the world’s most seismically active and climatically hazardous zones. The geological and climatic evidence clearly indicates that the region poses a significant and permanent threat to the safety of any building stock, cargo, and the project itself, challenging the very logic of its proposed location.

Replug | Dr Rahmani emphasises the only way to ensure the protection endemic species on the islands was to demarcate strictly protected areas and enforce restrictions within them. https://t.co/QXzv8TzYHx
However, the denotification of Galathea Bay National Park “does show the…

— Scroll.in (@scroll_in) November 20, 2025

Rhetoric and reality

While defending the Great Nicobar Island project before the National Green Tribunal on October 30, the Union government asserted it is “fully aware” of the project’s likely impact on biodiversity and has a mitigation plan. This legal submission, however, raises a more profound question: if the government is aware, why do the detailed and collective concerns of independent scientists, environmentalists, and social experts remain systematically unaddressed?

The message the Union environment ministry is sending by issuing its order dated October 30 – which waives, from the period of validity of an already granted environmental clearance, any time when a project is stalled due to litigation – is clear: the ministry seeks to assist projects that are facing court cases. By removing the stalled period from the project’s environmental clearance validity, the government ensures that legal challenges do not shorten the approval’s effective duration, making it easier for controversial projects to proceed despite ongoing court battles.

This pattern of disregarding expert warnings is tragically familiar. The letter to the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change rightly draws a parallel to the so-called developmental programmes in the Himalayan states, where projects like the strategic road-widening in the state of Uttarakhand – defended in court as essential for defence, much like the International Container Transhipment Port is now– were pushed through the courts, despite expert objections, leading to an unsustainable influx of pilgrim tourists, massive death tolls and devastation from subsequent disasters.

The experts’ letter to the minister describes the Great Nicobar project with stark clarity, labelling it “an exploitative commercial proposal with a dubious and unviable economic future, as well as destructive of rich and diverse ecosystems, [which] is unwarranted and irresponsible”.

This reality stands in jarring contrast to the environmental commitments expressed by India’s leadership on the global stage. On October 2, 2018, while receiving the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth Award, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “Climate and calamity are directly related to culture; if climate is not the focus of culture, calamity cannot be prevented. When I say ‘sab ka saath’, I also include nature in it.”

Such statements rightly generate hope and outline a national commitment to a “green development model”. This makes the pursuit of the Great Nicobar project all the more paradoxical. Given our country’s professed dedication to sustainability, why do we end up executing such unrealistic projects that sound the death knell for an irreplaceable natural asset? The chasm between stated principle and concrete action has never been wider or more consequential.

CP Rajendran is a geoscientist and adjunct professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.

This article first appeared on The India Forum.

The Uttar Pradesh Planning Department has directed all government departments not to accept Aadhaar cards as proof of birth, reiterating that the unique identity document cannot be used for this purpose, ANI reported.

The order, issued on November 24 by Special Secretary (Planning) Amit Singh Bansal, was sent to all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state.

The Planning Department is the nodal body for implementing directions related to Aadhaar, the most widely held identity document in the country.

The directive followed a Unique Identification Authority of India regional office letter dated October 31, which stated that Aadhaar is not a proof of birth, The Indian Express reported. The letter was issued by Deputy Director Aditya Prakash Bajpai.

Instead of Aadhaar, birth certificates, high school mark sheets and other prescribed documents can be used instead to verify date of birth for official purposes, The Indian Express quoted unidentified officials as saying.

Colonel Prashant Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General of UIDAI’s Lucknow region, told The Times of India that Aadhaar cannot serve as proof of birth because of how enrolment was conducted.

“Since Aadhaar was commissioned in 2010, we enrolled individuals based on three categories of date of birth: approximate, declared without documents and documentary evidence,” The Times of India quoted Singh as saying. “For approximate dates, we defaulted to January 1 of the stated year.”

He added that since February 2020, the Registrar General of India has stopped issuing manual birth certificates and now provides barcode-enabled certificates, which can be used to authenticate information digitally.

“We only accept birth certificates with barcodes because scanning verifies authenticity,” The Times of India quoted Singh as saying.

He added that Aadhaar is a digital identity proof generated after combining biometrics and demographic details and neither a birth certificate or a nationality document.

The Indian economy grew by 8.2% year-on-year in the July-September quarter, up from 7.8% in the previous quarter, data released by the National Statistics Office showed. The economy had recorded 5.6% growth in the same period last year.

Growth in the secondary sector (8.1%) and tertiary sector (9.2%) helped push real Gross Domestic Product above 8% in the second quarter of 2025-’26, the data showed.

The secondary sector refers to industries such as manufacturing and construction, while the tertiary sector encompasses services such as finance, real estate, trade and professional services.

Within the secondary sector, manufacturing grew by 9.1% and construction by 7.2%, both registering growth above 7% at constant prices. Read more.

The Supreme Court told the Maharashtra government not to exceed the 50% reservation ceiling in local body elections that are yet to be notified. While elections that have already been notified can be held as per schedule, their results will be subject to the final judgement in the case, the court said.

Local body elections in Maharashtra have been stalled since 2021 on account of pending petitions that have challenged the implementation of the Other Backward Classes quota.

The state election commission told the court on Friday that elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats are scheduled for December 2, with counting on December 3. Of these, there are two municipal corporations, 17 nagar panchayats and 40 municipal councils where the extent of reservation exceeds 50%, the commission said. Read more.

United States President Donald Trump said that he will “permanently pause migration from all third-world countries”. The remark came a day after an individual believed to be an Afghan citizen shot two members of the National Guard in Washington DC.

The US president alleged that his predecessor Joe Biden had illegally allowed millions of migrants from third-world countries to settle in the country. He said that his administration would now “remove anyone who is not a net asset” to the nation, “or is incapable of loving our country”.

It was unclear how Trump would enforce the pause in migration. His previous actions to limit migration have been challenged in the courts.

Trump’s comments came hours after one of the two National Guard members, Sarah Beckstrom, succumbed to her injuries on Thursday. The second member is being treated in hospital. Read more.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India from December 4 to December 5, in what will be his first trip to the country since Moscow’s war on Ukraine began. Putin will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and participate in the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The visit comes at a time when Indian entities are facing a threat of Western sanctions for purchasing oil from Russia. Read more.

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There are no provisions mandating only halal-certified meat in non-vegetarian meals on trains, the Railway Board has told the National Human Rights Commission, according to PTI.

The human rights body had sought the Railways’ response to a complaint alleging that only halal-certified meat was being used in meals served on trains.

The complaint had also alleged that Hindu and Sikh passengers also do not get food options that match their religious beliefs, which violated their rights to equality, non-discrimination, freedom of profession, right to life with dignity and religious freedom under the Constitution.

Halal is an Arabic term that means “lawful”. In the dietary context, where it is most commonly used, it refers to food that is permissible according to Islamic regulations.

A bench led by NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo had claimed that only using halal meat prima facie amounted to a violation of human rights, adding that this also affected the livelihoods of scheduled Caste Hindu communities and other non-Muslims who worked in the meat trade.

The commission took cognisance of the matter under Section 12 of the 1993 Protection of Human Rights Act, which outlines its functions.

The commission said that the Railways must respect the food choices of all religious groups as per the secular spirit of the Constitution. It also sought an Action Taken Report within two weeks.

In its response to the NHRC, the authorities said that the Indian Railways and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation follow guidelines set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, PTI reported.

The Railway Board added: “There is no official provision for serving halal-certified food on Indian Railways.”

The Railways also referred to an earlier query over the same issue and shared its reply at that time, ANI reported.

“The issue of service of halal meat over Indian Railways has been raised through social media posts in the past, seeking information,” ANI quoted the Ministry of Railways as saying. “This was replied explicitly that IRCTC serves non-vegetarian food [chicken] conforming to standards laid down in Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and additions and alterations thereto from time to time.”

The Kerala Police have registered a first information report against Palakkad MLA and former Congress leader Rahul Mamkootathil after a woman accused him of repeated sexual exploitation on the false promise of marriage, forcing her to terminate the pregnancy, verbal abuse, death threats and violations of the Information Technology Act, The Hindu reported.

The case was expedited after the woman and her family met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his office on Thursday. Following this, a team led by Thiruvananthapuram Rural Police chief KS Sudarshan recorded her statement.

The FIR was registered at the Valiamala police station early on Friday and later transferred to the Nemom police station in Thiruvananthapuram city.

Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Thomson Jose told The Hindu that the charges against Mamkootathil include rape, obtaining sexual consent through deceitful means and coercing a woman to terminate her pregnancy.

Police are also investigating allegations that Mamkootathil procured miscarriage-inducing medicines without a prescription, asked an acquaintance to deliver the pills to the woman, and pressured her to consume them while he allegedly remained on a video call to ensure that she took the medicines, the newspaper reported.

The acquaintance, Joby Thomas, a businessperson from Pathanamthitta, has been named as the second accused person

Provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act have also been invoked in the case. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act allows only registered medical practitioners to administer abortion pills after required tests, including an ultrasound.

The Congress had suspended Mamkootathil from its primary membership in August and removed him from the post of Youth Congress president, following multiple allegations from women of misconduct, The Indian Express reported.

The Supreme Court on Friday restrained the Maharashtra State Election Commission from exceeding the 50% reservations ceiling in local body elections that are yet to be notified, reported Live Law.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also stated that while it would allow the polls that have been notified to be conducted as per schedule, the result will be subject to the final judgement in petitions challenging the implementation of Other Backward Classes quota in the state’s local bodies, according to Bar and Bench.

The court referred the matter to a three-judge bench and listed it for further hearing on January 21.

Local body elections in Maharashtra have been stalled since 2021 amid court proceedings about OBC reservations.

Appearing for the state election commission, advocate Balbir Singh told the court on Friday that elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats are scheduled for December 2, with counting on December 3.

Of these, there are 40 municipal councils and 17 nagar panchayats where reservations are exceeding 50%, Singh said.

The ceiling on the reservation is also exceeding in two municipal corporations, the court noted.

Elections are yet to be notified in 29 municipal corporations, 32 zilla panchayats and 346 panchayat samitis, Singh told the court.

“Let the elections be held and results shall be subject to the outcome of these proceedings,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying. “Wherever reservation is not exceeding 50%, those results shall also be subject to the proceedings of this case.”

In December 2021, the Supreme Court stayed the OBC quota, holding that it could be implemented only after the state satisfied the “triple-tests” requirement laid down in earlier judgements.

The test requires state governments to establish a commission for empirical inquiry, determine proportional reservations based on findings and ensure that the quota for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes together does not exceed 50%.

The 50% ceiling was set by the Supreme Court in the 1992 Indra Sawhney vs Union Of India ruling.

To meet the “triple test” requirement, the state constituted the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission in March 2022.

The commission recommended a 27% OBC quota but said that it must remain within the overall 50% ceiling, Live Law reported.

As its report was challenged, the Supreme Court in August 2022 directed that the status quo be maintained.

In May 2023, the court allowed elections to be held with the OBC quota restored to the percentage that existed before the Banthia Commission’s July 2022 report.

However, during last week’s hearing, the bench verbally observed that state authorities appeared to have misconstrued this order as permitting reservations to breach the 50% cap.

The court clarified that this was not the case and that the ceiling continues to apply.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India between December 4 and December 5, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

Putin will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and participate in the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, the ministry added.

This will be the Russian president’s first visit to India since Moscow’s war on Ukraine began in February 2022. The invasion triggered the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

Putin’s visit comes at a time when Indian entities are facing a threat of Western sanctions for purchasing oil from Russia.

The External Affairs Ministry stated that the visit will provide an opportunity for New Delhi and Moscow to review progress in the bilateral relations, set the vision for strengthening the “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

President Droupadi Murmu will host a banquet for her Russian counterpart at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly alleged that the import of Russian oil by countries, including India, was fuelling Moscow’s war.

In August, the Trump administration doubled the tariffs on goods imported from India to 50% for purchasing Russian oil. A 25% so-called reciprocal tariff had already taken effect.

At the time, New Delhi said it was “extremely unfortunate” that the US had chosen to impose the additional levies on India “for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest”.

Modi had last met Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, China on August 31 and September 1.

The Nepali central bank on Thursday issued new currency notes of the Rs 100 denomination showing the country’s map comprising the Kalapani, Limpiadhura and Lipulekh territories, which Kathmandu claims, PTI reported.

India has rejected the territorial claims made by Kathmandu.

The new note issued by the Nepal Rashtra Bank bears the signature of Maha Prasad Adhikari, whose tenure as the governor ended in April. The date of issuance of the note is 2081 BS, according to the Nepali calendar. It corresponds to 2024 in the Common Era.

The map used in the earlier version of the note did not include the Kalapani-Limpiadhura-Lipulekh area.

PTI quoted a spokesperson of the Nepali central bank as saying that the map was updated as per the government’s decision.

Notes of other denominations, such as Rs 10, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, do not have the map of Nepal.

रुपैयाँ १०० दरको बैंकनोट प्रचलनमा ल्याउने बारेको सूचना ! pic.twitter.com/Wlzw6spXGM

— Nepal Rastra Bank (@NepalRastraBank) November 27, 2025

The border issue began in 2019 after Kathmandu objected to a new map released by India, which showed the Kalapani area, where Lipulekh Pass is located, as part of Indian territory.

In response, New Delhi said that it had not made any change to its border with Nepal and that the new map depicts Indian territory accurately.

The tensions escalated in May 2020 when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a new route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Lipulekh Pass.

Nepal has repeatedly claimed that India’s decision to build the road was a breach of an agreement between the two countries. It claims the Lipulekh Pass on the basis of a treaty signed with British colonisers in 1816.

In June 2020, the Nepali Parliament amended its Constitution to include a new political map of the country featuring the Kalapani-Limpiadhura-Lipulekh area as its territory.

New Delhi had said at the time that Nepal’s “artificial enlargement” of claims is “not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable”.

Also read: Territoriality amidst Covid-19: A primer to the Lipu Lek conflict between India and Nepal

India on Wednesday rejected Pakistan’s remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisting a flag at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying that Islamabad has “no moral standing” to comment on the matter.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that New Delhi rejected the remarks “with the contempt they deserve”.

Modi on Tuesday hoisted a saffron flag at the temple, marking the completion of its construction.

On the same day, Islamabad said it had noted the development with “deep concern”, adding that the structure was constructed on the site where the Babri mosque stood.

The mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992, by Hindutva extremists because they believed that it stood on the spot on which the deity Ram had been born.

In 2019, the Supreme Court held that the demolition of the Babri mosque was illegal, but handed over the land to a trust for a Ram temple to be constructed. At the same time, it directed that a five-acre plot in Ayodhya be allotted to Muslims for a mosque to be constructed.

In January 2024, the temple was inaugurated in a ceremony led by Modi.

On Tuesday, Pakistan claimed that this reflected “deliberate attempts at eroding Muslim cultural and religious heritage under the influence of majoritarian Hindutva ideology”.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it was urging New Delhi to “uphold its responsibilities” by ensuring the security of all religious communities and “by protecting their places of worship in accordance with international human rights obligations”.

Responding to the statement, Jaiswal on Wednesday said that Pakistan, with its “deeply stained record of bigotry, repression and systemic mistreatment of its minorities”, is in no position to lecture others.

“Rather than delivering hypocritical homilies, Pakistan would do better to turn its gaze inwards and focus on its own abysmal human rights records,” he added.

The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad have booked 21 booth-level officers for alleged negligence in carrying out their duties related to the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the state, The Indian Express reported on Friday.

“Negligence is being shown in digitisation and full cooperation/contribution is not being given in election-related work,” the newspaper quoted the first information report as stating.

The revision exercise is underway in 12 states and Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh. Booth-level officers began distributing enumeration forms on November 4.

Booth-level officers are typically primary school teachers and anganwadi or health care workers, who are employed by state governments. They are responsible for distributing and collecting enumeration forms as part of the ongoing exercise.

They are required to go door-to-door, check the identities of new voters and verify the details of those who have died or permanently moved out of an area.

Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar was quoted as saying by The Indian Express that there are 3,089 booths in Ghaziabad with more than 28 lakh voters.

Only 30% of the work related to the voter roll revision had been completed, said Mandar, adding that an FIR was registered against the booth-level officers for their “carelessness”.

He stated that the FIR would be withdrawn if the work is completed, as it was registered only “to teach sincerity” to the booth-level officers.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of Alok Kumar Yadav, the station house officer of Sihani Gate Police Station in Ghaziabad.

It stated that some booth-level officers were “not providing the required cooperation in election-related work” and “deliberately obstructing the election process”.

The voter roll revision process is scheduled to take place until December 4.

On Monday, reports stated that more than 60 booth-level officers and seven supervisors were booked in Noida for allegedly failing to comply with orders from senior officials during the revision process.

In Bahraich district, the administration has ordered FIRs against five booth-level officers, withheld salaries of 42 personnel and suspended a village-level revenue officer for alleged negligence.

In addition to Uttar Pradesh, the voter rolls are also being revised in West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep.

The draft electoral rolls for the 12 states and Union Territories will be published on December 9. Voters can file claims and objections from December 9 to January 8, while hearings and verifications will take place from December 9 to January 31. The final electoral rolls are to be published on February 7.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed ahead of the Assembly polls in November, at least 47 lakh voters were excluded from the final electoral roll published on September 30.

Concerns had been raised after the announcement in Bihar that the exercise could remove eligible voters from the roll. Several petitioners also moved the Supreme Court against it.

The new season of the Netflix series Delhi Crime explores the issue of missing women who have been trafficked. The series draws attention to the very real problem of women being trapped under the guise of being offered jobs and then sold to clients.

However, many viewers do not realise that the official data fail to specifically recognise a significant category of women who are classified as missing: those whose whereabouts may not be known because they have eloped to get married to partners of their choice.

If their families do not approve of these unions, they often register a missing person’s complaint.

As a consequence, the law labels women who have eloped as victims even though they are actually autonomous individuals.

That is evident from the National Crimes Records Bureau data for 2023. It shows that 113,564 women were abducted and kidnapped but does not list how many women have been classified as missing because they have eloped.

In researcher Neetika Vishwanath’s 2018 study on fast track courts and 15 police stations in Lucknow, she found that in most cases where a woman elopes, an FIR of kidnapping and abduction is lodged against the man.

Vishwanath points out that it is not the consent of the girl that matters, but rather that of her parents, who attempt to prove that she was a minor eloping for marriage.

Symbols of ‘izzat’

Historian Uma Chakravarti, in her work, “From fathers to husbands: of love, death and marriage in North India” notes that women who elope for inter-caste marriages are seen as violating social and familial codes of honour or izzat.

This is why relatives often threaten women who want to exercise their right to marry partners whom they choose. If such women begin the process of getting married under the Special Marriage Act, the law mandates that their details must be publicly notified, leaving them vulnerable to violence. As a consequence, women are forced to “go missing” to register their marriages in places other than their home towns.

These social attitudes are contrary to the judgment of the Supreme Court judgment in the Lata Singh vs State of UP in 2006, which reaffirmed the right of two adults to marry partners of their choice.

“This is a free and democratic country, and once a person becomes a major, he or she can marry whomever he/she likes,” the court said.

Nonetheless, exercising their right to choice is often a struggle for women marrying for love.

Families often claim that such women gone missing after being kidnapped as a minors, making their consent to a marriage invalid. The authorities sometimes force women to undergo a medical procedure known as an ossification test to cast doubts on the fact that they are actually adults.

Legal scholar Pratiksha Baxi writes that families try to claim a right over women who have eloped by using Article 32 of the Constitution – habeas corpus, a remedy aimed at protecting an individual against illegal detention. In such cases, families usually argue that adult women eloping to marry are minors or are of unsound mind and so cannot make autonomous decisions for themselves.

Under pressure

My PhD research on runaway marriages among inter-caste and inter-faith couples in Delhi and Lucknow shows that women violating the social sanctions of religion and caste face the prospect of being questioned by the state authorities or communal vigilante groups.

Over the last decade, the implementation of anti-conversion legislations in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan has shown that women converting to their husband’s religion to marry face the prospect of the state stepping act as the “parens patriae” – acting as a guardian on the assumption that the woman is not able to care for herself.

Another layer has been added to the narrative because of the claims of love jihad, the Hindutva conspiracy theory that maintains that Muslim men have been luring Hindu women into marriage solely with the intention of converting them to Islam. The state treats them as gullible individuals who have been duped.

The state must move decisively beyond the outdated notion of treating all women as victims. Official data must clearly distinguish between women who have been abducted and those who have made marriages of choice. Consensual marriages must be protected.

This would be helped by applying the category of missing women judiciously, avoiding conflation with cases that do not involve actual disappearance.

Manisha Chachra is a political scientist specialising in gender, marriage, and political studies, with a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University focused on inter-faith and inter-caste runaway marriages.

The Punjab Police has said that the prime accused in the murder of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member was killed in a gunfight on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.

The gunfight took place in a village in Fazilka district, where the police took the man to recover a weapon.

Naveen Arora, the son of RSS leader Baldev Raj Arora, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants at about 7 pm on November 15 when he was walking home from his shop. The attackers reportedly fired at him from point-blank range.

He was taken to the hospital, where the doctors declared that he had been brought dead.

On November 17, pro-Khalistan group Sher-e-Punjab Brigade claimed responsibility for the murder, accusing the RSS of “assimilating Sikhs into Hinduism in Punjab”. The police have not confirmed the authenticity of the claim.

The newspaper quoted Arora’s family as saying that despite several arrests in the matter, the police have not revealed the suspects’ motive behind the murder.

On Thursday, the Ferozepur Police said that the prime accused, identified as Badal, was taken to the Mamu Joya village by a police team when two of his accomplices, who were hiding at the spot, opened fire at them.

Deputy Inspector General (Ferozepur Range) Harmanbir Singh said that Head Constable Balaur Singh got injured when a bullet hit his arm.

“The police also fired in retaliation, in which Badal was injured,” The Indian Express quoted Singh as saying. “Both Balaur Singh and Badal were admitted to Fazilka Civil Hospital, where Badal succumbed to his injuries.”

It was unclear if Badal was hit by the shots fired by his accomplices or those fired by the police in retaliation.

The two shooters fled the area, The Indian Express quoted unidentified police officers as saying. The police are searching for them and have widened their investigation into the murder case.

The police had on November 20 arrested Gursimran Singh alias Jatin Kali, another main suspect in the murder case, in a separate gunfight in Arifke village. Earlier that day, the police also detained two persons, Harsh and Kanav, India Today reported.