Ukraine’s embassy in Delhi on Thursday expressed concern about the arrest of six Ukrainians in the country under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, claiming that the circumstances in the case suggest that it may be “orchestrated and politically motivated”.

On Monday, ThePrint reported that the National Investigation Agency had arrested seven foreign citizens on charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist activities against India. While six of them were Ukrainians, one was from the United States, The Indian Express reported.

All seven were arrested last week under the anti-terror law. They were reportedly arrested in Delhi, Kolkata and Lucknow while trying to leave India.

The persons accused in the matter had entered India on valid visas, but had allegedly travelled to Mizoram without the mandatory restricted area permit, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified official as saying. They allegedly crossed into Myanmar and “reportedly met ethnic groups hostile to India”.

In Mizoram, the persons had received deliveries of drones from Europe, ThePrint quoted unidentified officials as having alleged.

The accused persons were produced before a magistrate on Saturday, who remanded them to three days’ custody. On Monday, the custody was extended by 11 days till March 27.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the six Ukrainians had been provided with legal aid and a defence counsel for the court proceedings, The Hindu reported.

However, it added that “no established facts” proving their involvement in any illegal activity in India or Myanmar had been presented so far. The ministry had also suggested that the presence of the persons in a restricted zone in the North East may have been an “unintentional violation” .

In its statement on Thursday, the Ukrainian embassy said that it had taken into account publicly available information in the case, “including media reports indicating that the initiation of this proceeding was prompted by information provided by the Russian side…”

The embassy expressed “serious concern regarding the presence of circumstances that point to a possible orchestrated and politically motivated nature of this case, as evidenced, in particular, by the facts known at this stage”.

Kyiv rejects insinuations regarding the possible involvement of the Ukrainian government in supporting terrorist activities, the statement said.

“Ukraine is a state that faces the consequences of Russian terror on a daily basis and, for this very reason, takes a principled and uncompromising stance in combating terrorism in all its forms,” the embassy added.

The arrests came amid Russia’s war on Ukraine that began in February 2022. It is the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

The embassy also said that any allegation relating to terrorism “must be considered exclusively on the basis of verified facts, transparent procedures and full intergovernmental cooperation”. It further noted the need to ensure objectivity, transparency and impartiality in the investigation.

“We also emphasise that Ukraine has no interest in any activity that could pose a threat to the security of India,” the statement said. “On the contrary, Ukraine consistently advocates for strengthening security, trust and cooperation with India as an influential and friendly state.”

It added: “Instead, it is Russia, as an aggressor state, that seeks under every circumstance to drive a wedge between friendly countries – Ukraine and India.”

The statement added that attempts to use the matter to discredit Kyiv or to introduce distrust into the Ukraine-India relations appear to be a “deliberate effort” to harm the bilateral partnership.

Ukraine said that it expects that the Indian authorities “will ensure the legality, transparency and openness of the process, as well as the proper observance of the rights of the detained Ukrainian citizens, in accordance with the norms and principles of international law”.

Later on Thursday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the arrests were a legal matter and the issue is under investigation. “Ukraine has requested consular access,” he said, adding that it will be looked into.

Two days after a fire at a hospital killed 12 patients in Odisha’s Cuttack, the state government on Wednesday suspended four officials for alleged negligence in carrying out their work, reported The Indian Express.

The officials were suspended on the basis of the findings of an inter-departmental fact-finding committee headed by development commissioner DK Singh.

The disciplinary action was taken even as investigations are ongoing to ascertain the lapses that led to the fire, reported The Hindu.

The fire broke out at about 3 am on Monday in the trauma care intensive care unit of the Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. SCB Medical College and Hospital is the largest government healthcare facility in Odisha.

While the exact cause of the fire has not been confirmed, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had said it may have been triggered by a short circuit.

The officials suspended on Wednesday are Deputy Fire Officer Prakash Kumar Jena, Assistant Fire Officer of Cuttack Circle Sanjeeb Behera, Station Officer of SCB Medical College Abhinab Prusty and Ranjan Kumar Biswal, the assistant executive engineer of the general electrical division, SCB division, according to The Indian Express.

The action came against the backdrop of the Opposition Biju Janata Dal and Congress demanding the resignation of Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling.

The Odisha government has also ordered a judicial inquiry into the blaze.

Majhi had on Monday announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the families of each of those who died.

The chief minister had told reporters that around 23 patients were admitted to the trauma intensive care unit and an adjacent intensive care unit at the time of the fire.

Many of them were on a ventilator and oxygen support, making it difficult to shift them quickly after the blaze began.

India on Thursday called on countries in West Asia to avoid targeting energy and civilian infrastructure amid the conflict in the region.

The Ministry of External Affairs said that the recent attacks against energy installations across the region were “deeply disturbing and only serve to further destabilise an already uncertain energy scenario” for the whole world.

“Such attacks are unacceptable and need to cease,” the ministry added, without naming any country.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• Qatar on Thursday reported “extensive damage” after Iran struck the Ras Laffan industrial complex, home to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facility. The facility supplied 19% of global liquefied natural gas exports in 2025, according to Bloomberg.
• Iran also struck several oil and gas facilities in other Gulf countries, escalating tensions in the region. The strikes by Iran came hours after attack on its energy facilities associated with its South Pars gas field, the world’s largest gas reserve that it shares with Qatar.
• Amid the uncertainty about energy supply, global natural gas prices jumped more than 5% on Thursday. India was the largest importer of Qatari LNG after China in 2025. The supply disruption caused by the conflict had already triggered concerns and panic in India and globally.
• The price of benchmark Brent crude jumped more than 4% on Thursday to reach $111 per barrel. The price was $78 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started. Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.
• United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that Israel had “violently lashed out at a major [energy] facility” associated with the South Pars gas field in Iran “out of anger for what has taken place” in West Asia. Trump claimed that the US, which is attacking Iran alongside Israel, “knew nothing about this particular attack”.
• The US president said that Qatar was not involved in the attack on the Iranian facility. “Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack” and had unjustifiably attacked a portion of a Qatari gas facility.
• Trump claimed that “no more attacks will be made by Israel” on the “important and valuable South Pars field” unless Iran “unwisely decides” to strike Qatar. In this case, Trump said, the US will “blow up the entirety” of the South Pars gas field. He said that he does not want to authorise “this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran”.

🇶🇦 Qatar’s Ministry of Interior confirms it is still “dealing with a fire in the Ras Laffan Industrial Area.”

It’s the world’s largest hub for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and export. https://t.co/1BxMJhZyQ5 pic.twitter.com/TTwYsdYpqA

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) March 19, 2026

• Declaring a “new stage of war”, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that further attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would trigger additional retaliation, the Financial Times reported. Iranian strikes reportedly targeted energy infrastructure in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, including sites in Abu Dhabi.
• Iran also issued evacuation warnings for key Gulf energy infrastructure, including Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail petrochemical complex, the United Arab Emirates’ Al Hosn gas field, and Qatar’s Mesaieed petrochemical complex and Mesaieed Holding Company, besides the Ras Laffan refinery, Reuters quoted Iranian state media as saying.
• Qatar condemned the Ras Laffan strike as a “flagrant breach” of its sovereignty and expelled Iranian military attachés, ordering them to leave within 24 hours. State-owned QatarEnergy said that there had been no casualties in the attack on Ras Laffan.
• The United Arab Emirates condemned the Iranian “terrorist attack” on the Habshan gas facility and Bab oil field, warning the strikes violate international law and pose a direct threat to regional and global energy security.
• The authorities in Abu Dhabi announced that gas operations at Habshan facilities and the Bab field have been temporarily halted after incidents of debris from intercepted missiles. The media office’s statement added that there were no injuries reported.
• Saudi Arabia said that it intercepted ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh and key energy installations, warning Iran that its “patience is not unlimited”, the Financial Times reported.

The US and Israel launched an attack on the Iranian government on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

The International Energy Agency has said that the fighting has caused the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”.

Several accounts on social media platform X, some of whom are viewed as being critical of the Union government, have been withheld in India since Wednesday.

On their profiles, the platform said that they had been withheld in the country in response to a legal demand.

It was unclear why the accounts had been blocked.

The handles include parody accounts @DrNimoYadav, @Nehr_who, @indian_armada, and popular profiles such as @mrjethwani_ and @Doc_RGM. The account of journalist and activist Sandeep Singh was also withheld.

Hartosh Singh Bal, the editor of The Caravan, said that a March 14 tweet by the magazine that promoted a 2022 article had also been blocked.

The tweet had also featured the cover of the April 2002 issue of the India Today magazine, which had Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat at the time, on it. The headline on that cover read “Hero of Hatred”.

Bal said that X had received a blocking order from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under Section 69A of Information Technology Act.

Under Section 69A of the Act, an authorised personnel in the Union government, not below the rank of a joint secretary, can send content removal orders to social media platforms. The provision allows the Union government to issue content-blocking orders to online intermediaries if the content is deemed a threat to national security, sovereignty or public order.

The Congress said that the withholding of the accounts was unacceptable.

Advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation said on Thursday that it was concerned by reports of social media accounts and posts being withheld in India, “including satire and criticism of the government”.

“Recent reporting shows users receiving generic ‘withheld in India’ notices or emails under Section 69A from social media platforms, with little or no explanation, while independent reporting has documented takedowns affecting speech that appears political, satirical or critical rather than clearly unlawful,” the foundation said.

The foundation said that the platforms “must also do more than send boilerplate messages”.

“They should provide meaningful notice, preserve records for challenge and publish granular transparency reporting given online censorship also impacts the public right to receive information,” it added.

Prateek Waghre, a fellow at Tech Policy Press, said on Thursday that there seemed to be a “fresh mini-wave of restrictions/suspensions”.

“Seems to be more account-level restrictions rather than tweets,” he said on social media.

A list compiled by Waghre showed that at least 316 X accounts in India were blocked as of Thursday because of legal demands.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of creating riot-like conditions in Delhi, referring to the communal tensions in the Uttam Nagar area.

Gandhi said on social media that the people of Uttam Nagar had paid a heavy price for the violence. “On one side, a young man, Tarun, lost his life, and on the other, an entire family is facing persecution,” he said.

A man named Tarun Bhutolia died after being severely injured in a clash during Holi celebrations on March 4. The clash began when a water balloon accidentally thrown by an 11-year-old girl from the third floor of a building fell on a Muslim woman standing below.

The incident had led to an argument between the two neighbouring families from different religious communities.

The 26-year-old’s killing had sparked tensions in the area. Several vehicles were damaged and some were set on fire during protests by residents, following which police and paramilitary personnel were deployed.

Muslim residents of the area have also expressed concern about calls for violence during Eid on Saturday.

On Thursday, Gandhi said that the people residing in Uttam Nagar do not want any more bloodshed.

“Only the BJP and its ecosystem want bloodshed,” the Congress leader said, alleging that the Hindutva party wanted to seize every opportunity to capitalise on the situation.

The BJP wants the country “to remain entangled in Hindu-Muslim strife” so that the public cannot ask why Prime Minister Narendra Modi “is being forced to hand over the country’s defence, energy security, food security and strategic sovereignty” to the United States, Gandhi alleged.

“…and that’s why, in broad daylight, riot-like conditions are once again being created in the nation’s capital,” he added.

Gandhi urged the residents of Delhi not to fall for any provocation.

On Wednesday, Congress MP Mohammad Jawaid said that he had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that Muslims in Uttam Nagar have been facing open threats and hateful slogans ahead of Eid.

The MP from Bihar’s Kishanganj also claimed that there had been a perception of a selective police response, which he said was emboldening those “seeking to disturb communal harmony”.

Jawaid said that “what is unfolding is not an isolated law-and-order issue, but a pattern of targeted hostility that raises serious questions about the state’s ability and willingness to protect all citizens equally”.

A public interest litigation has also been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking urgent intervention to prevent communal violence and curb alleged hate speech incidents in Uttam Nagar ahead of Eid.

On Thursday, the court directed the police and civil administration of the area to take all the required action permissible under the law to “ensure situation does not take any ugly turn and an atmosphere is created conducive to peaceful Eid”, Live Law reported.

The court said that the situation as described in the petition required the authorities to be constantly vigilant and called for members of different sections of society to “conduct themselves in manner which may promote peace and harmony”.

Watch: How a clash between two families on Holi in Delhi became a larger flashpoint

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allegedly obstructing searches being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate at the premises of political consultancy I-PAC is “not a happy situation”, The Indian Express reported.

Describing the incident as an “unusual happening”, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria said that a central agency cannot be left without a remedy when its functioning is interrupted.

The Supreme Court asked if there can be no legal remedy to stop such situations from repeating.

The bench made the remarks while hearing a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate against Banerjee and several West Bengal Police officers for allegedly obstructing the searches on January 8.

The central agency had conducted searches on January 8 at the political consultancy’s office in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area, the home of its head Pratik Jain and the office of a trader in the city’s Posta neighbourhood as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering.

The Indian Political Action Committee has managed the Trinamool Congress’ election campaigns, including in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Banerjee had arrived at Jain’s home around noon while the search was underway and stayed for about 20 to 25 minutes. She then came out with a file and claimed that the central agency’s officials were “taking away” party documents ahead of the Assembly polls.

The elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The results will be announced on May 4.

After the raids, the Trinamool Congress and I-PAC had moved the Calcutta High Court, challenging the legality of the searches. The central agency also approached the High Court, alleging “illegal interference” in its work.

The Enforcement Directorate’s petition in the Supreme Court was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, which grants individuals the right to move the top court for enforcement of their fundamental rights.

At the hearing on Wednesday, advocates Shyam Divan, appearing for the state government, and Kapil Sibal, representing Banerjee, told the bench that the Enforcement Directorate had no power to file a writ petition under Article 32.

Divan argued that the central agency is not a juristic entity and has no fundamental rights, the Hindustan Times reported. Allowing such petitions would open the door to inter-departmental or disputes between the Centre and the states outside the constitutional framework envisaged under Article 131, he added.

Article 131 of the Constitution grants the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction over legal disputes between the Centre and states, or among states.

The bench, however, asked: “You may argue that this petition is not maintainable either under Article 32 or under Article 226 before the High Courts. But who will then decide if someday, some other chief minister in the future may barge into some other office? It is not a very happy situation.”

Article 226 empowers High Courts to issue writs to any person or the government.

The Supreme Court also noted the need to avoid a legal vacuum. “In our constitutional set-up, there cannot be a vacuum or a void preventing that a matter cannot be decided or resolved,” the Hindustan Times quoted the bench as saying.

During the hearing, Sibal said that it is not a fundamental right to investigate. The advocate added that the Enforcement Directorate cannot invoke Article 32 in the absence of a violation of fundamental rights.

However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the central agency, argued that the matter goes beyond technical questions of maintainability. It concerns whether a central agency can be prevented from performing its statutory duties by a constitutional functionary, he added.

If the functioning of an agency is obstructed by the head of a state, the court cannot be rendered powerless to examine the legality of such conduct, Mehta said.

The bench indicated that the question of maintainability and the merits may be considered together, the Hindustan Times reported.

It further rejected the state government’s request to decide maintainability as a preliminary issue. “You cannot dictate what the court should do,” the newspaper quoted the bench as telling the counsel for the state government.

The matter was listed for further hearing next week.

Previous hearings

In February, the Enforcement Directorate told the Supreme Court that it was difficult to determine whether the material taken by Banerjee when she allegedly obstructed its searches at I-PAC’s premises only belonged to the Trinamool Congress.

The central agency made the remarks in a rejoinder affidavit filed in its petition in the Supreme Court.

During a hearing on February 18, the Enforcement Directorate also told the Supreme Court that it was being “terrorised”, after the West Bengal government argued that the central agency had been “weaponised”.

On January 15, the bench stayed the first information reports registered by the West Bengal Police against Enforcement Directorate officials in connection with the searches.

Issuing notice to Banerjee and the West Bengal Police officers on the petition filed by the central agency, the Supreme Court also said that the alleged interference of the state government in the searches was a “serious issue” that needed to be examined.

The Enforcement Directorate has sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Banerjee and the state police officers for carrying away electronic devices and material considered as evidence in the matter.

The Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam released its list of candidates on Thursday for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

The party has fielded Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from the Jalukbari seat, which he has represented since 2001. Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who joined the BJP on Wednesday, will contest from the Dispur Assembly constituency.

Sarma has won the Jalukbari seat in all Assembly polls since 2001.

Pradyut Bordoloi, who was a Congress MP from the state’s Nagaon constituency, had quit the party on Tuesday.

A day later, his son Prateek Bordoloi, who had been fielded by the Congress from the Margherita constituency for the elections, withdrew his candidacy, The Indian Express reported.

In a letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Prateek Bordoloi said that his decision was taken to avoid any “confusion” regarding his “commitment”. He added that he would continue to remain a member of the party.

The Assembly elections in Assam will take place in a single phase on April 9. The votes will be counted on May 9. The state has 126 Assembly seats.

The BJP is contesting the polls in an alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front.

Under the seat-sharing agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, the Asom Gana Parishad will fight on 26, and the Bodoland People’s Front will contest 11, according to The Times of India.

In the list released on Thursday, the name of the candidate from Sissiborgaon constituency has been withheld.

সমাগত বিধানসভা নিৰ্বাচন-২০২৬ৰ বাবে ভাৰতীয় জনতা পাৰ্টিৰ পৰা মনোনীত আটাকেইগৰাকী সন্মানীয় প্ৰাৰ্থীলৈ অভিনন্দন আৰু শুভেচ্ছা জ্ঞাপন কৰিছোঁ। pic.twitter.com/93wawBGuCn

— BJP Assam Pradesh (@BJP4Assam) March 19, 2026

The party has fielded former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah from the Bihpura seat.

Borah quit the Congress and joined the BJP in February. He was the president of the Congress’ Assam unit between 2021 and 2025.

Several other key BJP leaders in Assam, including Pijush Hazarika, Rupali Langthasa, and Prasanta Phukan, also feature on the party’s first list of candidates.

While Hazarika will contest from Jagiroad, Langthasa will fight the Haflong seat and Phukan from Dibrugarh.

With the announcement of the elections, the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state on Sunday.

The code is a set of guidelines issued by the poll panel that political parties, candidates and the government must follow during an election. It sets guardrails for speeches, campaigning, meetings, processions, election manifestos and other aspects of the polls.

The Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday tabled a bill that seeks to curb caste-based discrimination and protect inter-caste couples amid concerns over caste killings and ostracism, The New Indian Express reported.

The 2026 Freedom of Choice in Marriage and Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill proposes minimum five years of imprisonment for anyone killing a person or a couple in the name of “honour”.

Those causing grievous injury will face at least three years’ imprisonment with a fine of up to Rs 3 lakh, while causing simple hurt will invoke minimum of two years’ imprisonment with a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh, according to the draft legislation.

All offences under the bill are cognisable and non-bailable.

The bill aims to ensure freedom of choice in marriage, prevent caste-based crimes, safeguard human rights, promote the dignity of inter-caste unions, and establish “Eva Nammava Vedikes”, or a district-level body, to solemnise and support inter-caste marriages.

Each Eva Nammava Vedike will comprise a retired judge, a police officer, a revenue officer and a sub-registrar, the newspaper reported.

In consultation with the High Court, the government may also designate certain district courts as special fast-track courts to try cases under the proposed Act.

The draft legislation allows couples to declare their relationship to designated nodal officers, both verbally or in writing, following which the police are required to ensure their protection, The Indian Express reported.

The bill notes that while offences such as murder, assault and criminal intimidation are already punishable under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the laws do not adequately address “brutal forms of violence” linked to preserving “caste honour”, the newspaper reported.

These include symbolic death rituals for living persons, denial of lawful inheritance, ostracism, poisoning and other covert attempts to harm couples, according to The New Indian Express.

Under the bill, all persons have the right to autonomy over their life choices, including whom to marry. It states that family consent is not required once two adults agree to marry, PTI reported.

The bill, also called “Eva Nammava” meaning “he/she is ours”, is drawn from the philosophy of 12th-century social reformer Basavanna, The Indian Express reported.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed Tamil magazine Nakkheeran to remove allegedly defamatory content about preacher Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the interim order, rejecting an application by the magazine that sought the rejection of Isha Foundation’s plea.

The Isha Foundation contended that Nakkheeran published content accusing it of misconduct and suggesting that some persons were being held at its premises against their will.

The foundation argued that the articles were published despite the fact that the Supreme Court in October 2024 closed proceedings in a habeas corpus plea. The petition had been filed by a man who alleged that his two daughters were being held captive inside the foundation’s centre in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore.

A habeas corpus is a petition through which courts can order the authorities to bring a person before it to verify if they have been detained.

The Supreme Court had observed at the time that the two women were adults and had been living at the foundation of their own free will. The purpose of the father’s petition had been fulfilled after the women said that they wanted to live at the centre, the court had held.

It had, however, said that the closure of the habeas corpus plea does not prevent the police from proceeding with other investigations against the foundation.

The Isha foundation had moved the Delhi High Court seeking Rs 3 crore in damages from the magazine and its editor for publishing the allegedly defamatory content.

Google was also made a party in the suit because the content was visible on the company’s search engine and the allegedly defamatory videos had been posted on its platform YouTube, Bar and Bench reported.

An explosion in an electric car being charged outside a house in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore on Wednesday triggered a fire that killed eight members of a family, including two children, and injured four others, The Hindu reported.

The incident took place in Tilak Nagar’s Brajeshwari Annex Colony around 4 am, the newspaper quoted the police as saying. Twelve persons were asleep in the house at the time, police added.

Indore Zone 3 Deputy Commissioner Kumar Prateek said the fire began with a suspected short circuit in the car and quickly spread to the house’s wiring and a sports bike. The blaze intensified after two of several liquefied petroleum gas cylinders stored inside the house exploded.

“The rescue teams had a tough time getting in as the doors fitted with electronic locks got jammed due to a malfunction,” the newspaper quoted Prateek as saying.

The authorities said that the deaths were caused primarily by smoke inhalation, The Times of India reported.

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh | Fire broke out in a house in the Brijeshwari Annexe residential locality in Indore. Six people have lost their lives in the incident. Rescue operations are underway. pic.twitter.com/gWw4yQyM3g

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2026

The 2.5-hour rescue operation involved personnel from the police, fire department and the State Disaster Emergency Response Force.

The deceased have been identified as Tanmay (7), Rashi Sethia (12), Simran Pugalia (30), Tinu (35), Suman Sethia (60), Vijay Sethia (65), Chhotu Sethia (22) and house owner Manoj Pugalia (65).

Six of those who died were from Bihar’s Kishanganj district and had come to Indore to visit relatives, The Hindu reported.

State Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said that an expert committee will conduct an investigation and develop a standard operating procedure for electric vehicle charging to prevent similar incidents, The Times of India reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

The stock market crashed on Thursday amid concerns surrounding the conflict in West Asia and surging oil prices.

The benchmark Sensex index fell more than 1,700 points, or 2.2%, and was trading just under the 75,000-mark at 12.10 pm. The Nifty had also fallen 2.2%, or by more than 520 points, to about 23,250 points.

Stock markets had begun to slide on March 2 after the conflict in West Asia began. However, the market had risen significantly between Monday and Wednesday.

The India VIX index, which measures volatility in the market, spiked 14% on Thursday.

Major Asian stock indices fell on Thursday. As of 12.15 pm Indian time, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index had sunk 2% and Shanghai’s composite index 1.6%. While Japan’s Nikkei had tanked 3.3%, South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.5%.

Rupee at record low

The Indian rupee slumped to a record low of 92.6 against the United States dollar at closing on Wednesday amid concerns about the rising global fuel prices.

The Indian currency indicated a further fall to 93 against the US dollar in the non-deliverable forwards market on Thursday. The domestic foreign exchange market was closed on Thursday on account of the Gudi Padwa festival.

Global oil prices have been rising since the conflict in West Asia broke out.

As of 12.20 pm Indian time, the price of benchmark Brent crude jumped nearly 6% to reach $113 per barrel. The price was $78 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started.

Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

The global natural gas prices had jumped by nearly 3.5% on Thursday.

India was the largest importer of Qatari LNG after China in 2025. The supply disruption caused by the conflict had already triggered concerns and panic in India and globally.

The jump in oil prices on Thursday followed attacks on Iran’s energy facilities associated with its South Pars gas field, the world’s largest gas reserve that it shares with Qatar. In retaliation, Iran struck several oil and gas facilities in Gulf countries, escalating tensions in the region.

Qatar on Thursday reported “extensive damage” after Iran struck the Ras Laffan industrial complex, home to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facility. The complex supplied 19% of global liquefied natural gas exports in 2025.

Also read:

• Top updates: World’s largest LNG hub in Qatar hit as Iran retaliates for strike on gas field

• From weddings to funerals, Iran war has hit life in India

The Gujarat government introduced the 2026 Gujarat Uniform Civil Code Bill in the state Assembly on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported.

If passed, Gujarat would become the second Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state to move towards implementing a common personal law framework, after Uttarakhand enacted a Uniform Civil Code in 2025.

On Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi tabled the bill, which proposes a common legal framework governing marriage, divorce, succession, live-in relationships and related matters for all residents, irrespective of religion, the Hindustan Times reported.

The Uniform Civil Code refers to a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens. Currently, such personal affairs of different religious and tribal groups are based on community-specific laws, largely derived from religious scripture.

The Gujarat bill is based on recommendations of a committee chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, whose report was submitted to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday.

Patel said that the report was based on “detailed study, public consultations and visits across districts”, and claimed that the recommendations prioritise equal rights and the protection of women.

“The geographical and cultural diversity of Gujarat has also been kept in mind,” he added.

The proposed legislation will extend to the entire state and apply to residents living elsewhere in India or abroad, but will not apply to members of Scheduled Tribes or groups whose customary rights are protected under the Constitution, Hindustan Times reported.

Article 44 of the Constitution says that the state should “endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India”. However, the provision is part of Directive Principles of State Policy and is thus not legally binding.

Introducing a common personal law has long been on the BJP’s agenda and several states governed by the Hindutva party have been taking steps towards implementing it.

In January 2025, BJP-ruled Uttarakhand became the first state to implement the Uniform Civil Code after independence. A common civil code has been in place in Goa since the Portuguese Civil Code was adopted in 1867.

In its campaign for the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, the BJP had mainly targeted Muslim personal law, arguing that it discriminated against women as it allows Muslim men to practice polygamy, inherit a greater share of property, initiate divorce and deny alimony.

Legal experts have said that Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code is drawn primarily from Hindu personal law and could lead to the erasure of the personal law practices of minority communities.

Provisions of the bill

The 2026 Gujarat Uniform Civil Code Bill lays down uniform conditions for valid marriages, including a minimum age of 21 for men and 18 for women, valid consent and a prohibition on bigamy, The Indian Express reported.

It allows marriages to follow religious or customary ceremonies, but mandates registration, with penalties for non-registration or false declarations. It prohibits the dissolution of marriages outside court procedures and requires all divorce decrees to be registered.

The bill lists grounds for divorce such as cruelty, desertion, conversion of religion and mental illness. It also recognises the rights of women to maintenance, custody of children and alimony.

It makes registration of live-in relationships mandatory for couples in Gujarat, while keeping it optional for residents living outside the state, Hindustan Times reported. The registrar has been directed to ensure neither partner is a minor, married or within prohibited degrees of relationship. Children from such relationships will be recognised as legitimate, and a deserted partner may claim maintenance.

Failure to register a live-in relationship within a month could attract up to three months’ imprisonment or a fine of Rs 10,000, while registration obtained through force or fraud could lead to a five-year prison term.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States said on Wednesday that it had launched a search for an Indian national who allegedly defrauded several persons of large sums of money between 2017 and 2021.

The law enforcement agency stated that Kalpeshkumar Rasikbhai Patel, also known as Kenny Patel, was “believed to be residing in or travelling between Illinois and Pennsylvania”. He worked as a fuel station attendant, cashier and store worker.

Patel was “wanted for his alleged participation in a nationwide scheme to defraud multiple victims into transmitting large sums of money, usually in the form of cash and prepaid debit cards, to addresses” in the US, added the agency.

Kalpeshkumar Rasikbhai Patel, also known as Kenny Patel, is #wanted by the #FBI for his alleged participation in a nationwide scheme to defraud multiple victims into transmitting large sums of money, usually in the form of cash and prepaid debit cards, to addresses throughout the… pic.twitter.com/txx9YtRKaz

— FBI (@FBI) March 18, 2026

The FBI added that several victims were contacted on phone calls and deceived into believing that their personal information was linked to criminal activities.

“They were convinced to send funds, usually in the form of cash and prepaid debit cards, to addresses throughout the United States,” stated the agency.

An arrest warrant was issued against Patel on June 22, 2023, in the US District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, London, Kentucky. This had come after he was charged with mail and wire fraud conspiracy.

“Patel is considered a fugitive from justice, and any information regarding his whereabouts should be treated as significant and actionable,” said the FBI.

The convenience for consumers created by the gig economy has an unforeseen byproduct: it is taking an immense toll on the wellbeing of platform workers.

Gig workers face a heightened vulnerability to road accidents, chronic body aches from long hours and working through erratic weather conditions, from extreme heat to heavy rainfall.

Though platforms claim to provide health insurance for gig workers, these benefits are often subject to performance and earnings, say news reports, worker unions and researchers.

However, gig workers could benefit from the Code on Social Security, 2020, which came into effect from November. It extends recognition to gig and platform workers and seeks to extend benefits such as retirement savings, and state-run health, life and disability insurance to them.

It brings gig workers under the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme, which could provide a comprehensive social safety net, beyond traditional medical expense coverage.

However, for all the benefits such a scheme offers, including gig workers in its purview poses challenges. An expansion would also have to account for gig workers’ volatile incomes and long working hours with no fixed timings.

Physical stress, protection gap

A study published in 2020 of 173 gig workers in Chennai found that between April and June the previous year, 32.36% food delivery workers had met with road accidents.

Similarly, a survey of 166 gig workers in Hyderabad, carried out in June 2024, found that more than half the workers experienced heat exhaustion and 30% reported heatstroke symptoms while working. The research was carried out by HeatWatch, which both authors are associated with, and the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union.

Workers have said insurance is often linked to opaque performance ratings. Rest of World interviewed 40 Swiggy riders and found that insurance access was tied to weekly performance rankings, with 65% calling the system unfair and several others saying that claims were fully or partially denied.

A 2024 report by Fairwork, notes that “workers in different categories are prioritised differently for grievance redressal, loss of pay, and insurance schemes”. Similarly, government social security schemes have been tied to standard employment relationships, which leaves gig workers with weak protection even when laws begin to recognise them.

For instance, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which provides cashless hospitalisation coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care, helps if a gig worker is admitted to a hospital but not otherwise.

The Employees’ State Insurance scheme, which has been operating since 1952, could fill such gaps. It is India’s only work-linked social health insurance scheme that provides medical benefits and monetary support for lost wages due to health problems.

The scheme acknowledges the health and economic risks of working in low-paying industries and combines medical care for a worker and their family with cash benefits to cover for loss of wages due to sickness, maternity, injury and the like.

The scheme also offers a safety net in case of extreme heat. In July 2024, the Ministry of Labour and Employment announced that those insured are “eligible for sickness benefit due to heatwave if it necessitates abstention from work”. But more needs to be done.

Floating income, many platforms

The government thinktank Niti Aayog estimates the number of gig workers to increase from 1 crore to 2.35 crore by 2029-’30. By these estimates, including even one crore gig workers under the ambit of the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme will raise the current insured person population by 26%: to 5.01 crore from the current 4.01 crore.

Can the Employee State Insurance Corporation absorb a new insured population without diluting real access? That depends on two linked issues: design and capacity.

The Corporation’s dashboard shows that it has 165 hospitals and 1,574 dispensaries. Where ESIC facilities are unavailable, the insured person can access cashless care through over 1,000 empanelled hospitals. These figures reflect the scheme’s institutional capacity, but underutilisation needs to be addressed before expanding coverage to gig workers pan-India.

The first constraint is the gap between sanctioned and operational capacity. Bed occupancy data can conceal the fact that sanctioned beds are not always commissioned or operational. In Delhi, as of March 2024, 2,100 beds were sanctioned, but only 1,530 were commissioned, creating a shortfall of 570 beds, shows official data.

Second, vacant posts limit service delivery. Under the scheme, Delhi has 32 dispensaries with 312 doctor posts sanctioned, but there are only 177 doctors, creating a vacancy of 135 posts – around 43% – which is roughly four doctor posts per dispensary on average.

There must be a targeted strengthening of the system to be able to cover a large, floating population of gig and platform workers.

Eligibility for the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme is tied to a wage ceiling of Rs 21,000 per month. But gig and platform worker incomes are volatile. Even among “consistent” drivers, around 15% experience month-to-month swings of 20% in earnings per hour, says a research paper by analytics and data nonprofit IDinsight.

The Employee State Insurance Scheme is also funded with the employer contributing 3.25% of the worker’s wages and the employee contributing 0.75%. However, the latest draft rules do not yet clarify if insurance will be through the corporation or a separate insurance product financed by platform contributions.

Then there is also the fact that workers operate with multiple platforms. The draft rules require aggregators to upload worker details but the coverage is tied to a worker’s Aadhaar-linked registration or unique ID on a central portal, so access continues when workers switch or use multiple platforms.

Workers are eligible for benefits if they complete 90 days with one aggregator, or 120 days across multiple aggregators in the last financial year. However, this should not become a stringent requirement.

Four priorities

First, the ESIC should publish district-wise “functional readiness” indicators so expansion to more workers is linked to actual service capacity. A dashboard could report on commissioned beds versus sanctioned beds, specialist posts filled versus vacant, outpatient department hours, and indicate downtime or stock-outs for dispensaries/diagnostics.

Second, since the OPD and dispensary timings are supposed to be 9 am-4 pm on all working days except Sunday, it is a struggle for gig workers with long, irregular working hours, to access healthcare. The Corporation should create a network of extended-hours access points in districts with high gig-worker capacity through dispensaries that are open early mornings, late evenings and on weekends.

Third, design constraints will have to be addressed before extending coverage to gig workers. The rules should allow enrollment from the first day itself into a worker-linked digital account that can automatically receive payments from platform companies based on verification.

Finally, the corporation must invest in dedicated infrastructure, equipment, and practical training for medical staff for rising heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses. It should implement forward-looking protection that anticipates emerging risks.

Ananya Tiwary is a Project Associate at HeatWatch, leading research on heat resilience among women gig/platform workers in Delhi. She works at the intersection of climate risk, labour, and social protection.

Apekshita Varshney is a journalist, development sector professional, and founder of Heatwatch, a nonprofit focused on expanding awareness and action around the impact of extreme heat and heatwaves on marginalised populations in India.

The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to a 25-year-old woman from West Bengal who had been arrested in January for shouting “Jai Bangla” during a demolition drive in Bengaluru.

On March 11, Justice S Rachaiah noted that Sarbanu Khatun was “instigated” to shout “Jai Bharath Mata Ki Jai”. Khatun shouted “Jai Bharath Mata Ki Jai” thrice after saying “Jai Bangla” once, he added.

The court also took into account that the woman had two minor children to take care of.

“…it is appropriate to grant her bail by imposing suitable conditions that would take care of the apprehension of the prosecution,” the judge said in his order.

Advocate Rashif Nayarmoole, appearing for Khatun, said that the incident had taken place during a demolition drive to remove unauthorised houses on a plot of land in Anekal Taluk.

Khatun is a resident of West Bengal’s Nandigram and works as a domestic worker in Bengaluru.

A video of her, along with others, shouting slogans during the drive was circulated widely on social media. Subsequently, a complaint was filed against the woman and a first information report was registered at the Hebbagodi police station on January 11.

The case was filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, etc, and making false statements with the intent to commit mischief.

Section 152 pertaining to acts that endanger the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India was also invoked. Critics have described this section as a “reincarnation” of the repealed sedition law under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code.

Khatun was arrested in the matter on January 12.

An additional sessions and district judge at Anekal had earlier rejected Khatun’s application for bail, after which she moved the High Court.

In the High Court, the counsel for the state government submitted that an Indian national should not have shouted “Jai Bangla”, which hurt the sentiments of Indians.

However, Nayarmoole submitted that the woman had no intention to hurt the sentiments of Indians. “When she was provoked to say ‘Jai Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, in order to avoid further conflict, she might have uttered such slogan,” the High Court order quoted the advocate as submitting.

The advocate also argued that no action was taken against those who provoked her to shout the slogans. Nayarmoole added that the police registered a suo motu case based only on a social media video without conducting a preliminary inquiry.

Granting the woman bail, the judge directed Khatun to execute a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh, along with a local surety to the same amount.

India’s environment ministry notified the new solid waste management rules of 2026 on January 27, superseding the 2016 rules. The new rules signal a shift towards a more systematic compliance architecture, with a clearer outline of duties for waste generators, a revised definition of Bulk Waste Generators, and higher landfill user fees for mixed waste to encourage segregation.

Well-intentioned as the new rules are, experts caution against gaps in implementation that have dogged solid waste management in India for decades.

Illustrating this are the towering landfills in New Delhi – Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla – symbols of the city’s historical failure to segregate waste at source. Delhi leads all Indian cities, generating approximately 600 grams of waste per person per day.

Nearly 64% of the collected waste is processed, according to the Central Pollution Control Bureau, while the remaining 36% or 4,241 tonnes, find its way to unsanitary landfills, or dumpsites everyday.

These landfills and dumpsites are silent contributors to air pollution through the year as well as to greenhouse gas emissions and heat stress during the summers. Biomass and waste burning are the second largest contributors to particulate matter emissions in Delhi, contributing 23% to PM10 and 24% to PM2.5, according to one source apportionment study.

When biodegradable waste accumulates and is left to rot, it produces methane, which has a warming potential 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, over a 20-year-period, and is the second-largest contributor to global warming. According to another study, higher temperature zones within the Ghazipur landfill are widening and reaching the surface, which is unsuitable.

“There are not many provisions in the new rules that directly address air pollution or heat stress, despite the clear link between waste burning, emissions and air quality,” says Shrotik Bose, Research Associate, Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

What the new rules say

The new rules, which come into effect on April 1, mandate four-way segregation of waste, marking a shift away from the three-way segregation system, which divided waste into dry, wet, and domestic hazardous waste. Now, waste must be segregated into dry, wet, sanitary and special care waste, which includes medicines, paint cans, bulbs, and mercury thermometers, among others.

Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility is also introduced, to put a stricter focus on generators who produce more than 100 kg of waste or occupy more than 20,000 square meters of area, or consume more than 40,000 litres of water per day. Bulk waste generators make up 30% of total solid waste generation and must either treat wet waste on-site, or send it to an appropriate facility and obtain an Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility certificate as proof instead.

Restrictions on landfills are strengthened, with only non-recyclable, non-energy recoverable waste and inert material being allowed and higher landfill fees prescribed for local bodies sending unsegregated waste to sanitary landfills.

Further, the rules mandate mapping and assessment of all legacy waste dumpsites and provide for time-bound biomining and bioremediation. These are microorganism-based technologies – the former extracts metals from the waste and the latter helps break down toxic contaminants.

“I think the 2026 rules have addressed several gaps from the 2016 framework. The move to four-way segregation is a step up – it shows higher ambition, and that’s always good to have. Overall, there is greater clarity now about who is responsible for what. The document has absorbed many lessons from the past decade. But ultimately, the real test will be implementation.” says Lakshmi P, Head of Impact, Cleanhub, an environmental technology company focused on plastic waste collection.

A centralised online portal is being developed to track all stages of solid waste management, including waste generation, collection, transportation, processing at Material Recovery Facilities, and disposal. Urban local bodies are central to these operations.

According to Bose, whether the new framework and portal will improve the functioning of ULBs is unclear. “The real challenge lies in rewriting old agreements with waste processing facilities, registering them on the portal, and managing compliance at that scale,” he says.

Waste-to-energy plants

The new rules encourage circularity by restricting landfill dumping, but they still reinforce waste-to-energy plants as a permissible processing pathway for waste, despite longstanding concerns of their contribution to air pollution. An inspection by the Central Pollution Control Board in response to the National Green Tribunal found the Okhla waste-to-energy incinerator releasing dioxins and furans, highly toxic carcinogens at levels almost 900% above permissible limits.

“In India, waste really has calorific value only after proper segregation. But once you segregate, the recycling industry is strong enough to absorb most of that material. The truly non-recyclable fraction is actually very small – maybe 5% to 10% by weight. At the same time, Extended Producer Responsibility and better product design are supposed to reduce non-recyclable plastics. So waste-to-energy, EPR, and recycling all end up attacking the same waste.” says Lakshmi.

She adds, “WtE plants need to run for many years to become economically viable, which creates pressure to keep feeding them waste – often mixed waste. These plants operate at relatively low temperatures, meaning toxins such as dioxins and heavy metals are not effectively broken down. When located within or near cities, this can pose significant environmental and public health risks.”

“It’s a common misconception that technology can fix this,” says Dr Ruby Makhija, an opthamologist and founder of the Why Waste Wednesdays Foundation that has been working to scale a zero waste to landfills model across Delhi-NCR. “No matter how advanced or expensive the machinery, it will fail if waste is not segregated at source. Nearly 70% of effective waste management depends on segregation, but this is not treated as an investment priority.”

The new rules require waste-to-energy and cement plants to increase their Refuse Derived Fuel sources from 5% to 15% over a period of six years. RDF has been defined in the new rules as “Fuel produced by shredding and dehydrating municipal solid waste with high calorific value, primarily consisting of non-recyclable plastic, paper and textiles.”

Health and waste management

Despite mandates on paper, thousands of tonnes of mixed waste continue to reach landfills in Delhi due to weak enforcement, waiver of fines, and limited Resident Welfare Association budgets.

“In cities like Indore which have succeeded in mainstreaming segregation, it’s because the state itself was involved in going door to door and creating awareness. Non profits are treated like partners. With the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, NGOs are not seen as partners but as dispensable actors.” said Bharati Chaturvedi, founder and director of the Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, a Delhi-based advocacy group working on circularity and waste.

According to Makhija, closing the environmental and health gap in waste management requires less reliance on technological fixes and more on restoring accountability in the system. “If a person is being asked to segregate waste at home and they do it properly, there must be assurance that the system beyond them is already in place. What happens too often is that if residents segregate, when the collector arrives and mixes everything again, all that effort goes to waste. That completely erodes trust. At the same time, Urban Local Bodies collect user fees for waste management – but how many residents actually pay them?”

The consequences of mounting mixed waste is tangible. An accidental fire in Bhalaswa landfill in 2022 led concentrations of PM2.5 to increase by 45%-55%, while PM 10 rose by 40%-50% in the vicinity. Toxic nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide levels rose between 25 and 100% too, illustrating how waste burning can trigger abrupt localised air pollution that rivals some of the city’s worst smog events.

Until segregation and decentralised processing are backed by both institutional enforcement and individual responsibility, the fight against toxic air and rising heat will remain incomplete, says Makhija. “Waste does not disappear once it leaves the doorstep; it returns through the air people breathe, the water they drink, and the food grown in contaminated soil,” she says.

This article was first published on Mongabay.

The Union government directed airlines to allocate a minimum of 60% of the seats on every flight without selection charges to ensure fair access. Airlines are also required to seat passengers travelling on the same Passenger Name Record together “preferably in adjacent seats”, according to the orders issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Additionally, airlines have been instructed to make the process of transporting sports equipment and musical instruments more transparent and passenger-friendly. They were further told to publish clear policies on the carriage of pets. Read on.

A day after quitting the Congress in the run-up to Assam Assembly elections, Pradyut Bordoloi joined the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Bordoloi is one of the Congress’ three Lok Sabha MPs from Assam.

He stated that he made the decision as he had felt humiliated on certain matters. The Congress described his resignation as “very unfortunate”.

Before he resigned, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had invited Bordoloi to join the BJP, though he claimed that there had been no direct communication between them. Read on.

Israel claimed that it killed Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib in an airstrike in Tehran. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorised the country’s military to “[eliminate] any senior Iranian figure…without the need for additional approval”.

Oil prices fell by more than $2 per barrel after the Iraqi government and the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq reached an agreement to resume oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

Later in the day, Iranian officials said that a part of the refineries in Asaluyeh, linked to the South Pars gas field, was “hit by a projectile” fired by the Israeli-United States forces.

Earlier, the US said that it dropped several 5,000-pound, or 2,250 kg, bombs on Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz. Read on.

The Iran war is starting to hit India’s small manufacturers, write Vaishnavi Rathore and Johanna Deeksha.

The Allahabad High Court said the state must ensure that security is provided to persons facing threats for congregating to hold prayers at private properties in Uttar Pradesh. The bench added that Article 25 of the Constitution protects the right to congregate for worship for every religious group.

However, the provision does not accord protection to the incitement of one faith by another in the garb of prayer, it added. The court also said that congregating for prayer is a facet of the Abrahamic faiths. Read on.

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Uttarakhand resident Deepak Kumar has moved the High Court challenging the case against him and requesting a departmental inquiry against police officers who allegedly failed to act against hate crimes, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

Kumar and another person booked in the matter, Vijay Rawat, contended that the first information report filed against them is partisan.

The case against Kumar and Rawat was filed in late January. The two Hindu men had opposed the harassment of an elderly Muslim shopkeeper by alleged Bajrang Dal members in the Pauri Garhwal district.

A mob had on January 26 arrived at the shop of Vakeel Ahmed, objecting to him using the word “Baba” in the name of his shop. Kumar, a gym owner, and Rawat objected to the mob’s actions, after which they were asked not to intervene.

The FIR had been registered based on a complaint by two persons who are members of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The outfits are a group of Hindutva organisations led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Subsequently, a group of about 40 persons gathered near Kumar’s gym and shouted slogans against him. The protesters also blocked a national highway.

Kumar had filed a complaint against the persons who had gathered in front of his gym, allegedly making hate speech, The Indian Express reported. However, the police had filed the case based on the complaint of an officer against unidentified persons in connection with the protests.

In the petition filed on March 13, Kumar stated that the police had failed to take action in the matter despite evidence that included videos of the incident and details of the persons, the newspaper reported.

The plea urged the court to direct the police to take immediate and effective action against the perpetrators of hate crimes and hate speech.

In a video of the incident that was later widely shared on social media, Kumar is seen questioning the group on why other shops are allowed to use the word “Baba” but Ahmed’s shop is not. He is also heard saying that the shop is more than 30 years old and asking whether its name should now be changed.

When asked his name, Kumar replied, “My name is Mohammad Deepak.”

“I intended to convey that I was an Indian and that everyone is equal before the law,” Kumar told the newspaper.

Kumar subsequently posted a video on Instagram, in which he said: “I am neither a Hindu, neither a Muslim, neither a Sikh, nor a Christian. First and foremost, I am a human being. Because after I die, I have to answer to God and to humanity, not to any religion.”

He added that no one, whether a Hindu or a Muslim, should be targeted for their religion.

The filing of the FIR against Kumar and Rawat sparked criticism from several social media users, who said that Kumar was being targeted merely for speaking up for humanity and opposing the intimidation of a Muslim citizen.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Kumar was fighting for the Constitution and humanity.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday said that the state must ensure that security is provided to persons facing threats for congregating to hold prayers at private properties in Uttar Pradesh, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddharth Nandan added that Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of religion, protects the right to congregate for worship for every religious group, Live Law reported.

However, the provision does not accord protection to the incitement of one faith by another in the garb of prayer, it added.

The bench added that there can be no impediment or embargo on prayers or religious functions being conducted within the private premises of a person, irrespective of their faith.

The court made the observations in a case pertaining to the decision of the administration in Uttar Pradesh to restrict the number of persons offering namaz during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan at a mosque in Sambhal district.

A petition had been filed in the court by a person alleging that he was being prevented from conducting prayers during Ramzan at a plot where he claimed the mosque existed.

On February 27, the bench rejected the administration’s decision to restrict the number of persons praying at the site. It had added that the officials should either resign or seek a transfer if they are unable to enforce the rule of law.

While disposing of the petition on Monday, the bench said: “Any objection taken by any person (individual or group) against prayers being conducted in a private space, should be taken cognisance of by the state and if need be, protection be accorded to the place of worship and the worshipers”.

The court also said that the explanation of Article 25 by the court “is not to be construed as giving any special status to the adherents of the Islamic faith in India”, Bar and Bench reported.

The bench noted that it had only laid down that Article 25 ensured every religion in India an “equal and immutable right” to profess, practice and propagate their faith equally across the board without any “ifs and buts”. This is subject only to public order, morality and health, the bench added.

However, the law prohibits actions and speech having the propensity to vitiate public order by pitting one religious denomination against the other, the court said, adding that this would be beyond the scope of protection under Article 25 and will expose the person to the full rigours of the criminal law.

The court also said that congregating for prayer is a facet of the Abrahamic faiths, the legal news portal reported.

Article 25 is religion and faith neutral, adding that the freedom of conscience protects and enables equally an atheist to profess, practice and propagate that there is no God on the anvil of logic, reason and science, Bar and Bench reported the court as having said.

The court directed that its order be sent to the Uttar Pradesh police chief and additional chief secretary (home) for it to be circulated to the authorities in the state, the legal news portal reported.

Also read: Allahabad HC orders protection for Muslim man stopped from offering namaz on private property

Congress MP Mohammad Jawaid on Wednesday said that he has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that Muslims in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar have been facing open threats and hateful slogans ahead of Eid amid tensions in the area.

Jawaid also claimed that there had been a perception of a selective police response, which he said was emboldening those “seeking to disturb communal harmony”.

The letter comes days after a man named Tarun Bhutolia died after being severely injured in a clash during Holi celebrations on March 4 that began when a water balloon accidentally thrown by an 11-year-old girl from the third floor of a building fell on a Muslim woman standing below.

The incident had led to an argument between the two neighbouring families from different religious communities.

The 26-year-old’s killing had sparked tensions in the area. Several vehicles were damaged and some were set on fire during protests by residents, following which police and paramilitary personnel were deployed.

Muslim residents of the area have also flagged calls for violence during Eid on Saturday.

In his letter to the home minister on Wednesday, Jawaid said that members of the Muslim community in Uttam Nagar were facing “open threats, intimidation and a systematic attempt to create fear in their daily lives”.

A call for slaughter of Muslims on Eid in Uttam Nagar, Delhi and inaction by @DelhiPolice is highly alarming.

Have written and handed over the letter to Union Home Minister @AmitShah ji to take action and direct @DelhiPolice to take action in this urgent matter.

The letter has… pic.twitter.com/5J9NjxmrJ1

— Dr Md Jawaid (@DrMdJawaid1) March 18, 2026

The MP from Bihar’s Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat said that “what is unfolding is not an isolated law-and-order issue, but a pattern of targeted hostility that raises serious questions about the state’s ability and willingness to protect all citizens equally”.

He added: “Public threats, inflammatory slogans and the circulation of hate-filled content have created an atmosphere where a section of Indian citizens feel unsafe in the national capital itself.”

The Congress MP urged Shah to take cognisance of the situation and ensure accountability for any lapse in maintaining law and order. He also sought directions to the Delhi Police to “act firmly and impartially against those spreading hate, issuing threats or attempting to communalise the situation”.

Jawaid further sought “visible and effective” protection for vulnerable residents to restore confidence on the ground. “Initiate an independent review of police action to address concerns of bias or inaction,” he added.

The letter noted that silence or delay of the state in such moments sends a dangerous message that intimidation can replace law, and fear can override rights. “This must not be allowed in a constitutional democracy,” Jawaid added.

Sharing the letter on social media, the Congress MP added that the letter had been signed by several legislators from Opposition parties, including from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Samajwadi Party.

Adjournment motion

Earlier on Wednesday, Jawaid also said that he had moved an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha to discuss the “alarming situation in Uttam Nagar and the recent arrests linked to an iftar gathering on the banks of the Ganga”.

The Congress MP was referring to the arrest of 14 Muslims in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus after they organised an iftar party on a boat in the river Ganga and ate chicken biryani.

They were arrested after a video showing them holding the party on the boat on Monday was widely shared on social media.

A police complaint was filed by Rajat Jaiswal, the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing in the city, who alleged that the incident had hurt religious sentiments of the Hindus. In his complaint, Jaiswal alleged that the persons had thrown meat leftovers into the Ganga, which holds religious significance for Hindus.

Noting that Iftar is a peaceful and integral religious practice during Ramzan, Jawaid in his letter to the secretary general of the Lok Sabha said that criminalising such a gathering reflects a “clear misuse of law and indicates a pattern of targeting minorities under the guise of enforcement”.

The Himachal Pradesh government on Wednesday issued an advisory directing government employees not to make statements on social media about official policies, and not to disseminate official information without authorisation, The Indian Express reported.

The state government also told employees to wear formal attire, saying that a dignified dress code helps maintain a positive image of public service.

A communication by Sanjay Gupta, the officiating chief secretary of the state Department of Personnel, was quoted by The Indian Express as saying that government employees should be advised “not to express opinion on government policies/schemes etc through personal social media accounts or to make political or religious statements in any public forum, vlogs and other social media platforms etc”.

The communication stated that participating in official debates and posting content that could be construed as critical of official policies is strictly prohibited. The letter warned of disciplinary action for violations.

The Department of Personnel also said that male employees have been advised to wear formal clothing such as shirts and trousers, along with appropriate footwear, The Indian Express reported. It added that casual clothing, such as jeans and sandals, was discouraged, especially during official duties and court appearances.

Female employees have been asked to wear sarees, suits or other formal clothing that reflects professionalism and modesty, The Indian Express quoted the communication as saying.

India on Tuesday denied holding negotiations with Iran about releasing three vessels New Delhi had seized in February in return for the safe passage of ​Indian ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

The denial by the Ministry of External Affairs came during an inter-ministerial press briefing on the conflict in West Asia.

Quoting unidentified officials, Reuters reported on Monday that Iran had asked India to release three fuel tankers that had been seized. India had in February seized the United States-sanctioned ships linked to Iran near Indian waters.

The Indian authorities had reportedly alleged that the vessels were involved in illegal mid-sea ship-to-ship transfer of fuel and had concealed their identity.

The news agency had also reported on Monday that Iran has sought a supply of medical equipment and some medicines.

Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the report as ​baseless.

“There has been no discussion of this nature,” he told reporters, adding that the three seized ships are not Iranian-owned and that the vessels were not tankers.

The three ships are currently docked off the coast of Mumbai, Reuters reported.

Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of the global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

On Monday and Tuesday, two Indian-flagged vessels carrying liquefied petroleum gas reached India after crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night and Saturday morning.

They were among the 24 Indian-flagged vessels stranded in the Gulf after the conflict broke out in the region on February 28.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Financial Times on Sunday that India’s talks with Iran have “yielded some results” in allowing Indian ships to pass through the strategic waterway. However, he added that there is no “blanket arrangement” with Tehran on the matter.

The movement of each Indian ship through the strait is being handled individually, Jaishankar had said.

The Union government on Wednesday directed airlines to allocate a minimum of 60% seats on every flight without seat selection charges to ensure fair access.

The orders issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation also require that passengers travelling on the same Passenger Name Record be seated together “preferably in adjacent seats”.

Additionally, airlines have been instructed to make the process of transporting sports equipment and musical instruments more transparent and passenger-friendly, while adhering to safety and operational requirements, and to publish clear policies on the carriage of pets.

The ministry also mandated strict adherence to the passenger rights framework, particularly in cases of delays, cancellations and denied boarding.

It further ordered the “prominent display of passenger rights across airline websites, mobile applications, booking platforms, and airport counters” and to communicate the same in regional languages to widen awareness and accessibility.

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed another preventive detention under the Public Safety Act, ruling that there was “no application of mind” by the Bandipora senior superintendent of police and the district magistrate in detaining the petitioner, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.

It said that there was instead “a unity of mind that the petitioner needs to be detained on one false pretext or another”.

The Public Safety Act is a preventive detention law that allows persons to be taken into custody to prevent them from acting against “the security of the state or the maintenance of the public order” in the Union Territory.

Justice Rahul Bharti directed that Ehtsham ul Haq Dar be released from custody if he is not required in any other case, the newspaper reported. Dar had been detained under the Public Safety Act on May 6, following an order by the Bandipora district magistrate, and was held in Kishtwar jail.

The Public Safety Act Advisory Board, in an order dated June 2, found sufficient cause for his detention. The government had extended his detention until November 5.

Bharti noted that there was no record of any further extension of the petitioner’s detention. He added that the grounds for preventive detention were based on “vague and conjectured assumptions without any…factual content”, except a criminal case relating to a first information report, the newspaper reported.

The judge observed that the authorities had acted “unmindful of the constitutional obligation of resorting to preventive detention with due caution and circumspection”, The Indian Express reported.

Bharti added that according to the dossier Dar was allegedly involved in “anti-national activities” as an overground worker of a banned terrorist organisation.

He also noted that the police dossier and the grounds of detention were “exact replicas” of each other.

Bharti said that by “literally lifting the print and text of the dossier, the district magistrate, Bandipora, purportedly formulated the so-called grounds of detention more as a mouthpiece of the senior superintendent of police, Bandipora, and passed the detention order”.

“A fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is not so fragile and weak-footed that by purported reference to any casual exercise at the end of the authorities under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, the said fundamental right of the petitioner can be uprooted,” The Indian Express quoted the judge as observing.

Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life and personal liberty.

Last week, Bharti had also ordered the release of another detainee, Mudasir Ahmad Bhat, from Udhampur district jail, holding that his preventive detention was inconsistent with constitutional safeguards governing such powers.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari are set to contest against each other again in the 2026 state Assembly elections, this time from the Bhabanipur constituency.

The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday announced its candidates for 291 of the state’s 294 seats, fielding Banerjee from the south Kolkata constituency, which she has represented since 2011, except for a short interval in 2021.

Banerjee, after losing Nandigram to the BJP leader in a close contest in 2021, had returned to the Assembly by winning a bypoll from Bhabanipur. Adhikari, once a close associate of Banerjee, had quit the TMC in 2020 and joined the BJP. He is the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

The BJP leader will also contest elections from Nandigram. The TMC has filed Pabitra Kar, a former aide of Adhikari, from the seat, PTI reported. He was a former BJP leader who rejoined the TMC ahead of the polls.

In the list released on Tuesday, the ruling party also dropped around one-third of its sitting legislators, denying tickets to about 74 MLAs. It has retained around 135 MLAs and shifted 15 to different constituencies. The changes are aimed at countering anti-incumbency after three consecutive terms in power, The New Indian Express reported.

The TMC has left three seats in the Darjeeling hills to its ally, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, The Hindu reported.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its first list of 152 candidates.

The West Bengal election will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29 in the state. The results will be announced on May 4.

In West Bengal, the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has been in power since 2011. The main Opposition in the state over the years has shifted from the Left parties to the BJP.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP won 77 seats in the 294-member House, while the Trinamool secured 215. The Left-Congress alliance and its partners, despite a vote share of about 10%, won just one seat.

SIR process underway

The elections were announced even as a special intensive revision of electoral rolls is underway in West Bengal, with several voters “under adjudication”.

On February 28, the Election Commission published the final electoral roll for West Bengal, indicating the exclusion of more than 61 lakh voters.

About 60 lakh “doubtful and pending” cases remain “under adjudication” based on their objections to their exclusions from the draft rolls published in December.

The names of those approved by judicial officers will be added to the rolls through a supplementary list.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ordered that judicial officers of the rank of district judge or additional district judge be appointed to help complete the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in the state amid a tussle between the Trinamool Congress government and the Election Commission.

Four days later, the court allowed judges from Odisha and Jharkhand to also be deployed to decide on the claims and objections raised during the process.

Also read: As polls knock, why is Bengal’s SIR in a state of chaos with no end in sight?

Zubeen Nath was supposed to come home in February for Bihu, to celebrate his wife’s birthday.

Instead, the phone rang at his neighbour’s home in Assam’s Chirang district on the afternoon of February 13.

When his mother answered, she was told that the 26-year-old had died in an accident at the tile construction factory in Bengaluru that employed him. “Someone told her that our son fell into a machine and died immediately,” his father Ananta Nath told Scroll.

Incredulous, his father called his son’s number and an Assamese contractor picked up. “He told me that my son was lying under a machine, applying grease on it, but nobody had noticed him,” Ananta said. “Someone turned on the machine and he got trapped. His body was split into two.”

The next day, Nath’s body was brought home with the help of a contractor.

Zubeen Nath had been working at the company for about five years. He is survived by his parents, his 20-year-old wife and a one-year-old son.

Nath’s father said the owner of the Bangalore company gave the family Rs 50,000 to perform his last rites. “But we have not got any help from the state government,” he added. “The local MLA and government officials visited and only gave us assurances.”

Unlike the death of singer Zubeen Garg in September, which plunged Assam into deep grief, Zubeen Nath’s demise went unnoticed.

He is not alone. Altogether 162 workers from Assam, who migrated outside for work, died between September and February 2, according to a statement by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who admitted the situation was “concerning”.

He said that the mortal remains of the 162 workers were brought back to the state under the Assam government’s Shraddhanjali scheme. No other state government in India has introduced such a scheme, Sarma said.

In the last six months, migrant workers from Assam have lost their lives in accidents across the country – three of them died in a fire in a Goa nightclub, eight died in Meghalaya’s illegal rat-hole mines, nine workers were killed in an accident at a construction site in Chennai, and four were found dead in a rented room in Bengaluru.

Scroll spoke to families of eight migrant workers who died in this period. All of them said they had no other options but to migrate as jobs had dried up in the rural economy. Several belonged to tribal communities or were tea garden workers, some of the most marginalised groups in the state.

Scroll emailed the chief minister’s office, asking for details of the 162 dead workers, the reasons behind their deaths and their age profiles. The story will be updated if there is a response.

In the Assembly, Opposition MLA Akhil Gogoi said the deaths of workers was an indictment of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government.

“People of the state are being forced to go outside to work as security guards or daily wagers in Chennai or Bangalore because there is no work in Assam,” Gogoi said. “They don’t have any job security. There should be a right to work in the state.”

But Gogoi’s intervention was a rare one. The deaths of migrant workers has got little attention from Assam’s political parties, even while the state is headed for an Assembly election.

Manoranjan Pegu, a trade union activist and political commentator from the Mising community, one of Assam’s largest tribal groups, said the identity of the dead explains the lack of any political backlash. “Who are these migrants? Mostly tribals, working-class Hindus or Miya Muslims from rural villages,” Pegu said. “This cannot be spun into an identity issue or an Assamese versus non-Assamese problem. So, it is not favorable for electoral benefits.”

‘Almost every family has a boy working outside’

In Bengaluru, Zubeen Nath earned Rs 30,000-Rs 35,000 a month, breaking stones at the tiles factory. “The salary was regular even though the work was tiring and hard,” his father said.

A college dropout, he had returned to Assam from Bengaluru during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. But had to go back because there was no work in Barpather, a village near the Manas National Park, close to the border with Bhutan.

Like him, about 150 youths from the village went back to the cities in search of work. “In our village, almost every family has a boy who works outside,” Anant Nath said.

The reasons for the exodus are many. While farming is the main occupation, crops are increasingly under stress from elephant attacks, Anant Nath said.

“My home is close to the Manas forest. So, there has been an increase in elephant raids,” Anant said. “Almost every day, the elephants break homes, kill people and destroy standing crops.”

Erratic monsoons and depleting groundwater reserves have also increased the challenges for farmers. “The 80-feet deep well does not have water now,” Nath said. “We are buying water or bringing it from others. The fields are dry. The farm yield is not enough and not self-sustaining. That’s why people are leaving.”

‘Breakdown of agriculture’

Experts Scroll spoke to said that the outmigration of youth is driven by the absence of opportunity at home. Sociologist Chandan Kumar Sharma pointed out that most migrant workers from Assam are being absorbed into the informal workforce in metropolises, where jobs have no security.

“This indeed speaks of the breakdown of agriculture and meaningful rural livelihoods for the youths in the state,” Sharma, who teaches at Tezpur University, told Scroll.

The government’s own figures speak of the scale of the migration. According to a 2020 report prepared in the backdrop of Covid pandemic by the Assam government’s think-tank, State Innovation and Transformation Aayog or SITA, 25 lakh workers from the state work outside the state in low-end jobs.

“For the last many years we have seen outmigration from Assam since agriculture could not provide financial gains except subsistence,” the report by the think tank on the state’s agriculture and allied sectors said.

The absence of opportunity has led Assam’s workers to take on unimaginable risks.

“My relatives are not alone to sign up for life-threatening jobs,” Iqbal Ahmed, a resident of Katigorah area of Cachar district, told Scroll.

Ahmed’s three cousins died in a blast in a set of illegal rat-hole coal mines in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district on February 5. “If you work the whole day in Katogorah, you may get Rs 200 or Rs 300, while working in the mines fetches you Rs 1,000-Rs 1,200 a day,” he said.

About 25-30 migrant workers from Katigorah had died in Meghalaya’s illegal mines in recent years, he claimed.

Ahmed added: “If you want to survive, you can’t think of death.”

9 migrant workers from Assam have reportedly succumbed to death after falling down at a construction site at Minjur, Thiruvallur district, today while carrying out construction works for extension of North Chennai Thermal Power Station.

4 of the victims are from Karbi Anglong…

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 30, 2025

‘It is destiny’

Several of those forced to do hazardous work outside the state come from tribal communities.

Take Paban Sorong. The 34-year-old man from the Dimasa tribe worked in Delhi as a security guard before moving to Chennai as a construction worker.

Last September, he was among nine tribal migrant workers from Assam’s Karbi Anglong and Hojai districts, who died at a construction site in a special economic zone near Chennai.

The men were at a height of more than 20 feet when the iron scaffolding installed for the construction of an arch collapsed.

Sorong’s father Nabin Sorong said his son earned Rs 20,000 at the construction site. He explained that his son had to take risks because they can no longer depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Sorong’s family was luckier than others. They received Rs 17 lakh as compensation – Rs 10 lakh from the Tamil Nadu government, Rs 2 lakh from Centre, and Rs 5 lakh from Assam government. The family received compensation as they died while working on a power plant being built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, a public sector undertaking.

Sorong was resigned to his son’s fate. “It was destiny. We can’t blame anyone,” he said.

The exodus of tea garden workers

Among those forced to take desperate measures are Assam’s tea garden workers. Last year, the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha, the largest and most influential trade union of the plantation sector, raised an alarm, flagging a sharp rise in outmigration of workers.

A clear reason is the abysmal wages that they earn – tea workers in the Brahmaputra Valley earn Rs 250 per day, while those in the Barak Valley are paid Rs 228 per day.

“It was hard to survive with this little money,” said Bidya Chatriya, whose brother Dhiren worked in the Gelapukhuri tea estate in Tinsukia district.

A few months ago, Dhiren and other tea garden workers moved to Arunachal Pradesh to work on construction sites. “They were promised a daily wage between Rs 500 and Rs 700, depending on the working hours,” Bidya said.

In December, Dhiren was among 21 tea labourers killed after a truck they were being transported in met with an accident in Anjaw district in the eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh on the night of December 8. Senior superintendent of police, Tinsukia, Mayank Kumar Jha, said the labourers were being transported illegally without proper documentation or safety measures. Two people were arrested on charges of human trafficking.

Questions on Assam development

The large exodus of migrant workers puts a question mark on the BJP’s development claims, observers and ordinary residents said.

In the Assembly, Raijor Dal MLA Gogoi too questioned the BJP’s record of development. “It has only made flyovers in the name of development,” he said.

Tapan Sarma, the general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, criticised the Assam chief minister for launching a scheme to bring bodies home. “Has the government figured out why they needed to go so far in the first place? What has it done for the safety and economic security of the workers at home?” Sarma said.

Bishnu Jyoti, a tribal resident of Lakhimpur, agreed. “The BJP government talks day and night about development,” he said. “But this development exists only in speeches and advertisements. Otherwise young boys from tribal villages would not have to travel thousands of kilometers to work as security guards, delivery boys, construction workers, and restaurant workers,” he said.

Jyoti added: “Many of them live in unsafe conditions. Some of them never return home alive.” He was referring to four Mising young men from Lakhimpur, who were found dead in a rented room on the outskirts of Bengaluru in January.

Sarma, the senior trade union leader, admitted that Opposition parties too have failed to speak up for the working class. “Assam has 91 lakh workers – both from organised and unorganised sectors – which is more than 30% of the state’s total population,” Sarma said. “But we have failed to highlight their issues.”

Jyoti said the government’s welfare and cash-transfer schemes have not changed the lives of people in rural Assam. “People cannot live on small benefits and temporary schemes,” he said. “They need permanent jobs and stable incomes. But instead of jobs, the government spreads hate and fear.”

I don’t write about myself. Not in public, and rarely, if ever, in private. The proposed amendment to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, presented by Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar in Lok Sabha on March 13 forces my hand, and yet, I find a thrilling freedom in finally coming out and staking a claim to who I am.

I hope that talking about it will throw more light on why self-determination is a long process that requires patience, not more erasure, and also light the way for others who find their way to transgender identities as adults.

The bill solidifies an argument that was made in the run-up to the passing of the Act in 2019 that transgender people could only belong to traditional transgender groups: hijras, kinnars, jogtas, aravanis and others. While the Act as it was passed aligned itself with the Supreme Court’s NALSA judgement of 2014 and allowed for trans people to identify themselves, the definition proposed by Bill No 79 of 2026 would have trans women outside those traditional groups, trans men, non-binary people, and people of other gender identities not be included in the protections of the act.

The bill explicitly aims to delete the separate category for intersex people in the 2019 Act, and to list them under the trans umbrella. This erases the separate and unique struggle intersex people have had for decades for their own concerns – including, for instance, the fight against forced gender realignment surgeries done at young ages to attempt to fit them into the binary.

Collapsing the two identities perpetuates stereotypes about both trans and intersex communities. The basic demand of trans groups for horizontal reservation seems more distant, though it will be ever more urgent as oppressed caste trans individuals lead the fight for simply being represented fairly. The bill drives a wedge into cross-community solidarity and divides us so that we do not organise and assert ourselves or live our lives to their fullest potentials.

𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓: Social and Justice Minister Dr Virendra Kumar today introduced the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha today. The Bill aims to amend the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.… pic.twitter.com/4F9tFXVNP8

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) March 13, 2026

I have known since I was a child that I was different, that I was not quite a girl, yet nowhere like a boy, either. My puberty was different – too much, too skewed towards an indefinite, in-between gendered appearance. It did not soften me and at times, it stole my childhood. For years, I balanced anger at myself and fear of the world, always aware that I was not enough of any gender and that I would never fit in. Even amid that rage and confusion, I made choices that affirmed my existence outside the binary of gender. The way I dressed, talked, and moved in the world spoke to how neither gender had a hold on me.

When I became a reporter, I learned to lean into my assigned gender. I played the “young woman who doesn’t know anything” when lulling sources, often cis men, into lowering their guard. I learned to smile and give assurances that I was one of them when speaking to cis women, who in turn embraced me because of my perceived likeness. I was aware, all the time, that I was playing a part. I could have even tried to deceive myself had I not repeatedly asserted in private my confusion at what being a woman even meant, the irritation at being called “sister” by feminist colleagues, the knowledge that the dresses I had begun to wear made me feel awkward and out of place.

In 2015, I wrote to a friend about how I did not feel like a man or a woman, but that I did not know what that made me. That year, when Facebook allowed users to choose their own pronouns, I chose “they/them” hardly knowing what it meant, only knowing that there was a relief in not showing my assigned gender to people. In 2018, I told my therapist jokingly that I had never received the gender memo.

I was electrified when I heard the term non-binary. I had flirted with genderqueer and gender non-conforming, but neither encapsulated my alienation from gender. Finally, here was a term that was political. It saw the gendered binary that I had so long regarded as inevitable, and promised an existence beyond it. It took me years after that to embrace it. I used “they/them” pronouns on anonymous online forums for a year before I started to tell people that I was non-binary, only because I wanted to be certain that I was not taking up space, that I was not falling into a yearning for being seen as queer, without actually being it. I stopped myself from expressing myself in public for years.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 must be referred to the Standing Committee on Social Justice & Empowerment so that legal experts and, most importantly, members of the trans community can be heard before Parliament proceeds further.#NoGoingBack pic.twitter.com/GB6O42LWPE

— Pink List India (@PinkListIndia) March 15, 2026

It has been four years since I came out and many of the changes that I have made have been low-key. I cut my hair, started to wear shirts, started to surround myself with people like myself. I began to assert that my pronouns are indeed “they/them”. In a moment of anger, I updated them on my website, as this essay too, written in anger, appears on my website, marking a coming out of several stages. I also made myself smaller. I withdrew from people who knew me, afraid that they would judge me. Being in public became that much harder when, as an experiment in finding freedom, I began to grow a beard. It was matched by the euphoria of being seen as someone different – neither woman nor man – someone who could pass seamlessly through security queues meant for men and for women.

The proposed amendments disparagingly state that the Act is not meant for the protection of people who identify their own gender. The bill says that it “shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities”.

Disturbingly, it aims to criminalise people who support and affirm trans people, threatening them with imprisonment and fines. I have the privilege of caste and class to return to my small life in the closet. There are so many people for whom this is not the case. But silence has corroded me. Speaking up is not a choice. It is necessary if I am to survive.

I am a journalist. I am non-binary. I am transgender. The years of suppression have led me to a deep alienation from my body. I do not know if any intervention, medical or otherwise, will surmount this. It has taken me decades to get to this acceptance. I had hoped that I might yet have more time.

The Transgender Persons Amendment Act introduced in the Lok Sabha today is absolutely unconstitutional. GoI is excluding from protection persons with self-identified gender and entrenching the authority of "medical experts" in direct violation of NALSA. This Bill must not pass. pic.twitter.com/AYOYy1crNk

— muski 🌈 (@muskanmt13) March 13, 2026

Now, the government might insert itself as an intermediary for any step that I might want to take, adding itself to the double takes and rejection that I already experience in plenty in the world around me. I have been dismissed by relatives and former friends. Colleagues in the profession scoff at and dismiss gender identities that are not binary. I see the changes in how people I speak to for work respond to me, their suspicion and distrust, where, as someone who once presented as a cis woman, I had once found openness. I know that I have to learn how to report again, while being true to myself.

These concerns pale in front of the reality that even basic self-identification might no longer be recognised if this bill is passed. The scope of prosecution for violence against the community will be shrunk. Layers upon layers of bureaucracy will be added to very personal journeys of medical and legal transition. The violent anti-trans rhetoric of the United Kingdom and the United States will be replicated in India.

My heart breaks for the people further along in their journeys who face the crumbling of their painstakingly built lives. My heart breaks for those who are considering joining in but must now weigh the innate drive to live authentically against the fear of the state.

But trans people are nothing if not stubborn and resilient. How much courage does it take to take on a world that tells you that you are wrong, that your entire conception of your self is immoral and not even worthy of being thought of? In or out of the closet, trans people are more vulnerable to self-harm and suicide, and yet, so many of us fight to survive, wherever we are. We have survived before and we will survive now.

No more lies, no more hiding. I am here and I will not go back. I stand in solidarity and in protest with my transgender, non-binary, and intersex siblings. I demand that this short-sighted, and dehumanising bill be withdrawn in its entirety.

Mridula Chari is an award-winning, independent, non-binary reporter based in Mumbai. This article was first published on their website.

Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk on Tuesday called for a “win-win” dialogue with the Centre after his detention under the National Security Act was revoked.

He said that the Centre has extended its hand to build trust for meaningful dialogue with the residents of the Union Territory.

Addressing a press conference after his release from jail, Wangchuk referred to his release as the first “win”. He added: “The government extending hands to build trust and facilitate meaningful dialogue is a great thing. That way Ladakh and our cause will also win.”

Wangchuk said that a “third win” is that the Union government will “come out looking better, and our image in the world will be a little better”.

These were the activist’s first public remarks after he was released from detention on March 4 after five-and-a-half months.

Wangchuk had been detained on September 26, two days after protesters demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution clashed with security personnel, injuring several of them. Four persons were killed in police firing.

The Sixth Schedule guarantees certain protections for land and a nominal autonomy for citizens in designated tribal areas.

The revocation of Wangchuk’s detention came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court hearing a petition filed by his wife, Gitanjali Angmo, challenging the government’s action.

On Tuesday, Wangchuk said that he hoped the court will record and publish a judgement in the matter, so that his case can be used as a precedent in other cases under the National Security Act.

On participating in future protests, he said: “I have always maintained that I did not want to go on hunger strikes. I did it out of compulsion.”

“Now the government has offered constructive dialogue,” Wangchuk said, adding that he is hoping for “meaningful and effective talks with the government that will lead to something good”.

The activist said that the demand for Ladakh to have safeguards under the Sixth Schedule will remain. He said that he will remain flexible during the talks, but not at the cost of it being a “lose-lose” for Ladakhis.

Angmo, who was also present at the press conference, added that the negotiations ahead must be done in such a way that “everyone feels that they have a bigger piece of the cake”.

Speaking about his next step, Wangchuk said that he would travel to Ladakh and consult with leaders of the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, civil society coalitions that have been leading the movement seeking constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, PTI reported.

The National Investigation Agency has arrested seven foreign citizens on charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist activities against India, ThePrint reported on Monday.

While six of them are Ukrainians, one is from the United States, The Indian Express reported. They were arrested last week under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

They were reportedly arrested in Delhi, Kolkata and Lucknow while trying to leave India.

The persons accused in the matter had entered India on valid visas, but had travelled to Mizoram without the mandatory restricted area permit, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified official as saying. They allegedly crossed into Myanmar and “reportedly met ethnic groups hostile to India”.

In Mizoram, the persons had received deliveries of drones from Europe, ThePrint quoted unidentified officials as having alleged.

The accused persons were produced before a magistrate on Saturday, who remanded them to three days’ custody. The custody period was on Monday extended by 11 days till March 27, according to The Indian Express.

Ukraine has lodged an official protest with India against the arrests of its citizens, and has demanded that they be released immediately, the newspaper reported.

The Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine described the allegations as unfounded and said: “…As of now, there are no established facts proving the involvement of the said Ukrainian citizens in unlawful activities on the territory of India or Myanmar.”

Grasslands around the world are quietly changing under pressure from overgrazing, cropland expansion, climate change and biological invasions. In India’s Thar Desert, these pressures are reshaping which species survive and how they share space.

A new ecological study finds that two invasive forces, fast-spreading mesquite trees and free-ranging dogs linked to human settlements, are changing how native mesocarnivores (medium-sized carnivores) move, hunt and coexist in this landscape.

“Wildlife communities of the Thar Desert remain relatively understudied even as the landscape undergoes rapid ecological change,” says Chetan Misher, a wildlife ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Trust and the study’s corresponding author.

“Mesquite has become the dominant woody plant, altering habitat structure, while free-ranging dogs function as apex or dominant predators in many areas. Together, these invasives are reshaping native communities through habitat modification, changes in predation, competition and interference, with cascading effects across the ecosystem,”

Changing landscape

The Thar spans about 446,000 square kilometres across western India and southern Pakistan, covering over 200,000 sq km across parts of western Rajasthan and the Kachchh region of Gujarat.

To capture ecological variation across this landscape, researchers focused on two contrasting sites for the study: the mesquite-dominated Banni grasslands of Gujarat and the more fragmented, agriculture-influenced grasslands around Bikaner in Rajasthan.

Both regions support similar wildlife, including desert and jungle cats, desert and Indian foxes, golden jackals, along with a wider range of desert-adapted small mammals, birds and reptiles. The researchers conducted field surveys using motion-triggered infrared camera traps to record wildlife presence and activity.

The study also used high-resolution satellite imagery to map land cover, including open vegetation, invasive woodland, agriculture, water bodies and built-up areas. These habitat layers were linked to each camera location across multiple spatial scales. Using occupancy modelling, the study estimated where carnivores were likely to occur while accounting for missed detections and environmental influences. The study also use temporal activity analysis to examine when species were active and how much their daily routines overlapped.

Winners and losers in an invaded desert

The study results showed that Indian foxes avoided areas used by desert foxes or dogs. But they were often found where golden jackals were present, in contrast to a study from Maharashtra where Indian foxes avoid jackals.

Jungle cats also frequently appeared alongside jackals. Desert foxes and dogs were recorded more often in Bikaner, whereas jackals and jungle cats were more common in mesquite-dominated Banni. Indian foxes were not detected in Bikaner, while desert cat detections were similar in both regions.

Desert foxes strongly preferred open native vegetation and avoided mesquite woodland and farmland. They were also frequently found close to human settlements, likely because villages in Bikaner lie near the remaining grassland patches they depend on.

Golden jackals, as habitat generalists that can thrive in diverse environmental conditions, used a wide range of environments and persisted even where the mesquite expanded. Indian foxes, the smallest canid in the study, avoided desert foxes and dogs and disappeared from Bikaner altogether, suggesting possible competitive exclusion where predator and dog pressures are high. The overlap with jackal territory was surprising, with one explanation being size-structured competition.

“In the Thar, the desert fox, being intermediate in size, may experience more direct competition with jackals, while the smaller Indian fox could overlap spatially with jackals to avoid stronger competitive pressure from desert foxes,” says Misher.

The study did not detect the Indian fox in Bikaner. This absence, despite earlier reports of it being present, raises concern. Misher states that this may suggest local decline or displacement, potentially linked to high dog abundance and activity in the region, but cautioned that the evidence is not yet conclusive and requires further investigation.

Among wild cats, jungle cats appeared to benefit from invasive woodland, showing higher occupancy in mesquite-dominated areas, while the elusive desert cat showed weak habitat associations, likely reflecting low detection rates. Overall, spreading mesquite seems to favour adaptable species while placing grassland specialists at risk.

These vegetation changes are likely to ripple through the prey base that sustains desert carnivores. “Invasive species can alter both herbivore and carnivore communities,” says Abi T Vanak, director of the Centre for Policy Design and senior fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), who was also involved in the study.

“For example, mesquite can alter grasslands and convert them into woody-dominated states, and thus favour generalist species. Species (of rodents) such as Rattus are more commonly found in mesquite thickets compared to open grassland specialists such as Millardia. Habitat structure driven by invasive species, and the associated differences in predation risk, microclimate and food availability, can alter the community of herbivores and carnivores at a site.”

Dogs reshape behaviour

If mesquite alters habitat, dogs alter behaviour. Supported by human food and shelter, free-ranging dogs are dominant predators. Native carnivores respond by avoiding them spatially or by shifting activity patterns.

Desert foxes, for example, remained largely nocturnal, but in dog-dominated areas, the study found, their activity shifted further away from peak dog movement, reducing the likelihood of encounters. Yet the relationship is not purely one of avoidance. Occupancy models revealed an unexpected positive spatial association but a strong temporal avoidance between desert fox presence and dog occurrence. Simply put, they tend to use the same areas, but at different times of day.

The findings point to a clear conservation message: landscape structure determines survival. Managing the spread of mesquite in key grassland refuges, alongside targeted control of free-ranging dogs in ecologically sensitive areas, will be critical to reducing predation pressure, disease risk and habitat loss for specialist predators. Maintaining mosaics of open grassland with low woody cover may allow both specialists and generalists to coexist.

This article was first published on Mongabay.

Israel claimed that it killed Iranian security chief Ali Larijani in an airstrike. Tel Aviv also claimed that the commander of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force was killed in a separate strike.

Iran has not yet commented on the claim.

The Israeli defence ministry’s statement came more than two weeks after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28. Tehran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.

Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it was speaking with Iran and other countries to safely bring back Indian ships from the Strait of Hormuz. Read on.

Janata Dal (United) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP KC Tyagi announced that he was quitting the party. This came a day after JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state.

Kumar is expected to step down after his election to the Upper House.

Tyagi said that his membership with the JD(U) had ended and that he would not be renewing it. “Our relation with Nitish ji is forever,” he said. “It is just that I am searching for new political ground in Uttar Pradesh under the banner of another political party.”

The former MP had been serving as a political adviser in the JD(U) after he was removed as its national spokesperson in September 2024. The JD(U) has previously distanced itself from several statements made by Tyagi, including his recent demand for a Bharat Ratna for Kumar. Read on.

Fourteen Muslims were arrested in Varanasi for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus after they organised an iftar party on a boat in the river Ganga and ate chicken biryani.

The complainant, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader named Rajat Jaiswal, alleged that they threw meat leftovers in the river, which holds religious significance for Hindus.

The men were arrested after a video showing them holding the party on the boat on Monday was widely shared on social media. They were booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to defiling a place of worship, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings and promoting enmity between groups. Read on.

The Lok Sabha revoked the suspension of eight Opposition MPs through a voice vote. They had been suspended in February for the remainder of the Budget Session after they allegedly tore up papers and threw them at the speaker’s chair.

The MPs are Congress’ Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose, and S Venkatesan from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

They had been suspended against the backdrop of multiple adjournments in the House amid protests by the Opposition after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was prevented from quoting an excerpt of an unpublished memoir of former Indian Army chief MM Naravane. Read on.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a section of the 2020 Social Security Code that allowed maternity leaves for adoptive mothers to only those adopting children under three months old, PTI reported.

The court observed that adoption is part of the right to reproductive autonomy.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that an adoptive mother should be entitled to maternity leave for a 12-week period despite the age of the adopted child.

The court said that a restriction of maternity leave under Section 60(4) of the Code for adoptive mothers who adopt children over three months old violated their right to equality as their role is similar to that of mothers who adopt children below three months, Bar and Bench reported.

The bench added that the section also violates Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to protection of life and personal liberty, PTI reported.

The order came on a 2021 petition by advocate Hamsaanandini Nanduri originally challenging Section 5(4) of the 1961 Maternity Benefit Act, Live Law reported. The provision, which was introduced through a 2017 amendment, granted 12 weeks of maternity benefit to adoptive mothers only when the adopted child is below three months of age.

The petitioner argued that the age-based restriction was arbitrary and violated Article 14, Article 19(1)(g) and Article 21, Bar and Bench reported. Article 14 guarantees the right to equality and Article 19(1)(g) provides the right to practice any profession, occupation, trade or business.

The provision in the Maternity Benefit Act created an artificial classification between adoptive children based solely on age, the petitioner said, adding that it also failed to account for the realities of India’s adoption framework under the Juvenile Justice Act and Adoption Regulations.

The matter was initially reserved for judgement on December 12, Bar and Bench reported.

However, as the Social Security Code, which repealed the Maternity Benefit Act, had come into effect in November, the court permitted the petitioner to challenge Section 60(4) of the code. Section 60(4) is the corresponding provision to Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act.

In its order on Tuesday, the court said that the distinction drawn under Section 60(4) did not “have a rational nexus” with the object of the Social Security Code, Bar and Bench reported.

The order said that the object of maternity benefit is not associated with the “process of childbirth but with the process of motherhood”. The purpose of maternity protection does not vary with the manner in which the child is brought into the life of the beneficiary mother, it added.

“Insofar as the roles, responsibilities, and caregiving obligations are concerned, women who adopt a child aged three months or above are similarly situated to women who adopt a child below the age of three months,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying in its order.

The court also noted that the needs of an adoptive child is no different from a child born to the mother.

While striking down the section, the court urged the Union government to come out with a provision recognising paternity leave as a social security benefit, PTI reported.

Fourteen Muslims were arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus after they organised an iftar party on a boat in the river Ganga and ate chicken biryani, the Deccan Herald reported.

They were arrested after a video showing them holding the party on the boat on Monday was widely shared on social media.

A police complaint was filed by Rajat Jaiswal, the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing in the city, who alleged that the incident had hurt religious sentiments of the Hindus, the newspaper reported.

In his complaint, Jaiswal alleged that the persons had thrown meat leftovers into the Ganga river, which holds religious significance for Hindus, The Indian Express reported.

The persons were booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of a class, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of a class by insulting its religious beliefs and promoting enmity between groups.

They were also booked under sections pertaining to public nuisance and using evidence known to be false, The Indian Express reported.

The police also invoked the Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act.

All the 14 Muslim men seen on boat Iftar in Varanasi have been arrested. The FIR was registered based on the complaint of Bhartiya Janata Yuva morcha office bearer who accused the arrested men of hurting the religious sentiments. https://t.co/1Z6KnUgu59 pic.twitter.com/HNk2ng9ohN

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) March 17, 2026

Janata Dal (United) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP KC Tyagi on Tuesday announced his decision to quit the party, ANI reported.

The development comes a day after JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. Kumar, who became chief minister for the 10th time in November, is expected to step down after his election to the Upper House.

In a statement on Tuesday, Tyagi said that his membership of the JD(U) had ended, but he would not renew it.

“My commitment to the broader ideological points concerning the interests of the downtrodden, peasants and agriculturalists, including the deprived sections of society, remains as firm as ever,” he said.

The former MP also told The Indian Express that he has immense respect for Kumar, with “whom I have shared socialist space for over 50 years”.

He added: “Our relation with Nitishji is forever. It is just that I am searching for new political ground in Uttar Pradesh under the banner of another political party.”

"...The membership campaign of the JD(U) party has ended. This time, I have not renewed the membership in the party. Though my commitment to the larger and wider ideological points concerning the interests of downtrodden, peasants and agriculturalists, including the deprived… pic.twitter.com/VoCLmdbjcG

— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2026

The former MP, in his statement, noted that the JD(U) had come into existence on October 30, 2003, with the merger of the Samata Party and the Janata Dal, ANI reported.

“George Fernandes was the president, and I, as the secretary general of the party, worked with him,” he said. “I worked with Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar as my party president, serving as chief general secretary, chief spokesman and political advisor of the party.”

Tyagi added that he would convene a meeting on March 22 in New Delhi to “discuss the political situation” of the country, the news agency reported. “My further course of action will be decided soon in consultation with all required people,” he said.

Tyagi had previously served as the chief national spokesperson and national secretary general of the JD(U). He had been serving as a political adviser to the party after he was removed as its national spokesperson in September 2024.

The JD(U) has previously distanced itself from several statements made by the former MP, including on the Uniform Civil Code and Israel’s war on Gaza. The party had also recently taken serious exception to his demand for a Bharat Ratna for Kumar, The Indian Express reported.

The JD(U) is among the key allies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and is part of the National Democratic Alliance government.

Eight Opposition MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the Budget Session on Tuesday after they allegedly tore up papers and threw them at the speaker’s chair.

In Speaker Om Birla’s absence, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, a member of the panel of chairpersons, was presiding over the proceedings in the Lower House at the time.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moved a resolution seeking their suspension, which was adopted by the House.

The members who have been suspended are Congress leaders Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose, and S Venkatesan from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

After the resolution was adopted, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amid a ruckus.

The proceedings on Tuesday were marked by multiple adjournments amid protests by the Opposition after Congress leader Gandhi was again prevented from quoting an excerpt of an unpublished memoir of former Indian Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane about the political decision-making during the 2020 border tensions between India and China.

Gandhi has been mentioning the excerpt during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.

Congress MPs began protesting in the well of the House after Tenneti called on other members to speak before Gandhi had completed his speech.

Earlier, Tenneti had asked Gandhi to restrict his speech to the President’s address.

In response, Gandhi said that the conflict between China and the United States was a major global issue reflected in the Union Budget and the President’s address, and added that India also faced a conflict with China.

The chair then moved on to other speakers.

LoP Shri @RahulGandhi, Congress General Secretary & MP Smt. @priyankagandhi ji along with other MPs staged a strong protest at Makar Dwar, Parliament against the unjust suspension of eight Congress MPs and the India-US trade agreement.

👉This is an attack on parliamentary… pic.twitter.com/aEybMKmI8g

— Congress (@INCIndia) February 3, 2026

Following the suspension of its MPs on Tuesday, Congress leaders and other MPs staged a protest in the Parliament complex.

“This is an attack on parliamentary democracy,” the party said on social media. “Congress will not be silenced. We will continue to speak for the nation.”

In a social media post, Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “too afraid to let me speak in Parliament about Naravane”.

PM Modi is Compromised.

PM is too afraid to let me speak in Parliament about Naravane, Epstein Files and how he has surrendered on Tariffs. pic.twitter.com/V1J6yxZDM2

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 3, 2026

The Congress in Odisha suspended three MLAs on Tuesday for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections held a day earlier, The Hindu reported.

Four Rajya Sabha seats from the state were due to fall vacant on April 2 and elections were held on Monday to fill them. Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar won two seats, while Dilip Ray, an independent nominee backed by the Hindutva party, secured one.

Santrupta Mishra, a candidate from the Opposition Biju Janata Dal, won the fourth seat.

Amid polling, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bhakta Charan Das had told reporters that three of its MLAs – Ramesh Jena, Dasarathi Gomango and Sofia Firdous – had voted in favour of the ruling BJP in the state.

“The party will certainly take action against the erring members who jumped party discipline,” Das had said.

Jena, Gomango and Firdous were suspended from the party on Tuesday, according to The Hindu.

Earlier, BJD deputy chief whip Pratap Keshari Deb had also said that eight party MLAs cross-voted in favour of Ray.

BJD chief Naveen Patnaik had accused the BJP of “horse-trading”.

“They [BJP] have collected a number of persons who voted for them,” the former chief minister said. “Most of them have criminal past, I am ashamed to say. You can check yourself as to how many of their parents went to jail and how they were with them.”

However, Ray had said that everybody knew his relationship with leaders across party lines.

“I pay my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi and state BJP president Manmohan Samal for their total support,” he had said. “I have got success because of support of many in BJD and Congress.”

Elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states had been scheduled for Monday. Of these, 26 candidates secured their wins unopposed. Voting had taken place for the remaining 11 seats – five in Bihar, four in Odisha and two from Haryana.

Apart from the three in Odisha, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won all five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar and one in Haryana. The Congress secured one seat in Haryana.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued summons to Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami in a defamation case filed by the Congress over his claim that the Indian Opposition party had an office in Turkey, Bar and Bench reported.

The bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna refused to pass any interim order in the matter, observing that the comment had been made during a broadcast in May.

The matter will be next heard on May 19.

During a news segment on the TV channel on May 15, Goswami had falsely claimed that the Istanbul Congress Center is an office of the Indian National Congress. The building shown during the show is a convention centre owned by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Alt News reported.

The Bengaluru Police had at the time booked Goswami and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s publicity chief Amit Malviya on a separate complaint by an Indian Youth Congress leader. The first information report had been registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.

The Karnataka High Court had at the time stayed the case.

The complainant had alleged that the claim was made “with clear and undeniable criminal intent to deceive the Indian public”, defame the party, manipulate nationalist sentiments and undermine national security and democratic integrity”.

The complainant had also alleged that the claims were made in the context of tense relations between India and Turkey because of Ankara’s support for Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

Republic TV said in May that the image had been mistakenly used by a video editor on the digital desk due to a “technical error”.

However, the Congress said that an apology was not sufficient as redressal for the error.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the removal of allegedly defamatory online content linking Himayani Puri, the daughter of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Live Law reported.

Justice Mini Pushkarna directed that the takedown order would apply only within India for now because the matter pertaining to the scope of global takedowns is pending before another bench of the High Court.

The judge said that while content uploaded from within India must be removed, that uploaded from outside should be blocked from being accessed in the country.

The court added that if the uploaders fail to remove the videos and links within 24 hours, the posts must be blocked by the social media platforms, Bar and Bench reported.

Pushkarna was hearing a defamation suit filed by Himayani Puri, who has sought damages of Rs 10 crore and the removal of the allegedly defamatory content posted on several online platforms.

The court observed that a prima facie case had been made out and that the failure to grant relief could cause “irreparable injury” to her reputation, Bar and Bench reported.

During the hearing, the counsel for internet intermediaries, including Google and Meta, argued against a global takedown order, stating that the question of whether Indian courts can order worldwide content blocking is pending before a division bench of the High Court.

They urged the court to first consider their detailed responses before passing an order.

Himayani Puri’s counsel argued that the allegations made in the posts were false and part of a coordinated campaign to damage her reputation, stating that she was being targeted because she is the daughter of a Union minister, Live Law reported.

The court declined to issue a global blocking order at this stage and said it would consider the request after hearing all parties.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on August 7.

The “Epstein files” refer to millions of documents, emails, photos and videos released by the United States department of justice detailing the activities of Epstein, an American financier and convicted child sex offender, and his social circle that included politicians, celebrities and several public figures.

The documents released on January 30 contained email exchanges between Hardeep Singh Puri and Epstein that began in June 2014.

The minister has said that his conversations with Epstein had nothing to do with the crimes for which the American financier had been convicted.

The National Democratic Alliance won all five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, three in Odisha and one in Haryana in the elections held on Monday, reported The Hindu.

While the Biju Janata Dal won one seat in Odisha, the Congress secured one in Haryana.

The polls were held for 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states.

Voting was required for only 11 seats. Twenty-six candidates from seven states – Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Himachal Pradesh – were elected unopposed.

Among the five NDA candidates elected from Bihar were Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nitin Nabin and Janata Dal (United) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

BJP leader Shivesh Kumar, the JD(U)’s Ramnath Thakur and Rashtriya Lok Morcha president and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha were also elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar.

Nitish Kumar, who became chief minister for the 10th time in November, is expected to step down after his election to the Rajya Sabha. He is currently a member of the legislative council and has previously served terms as an MLA and Lok Sabha MP.

In Odisha, the BJP’s state chief Manmohan Samal and party leader Sujeet Kumar were among those elected. The party also secured the victory of Independent candidate Dilip Ray, whom it supported, reported The Hindu.

Opposition Biju Janata Dal’s Santrupt Misra won one seat from the state.

This came amid reports that at least eight BJD MLAs voted in favour of Ray.

Odisha Congress chief Bhakta Charan Das told reporters that three of the party’s MLAs – Ramesh Jena, Dasarathi Gomango and Sofia Firdous – had voted in favour of the BJP.

Earlier in the day, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik accused the BJP of “horse-trading”.

Complaints delayed counting in Haryana

The BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia and the Congress’ Karamvir Boudh were declared winners in Haryana, where counting continued past midnight amid complaints.

The counting was delayed by more than five hours after Haryana minister Krishan Kumar Bedi said that the BJP had complained to the Election Commission that two Congress MLAs had violated the secrecy of their votes, reported India Today.

Referring to legislators Bharat Singh Beniwal and Paramvir Singh, Bedi alleged: “Two Congress MLAs did not fold their ballots as required.”

The Congress also registered a complaint about a breach of secrecy in the vote of Cabinet minister Anil Vij, reported The Hindu.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the Election Commission, alleging that there was “a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election”, reported PTI.

“It must be stopped/redressed by the ECI immediately,” read Kharge’s letter. “Furthermore, no disqualification of our legitimate voters/votes cast can be allowed in what is clearly a transparent attempt to taint/derail the process.”

In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, 88 MLAs cast their votes. Two MLAs of the Indian National Lok Dal – Arjun Chautala and Aditya Devilal – did not vote.

The composition of the Rajya Sabha has shifted further in the favour of the ruling NDA following the 2026 elections. Following these polls, another 34 vacancies are expected to arise in the Upper House over the remainder of the year.

India has not held bilateral discussions with the United States about deploying naval forces to ensure the safe passage of merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz amid the West Asia conflict, the Union government said on Monday.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made the statement during a media briefing.

The statement came in response to a question about a call by United States President Donald Trump for countries such as China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to send warships to keep the strategically important waterway “open and safe”.

“We are aware of this particular matter being discussed by several countries,” Jaiswal said. “We have not yet discussed it in a bilateral setting.”

On Sunday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Financial Times that India’s direct talks with Iran had “yielded some results” in allowing Indian ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, though there was no blanket arrangement with Tehran for their passage.

He added: “From India’s perspective, it is better that we reason and we co-ordinate and we get a solution than we don’t…So if that sort of allows other people to engage, I think the world is better off for it.”

Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz for most international commercial vessels amid the conflict in West Asia began on February 28. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

The International Energy Agency on Thursday said that the fighting has caused the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”.

Global oil prices have surged since the conflict began. The benchmark Brent crude oil price has crossed the $100 per barrel-mark. The price was about $72.8 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict began.

Also read: Can propaganda on Iran allowing Indian ships hide Modi government’s failure to secure gas supply?

The mild phrasing in the Indian Meteorological Department’s forecast that this summer will be “hotter-than-normal” with an “above-normal number of heatwave days” belies the grave consequences of the coming summer heat.

The forecast predicts heatwaves lasting 10-14 days longer in many parts of the country than the usual eight to 15 days per summer season.

With Assembly elections scheduled in several states next month, the forecast signals a profound risk to India’s democratic life besides the obvious tangible threats to food, water, power and public health.

To see why, it is worth revisiting India’s 2024 general election – which was also held during summer in which India endured brutal heat. During the sixth phase on May 25, 2024, daytime temperatures in several poll-bound regions breached 45 degrees celsius.

Candidates, election officials, campaign managers, and field reporters fainted or fell sick. The substantial 1.6% drop in voter turnout in 2024 from the 2019 polls has been attributed, in part, to the intense summer heat.

This was not entirely unforeseen since the Meteorological Department had already forecast double the number of heatwave days that summer. In fact, the heat had an impact on the elections despite some mitigative measures being undertaken such as political parties shifting their campaign efforts to early mornings or late evenings, and provisions made for water and shade at polling stations.

As extreme temperatures become more common, India must consider not just how the changing climate may affect tangibles such as health, but even intangibles such as democratic participation.

A peer-reviewed climate change assessment for India that my colleagues and I published recently in PLOS Climate offers critical insights.

The report shows that the hottest days of the year across large swathes of the country are now about 1.5 degrees celsius-2 degrees celsius warmer than in the 1950s. Looking ahead, we project an additional 1.2 degrees celsius-1.3 degrees celsius warming in just the next two or three decades.

Yet, this projection carries a troubling caveat. These projections assume a continued high aerosol burden over India – in other words, persistent air pollution. Ironically, air pollution has exerted a substantial cooling effect on Earth’s surface, masking about 25% of the warming that would otherwise have occurred from rising greenhouse gases.

This “aerosol-masking” is one of the reasons for India’s muted warming compared to warming over land in other parts of the world.

It makes for a dilemma. As India pursues strategies to ensure cleaner air, a fundamental requirement for improved public health and quality of life, warming may inadvertently be accelerated.

When China reduced its aerosol emissions through pollution controls, scientistsobserved faster warming rates in response. If India successfully cleans its air, this could mean even greater warming over the country than current projections.

What is worse is that the impact of rising heat is not felt evenly. Those unable to afford air-conditioned comfort – often residents of informal settlements, people with medical vulnerabilities and the elderly – bear the heaviest burden of rising temperatures.

In the context of elections, the problem in 2024 was not merely the decline in the turnout but that the groups most vulnerable to extreme heat would have been disproportionately affected.

This amounts to a form of inequitable climate disenfranchisement.

The implications for democratic participation are profound. If heat already suppressed voter turnout in 2024, what happens when such extreme conditions become the norm – when the heatwave season expands to two months in summer as our projections suggest?

If extreme climate conditions systematically edge out specific groups from the democratic process, India risks a pernicious feedback loop: those least represented are also those most vulnerable to climate impacts, and their diminished political voice makes it harder to demand the very climate action they need most.

Measuring development only in economic terms rings hollow if environmental conditions undermine the foundations of democratic participation. As India charts its path forward, climate adaptation must be central to how infrastructure, electoral processes and social protections are imagined.

After the 2024 election, the chief election commissioner admitted that India should have completed the elections at least a month earlier. His successors would do well to heed that message as India heads into the Assembly elections this year.

Chirag Dhara is a climate and sustainability scientist at Krea University.

At least eight MLAs of the Opposition Biju Janata Dal on Monday reportedly voted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party-supported independent nominee Dilip Ray in the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha, The Hindu reported.

Four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha were due to fall vacant on April 2 and elections had been held on Monday to fill them. Voting ended at 6 pm in the state.

Amid polling on Monday, BJD deputy chief whip Pratap Keshari Deb said that eight party MLAs cross-voted in favour of Ray, who won the seat.

Additionally, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bhakta Charan Das also told reporters that three of its MLAs – Ramesh Jena, Dasarathi Gomango and Sofia Firdous – had voted in favour of the ruling BJP in the state.

“The party will certainly take action against the erring members who jumped party discipline,” Das said.

However, Ray said that everybody knew his relationship with leaders across party lines, The Hindu reported.

“I pay my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi and state BJP president Manmohan Samal for their total support,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “I have got success because of support of many in BJD and Congress.”

Earlier in the day, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik accused the BJP of “horse-trading”, The Hindu reported.

“They [BJP] have collected a number of persons who voted for them,” the newspaper quoted the former chief minister as saying. “Most of them have criminal past, I am ashamed to say. You can check yourself as to how many of their parents went to jail and how they were with them.”

In total, elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states had been scheduled for Monday. Of these, 26 candidates had already secured their wins unopposed. Voting had taken place on Monday for the remaining 11 seats, which included five from Bihar, four from Odisha and two from Haryana.

Apart from Ray, two other BJP-backed candidates – Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar – won in Odisha, The Hindu reported. BJD candidate Santrupta Mishra won the fourth seat.

Bribery allegations

On Sunday, two men had been arrested in Karnataka for allegedly attempting to bribe MLAs from the Odisha unit of the Congress ahead of the elections.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar accused the BJP of trying to influence the legislators as part of “Operation Lotus” by offering them Rs 5 crore to cross-vote in favour of a candidate backed by the party.

“Operation Lotus” refers to the alleged attempts by the BJP to orchestrate defections and poach legislators from Opposition parties by offering them bribes and other incentives.

The development came after eight Congress MLAs from Odisha were moved to a resort near Bengaluru on Thursday amid concerns about possible cross-voting in the election for the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state.

Shivakumar added that two of the four persons allegedly involved in Sunday’s incident were apprehended at the resort.

Meanwhile, the BJD and the Congress had also issued showcause notices to three MLAs on Sunday for allegedly violating party whips ahead of the elections.

A sessions court in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district on Monday convicted five persons and acquitted 35 others in connection with a 2016 case in which seven Dalits were assaulted in the town of Una, The Indian Express reported.

Additional Sessions Judge Jignesh Pandya of the court in Veraval convicted Ramesh Jadav, Rakesh Joshi, Nagjibhai Vaniya, Pramodgiri Gausvami and Balvantgiri Gausvami. The court will pronounce the punishment on Tuesday.

On July 11, 2016, more than 40 men from the upper caste Darbar community had assaulted seven members of the Sarvaiya family for skinning a dead cow in Una town in the district. The Sarvaiyas were leather tanners and skinning dead cattle was part of their traditional occupation.

However, the assailants accused them of cow slaughter.

During the attack, four of the Sarvaiya brothers were stripped, tied to the back of a car and beaten with sticks and iron rods, while some of the attackers filmed the assault.

The Criminal Investigation Department, which investigated the case, had filed charges against 41 persons, The Indian Express reported.

The charges included attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, attempting to cause grievous hurt, dacoity, kidnapping, assault or criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, wrongful confinement, rioting, unlawful assembly, among other offences.

Provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act and the Information Technology Act were also invoked.

Among the 41 accused facing trial were four police officers from the Una police station. One of these officers, former police inspector Nirmalsinh Zala, died during trial. The other three have been acquitted.

VC Mavadhiya, one of the defence lawyers in the case, told The Indian Express on Monday that the five men accused in the case have been convicted under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or means and criminal intimidation.

They were also convicted under Section 3(1)(10) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act. This section is related to the intentional insult, intimidation or caste-based abuse against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes members.

Noting that several persons had been accused in the case, Mavadhiya also told the newspaper that the prosecution could not establish who did what either in its complaint or in its testimony before the court.

“Therefore, the court has not found the offence against the rest of the accused proved,” The Indian Express quoted the lawyer as saying.

Vashram Sarvaiya described the ruling as “sad” and said that it will be challenged in the Gujarat High Court.

Also read: How the Una protests reflect Ambedkar’s great wisdom in the Constituent Assembly

Trinamool Congress MPs walked out of the Rajya Sabha to protest against the Election Commission’s decision to replace several top officials in West Bengal shortly after the schedule for the Assembly election was announced.

Among those removed from their posts by the poll panel were Director General of Police Peeyush Pandey, Kolkata Commissioner of Police Supratim Sarkar and Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty.

The Election Commission directed that those transferred out of their positions should not be posted in any election-related assignment till the polls are completed.

The election will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The result will be announced on May 4. Read on.

The Haryana government told the Supreme Court that it will not grant sanction to prosecute Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad in a case related to his comments about the press briefings on Operation Sindoor. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi then quashed the criminal proceedings against Mahmudabad, but cautioned him to act “prudently” in the future.

The state’s decision, described as “one-time magnanimity”, was communicated to the court by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju.

Mahmudabad had been booked in May for a social media post highlighting the apparent irony of Hindutva commentators praising Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had represented the Indian Army during the press briefings. He was arrested on May 18, but was granted bail by the Supreme Court three days later.

Of two cases filed against him, one was filed based on a complaint by Yogesh Jatheri, general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state Yuva Morcha, while the second was based on a complaint by Haryana Women’s Commission Chairperson Renu Bhatia. Read on.

Flights at Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates were temporarily suspended when a drone struck one of the fuel tanks in its vicinity amid the conflict in West Asia. Later in the day, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announced the “gradual resumption of some flights” to selected destinations.

Some flights were diverted from the Dubai International Airport to Al Maktoum International Airport on the outskirts of the city.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates ordered the arrest of 25 persons, including 17 Indians, for posting allegedly misleading or fabricated videos on social media amid the conflict. This is in addition to 10 persons, including two Indians, who were arrested on Saturday for similar offences. Read on.

Ten patients died and several were injured after a fire broke out in the trauma care intensive care unit of the Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Odisha’s Cuttack. The fire was reported at about 3 am.

While the exact cause of the fire has not been confirmed, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said it may have been triggered by a short circuit.

Around 23 patients were admitted in the unit and an adjacent intensive care unit at the time of the incident, Majhi said. Many of them were on ventilator and oxygen support, making it difficult for the authorities to shift them quickly after the blaze erupted.

SCB Medical College and Hospital is the largest government healthcare facility in Odisha. Read on.

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The Supreme Court on Monday refused to intervene in a petition filed by journalist Ravi Nair against a notice issued to him by the Gujarat Crime Branch in connection with an article that he co-authored about Adani Ports and SEZ Limited, Live Law reported.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked Nair to move the Gujarat High Court instead, The Hindu reported. It then allowed him to withdraw the petition

The journalist had moved the Supreme Court against a Gujarat Crime Branch notice issued on February 12 in connection with an article published in October 2025 in The Washington Post titled “India’s $3.9 billion plan to help Modi’s mogul ally after US charges”, Live Law reported.

The article had been authored by Nair and Pranshu Verma, former New Delhi bureau chief for The Washington Post.

The notice issued to Nair on February 12 summoned him to the office of the Gujarat Crime Branch on February 19 for a preliminary enquiry in connection with the article and one of his posts on social media.

In his petition against the notice, Nair said that the The Washington Post article “revealed how Indian officials drafted and pushed through a proposal in May 2025 to steer roughly $3.9 billion in investments to Adani Group businesses from the Life Insurance Corporation of India, a state-owned entity primarily responsible for providing life insurance to poor and rural families”, The Hindu reported.

It claimed that the Gujarat Crime Branch notice sought to “criminalise journalistic work carried out in good faith, after due diligence, and in the public interest”. Nair contended that the crime branch’s actions threatened his constitutional rights to equality, freedom of expression, and protection of life and liberty, the newspaper reported.

The state government authorities were “illegally indulging in a roving and fishing inquiry against the petitioner without jurisdiction”, the petition claimed.

During the proceedings in the Supreme Court, Nair’s counsel argued that industrialist Gautam Adani’s Adani Group had initiated three cases against the journalist and added that he was repeatedly being harassed, Live Law reported.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited is a part of the Adani Group.

However, the bench asked why a petition was filed under Article 32 instead of moving the jurisdictional High Court. In response, Grover said that it is “a fundamental right”.

Article 32 guarantees the right to directly approach the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamental rights.

Earlier case

On February 13, Nair was granted bail in another criminal defamation case filed by Adani Enterprises Limited in connection with a series of posts on the social media platform X.

A magisterial court in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar also suspended for a month the one-year prison sentence awarded to him.

The court had convicted Nair on February 10 and sentenced him to one year of imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 5,000.

The case pertained to a series of social media posts by Nair from October 2020 to July 2021 about the Adani Group, including allegations by United States short seller Hindenburg Research and a strike against the proposed privatisation of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

The case was based on a complaint filed by Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of Adani Group, alleging that Nair published and disseminated a series of posts on X containing false and defamatory statements intended to damage its reputation.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told the Delhi High Court that an order discharging all 23 accused persons, including Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, from the liquor policy case should not remain on record “even for a second more than what is necessary”, Live Law reported.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the statement after N Hariharan, the lawyer for Kejriwal, said that the AAP chief has approached the Supreme Court against a High Court order staying the trial court’s adverse observations about the CBI.

Mehta said that while it was Kejriwal’s right to challenge the High Court order, if the plea in the top court was being cited as a reason for adjournment, then he must ensure that the petition is listed this week, according to Live Law.

The solicitor general contended that seeking a reply from the AAP leaders was not necessary as the entire record of the trial court was available, PTI reported. He demanded that Kejriwal and the other respondents should not be given more than a week to file their responses.

“We seriously object to the order,” Mehta told the High Court, according to Live Law. “It cannot remain on record even for a second more than what is necessary.”

Mehta contended that the order discharging all the accused persons was “perverse” and its existence constituted a prejudice to the system.

However, the High Court granted the respondents two weeks to file their replies.

The trial court had passed the order discharging all the accused persons on February 27. The court had criticised the CBI for implicating Kejriwal and AAP leader Manish Sisodia without any cogent material and said the chargesheet contained several gaps not supported by witnesses or statements.

The trial court had also said it would recommend a departmental inquiry against CBI officials who made a public servant the accused number one in the case. It had said that there was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent behind the excise policy.

The CBI has filed an appeal against the order.

Kejriwal had urged the High Court to transfer the case from Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma to another bench. However, the High Court’s Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay rejected the request, according to Live Law.

Also read: Why a court held CBI’s corruption case against Kejriwal was so flimsy it could not even go to trial

A day after the schedule for the Assembly elections in West Bengal was released, the Election Commission on Monday removed the state director general of police and the Kolkata police commissioner, PTI reported.

The poll panel appointed Indian Police Service officer Siddh Nath Gupta as the new director general of police, the news agency quoted an unidentified official as saying. Gupta will replace Peeyush Pandey in the post.

The official added that Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar has been removed and Ajay Kumar Nand has been appointed in his position.

Additionally, Natarajan Ramesh Babu has been named director general of correctional services, while Ajay Mukund Ranade has been appointed additional director general (law and order), the Hindustan Times reported.

In an earlier notice, the poll panel had removed Nandini Chakraborty from the post of chief secretary, appointing Dushyant Nariala in her place, The Indian Express reported. Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena was replaced by Sanghamitra Ghosh.

The official also told PTI that the Election Commission has directed that all the orders be implemented immediately and that the state government submit a compliance report by 3 pm on Monday.

Those transferred out of their positions should not be posted in any election-related assignment till the completion of the polls, the poll panel added.

The West Bengal election will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29 in the state. The results will be announced on May 4.

Trinamool Congress walks out of Rajya Sabha

In the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Trinamool Congress MPs walked out in protest against the Election Commission’s decision to remove top officials in the state, hours after announcing the schedule for the Assembly elections.

Raising the issue ahead of the Zero Hour in the Upper House, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien said that “in the dead of night, the chief secretary, the principal secretary, the home secretary have been removed by the Election Commission”.

O’Brien added that the poll panel had all the power to do this. “They can also say that I am wearing a blue shirt and not a white shirt,” he said.

“In protest against what the chief election commissioner is doing, the Trinamool Congress is walking out for the day,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

Trinamool intervenes, registers protest in Rajya Sabha, walks out

VIDEO

"In the dead of night, the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, Home Secretary of Bengal were removed by the Election Commission

EC have all the power to do it. They can (misuse their power). I am wearing… pic.twitter.com/uDLYegkOSY

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) March 16, 2026

The Haryana government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it will not grant sanction to prosecute Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad in the case pertaining to his comments about the press briefings on Operation Sindoor, Live Law reported.

The decision, described as a “one-time magnanimity” was communicated to the court by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi then quashed the criminal proceedings against Mahmudabad.

The court, however, cautioned the professor to act “prudently” in the future.

“Sometimes writing in between the lines creates more problems,” Bar and Bench quoted Kant as saying. “Sometimes the situation is so sensitive that we all have to be careful. Petitioner being a highly learned person shall act in a prudent manner in the future.”

Mahmudabad, who heads the political science department at Ashoka University, had been booked in May for a social media post highlighting the apparent irony of Hindutva commentators praising Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had represented the Indian Army during the press briefings.

He had said that the optics of the press briefings by Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh were important, “but optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy”.

“Perhaps they [commentators] could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens,” he had said.

Mahmudabad was arrested on May 18 but was granted bail by the Supreme Court three days later.

However, the court had at the time declined to halt the investigation against him. It had also instructed the Haryana Police chief to form a special investigation team to look into the meaning of the words used by Mahmudabad.

The first case in the matter was filed based on a complaint by Yogesh Jatheri, general secretary of the BJP’s state Yuva Morcha, invoking provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to promoting enmity, prejudicial assertions affecting national integration and acts endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity.

The second FIR, lodged by Haryana Women’s Commission Chairperson Renu Bhatia, invoked provisions pertaining to public mischief, deliberate actions aimed at insulting the modesty of a woman, and endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity.

On August 25, the Supreme Court restrained a magistrate from taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the Haryana Police’s Special Investigation Team in the first case. It had also quashed all proceedings in the second first information report against Mahmudabad based on a police closure report.

On January 6, the Supreme Court had urged the state to reconsider the matter and decline prosecution.

The professor has maintained that his remarks had been “completely misunderstood” by the women’s commission and that its notice failed to explain how his posts were “contrary to the right of or laws for women”.

Also read:

• Why Ashoka University professor’s arrest has no legal basis

• Harsh Mander: The message from the persecution of Ali Khan Mahmudabad

Nineteen Indians were among 35 persons whose arrest has been ordered in the United Arab Emirates for posting allegedly misleading and fabricated videos on social media amid regional tensions due to the West Asia conflict, PTI reported on Sunday.

Ten persons, including two Indians, were ordered to be arrested on Saturday, while the arrest of the remaining 25, including 17 Indians, was ordered on Sunday.

The accused persons have been referred for an expedited trial.

UAE Attorney General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said in a statement that the action followed rigorous monitoring of digital platforms to curb the spread of fabricated information and artificial content intended to incite public disorder and undermine stability.

He added that “publishing such clips, whether real or fabricated,” could “affect public security and create confusion,” and also provide “hostile media with material that could be used to distort facts, undermine confidence in the competent authorities and potentially reveal aspects of the country’s defensive capabilities”.

The conflict in West Asia began on February 28 after Israel and the US launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government.

Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries and some ships.

Iran has fired more than 1,800 missiles and drones at the UAE, more than any other country targeted by Tehran in the conflict, upending travel plans in the financial hub despite its air defence intercepting a vast majority of the projectiles, Reuters reported.