On February 24, the Chhattisgarh state government presented its annual budget for the coming financial year. Among those who scrutinised its details closely were the state’s midday meal workers, thousands of whom had been on strike in shifts for two months, demanding an increase in their wages, from under Rs 70 a day currently to at least Rs 350.

The workers were in for a crushing disappointment – there was no mention of them at all in the budget.

The total lack of even an acknowledgement from the government left them dismayed.

The protest had extracted a tragic cost for some. Workers told Scroll that cold weather during those weeks, and unsanitary conditions at the site had led to many contracting ailments. In late January, two striking workers, Dulari Yadav and Rukmani Sinha, died after falling ill.

“We protested for two months,” Ramrajya Kashyap, the state president of the Chhattisgarh School Madhyanbhojan Rasoiya Sanyukta Sangh, told Scroll. “We spent all our money and begged others for food and money to continue protesting, and not a single official or leader came to see us.” The association represents more than 90,000 mid-day meal workers from across the state.

Kashyap added, “The least they could have done was to tell us that our demands would be ignored.”

The day after the budget was presented, the workers adjourned their protest at Naya Raipur’s Tuta Dharna Sthal. By then, it had by then been underway for 59 days. On March 2, they returned to their work at government schools in their hometowns.

But Kashyap explained that the workers did not view this as the end of their struggle. He noted that midday meal workers had over the decades mounted several protests, and won small increases in their pay. “We are disappointed but we have not lost,” he said. “We are thinking of picking up the protest again before the July assembly session.”

He added that they would also aim to issue a “muh todh jawab”, a jaw-breaking response, to the current government in the 2028 state election.

The scheme and the demands

Midday meal workers work under the centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman scheme, formerly known as the National Programme for Mid Day Meal in Schools.

Under the scheme, the government provides one hot cooked meal to children enrolled up to Class 8 in government and government-aided schools across India.

According to the scheme’s guidelines, schools with up to 25 students have to employ one “cook-cum-helper”, while those with between 26 and 100 students have to hire two. For every additional 100 students a school enrols, they have to hire one more worker.

Midday meal workers are not classified as permanent government employees but as volunteers. In keeping with this categorisation, the scheme’s guidelines state that the workers are to be paid for around 10 months of the year, when schools are open, and not for the other months, when they are closed.

Currently, the central government pays an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month for each worker. However, the scheme’s guidelines note that states are “free to give more honorarium over and above the prescribed minimum”.

In March 2025, in an answer to a parliamentary question, Jayant Chaudhary, the union minister of state for education, listed the rates paid to workers across the country. Among the states that paid the workers the highest honorariums were Kerala, which pays Rs 12,000 a month, and Lakshadweep, which pays between Rs 18,000 and Rs 20,200 a month. However, Chhattisgarh pays only an additional Rs 1,000 to each worker.

Workers say this pay is not commensurate with the time and effort that is required from them. The pay they are demanding, they argue, is more consistent with government-mandated wages for several other comparable categories of workers in the state.

“Most of us have been doing this work for some 30 years in the hope that the government realises our worth and increases our pay,” Kashyap said. “Who can afford to work six hours a day and survive on Rs 66 a day?”

The workers also demand greater stability for their posts. “We want all part-time posts to be made full-time posts,” Kashyap said. “And no workers should be removed if the number of students at a school drops.”

They have also put forward demands that have arisen over the course of the protest itself. On January 29, the workers marched to the Naya Raipur railway station – in response, police lodged FIRs against 600 unnamed workers, accusing them of rioting. The workers have demanded that these FIRs be withdrawn. Further, they have called for the government to pay compensation to the families of the two workers who died in the period of the protest.

Gruelling workload

Around 95% of Chhattisgarh’s midday meal workers are women. Development economist Dipa Sinha noted that the scheme encourages the employment of marginalised women. “The scheme prioritises women from Dalit and Adivasi communities, and also single women who are widowed or unmarried, or whose husbands are unable to work,” Sinha said. “In many cases they are the primary breadwinners in their homes.”

Those Scroll spoke to described a taxing daily routine. “Most of us are occupied for five-six hours daily in schools,” said Durga Sen, a worker from Rajnandgaon district. “We have to reach school by 9 am and start preparing the food. Many schools don’t provide gas cylinders, so we have to cook on firewood, which makes our eyes burn. By 1.30 pm we serve food, and then washing up can take till 3 pm.”

Workers complained that this routine left them little time to take up other work to supplement their incomes. “There is no time to take up other labour or NREGA work,” Sen said.

Workers explained that while the lack of time hampered their ability to earn an adequate income, so also did the administration’s ambiguous categorisation of them.

Kachra Chandrakar, a worker from Mahasamund district, noted that when it came to wages, “we are viewed as part time workers who don’t deserve proper pay”.

But in other contexts, she added, they are treated as government employees, such as when they are assigned election duties. Crucially, she noted, local authorities also often view workers as formal government employees, and thus deny them other work or benefits to which such employees are not entitled, under schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and Mahatari Vandan Yojana.

As a result, workers struggle to earn enough to meet their families’ basic needs. “They say they are providing us opportunity, but they are actually exploiting us,” Chandrakar said. “Most of us are unable to send our children to college.”

Teeja Nag, a widowed worker from Dantewada district, recounted, “Last year I couldn’t even buy new clothes for my children on festivals. I am unable to feed them well, so I have had to send them off to stay with my relatives.”

The workers’ strike drew support from teachers in the state, and parents of students. “They do a lot of work and it takes up half their day,” said a middle school principal that Scroll met in Dhamtari district, who requested anonymity because they had not been authorised to speak to the media. “Even the cleaning staff gets paid more, around Rs 3,400, and they work fewer hours than them.”

Parents, meanwhile, expressed deep appreciation for the workers. “My wife and I are both labourers and we are not at home in the daytime, so we depend on the school to feed our two children lunch,” said one parent, Chetan Mahar, whom Scroll also met in Dhamtari. “What is Rs 2,000 a month these days? On good weeks where I find decent work, I earn that much within a week.”

A special National Investigation Agency court has issued a letter of request to a competent judicial authority in China seeking assistance to trace the supply chain and end-user details of a GoPro camera connected to the April terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

The court issued a Letter Rogatory, or a request for assistance from a foreign judicial authority, to the competent judicial office in China, the newspaper reported.

The order came on an application filed by National Investigation Agency Deputy Inspector General Sandeep Choudhary under Section 112 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which allows Indian courts to request evidence from the authorities in foreign countries.

The terror attack at Baisaran near Pahalgam town in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 16 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

During the investigation, the NIA seized several electronic devices and material objects connected to the conspiracy and execution of the attack, the newspaper reported.

Among them, a GoPro Hero 12 Black camera was identified as crucial for establishing pre-attack reconnaissance, movement patterns and operational preparation of the terrorist module, PTI reported.

The investigation agency said it had issued a notice to the manufacturer, GoPro BV, seeking details of the supply chain and activation of the device, according to the news agency.

In its response, GoPro informed the agency that the camera had been supplied to AE Group International Limited, a distributor based in Dongguan, China, and activated there on January 30, 2024.

According to the NIA, the manufacturer added that it did not possess records of downstream transactions or the end-user.

“The activation, initial use and commercial trail of the said device lie within the territorial jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, and the information necessary to trace the purchaser, end-user and associated technical records can only be obtained through judicial assistance of the Chinese authorities,” the NIA’s application further stated.

Since India and China do not have a bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, the Jammu court observed that the request could be made under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, to which both countries are signatories.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the issuance of the Letter Rogatory, PTI reported.

The information sought is very important for “establishing the chain of custody, user, attribution and evidentiary linkage of seized device” the court said in its order.

It directed that translated copies of the request be uploaded and forwarded through diplomatic channels.

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Wednesday alleged that government negligence caused the recent blast at an explosives manufacturing unit in Nagpur, which killed 19 workers.

The blast occurred on Sunday morning at a factory owned by SBL Energy Limited in the Raulgaon village around 6.45 am. Eighteen workers died immediately while one succumbed to injuries the following day, PTI reported.

Twenty-three persons were injured in the incident.

Wadettiwar described the incident as “tragic and heart-numbing” and raised a suspension motion in the Assembly, demanding an immediate and detailed discussion on the matter

While addressing the Assembly, Wadettiwar claimed that 43 workers had died in similar incidents at explosives factories in the district over the past 18 months.

“Despite repeated requests to conduct safety audits of such companies, no concrete action has been taken by the state or the Centre,” he said.

He said the district has 11 explosives factories and questioned why recurring accidents had not prompted stricter inspections by the factories inspectorate and the labour department.

“On one hand, we speak of a ‘trillion-dollar economy’, jet off to Davos for photo ops in the snow, and on the other hand, workers in Maharashtra are risking their lives for a measly 300 rupees in daily wages,” he said.

Wadettiwar said that inspections were not carried out seriously even though the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation office is located just 10 km from the site of the incident in Nagpur, PTI reported.

The Speaker of the Assembly acknowledged the gravity of the matter and said it would be discussed in detail through a calling attention motion by Friday, PTI reported.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for the families of those killed, noting that the company has also been directed to provide financial assistance to all families.

“Orders have been issued for a thorough investigation into this incident,” Fadnavis added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of those who died and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

With expanding cities, rising housing demand, and large-scale infrastructure projects, India is witnessing one of the world’s fastest construction booms.

Under the government’s urban housing scheme, over a period of 10 years, 11.8 million houses were sanctioned, 11.4 million grounded for construction, and over 8 million completed as of 2024. Meanwhile, under the rural housing scheme the government plants to construct 20 million houses by 2029. Every year, the country constructs millions of buildings, reflecting both the scale and pace of this growth.

The construction sector is a critical contributor to climate change. According to the World Green Building Council, buildings and construction together account for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions, with materials and construction alone contributing 11%.

The growing construction demand has increased the demand for bricks and the brick industry is growing. India is the world’s second-largest producer of bricks, after China. Yet, much of the sector is unorganised, widely dispersed, and largely informal.

Traditional brick-making methods rely on coal-fired, energy-intensive kilns, resulting in higher emissions from fired clay bricks used in construction. The brick industry is one of the largest (coal) energy users and a source of GHG emissions from India. But it also employs some of the largest workforces in India, after agriculture.

Kanpur, an industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, has a well-established brick manufacturing industry. Its peripheral regions host numerous traditional brick kilns that fuel the city’s rapid construction growth.

At the same time, several enterprises here are experimenting with low-carbon alternatives such as fly-ash bricks, compressed stabilised earth blocks, and autoclaved aerated concrete blocks. These alternatives reduce emissions and resource use, but their wider adoption is constrained by cost, awareness, and market acceptance.

Kanpur brick kilns

On the outskirts of Kanpur in Ramaipur, rows of brick kilns stretch across the fields. Ramaipur is home to a number of brick kilns, ranging from Fixed Chimney Bull’s Trench Kilns and the newer zigzag kilns. Ramaipur’s kilns are typical of much of Kanpur: small, family-run or individually owned units that operate on traditional methods, often with minimal resources or support.

The shift from Fixed Chimney Bull’s Trench Kilns to zigzag firing may sound like a technical detail, but on the ground, it is reshaping how bricks are produced. Traditional FCBTK kilns rely on straight-line airflow, which inefficiently burns coal, often leaving bricks unevenly fired and increasing pollution and waste. Zigzag kilns, in contrast, guide hot air in a winding pattern, improving combustion and reducing coal usage.

At Samat Brick Field, based in Ramaipur, preparations were still underway in September for the next firing season, which typically begins in November and continues until June. Standing near the kiln’s main chamber, supervisor Amit Paul pointed towards a far-off chimney.

“That one is still the old FCBTK,” he said, shading his eyes with his hand. “They’re planning to convert it soon. Now all of them are converting to zigzag according to government guidelines.”

Paul oversees the zigzag kiln at Samat Brick Field, a role that demands constant attention to airflow, fuel feeding, and maintaining consistent monitoring. He shared that while traditional clay brick making is largely manual, the recent adoption of more efficient technologies, such as the zigzag kiln, has helped reduce emissions and improve production efficiency.

“The zigzag helps us use less coal and make better-quality bricks,” Paul explained. “Earlier, we used to lose many bricks because of uneven firing, around a third of them. Now, waste has come down a lot.”

On the ground, this transition to cleaner kilns is experienced less as a technological transition and more as a daily negotiation with labour and wages. Rahul Sonkar, a 26-year-old worker at the zigzag kiln in Ramaipur, where his day is spent washing freshly fired bricks before they are stacked and sent out. The work is repetitive, and his hands are constantly coated in red dust and slurry. He has been working at the kiln for four years. Before that, he stayed at home in his village, Audha, located in the Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh, unable to find regular work.

“I work around five to six hours a day,” Sonkar said. His earnings depend entirely on how many bricks he washes. On slower days, he earns about Rs 300; on better days, about Rs 700. “If I wash around 3,000 bricks, I get Rs 600-Rs 700,” he explained.

The shift to zigzag has reduced coal use and waste, but for workers like Sonkar, wages remain uncertain and tied to output rather than fixed hours. The condition of workers remains much the same. While the technology is updated, the nature of work remains informal, offering little predictability or long-term security.

Larger push

These incremental changes in brick-making are not just about efficiency; they are part of a larger push, supported by government policies, to reduce kiln emissions. In Uttar Pradesh, the shift to zigzag kilns gained momentum after the 2012 Brick Kiln Siting Rules, which introduced clearer criteria for establishing and operating kilns, including distance requirements, emission norms, and restrictions on fuel use. But the most significant policy change came with the 2022 amendment to the Environment (Protection) Rules, which made cleaner technology mandatory.

Manoj Kumar, Regional Officer at the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board in Kanpur, said that the shift is well underway.

“Close to 70%-80% of kilns in this region have already converted to zigzag,” he said. “The 2012 and 2022 guidelines have accelerated the transition.”

But he also noted the cost barrier. “Converting a traditional kiln to zigzag typically costs between Rs 50 lakh- Rs to 60 lakh,” he said. “For many small kiln owners, this is like building a new kiln altogether.”

According to UPPCB data, Kanpur Nagar district has 307 brick kilns. While 264 have received consent to operate, only about 120 have upgraded to zigzag technology so far, with closure orders issued to 32 kilns and 11 already dismantled, highlighting an uneven transition.

This lack of financial support creates a gap between policy ambition and ground reality. While the environmental benefits of zigzag kilns are well documented, the burden of transition falls entirely on kiln owners, many of whom operate on thin margins and rely heavily on seasonal labour. In Ramaipur, the chimneys, both old and new, stand side by side, symbolising a transition in progress rather than one achieved.

Material transition

While Kanpur’s traditional brick kilns continue to evolve, a quieter but significant shift is emerging in parallel: the rise of low-carbon building materials. Among the handful of enterprises leading this transition is Mahana Industries, located in Maharajpur, Kanpur.

The Mahana family has been part of Kanpur’s construction story for more than seven decades. Their journey began in the 1950s, when the family operated a clay brick kiln, which has since shifted entirely to manufacturing fly-ash bricks and CLC blocks, a low-carbon alternative to clay bricks.

“We stopped clay brick production nearly two years ago,” Madhv Mahana, a fourth-generation family member now running the enterprise, told Mongabay-India. “It just wasn’t viable anymore. We couldn’t get raw materials easily during the pandemic. According to the guidelines, we were only allowed to dig four-five feet. Then came coal. Prices rose steeply, but the market price of red bricks remained unchanged. Because clay brick production is seasonal, getting workers, coal, and materials in place was always a challenge.”

Fly-ash bricks have emerged as one of the most promising and scalable alternatives in India’s brick industry. Instead of using topsoil, these bricks harness fly ash, a by-product from coal-fired power plants, transforming industrial waste into construction material.

The transition from clay to fly-ash bricks and Cellular Lightweight Concrete blocks also changed the workforce structure. While clay brick production previously required more than 100 labourers, the new mechanised process, which uses machines to mix, mold, and cure the bricks, now operates with just 10-12 labourers and operators.

Another low-carbon alternative in Kanpur’s Sachendi area is Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, a lightweight building material cured under high-pressure steam, producing blocks that are easier to handle and significantly lighter than traditional bricks.

Field observation in Sachendi shows that Autoclaved Aerated Concrete sites operate with formal safety protocols and mechanised production lines, contrasting sharply with the informal, labour-intensive nature of traditional kilns. The blocks are easier to handle, reduce building weight, and improve insulation, lowering energy use in buildings.

Amid these shifts, a third alternative, Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks (CSEBs), is quietly making inroads. These blocks are not kiln-fired; they are shaped using mechanical presses, eliminating high-temperature combustion and saving energy. These blocks are made by mixing soil with a small amount of cement or lime and compressing them using mechanical presses, eliminating the need for kiln firing.

“CSEBs are faster to make and easier to transport than clay bricks,” said Ravi Kumar, a local vendor in Kanpur. “They save energy, and we can produce consistent quality without burning coal.”

The challenges of adoption are consistent across all these low-carbon alternatives. “People don’t want to change; they want things to continue as they are, so their mindset stays the same,” Mahana observed.

Kanpur’s evolving brick sector reflects gradual change and experimentation, as enterprises navigate technical innovation, labour shifts, and market perceptions to produce cleaner building materials. Together, these alternatives illustrate the city’s ongoing journey toward more sustainable construction practices.

Just transition

These changes are about people as much as they are about technology. Mahana reflected, “Innovation is important, but we also have to make sure the people who built this industry for generations can adapt and benefit from the changes.”

Workers and vendors face a learning curve. “People are cautious,” Ravi Kumar said. “They know clay bricks, but new materials like CSEBs or AAC [Autoclaved Aerated Concrete] are unfamiliar. We have to show them why it works and train them in the process.”

For workers like Sonkar, cleaner kilns have not translated into steadier incomes or greater security, highlighting the gap between environmental progress and labour justice.

Kanpur’s transition shows that cleaner materials alone are not enough. As India rethinks how it builds its cities, a just brick sector transition will require bringing along the enterprises and workers whose livelihoods have long depended on brickmaking, ensuring the benefits of innovation and sustainability are shared equitably across society.

The story is supported by the Just Transition Research Center (JTRC) Fellowship, IIT Kanpur, Climate Trends, and the Earth Journalism Network.

This article was first published on Mongabay.

The United States said that one of its submarines had sunk an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The frigate, the IRIS Dena, was sunk by a torpedo, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.

Hegseth said that this was the “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II”.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday rescued 32 “critically injured” sailors from the warship, the country’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said. At least 101 crew members are believed to be missing.

The IRIS Dena attended an International Fleet Review in India’s Vishakhapatnam from February 15 to February 25.

Commenting on the sinking of the warship, Congress leader Pawan Khera asked whether India had any influence left in its neighbourhood. “Or has that space also been quietly ceded to Washington and Tel Aviv?” he asked.

The US sunk the Iranian ship on the fifth day of a joint operation that it launched along with Israel against Tehran. Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, although Tehran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes. Read more.

The Indian stock market continued to fall sharply amid concerns related to the conflict in West Asia, with the Sensex down by 1.4% and the Nifty registering a 1.5% drop. The rupee hit a low of 92.16 against the US dollar, falling by 67 paise, driven by rising Brent crude prices at $82.46 per barrel.

The Sensex ended the day at 79,116.19, while the Nifty50 was at 24,480 points at closing.

The India VIX index, which measures volatility in the market, had spiked above 23% at the close of trading.

The price of benchmark Brent crude had jumped by 1.29% to $82.46 per barrel on Wednesday. Read on.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that whoever is chosen to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iran’s supreme leader will be “an unequivocal target for elimination”. He added that Israel will “continue to act with full force, together with our American partners to crush the regime’s capabilities”.

The statement came after Khamenei was killed in a joint military operation by Israel and the United States on Saturday. After Khamenei’s killing, senior Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi was appointed to serve as a member of the leadership council that will oversee the process of selecting Iran’s next supreme leader. Read on.

National Confence MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu have been booked by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for sharing allegedly misleading content on social media. Mehdi and Mattu also said that their security has also been downgraded.

It was not clear what content the police were referring to. However, both the Srinagar MP and the former city mayor have been condemning the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran that began on Saturday.

Mehdi claimed that the case against him was filed because of his statements on the situation in West Asia.

The police said that the first information reports against the two were filed after “credible inputs” regarding the “circulation of false, fabricated and misleading content across digital and social media platforms…” Read more.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our Daily Brief newsletter.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has named its national president Nitin Nabin, Union minister Ramdas Athawale and party general secretary Vinod Tawde among its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, announcing nominees across seven states.

On Tuesday, the party announced nine candidates from six states, followed by four more from Maharashtra on Wednesday.

Nabin, who has been fielded from Bihar, is a five-time MLA from Bankipur and a minister in the Nitish Kumar government. The youngest national president in the BJP’s history, Nabin will have to resign from the Bihar Assembly if elected.

Alongside Nabin, the BJP has nominated Shivesh Ram, a former MLA and current Bihar BJP general secretary, as its second candidate from the state. He is the son of former BJP MP Muni Lal Ram.

There are five vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar. The ruling BJP and Janata Dal (United) are positioned to win two seats each, while the fifth seat will require three additional votes from the Opposition to secure a majority, The Hindu reported.

In Maharashtra, the party has named Athawale and Tawde along with Maya Chintaman Ivnate and Ramrao Wadkute as its nominees, ANI reported.

The terms of seven Rajya Sabha MPs from Maharashtra will end in April. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is poised to win six of the seven seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi has yet to finalise its candidate for the remaining seat.

The Nationalist Congress Party has indicated that Parth Pawar, son of late party chief Ajit Pawar, will file his nomination, The Hindu reported quoting unidentified party officials.

In Assam, the BJP has selected sitting MLAs Jogen Mohan, a minister in the government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Terash Gowalla as its candidates.

From West Bengal, former state president Rahul Sinha has been nominated.

In Odisha, state unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar have been fielded as candidates. Former Union coal minister Dilip Ray has also announced that he will contest as an independent candidate from the state, with the BJP indicating in-principle support, The Hindu reported.

In Haryana, the BJP has nominated Sanjay Bhatia, a former Lok Sabha MP and in Chhattisgarh, the party has fielded its state vice-president Laxmi Verma.

Elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states are scheduled for March 16. Following these polls, another 34 vacancies are expected to arise in the Upper House over the remainder of the year.

The ruling NDA is poised to win around 19 seats in March. It currently holds 133 MPs in the 245-member Rajya Sabha. The BJP alone has 103, which is 20 short of the 123-seat majority mark, according to The Indian Express.

भारतीय जनता पार्टी की केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति ने विभिन्न प्रदेशों में होने वाले राज्यसभा के द्विवार्षिक चुनाव हेतु निम्नलिखित नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/38I3mo5KMb

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 3, 2026

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday said that National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu have been booked for sharing allegedly misleading content on social media.

It was not clear what content the police were referring to. However, Mehdi and Mattu have been condemning the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran that began on Saturday.

The conflict in West Asia began when Israel and the US attacked Iran. Khamenei was killed on Sunday in the joint military operation carried out by the two countries. Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries.

On Tuesday, Mehdi claimed that the case against him was filed because of his statements on the situation in West Asia. The two of them had earlier said that their security had also been downgraded.

On the other hand, the police said that the first information reports against the two were filed after “credible inputs” regarding the “circulation of false, fabricated and misleading content across digital and social media platforms with the intent to create fear, disturb public order and incite unlawful activities”.

The content in question reflected “dissemination of distorted narratives and unverified information” capable of causing public unrest and societal disharmony, the police added.

“Such deliberate attempts to spread misinformation pose a serious threat to peace, security and overall stability,” read the police statement.

The FIRs were registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to the dissemination of false information that endangers sovereignty, unity, or security, as well as statements that constitute public mischief.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Mehdi said that the “same administration that could not find the courage to condemn a sovereign nation’s leader being martyred now finds the courage to book the one man who did”.

The Srinagar MP added that the residents of his constituency did not elect a legislator to “recite government-approved” condolences. “They elected him to speak truth,” Mehdi said. “That mandate does not expire with an FIR.”

In another post, the National Conference leader claimed that his security detail had been downgraded and his Facebook account withdrawn.

“Some fools in J&K Police and administration think that by withdrawing/downgrading my security detail and suspending my Facebook account will stop me from calling out their atrocities,” Mehdi said. “It is laughable! Neither am I fascinated by these petty things nor scared by their absence around me.”

The Srinagar MP added that as a citizen of this country, he will exercise his rights “to stand up against your atrocities, violation of laws, freedom and democracy given to us by the Constitution”.

Mattu on Tuesday claimed that his security had been withdrawn with immediate effect for his statements on Iran and Khamenei’s killing, and for speaking against the Union government’s “moral abdication and deafening silence” on the attacks on Iran.

He added that this was a measure aimed at silencing him.

“Such measures aimed to suppress my voice however, won’t stop me from speaking up for humanity, justice and to seek answers about my country’s and its leadership’s unprecedented moral abdication when it comes to Iran,” he said.

Mattu added that “our institutions should not suppress the sentiments and freedom of speech of our own citizens to help please and pander to foreign powers”.

Later in the day, Mattu also claimed that a police contingent had arrived at his home to remove the guard.

“To think that I will stop speaking up against the gruesome injustice and cruelty perpetuated against Iran and our own government’s moral abdication in the face of these unjust, barbaric crimes against humanity by Israel and the US – not going to happen,” he said. “Till my last breath.”

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti described the FIRs against Mehdi and Mattu as “egregiously unwarranted and unjust” and demanded that it is withdrawn immediately.

“Just because GOI [the Government of India] and NC government in Jammu & Kashmir have chosen to remain silent on the blatant aggression by US and Israel against Iran and the martyrdom of its Supreme Leader doesn’t mean that those who speak out are offenders to be booked under the law,” she said in a social media post.

The FIRs came after the police stated earlier on Tuesday that some news and media outlets, and persons were booked in Jammu and Kashmir for sharing allegedly misleading information about the protests against the killing of Khamenei.

Protests had erupted in several Indian states after Khamenei’s killing. The supreme leader, who had controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces in Iran since 1989, was considered an important figure by Shia Muslims globally.

At least 14 persons, including six security personnel, were injured during the protests in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, the Hindustan Times reported.

Amid the demonstrations, the authorities in the Union Territory had curtailed mobile internet speed.

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he has ordered the US International Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance and ‌financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf amid the conflict in West Asia.

The US Navy will escort oil tankers in through the Strait of Hormuz, he added.

The announcements are viewed as a significant step by Washington to contain soaring energy prices amid the conflict that has increased risks to shipping through the strategic waterways.

Global crude prices have spiked since the conflict began on Saturday when Israel and the US launched a joint military operation targeting the Iranian government and Tehran retaliated.

Here’s more on this and other top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• On Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed that they had “complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, reported AFP. Any vessels seeking to pass through the route risk being hit by missiles or stray drones, said Guards Navy officer Mohammad Akbarzadeh. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterbody that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea.
• Trump had said on Tuesday that “if necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible”. The US will ensure the free flow of energy to the world “no matter what”, he added. More measures were ​coming, Trump said on social media.
• On Wednesday, the US Department of State ordered non-emergency government employees and family members of its personnel at the consulates in Lahore and Karachi to leave Pakistan citing safety risks. There is no change in the status of the US embassy in Islamabad.
• The Indian government on Tuesday said that airlines plan to operate 58 flights to West Asia on Wednesday after adjusting their schedules amid the crisis. “Special arrangements are being made to facilitate the movement of stranded passengers, with airlines deploying additional capacity where required and coordinating closely with foreign aviation authorities and Indian missions abroad to ensure safe and orderly passenger movement,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
• New Delhi said that 24 flights were operated by Indian carriers on Tuesday. “In addition, Emirates and Etihad have operated 9 flights from the Gulf in the last 24 hours,” it added. The ministry said that it was in continuous touch with airlines and closely monitoring airfares to ensure that there was no undue surge in ticket prices during this period.
• The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday set up a control room for Indians in the region.
• The authorities in Dubai on Tuesday said that a drone attack caused a fire near the US consulate, adding that it was contained and no injuries were reported. This came after the Saudi Arabian government on Tuesday said that the US embassy in Riyadh was struck by two drones that caused a “limited fire”.

Photos: The fire near the US Consulate in Dubai has been fully extinguished, with no injuries reported. Dubai authorities reaffirm their commitment to ensuring everyone's safety and security. pic.twitter.com/OPAOQRHEIG

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 3, 2026

Trump’s announcement about providing insurance and security to the ships in the Gulf came after Iran on Monday claimed that the Strait of Hormuz was “closed” for shipping traffic, warning that any vessel attempting to pass through the strategic waterway would be set on fire.

The US International Development Finance Corporation, which Trump has tapped to provide the insurance, was launched in 2019. It is a US government agency that partners with private investors to support projects in developing countries.

Also read:

• As Mumbai’s Iranis mourn Khamenei, the city’s only Persian sweet shop looks at a bleak Nowruz

• Stock market crash continues, rupee at record low amid West Asia conflict

The conflict

On Saturday, Israel and the US launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government.

The attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. 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.

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

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the attacks on Saturday.

The killing of Khamenei, a significant figure among Shia Muslims globally, further escalated an already volatile situation in the region. He had controlled all branches of the Iranian government and the armed forces since 1989.

After Khamenei’s killing, senior Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi was appointed to serve as part of Iran’s interim leadership.

On Tuesday, the Iranian Red Crescent said that 787 persons had been killed in the country since the US and Israel began attacking it.

Trump on Tuesday said it was “too late” for Iran to seek negotiations amid the escalating tensions in West Asia.

A day earlier, the US president had said that the attacks on Iran could extend longer than a month. He added that the war was going “substantially” ahead of schedule but that the US was equipped for a prolonged conflict.

On Monday, India’s Directorate General of Shipping confirmed that three Indian seafarers were killed and one was injured amid the conflict in West Asia. It did not provide details of the incidents but said that the four were working on board foreign-flagged vessels.

The tensions

The US has repeatedly demanded that Iran give up its nuclear programme, threatening that Tehran must meet its terms or face consequences.

Khamenei had warned on February 1 that an attack by the US would spark a “regional war”.

Israel had been preparing for a possible conflict with Iran for several weeks.

In June, Tehran and Tel Aviv agreed to a ceasefire after 12 days of hostilities.

At the time, the Israeli military had struck what it claimed were nuclear targets, and other sites, in Iran with the aim of stalling Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on Israel.

Both countries had later accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

The two countries had been nudged by the US to accept the ceasefire after Washington on June 22 joined Israel’s war against Iran. The US military had carried out what Trump had described as a “very successful attack” on Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan.

While Trump had claimed at the time that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “completely obliterated” in the attacks, Washington’s preliminary intelligence assessment had said that the strikes only set it back by a few months, and did not destroy its nuclear programme.

Trump’s fresh focus on Iran came after the US’ military operation in Venezuela. On January 3, the US military abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for alleged drug trafficking.

Almost simultaneously, on December 28, protests erupted in Iran initially focused on discontent about rising inflation. However, they later expanded as demonstrations in more than 100 towns demanded an end to clerical rule.

More than 5,000 persons were killed in the crackdown on the protests, according to international rights groups.

Following this, Trump had announced that the US military was moving warships towards Iran “just in case” he wants to take action, saying that he was “watching them very closely”.

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Washington could maintain global tariffs at 15% for up to five months.

Speaking at a press conference, Trump also said that his administration “will be coming out with different tariffs on different countries” during this time.

In April 2025, Trump imposed tariffs on dozens of countries, including India, claiming that these countries imposed high tariffs on US goods. The levies were eventually reduced once bilateral trade deals had been agreed to, including in the case of India.

However, the US Supreme Court on February 20 struck down global tariffs imposed by Trump, ruling in a 6:3 verdict that he had exceeded his authority. The judges said that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act that Trump had invoked “does not authorise the president to impose tariffs”.

After the Supreme Court decision, Trump imposed a temporary 10% tariff on goods imported into the US, citing his authority under the 1974 Trade Act. The new tariff rate is for a maximum of 150 days, unless the US Congress approves an extension.

Additionally, Trump on February 21 said that he was also increasing the tariffs to the “fully allowed, and legally tested” level of 15% from 10% with immediate effect. However, it is unclear as to when the increased tariff rate would take effect.

This had left the status of the US’ trade deals with countries, including India, unclear.

On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that while the Supreme Court had pushed back on his tariffs, it had also outlined alternative routes for imposing duties.

“The courts said ‘no’, but they said you can do it many other ways, and we are doing it,” he said.

The US president claimed that these tariffs had made the country “very rich”. “We have to charge tariffs from countries who play with their money – they move their money up and down, like a yo-yo,” he said.

Trump added that countries were eager to preserve their existing trade arrangements with the US.

Uncertainty over trade deal between India and US

New Delhi and Washington had agreed on a framework for the interim deal on February 2.

Under the agreement, US tariffs on Indian goods would have been reduced to 18% from a combined rate of 50%. This earlier rate of 50% had included a punitive levy of 25% imposed in August over India’s purchase of Russian oil.

Amid the uncertainty over the trade deal negotiations, Trump had earlier said that “nothing changes” and that the levies on India will continue. “They will be paying tariffs and we will not be paying tariffs,” he had told reporters at the White House.

However, negotiations on the final deal between New Delhi and Washington have been postponed after the US Supreme Court struck down the global tariffs.

India and the US rescheduled a three-day meeting that was to begin on February 23 between officials to finalise the legal text of the trade agreement.

On February 24, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the negotiations with the US will resume “as soon as there is more clarity” on the changes in tariffs announced by Washington.

In June, the Modi government branded Mehebub Sheikh a Bangladeshi and forced him across India’s eastern border. Now, the Election Commission of India has added him to its voter rolls after an intensive vetting process.

The 39-year-old mason was picked up by the police in Maharashtra on the mere suspicion of being Bangladeshi. He repeatedly told the police that he was from Murshidabad in West Bengal and had never been to Bangladesh.

Still, within days of detention, he was forced into Bangladesh by the Border Security Force, at gunpoint, he said. Eventually, he was brought back to India because the authorities had failed to follow the process laid down by the home ministry for such deportations.

Nine months on, Sheikh feels more vindicated than ever before because his name features on the voter list published by the Election Commission on Saturday. This comes after a four-month long, statewide special intensive revision meant to weed out, among others, undocumented migrants.

When asked how he felt on seeing his name on the voter list after the ordeal of being branded a Bangladeshi, Sheikh, who has since returned to his masonry job in a suburb north of Mumbai, responded by underlining his nationality.

“I am an Indian citizen and not a Bangladeshi,” he told Scroll over the phone. “My father and my grandfather were born here. I have never seen Bangladesh. I don’t even know anybody from there.”

For him, being included in the voter roll was a final vindication that “the police did what they did for no reason”.

Sheikh is listed as a voter in the Bhagabangola Assembly constituency of Murshidabad district. His village of Balia Hasennagar is located about 25 km away from the Bangladesh border.

When Scroll visited the village in August, residents had expressed anxiety about the SIR. The Election Commission was carrying out the exercise in Bihar at the time and had not shared its plans for West Bengal.

But many villagers had downloaded copies of voter lists from 2002 available on the Election Commission’s website. Some even asked if the Modi government was planning a citizenship test along the lines of Assam’s National Register of Citizens.

Their fears were not without basis. One of the reasons cited by the Election Commission while announcing the SIR in Bihar was the “wrongful inclusion of any foreigner” in the existing electoral rolls. To make matters worse, top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party had for months been alleging that over one crore “Bangladeshis, Rohingyas” were present on West Bengal’s voter lists.

‘By hook or by crook’

Sheikh, too, shared his views on the politics of the SIR. “The BJP is trying to win West Bengal by hook or by crook,” he said. “Just like they won Bihar by deleting the names of many voters.”

Getting his name included in the voter list, he insisted, was no easy task. He was among the lakhs of voters summoned for SIR hearings by the Election Commission over the past three months because of so-called logical discrepancies in their documents. These include spelling mistakes or even a seemingly unusual age gap between a voter and their parents.

“Not just me, but hundreds of people from my village, including our pradhan [head], were called to a camp,” Sheikh added. While he ultimately made it past the SIR, he was mindful of the fact that the process is still not over for many others in West Bengal.

The voter list for his village, which Scroll accessed, shows hundreds of residents labelled as “under adjudication” – the phrase used by the Election Commission for over 60 lakh of the state’s voters whose fate remains undecided. Among them are Sheikh’s father, Hossain Sheikh, his mother-in-law and several of his brothers-in-law.

Judges from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand have been deputed to determine how many such voters will be eligible to vote in the upcoming Assembly polls, if at all. The Supreme Court assigned this responsibility to them after the Election Commission failed to meet its own deadlines for concluding the exercise.

“There are many migrant workers who have been put under adjudication even though their parents’ names were on the 2002 voter list,” Sheikh pointed out. “They are all Indian citizens. I hope the Supreme Court allows them to vote. Otherwise many of them will not go home for the election.”

‘I feel angry’

As for him, he said will make plans to go back and vote once the dates for the polls are announced, adding that he is not happy with the Trinamool Congress government in the state.

“They promised to give poor workers like me Rs 5,000 every month, but I never got the money,” he complained, referring to the West Bengal government’s Shramshree scheme. “This time, I will vote for MIM [All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen].”

However, on further prodding, Sheikh admitted that Bengali Muslims like him had few options beyond supporting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While the AIMIM is yet to establish its presence in the state, politicians like Humayun Kabir cannot, in his view, win seats outside Muslim-majority districts.

“She [Mamata Banerjee] has done a lot for the poor,” he acknowledged, rattling off names of the state government’s welfare schemes which his family benefits from. “So I will vote for her again. But I do feel angry.”

Read Scroll’s detailed coverage of the Modi government forcing Indians into Bangladesh

The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that some Indians have been killed in the conflict in West Asia, while some are missing. The ministry said that the developments have evoked “great anxiety”, as India has critical stakes in the security and stability of the Gulf region.

The ministry highlighted that nearly one crore Indians live and work in the region, and their safety and well-being remain its “utmost priority”.

On Monday, the Directorate General of Shipping had confirmed that three Indian seafarers were killed and one injured amid the conflict while serving on board foreign-flagged vessels. However, it said that no Indian-flagged vessels have reported casualties.

The conflict began on Saturday after Israel and the US launched a joint operation targeting the Iranian regime, alleging that its actions constituted an “existential threat to Israel”. Tel Aviv has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, even as Tehran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes. Read more.

The Iranian Red Crescent said that at least 787 persons have been killed in the country since the United States and Israel began attacking the country on February 28. In the past four days, over 1,000 strikes hit 153 cities and more than 500 locations in Iran, the humanitarian group said.

The United States military on Tuesday said that its forces had destroyed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities.

On Tuesday, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog confirmed that entrance buildings at Iran’s underground uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz were damaged in the Israel-US strikes.

On Saturday, a girls’ school in Minab town was hit, with Iranian media saying that the attack leftover 160 persons dead. Read more.

Some news and media outlets and persons have been booked in Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly sharing misleading information about protests following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Srinagar Police said. Protests had erupted in parts of India after Khamenei’s killing in a joint United States-Israel operation on Sunday.

He was considered an important figure by Shia Muslims globally.

The police said they had taken cognisance of the “deliberate circulation of false, fabricated and misleading information” across electronic and social media platforms, alleging that they were attempts to “incite unrest and disturb public order”.

A first information report has been registered, several profiles identified and individuals summoned to the cyber cell, the police said without specifying the content in question. Read on.

The Delhi High Court stayed a sessions court order that had put on hold the bail granted to Indian Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with a protest at the India AI Impact Summit on February 20. The High Court said it was “not satisfied” with the order and that it reflected “no application of mind”.

Chib was arrested on February 24 and had been granted bail by a magisterial court on Saturday, but the order was later stayed following an appeal by the Delhi Police.

The High Court said any order affecting personal liberty must disclose reasons. The matter will be heard again on March 6. Read on.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our Daily Brief newsletter.

The Indian government on Tuesday said the ongoing conflict in Iran and the Gulf region was evoking “great anxiety” and confirmed that some Indian nationals have been killed while others remain missing.

“As a proximate neighbour with critical stakes in the security and stability of the region, these developments evoke great anxiety,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in its second statement since the conflict began on Saturday.

Referring to its earlier statement, the foreign ministry said India had urged all sides to exercise restraint, avoid escalation and prioritise civilian safety at the onset of hostilities.

The ministry highlighted that nearly one crore Indians live and work in the Gulf region, and said that their safety and well-being remain its “utmost priority”.

It also warned of the wider impact on trade routes and energy supply chains and firmly opposed attacks on merchant shipping.

The ministry confirmed that the recent hostilities have resulted in the deaths of some Indian nationals, while others remain missing following attacks on ships.

“India strongly reiterates its call for dialogue and diplomacy,” the ministry said. “We raise our voice clearly in favour of an early end to the conflict.”

The statement added that Indian embassies and consulates in the affected countries continue to maintain close contact with Indian nationals and community organisations, issuing regular advisories and providing assistance to those stranded.

On Monday, the Directorate General of Shipping had confirmed that three Indian seafarers were killed and one injured amid the conflict while serving on board foreign-flagged vessels.

The department did not provide further details but clarified that no Indian-flagged ships have reported casualties, detentions or hostile forces boarding.

One Indian mariner was reported killed on Monday on a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, after a bomb-carrying drone boat struck the vessel.

Another incident occurred a day earlier when a Palau-flagged oil tanker, was attacked off the coast of Oman, injuring four crew members. Fifteen of the 20 persons on the tanker were Indians. The remaining were Iranians. All affected personnel were evacuated, according to the Oman Maritime Security Centre.

Also read the top updates about the West Asia conflict here

The conflict began on Saturday after Israel and the US launched a joint operation targeting the Iranian regime, alleging that its actions constituted an “existential threat to Israel”. Tel Aviv has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

The ongoing attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security.

Iran retaliated to the attacks by striking not only Israel and US military bases in the region, but also some ships.

On Monday, Iran claimed that the Strait of Hormuz was “closed” for shipping traffic, warning that any vessel attempting to pass through the strategic waterway would be set on fire.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterbody that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea.

Also read: How the Israel-Iran conflict could impact India

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “must speak up” on the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 1 in a joint United States-Israeli military operation.

In a social media post, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha highlighted that the escalating hostilities between the US, Israel and Iran were “pushing a fragile region towards wider conflict” and that crores of people, including Indians, faced uncertainty.

“While security concerns are real, attacks that violate sovereignty will only worsen the crisis,” Gandhi said. He said that unilateral attacks on Iran, as well as Iran’s attacks on other countries in West Asia, had to be condemned.

“India must be morally clear,” Gandhi said. “We should have the courage to speak plainly in defence of international law and human lives.”

He asserted that India’s silence at this stage diminishes its standing in the world.

“PM Modi must speak up,” the Congress leader said in the social media post. “Does he support the assassination of a head of state as a way to define the world order?”

In a similar vein, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Monday said the government’s silence on Khamenei’s killing was not neutral but amounted to abdication.

Writing for The Indian Express on Monday, she said the assassination of a sitting head of state during an ongoing diplomatic process marked “a grave rupture in contemporary international relations”.

“Yet, beyond the shock of the event, what stands out equally starkly is New Delhi’s silence,” she added.

She highlighted that Modi had initially condemned Iran’s retaliatory strike on the United Arab Emirates without addressing the sequence of events that preceded it, and later only expressed “concern” and called for dialogue and diplomacy, which she said had been underway before the “massive unprovoked attacks”.

“Silence, in this instance, is not neutral,” she said and added that the targeted killing, carried out without a formal declaration of war, struck at the principles of sovereignty and international law reflected in the United Nations Charter.

The conflict began on Saturday after Israel and the US launched a joint operation targeting the Iranian regime, alleging that its actions constituted an “existential threat to Israel”. Israel has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

The killing of Khamenei, who had controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces since 1989, further escalated an already volatile situation in the region.

New Delhi has not released any statement after the killing of Khamenei.

However, on Sunday, Modi on social media said that he condoled the deaths in the United Arab Emirates during a conversation with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “Thanked him for taking care of the Indian community living in the UAE,” Modi said. “We support de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability.”

On Monday, Modi said that he held a telephonic conversation with Netanyahu a day earlier to discuss the current regional situation in West Asia. “Conveyed India’s concerns over recent developments and emphasised the safety of civilians as a priority,” Modi said about the phone call. “India reiterates the need for an early cessation of hostilities.”

Also read: Top updates: Drone strikes on US embassy in Saudi Arabia, Trump says war on Iran can go ‘forever’

Some news and media outlets, and persons were booked in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday for sharing allegedly misleading information about the protests against the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, PTI quoted the Srinagar Police as saying.

Protests had erupted in several Indian states after Khamenei was killed on Sunday in a joint military operation carried out by the United States and Israel. He was considered an important figure by Shia Muslims globally.

At least 14 persons, including six security personnel, were injured during the protests in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, the Hindustan Times reported.

Amid the demonstrations, the authorities in the Union Territory had curtained mobile internet speed.

On Tuesday, the police in Srinagar said that they had taken cognisance of the “deliberate circulation of false, fabricated and misleading information by certain news channels, media outlets and individuals across electronic and social media platforms”.

It added: “These elements are systematically attempting to spread distorted narratives and unverified content with the clear intent to incite unrest, disturb public order and create disharmony in society.”

The police said that a first information report had been registered, adding that “several profiles have been identified and concerned individuals have been summoned to the cyber cell”.

It did not specify what the allegedly misleading information was and who had been booked.

The police also advised “citizens and media organisations to exercise responsibility and verify facts only from official and credible sources before sharing any content that may disturb communal harmony or public order”.

The conflict in West Asia began on Saturday when Israel and the US attacked Iran. Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeted major cities in other Gulf countries.

The killing of Khamenei, who had controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces since 1989, further escalated an already volatile situation in the region.

👉#𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.#SrinagarPolice has taken serious cognizance of the deliberate circulation of false, fabricated and misleading information by certain News Channels,…

— Srinagar Police (@SrinagarPolice) March 3, 2026

Also read:

• Interview: ‘Regime change unlikely after Khamenei killing, Iran can survive deaths of many leaders’
• The regime will not go quietly: The message behind Iran’s strikes on US allies in West Asia
• ‘Nobody could sleep last night’: Indian workers on edge as Iran attacks Dubai, Doha

A sessions court in Assam’s Guwahati on Monday directed the police to de-freeze the bank accounts of key accused Shyamkanu Mahanta in the case related to the death of singer Zubeen Garg, observing that procedures had not been followed, The Indian Express reported.

The Kamrup Metropolitan District and Sessions Court issued the order while hearing a petition filed by Mahanta seeking the unfreezing of six savings accounts, two credit cards and a current account in the name of a trust he runs.

All had been frozen during the course of the investigation.

Zubeen Garg, a renowned Assamese singer, died on September 19 during a yacht trip in Singapore, a day before he was scheduled to perform at the North East India Festival there.

A death certificate issued by the authorities in Singapore on September 20 stated the cause of Garg’s death as drowning. The authorities reiterated the findings in October and December.

On January 14, the authorities in the southeast Asian country also said that Garg was “severely intoxicated” and had refused to wear a life jacket when he drowned while swimming in September.

However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly claimed that the singer’s death was not accidental but was a murder.

The event where Garg was scheduled to perform had been organised by the Indian government and the Indian High Commission in Singapore, with support from the Assam Association and the North East India Association in the country.

Seven persons were arrested in connection with the singer’s death. A Special Investigation Team in India formed to look into the case filed a chargesheet on December 12, accusing four of the seven persons of murder.

The four persons charged for murder included Mahanta, who was the organiser of the North East India Festival, Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddharatha Sharma and two musicians – Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta – who were with the singer on the yacht.

Besides, Zubeen Garg’s cousin, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sandipan Garg, who had travelled with him to Singapore, was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, while two of his personal security officers, Borah and Baishya, were accused of criminal breach of trust.

Before Mahanta’s arrest on October 1 after returning from Singapore, the chief minister had announced that all of his bank accounts had been frozen, The Indian Express reported.

In its order on Monday, the court recorded arguments by the counsel representing Mahanta that the investigation had been completed and the chargesheet had been submitted.

As there was no material to suggest that the accounts related to the organiser contained proceeds of the crime, no lawful purpose would be served by keeping the accounts frozen, the counsel said.

The counsel further submitted in the court that “prolonged freezing of the bank accounts has caused severe financial hardships and distress to the accused and his family members to meet essential day to day expenses, discharging banking obligations and clear dues”, The Indian Express reported.

The court in its order also recorded that the special public prosecutor had submitted that the accounts were frozen under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita “due to serious allegation and scale of suspected financial improprieties”.

Section 106 empowers police officers to seize property suspected to be stolen or involved in an offense.

The special public prosecutor had also submitted that further investigation under Section 193(9) “is kept open against the accused person”, the newspaper quoted the court as saying in its order.

The section enables the police to conduct additional investigation even after the chargesheet is submitted.

The court further noted the argument that the Enforcement Directorate had registered a parallel investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the “same allegations forming scheduled offences”, according to The Indian Express.

In its order, the court said that under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, every police officer must report seizures to the magistrate having jurisdiction.

The investigating agency after freezing the bank accounts had not reported the action to the jurisdictional magistrate as required, the newspaper quoted the court as saying.

“The investigating agency did not follow the laid down procedure of freezing of bank accounts,” it observed.

Speaking to reporters after the direction was issued, the special public prosecutor said that the court has set March 19 for hearing the charges in the matter, PTI reported. He added that the trial would begin after that.

The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed a sessions court order that had put on hold the bail granted to Indian Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with a protest at the India AI Impact Summit on February 20, Live Law reported.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee said that he was “not satisfied” with the sessions court’s order, adding that it reflected “no application of mind”.

Chib was granted bail by a magisterial court on Saturday. Hours later, a sessions court passed an ex parte order staying the magisterial court’s decision on an appeal made by the Delhi Police.

An ex parte order is one that is passed without hearing the other side.

Chib subsequently moved the High Court.

He was arrested on February 24 in the case linked to the Congress’ youth wing’s protest at the artificial intelligence summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The group had shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi while holding placards, alleging that he was “compromised”.

The Delhi Police, which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, registered a case against the protesters on charges of rioting and promoting enmity between groups. It alleged that the demonstration was an attempt to disrupt the high-profile event.

During the hearing on Monday, Banerjee held that any order affecting the personal liberty of an individual should disclose reasons.

“Some application of mind has to be there,” Live Law quoted Banerjee as saying. “If there is no application of mind, the order has to be stayed.”

The matter has been listed for further hearing on March 6.

Apart from Chib, 13 members of the Indian Youth Congress had been arrested in the case.

On Sunday, nine of them were granted bail. Judicial Magistrate First Class Ravi of Patiala House Court had said that the protest amounted to “political dissent” and not “recidivist violence or organised crime”.

“The protest, at highest, constituted symbolic political critique during a public event,” the court was quoted as having said.

The five-day India AI Impact Summit began on February 16 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. It was promoted as a major gathering on artificial intelligence in the Global South, attended by 20 world leaders, technology executives and exhibitors from 30 countries.

Three Indian seafarers were killed and one was injured amid the conflict in West Asia, the Directorate General of Shipping said on Monday.

The department did not provide details of the incidents but said that the four were working on board foreign-flagged vessels.

There had been no confirmed casualties, detentions or hostile forces coming aboard Indian-flagged vessels, it added.

The department, which reports to the Union shipping ministry, said that it was monitoring the maritime security situation in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and adjoining waterbodies amid the conflict between Israel-United States and Iran.

Reported threats to vessels have included missile and drone activity, electronic interference and other maritime security concerns, it added.

Also read the top updates about the West Asia conflict here.

On Saturday, Israel and the US launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government.

The attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. 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.

Iran retaliated to the attacks by striking not only Israel and US military bases in the region, but also some ships.

On Monday, Iran claimed that the Strait of Hormuz was “closed” for shipping traffic, warning that any vessel attempting to pass through the strategic waterway would be set on fire.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterbody that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea.

“If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze,” warned General Sardar Ebrahim Jabari, an adviser to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander-in-chief.

On Monday, AP reported that an Indian mariner on board a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman was killed after a bomb-carrying drone boat struck the vessel.

The attack occurred off the coast of the Omani capital Muscat. This was the first Indian death in the conflict.

This came a day after a Palau-flagged oil tanker was hit on Sunday off the coast of Oman, leaving four persons on board injured. Fifteen of the 20 persons on the tanker, named Skylight, were Indians. The remaining were Iranians.

All of them had been evacuated, said the Oman Maritime Security Centre.

Also read: How the Israel-Iran conflict could impact India

The Bharatiya Janata Party will replicate Assam’s “detect, delete and deport” model to expel “Bangladeshi infiltrators” in West Bengal if voted to power in the state, PTI quoted party chief Nitin Nabin as saying on Monday.

Nabin was referring to Assam’s strategy of identifying suspected undocumented immigrants, deleting their names from electoral rolls and deporting them.

The comment came ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, which are expected to take place in April or May.

Since April 2025, the police in several states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party have been detaining Bengali-speaking persons – mostly Muslims – and asking them to prove that they are Indian citizens.

Several persons have been forced into Bangladesh after they allegedly could not prove their Indian citizenship. In some cases, persons who were mistakenly sent to Bangladesh returned to the country after state authorities in India proved that they were Indians.

On Monday, speaking at a rally in Islampur in West Bengal’s Malda district, Nabin claimed that the model will be implemented “wherever these foreigners are eating into the rights of our own citizens”, the news agency reported.

Referring to the recent deletion of voters in West Bengal as part of the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls, the BJP chief claimed that the Election Commission had taken away the voting rights of “more than 50 lakh Bangladeshi infiltrators” in the state.

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

However, the process continues with about 60 lakh “doubtful and pending” cases remaining “under adjudication” based on their objections to their exclusions from the draft rolls published in December.

“If names of 50 lakh Bangladeshis weren’t deleted by the EC, then the Centre’s welfare schemes, meant for the people of Bengal, would have benefited the infiltrators,” PTI quoted the BJP chief as saying on Monday.

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

In Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly claimed that the state government was committed to ensuring an “infiltration-free” Assam, claiming that about 35 to 40 “illegal” immigrants were being “pushed back” every week.

On February 11, Sarma also claimed that lakhs of “doubtful voters” had been removed from Assam during the special revision of electoral rolls. Several of these deletions had taken place based on complaints filed by workers of the ruling BJP, he added.

The poll panel conducted the special intensive revision of the voter lists in 12 states and Union Territories, including West Bengal. However, the poll panel had conducted a special revision of the voter list in Assam, which was similar to the usual updates to the electoral roll.

On January 27, Sarma claimed that four lakh to five lakh “Miya” voters would be deleted when the special intensive revision takes place in Assam, and said that the BJP government had “made arrangements” to preliminarily prevent them from voting.

Critics had said at the time that Sarma had “brazenly expressed his government’s intent to send objection notices to the ‘Miya’ people” to ensure that lakhs of them are deleted from the voter list.

In Assam, “Miya” is a derogatory word used to refer to undocumented immigrants and is exclusively directed at Muslims of Bengali origin. They are often accused of being undocumented migrants from Bangladesh.

Once a pejorative in Assam, from the common use of the honorific “Miya” among South Asian Muslims, the term has now been reappropriated by the community as a self-descriptor to refer to Muslims who migrated to Assam from Bengal during the colonial era.

On February 10, the Election Commission published the final voter list for Assam. An additional 2.4 lakh names were deleted in the final list after 10 lakh voters were removed from the draft released in December.

BJP promises to rename Islampur

At the rally in West Bengal on Monday, Nabin announced that the Hindutva party would rename Islampur town as “Ishwarpur” if it comes to power in the state.

“We will fulfil your dream of renaming this place Ishwarpur because this has been the land of Rajbanshi reformer Thakur Panchanan Barma, the last Hindu king of Bengal, Lakshman Sen, and revolutionary freedom fighter Purna Chandra Das,” PTI quoted him as saying.

The BJP chief also accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “deceiving” West Bengal by indulging in the politics of appeasement.

“We have to take court’s permission to hold [the Hindu festival of] Kali Puja in Bengal, but Mamata Banerjee has given unconditional consent to offer namaz on roads at any time of the day or year,” the news agency quoted him as claiming.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday refuted reports alleging that Indian officials were involved in the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

P Kumaran, the ministry secretary (east), said that New Delhi rejects the allegations that India is involved in transnational violence or organised crime.

Nijjar was an advocate for Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is a designated terrorist outfit in India.

On Monday, a report in the Toronto-based newspaper The Globe and Mail claimed, quoting unidentified officials, that Canadian security officials had received evidence that Indian consular staff in Vancouver had supplied information to allegedly assist in the 2023 killing of Nijjar.

The reporter also cited a report by Canadian newspaper The National Post on Sunday that quoted Ottawa’s domestic intelligence agency as alleging that India continues to be among the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage against the country.

During a press briefing later on Monday, Kumaran said the claims were “baseless, politically motivated and unsupported by credible evidence despite repeated requests”.

“India believes that concerns of this nature must be addressed through credible law enforcement and judicial processes, not through public or politicised narratives,” he added.

#WATCH | Delhi: P Kumaran, Secretary (East), says, "India categorically rejects allegations of involvement in transnational violence or organised crime. These claims are baseless, politically motivated and unsupported by credible evidence despite repeated requests. India believes… pic.twitter.com/s4zdPchv91

— ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2026

Kumaran said that the criminal investigation into Nijjar’s killing was proceeding as per legal procedures in Canada.

“It will move to the full jury trial stage,” he told reporters. “…India has consistently maintained its commitment to the judicial process.”

He added that New Delhi believes that “sensitive matters under judicial consideration are best allowed to proceed through established legal processes without public commentary”.

The reports came during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first official visit to India amid a thaw in diplomatic relations. On Monday, Carney held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

Nijjar was killed by masked gunmen in June 2023. His killing had led to diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Ottawa after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, told Parliament in September 2023 that intelligence agencies were examining “credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder.

India has repeatedly rejected Canada’s allegations.

Four Indian citizens are facing trial in Canada in connection with Nijjar’s killing. They face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Eric Balsam, told The National Post that the agency’s assessment had not changed.

This contradicted a statement by a senior government official. On February 25, Canadian news organisations quoted an unidentified senior official as saying that Ottawa believes India is no longer linked to alleged violent crimes in the country.

Ottawa had previously accused India of foreign interference.

In January 2025, a Canadian inquiry commission accused India of interfering in the country’s electoral process by clandestinely providing financial support to political leaders and engaging in disinformation.

The Indian external affairs ministry had rejected the inquiry panel’s report, and had alleged that it was Canada that was consistently interfering in India’s internal affairs.

In March 2025, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had claimed that India, China, Russia and Pakistan could try to interfere in the Canadian general election that was scheduled to be held in April 2025.

On February 8, India and Canada said that they had agreed on a work plan to guide cooperation on national security and law enforcement.

United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said he will arrive in India on Tuesday to advance US President Donald Trump’s America First policy at the 2026 Raisina Dialogue.

He added that he was looking forward to “discussing how to create ‘win-wins’ for the United States and India”.

The Raisina Dialogue is an annual conference held in Delhi. It is organised by the think-tank Observer Research Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs.

The “America First” policy refers to the supposed US-centric trade and foreign measures implemented by the Trump administration. The tariffs imposed by Washington in April on dozens of countries, including India, were part of these measures.

I'm off to New Delhi where I will lead the USG delegation for the Raisina Dialogue, India's premier geopolitical forum. I look forward to discussing America First Foreign Policy and how to create "win-wins" for the United States and India.

— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) March 2, 2026

The US Department of State said on Monday that during the visit from Tuesday to Friday, Landau will meet Indian officials to “deepen commercial and economic ties” and “increase market access for American businesses; and advance our shared vision for a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region”.

He will also discuss bilateral cooperation on defence, critical minerals and counternarcotics with Indian officials, the state department added.

Landau’s visit comes amid uncertainty over the trade deal negotiations and the conflict in West Asia.

The tariffs, imposed under Trump’s America First policy, were reduced after an interim bilateral trade deal was agreed to on February 2.

Under the framework, US tariffs on Indian goods would have been reduced to 18% from a combined rate of 50%. The earlier rate of 50% had included a punitive levy of 25% imposed in August over India’s purchase of Russian oil.

However, negotiations on the final deal have been postponed after the US Supreme Court on February 20 struck down Trump’s global tariffs, ruling that he had exceeded his authority.

The judges said that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act that Trump had invoked “does not authorise the president to impose tariffs”.

After the Supreme Court struck down his levies, Trump imposed a temporary 10% tariff on goods imported into the US, citing his authority under the 1974 Trade Act.

The new tariff rate is for a maximum of 150 days, unless the US Congress approves an extension.

Additionally, the US president on February 21 said that he was also increasing the tariffs to the “fully allowed, and legally tested” level of 15% from 10% with immediate effect. However, it is unclear as to when the increased tariff rate would take effect.

This has left the status of US’ trade deals with countries, including India, unclear.

India and the US rescheduled a three-day meeting that was to begin on February 23 between officials to finalise the legal text of the trade agreement.

On February 24, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the negotiations with the US will resume “as soon as there is more clarity” on the changes in tariffs announced by Washington.

An Indian mariner who was on board a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman was killed on Monday after a bomb-carrying drone boat struck the vessel, AP reported.

The Indian citizen was on board the MKD Vyom, which was attacked off the coast of Muscat. This was the first Indian casualty in the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

The Indian Embassy in Oman said it is in close coordination with local authorities “to facilitate the safe and early repatriation of our nationals on board the vessel”.

The Embassy of India expresses its deepest condolences on the tragic demise of an Indian national on board MKD Vyom.

The Embassy is in close coordination with the local authorities in Oman to facilitate the safe and early repatriation of our nationals on board the vessel.

We…

— India in Oman (Embassy of India, Muscat) (@Indemb_Muscat) March 2, 2026

It was not immediately clear who launched the attack. However, Iran is believed to have launched have several attacks on vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea.

Iran shares control of the strait with the Musandam Peninsula of Oman.

West Asia has been mired in conflict since February 28, when Israel and the United States launched an operation targeting the Iranian regime, claiming that it was necessary “to remove existential threats to Israel”.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.

On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the US-Israeli military operation. His killing further escalated an already volatile situation in the region.

Iran retaliated to the attacks and said that the US-Israeli operation had begun while negotiations about its nuclear programme were on.

The Iranian Red Crescent said on Monday that 555 people have been killed over two days across the country since the United States and Israel began their operation.

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

When the lights dimmed at Jaideep Sharma’s wedding reception in the north Indian city of Ajmer, guests expected to see a cheesy montage of the young couple in various attractive locations. Instead, they saw Sharma’s father – dead for more than a year – on the screen, smiling and blessing the newlyweds.

The video was created using artificial intelligence by a local creator Sharma found on Instagram. Using pictures of Sharma’s father, the creator produced a minute-long video in about a week, and charged about Rs 50,000, Sharma told Rest of World. It was worth it, he said.

“It was like a bombardment of emotions for everyone,” said the 33-year-old garment trader, who felt his father’s absence keenly at his wedding. “He was like a central force in the entire family. So when the video played, everyone was very happy and emotional at the same time.”

Sharma is among a growing number of Indians discovering the power of AI deepfakes to resurrect dead family members, create voice clones of the departed, and add absent guests to family celebrations.

AI tools such as OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s Nano Banana, and Midjourney have made it easier to create images and videos that can fool even experts. Cashing in are entrepreneurs in small towns and cities, who have learned how to use these tools from YouTube tutorials and online forums.

Like Akhil Vinayak, a film buff, who posts deepfake videos of popular dead actors on Instagram for fun. A client in the south Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram approached him with an unusual request: Could he create a deepfake video of her dead mother-in-law blessing her baby?

“She wanted to surprise her husband,” the 29-year-old told Rest of World. “Her mother-in-law had passed away before the baby was born.”

Vinayak created a video showing the dead woman stepping down from heaven and visiting her son, then holding the baby she hadn’t met. The client was thrilled, and sent Vinayak a recording of the family’s stunned reaction. That video has more than 1 million likes on Instagram.

Such uses – and reactions – stand in sharp contrast to the growing pushback to AI-generated videos and voice clones, which are most commonly used for harassment, extortion, financial scams, political misinformation, and election manipulation.

For Vinayak’s clients, though, the deepfakes are not just practical but also deeply emotional, he said. Vinayak uses open-source models like Stable Diffusion and editing systems such as Adobe Premiere Pro to create them, charging about Rs 18,000 on average for minute-long videos.

They can be a challenge when clients have only old, damaged, or black-and-white photos of the person they wish to recreate, he said. It also requires an effort to get to know the person they are recreating.

“We have to work with the client to know about them and their behaviour to create their closest online version,” said Vinayak, who now has a five-member team at his firm Kanavu Kadha, which means “stories from dreams”. He plans to launch an AI film institute.

Some creators are aware that deepfakes may not be the best way for their clients to deal with grief. Divyendra Singh Jadoun, who taught himself to use Photoshop, video editing, and generative AI tools during the Covid-19 lockdowns, has a thriving business creating AI-generated content. He began by posting “what if” parody videos on Instagram. Then came a message from a woman asking if he could recreate her deceased father for a family gathering.

Jadoun, who is based in the north Indian town of Pushkar, created a short video from the photos, videos, and audio clips the client had sent him, he told Rest of World. He now runs The Indian Deepfaker, an outfit that creates “hyper realistic deepfakes” including those of politicians, and what he calls grief tech – AI-generated avatars of dead people that can speak, text, and even video-chat in real time.

“Being able to talk to someone who is no longer alive, even in a limited way, is deeply meaningful,” Jadoun said. That AI avatars of the dead might “take people into a deep depression” is something he is aware of. “I make sure I convey to them that they should not get too attached, as they are not real,” he said.

India is among the world’s largest markets for generative AI platforms, and for AI-generated videos and voice clones. Several celebrities have sued YouTube and Google for hosting deepfake videos, and the government’s new rules to curb the flood of deepfakes go into effect on February 20. They require all AI-generated content to be clearly labeled, and place new obligations on platforms to remove such content within hours when directed to.

But in small towns, deepfakes are helping meet vital cultural needs, Bhaskar Malu, a Delhi-based behavioral scientist, told Rest of World.

“In cultures like ours, where social rituals demand physical, or at least symbolic presence, especially during weddings and funerals, AI-generated stand-ins are a response to real emotional pressures,” he said. Deepfakes can help with dealing with the loss in the short term, but they also create “an artificial reality,” where the dead are “alive and dead at the same time in your mind,” he said. The long-term effects are unclear. “Technology should be a partner, not a substitute for human connection and emotional reckoning,” Malu said.

A growing number of people say they are in a relationship with their AI chatbots, with some getting engaged to or marrying the AI characters they create on ChatGPT, Character.ai, Replika, and other platforms.

As the debate around deepfakes – like the sexualized images produced by X’s Grok chatbot – continues, in wedding halls and living rooms in India, AI-generated avatars are quietly lodging themselves into ceremonies and rituals that have long insisted on presence.

For the creators, the AI technology is a way to earn an income by offering a service, much like wedding photographers and videographers do. For clients, the technology makes it easier to manage social expectations, avoid uncomfortable questions about absent relatives, and maintain continuity during rituals where presence carries deep symbolic weight.

Besides the money to be made, Jadoun values creating something that is cherished. The woman who asked for a video of her dead father thanked him when he sent her the deepfake: It was the “best thing” anyone had given her, she said.

Hanan Zaffar is a journalist based in New Delhi, India.

Jyoti Thakur is an independent journalist based in New Delhi, India.

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

Five years ago, Eldred Tellis heard about a “wonder drug” that could give a fighting chance to people at high risk of contracting AIDS.

Tellis’s work involves one such group – drug users in Mumbai, many of them unlettered. “They share needles often and do not understand the consequences,” said Tellis, who founded the Sankalp Rehabilitation Foundation to advocate for the healthcare of addicts. “Several end up contracting HIV.”

The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, spreads through unprotected sex and the sharing of needles. The virus attacks the immune system and, if not treated, develops into the deadly acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS.

But the new drug, Lenacapavir, holds out hope. If injected once every six months, it can prevent the onset of AIDS even in people at high risk. “When we heard about it, we realised we could save many with Lenacapavir,” he told Scroll. “Not just drug users. Even sex workers who have no choice when their customer refuses to use a condom” stand to benefit.

Lenacapavir has shown a 96% reduction in HIV incidence, and is 89% more effective than current oral medications. Last year, the World Health Organisation recommended Lenacapavir as a pre-exposure prophylaxis.

The drug is yet to get permission for use in India. But when it does, it may be unaffordable for most Indians.

In the last few years, Gilead Sciences, the American pharmaceutical giant that made the drug, put in several applications to patent the drug in India.

If granted, the patents would make the drug prohibitively expensive, Tellis said. In the United States, Gilead has priced the drug at $28,218 per patient per year – an unaffordable Rs 25.8 lakh per year for an Indian patient.

To make sure that HIV patients in India have a chance at affording the drug, Tellis registered four pre-grant oppositions with the Indian Patent Office in 2021. “This drug is the best possible tool to prevent HIV and it must be made accessible to those at risk,” Tellis said, explaining his reason for filing an opposition on behalf of Sankalp Rehabilitation.

UNAIDS agrees. “It is beyond comprehension how Gilead can justify a price of $28,218 [for a game-changing medicine],” said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, in a statement issued last year. “I urge Gilead to do the right thing. Drop the price, expand production, and ensure the world has a shot at ending AIDS.”

Between 2021 and 2025, nine pre-grant oppositions were filed in India against Gilead’s patent applications on Lenacapavir, including the one by Sankalp Rehabilitation Foundation.

Last year, while adjudicating one of the applications, the patent office heard both sides, the manufacturer and Tellis. Its decision is pending.

What Gilead proposes: ‘Sustainable access’

A patent gives a pharmaceutical company a legal right to prevent others from producing, using or commercialising a drug formulation for a certain period. “Often to seek more profits, pharma companies attempt to increase their patent duration by making minor tweaks in their drug,” said Tellis.

This could include a minor change in dosage, or formulation, or the method of administering the drug, he said.

This is called patent evergreening.

Several attempts have been made to extend patents to crucial drugs in India. In some cases, the court has stepped in.

In 2013, Swiss pharma company Novartis’s plea to extend the patent of cancer drug Imatinib was rejected by the Supreme Court.

More recently, the Indian Patent office rejected Johnson and Johnson’s application for bedaquiline, a popular life-saving medication for drug-resistant tuberculosis patients.

So far, objections to Gilead’s pre-grant applications on Lenacapavir have been filed in India, Thailand, Vietnam and Argentina. In 2025, Argentina rejected one such application, which could allow generic drugs to enter the market. This may set a global precedent, activists hope.

In a pre-print paper in the medical journal Lancet, experts pointed out that the cost of manufacturing Lenacapavir could be as low as $25 to $40 if the global demand is between 5 and 10 million people. In India alone, the demand would be huge – there were 64,470 new HIV infections in 2024 and there are 25.61 lakh people with HIV in the country.

When Scroll asked Gilead why it was filing patents that could put the drug out of reach of Indian patients, Ryan Mckeel, the firm’s executive director for public affairs, said it is “pursuing a strategy to enable broad, sustainable access to Lenacapavir for HIV prevention globally".

Mckeel was referring to the royalty-free voluntary licence agreement Gilead signed with six generic manufacturers in October 2024 to make the drug for 120 low- and low-middle income countries, including India.

At least three manufacturers are from India, including Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited. “We believe this approach has the potential to be the most efficient strategy for enabling registration as quickly as possible in India so it can reach people who want and need it most,” Mckeel added.

When Scroll contacted Dr Reddy’s, it declined to comment on the price of the drug.

Leena Menghaney, an expert on medicine law and policy, said that simply signing a voluntary licence agreement will not bring down prices of medicines like Lenacapavir to $40. For that to happen, India will have to approve generics of the drug and must decisively roll out a pre-exposure prophylaxis programme at large scale, she said.

“Access to preventive regimens that can stop HIV infection among vulnerable populations is a core part of right to health,” Menghaney said.

A long struggle

Tellis, now 66, has spent a lifetime fighting to keep drugs affordable for Indian masses. Over the years, he has filed oppositions against patents for crucial Hepatitis C, tuberculosis, HIV, and more recently Covid-19 drugs.

His first success came in 2012, when the Indian authorities cancelled pharma firm Roche’s patent on a crucial drug to treat Hepatitis C. It was a landmark decision because the patent had been granted under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights or TRIPS, which advocated at least 20 years for a patent.

Later, Tellis also filed opposition to Gilead’s patent application on Sofosbuvir, another Hepatitis C drug. This drug cost 84,000 US dollars for a three-month course. “Our application pushed the government to bring the manufacturing cost to less than 100 dollars in India,” Tellis said. “It benefitted lakhs of patients.”

The process to win such patent oppositions is tedious and long. It needs a coalition of experts from the pharmaceutical sector, legal fraternity, public health activists, and NGOs.

Tellis often seeks the help of the Third World Network, a network of experts and groups that work to ensure equitable distribution of world resources.

To make a persuasive case against a patent application by a pharma giant, a person needs technical advice and understanding on how a drug is formulated and what loopholes pharma companies exploit in order to extend the patent.

Chetali Rao, senior scientific advisor at Third World Network, said a safeguard in the Indian Patent law under Section 3(d) prevents evergreening of a patent if the formulation of a medicine is changed without much change in its therapeutic value.

“In the case of Lenacapavir, too, Gilead has filed for patent extension for salts by minor tweaks in the drug. The therapeutic value does not change,” she told Scroll. “We are basing our opposition on that ground.”

Access for all

Patients at risk of contracting AIDS told Scroll that Lenacapavir might be a better alternative to existing preventive treatments.

Mannu BJ, a 46-year-old from Delhi, was put on prophylaxis treatment against HIV but dropped out of it. The treatment was expensive and involved taking a daily dose of medicine, a regimen he found hard to maintain.

Murugesh, a counselor at Humsafar Trust said that the people at the highest risk of HIV infection are also the ones who can least afford to prevent it. “Even if we convince someone to take it, they drop out in a few months.

But Mannu believes Lenacapavir might change things. “If it is introduced, many will start taking it. One injection in six months is easy to comply with. It can help bring down new infections,” he said.

Hari Shankar, an HIV positive resident of Delhi who actively campaigns for drug availability for patients, said “the production has to be opened up to generic manufacturers”.

Murugesh added: “India must approve Lenacapavir fast, and ensure that it remains accessible to all.”

In Arundhati Roy’s memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me, there is a full, tender chapter about Laurie Baker, the British-born architect who became a quiet revolutionary in Kerala. For readers who have encountered Baker through Roy’s pages, he emerges as a figure of integrity and invention. Yet Roy’s mention is also an invitation to look more closely at the man, and at the woman beside him, without whom his story remains incomplete.

When Laurie Baker first arrived in India in 1945, he came not as an architect but as a pacifist and conscientious objector, after service as an anesthetist with the Friends’ Ambulance Unit in China during World War II.

A chance meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in Bombay redirected his life. Gandhi’s philosophy – that a home should be built with materials found within a five-mile radius – became the seed of everything Baker would later practise. But it was another encounter, equally formative, that would anchor him in India for good: his meeting with Elizabeth Chandy, a young Malayali doctor working with people affected by leprosy.

Elizabeth Chandy was the daughter of a distinguished surgeon from Kerala. When she married Laurie Baker in 1948, it was a union that crossed cultures at a time when such marriages were rare enough to invite family opposition. They spent their first 16 years together in the remote Himalayan foothills of Pithoragarh, where she ran a hospital and Laurie Baker learned, as he later put it, “how to build all over again” – from local masons and carpenters who understood climate and material in ways his English architectural education had never taught him.

In 1963, they moved to the hills of Vagamon in Kerala, where they set up a rural hospital and home, with Elizabeth Baker as doctor and Laurie Baker as anesthetist and nurse – when he was not constructing the place, bit by bit.

It was only in 1969, when the Bakers moved to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, that Laurie Baker entered the most prolific phase of his career. He was already past 50. Early encouragement and support for his “low-cost, low-waste, local-material-based” buildings came from Archbishop Mar Gregorios.

Thereafter, from a simple drawing board in his bedroom – without assistants and without a formal office – Laurie Baker would eventually have a hand in nearly 10,000 buildings across Kerala.

But to speak only of Laurie Baker is to miss the full picture. Elizabeth Baker was his equal partner in every sense. She was a physician who treated people affected by leprosy and trained nurses. She managed their household, raised their children, and attended to her husband’s building accounts.

She brought to their life together a cultural rootedness and moral steadiness that anchored his work in place. And when circumstances demanded, she acted with a firmness that left little room for ambiguity.

Partnership in practice

In the fishing village of Marianad, north of Thiruvananthapuram, the Bakers’ complementary presence was vividly felt throughout the early 1970s. Elizabeth Baker made regular visits to the health clinic in the village as part of her work among people affected by leprosy along the coast.

The fishermen’s cooperative office, where I worked, stood next door. After clinic hours I would walk her to where I lived and she would sit with me and the young workers, drinking lime juice and talking about health, dignity and people – until the old blue Ambassador car, with Laurie Baker beside his faithful driver, arrived to collect her.

Laurie Baker would join these conversations, from which emerged a building for the fishing community: a modest fish marketing and processing centre built in 1975. Women cleaned and packed fish there, supplying institutions and even delivering directly to households – long before home delivery became fashionable. That small building, largely absent from official catalogues of Laurie Baker’s works, captures what he truly stood for: usefulness, simplicity and respect for labour.

Baker’s influence soon extended beyond the coast. In the early 1970s, he designed the library and staff quarters for the Kerala United Theological Seminary in Thiruvananthapuram, working on a shoestring budget, as he always did.

Then, with the backing of Kerala’s Chief Minister Achutha Menon and economist KN Raj, Baker created what many consider his masterpiece – the Centre for Development Studies on Prashantha Hill in the state capital: hostels for women and men, a circular seven-storey library tower, classrooms, offices, staff quarters, an open-air amphitheater and auditorium – all infused with his philosophy of material honesty and climatic responsiveness.

At the outset, his constructions met with sharp criticism from engineers of the Public Works Department, who predicted that the buildings would crumble within five years.

For those of us who worked at the centre in those early years, Baker was a familiar presence – dropping into offices, borrowing a spare cup for tea-time discussions, pulling cartoons from his cloth shoulder bag to pin on notice boards. One favourite showed a nuclear power station surrounded by a flimsy wooden fence, captioned: “It is 100% safe. We have built a wall around it.”

The humour was gentle; the politics unmistakable. These are the kinds of little details Roy’s readers would recognise – the man behind the legend, present in small, daily ways.

Domestic sphere as workshop

For those who knew the Bakers through their work, it was easy to see Laurie Baker’s buildings as extensions of his philosophy: building according to the lay of the land; harming no tree on the site; using rat-trap bond brickwork that required 25% fewer bricks; designing filler slab roofs that replaced large quantities of concrete with discarded roofing tiles; creating brick jali screens that admitted light and air while ensuring privacy.

These approaches and innovations revealed a mind disciplined by economy, integrity, and an instinctive respect for material and nature.

But for those who knew them more intimately, the Bakers’ home in Thiruvananthapuram itself revealed the same principles at work. The Hamlet was a finely calibrated cluster of dwelling spaces on a motley urban hillside. Every element served a purpose. Nothing was ornamental in the conventional sense. Beauty emerged from the honesty of materials left exposed and from the intelligence with which the building responded to its site.

Elizabeth Laurie’s presence permeated The Hamlet as surely as her husband’s. She was the one who made it function as a home, who received the endless stream of visitors – architects, students, masons, curious neighbours – with a hospitality that never seemed to weary her. She managed the innumerable practicalities that allowed her husband to work without distraction, and she shaped the atmosphere of their home with a tact and discernment that made visitors feel welcome and at ease.

When my wife and I asked Laurie Baker in 1988 to build our home, the process unfolded over a year of sketches, jokes and long conversations. The resulting house followed the slope of the land, using rat-trap bond and filler slab roofs to save material and regulate temperature.

Baker personally laid the first steps of the semi-spiral staircase when the mason hesitated. The kitchen, designed after he truly listened to the woman who would use it, remains a favourite space. This capacity for deep listening, implied in Roy’s portrait of him, was perhaps Laurie Baker’s greatest skill. Not only to clients, but to masons, nurses, fishermen, priests, students, and activists.

Our home, completed in 1990, measured 1,750 square feet and cost about Rs three lakh. We named it Thanal – shade.

Carrying disappointments quietly

Not everything Laurie Baker attempted succeeded. A community housing project for fishers at Poonthura in 1975 faltered due to poor supervision and betrayal by a trusted supervisor.

Substandard materials were used; the filler-slab roofing was improperly constructed. The fishing community rejected the houses, and the project became a source of controversy. Baker was deeply distressed. He worried that a model which could have transformed coastal housing had been abandoned. He carried such disappointments quietly, with support from his wife.

He also faced hurt within institutions he served selflessly. At the CSI Christ Church, Palayam – where he had earlier designed a sensitive extension matching the heritage building’s plastered finish, and later built the common burial vaults – a church committee abruptly removed him from a retirement-home project during his absence abroad. Many members protested, but the damage was done. Baker bore it without bitterness.

When conflict arose, Elizabeth Baker did not hesitate to act. During construction of Thanal, a worker unloading building material from a lorry kicked Laurie Baker following an altercation about unloading charges, an incident that sent him to hospital. Elizabeth Baker telephoned CPM leader VS Achuthanandan directly. The worker was promptly dismissed from his union.

The episode revealed something essential about their shared life: Laurie Baker absorbed blows with Quaker forbearance; Elizabeth Baker ensured there were consequences.

A full-blooded Indian

Laurie Baker received the Padma Shri in 1990 and the United Nations Roll of Honour in 1992. But the recognition he valued most was the Indian citizenship granted to him in 1989, a status he had pursued for decades. It finally materialised with the intervention of his friend KR Narayanan, then minister of state for science and technology, who would later become President of India.

When Laurie Baker fell seriously ill not long afterwards, and friends from the Centre for Development Studies, at Elizabeth’s request, came to donate blood, he greeted us with characteristic wit: “At long last, I am a full-blooded Indian.”

The joke captured something essential about him. He was never more serious than when he was playful. His cartoons – drawn on used envelopes and scraps of paper, sent to friends with no expectation of reply – skewered nuclear proliferation, bureaucratic absurdity and architectural pretension.

When a young researcher mentioned needing a logo for a major international study on fish trade and food security, Laurie Baker pulled scraps from his shoulder bag a week later and said simply, “Choose from this.” The design chosen was used on the cover of the final publication for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Elizabeth Baker’s influence radiated differently, but no less powerfully. The nurses she trained carried her methods to clinics across Kerala. The people affected by leprosy whom she treated remembered her touch, her refusal to flinch from their condition and her insistence on their full humanity.

At Marianad, at The Hamlet, at Christ Church – where she worshipped, while Laurie, true to his Quaker convictions, remained quietly apart – she embodied a kind of grace that made his work sustainable.

What endures

Laurie Baker died on April 1, 2007, at the age of 90. He was interred in the common burial vaults of Christ Church, the very structure he had designed years earlier, remarking at the time that he was “investing time in building his final resting place”. Elizabeth Baker survived him by five years, continuing to receive the visitors who made pilgrimage to The Hamlet, continuing to represent the shared vocation that had shaped so much.

If there were ever a Baker Wikipedia, as one friend once imagined, it should not begin with buildings. It should begin with stories: of masons who learned dignity in work, of patients who found compassion, of families who found shelter, of young people who found purpose.

And it should recall that Laurie Baker did not work alone. What stands today in brick and mortar was sustained by a partnership of conviction, discipline, and mutual trust.

What the Bakers built together was never merely architectural. It was a demonstration that ethics and aesthetics need not be opposed; that the poor deserve beauty as much as anyone; that local materials and local knowledge are not second-best but first principles; that a British architect and a Malayali doctor could create something neither could have created alone.

On March 2, what would have been Laurie Baker’s 109th birthday, it is that story of partnership that merits remembrance.

John Kurien met the Bakers in Marianad in 1973. He was closely associated with the institutions, buildings and events mentioned in this article, remaining close to the Bakers until their passing.

Flight operations to and from West Asia remained disrupted on Monday, with about 100 flights cancelled from Delhi, 30 from Chennai, 50 from Bengaluru, 45 from Kochi and 20 from Thiruvananthapuram, reported The Times of India.

This followed Iran’s retaliatory strikes after a joint Israel-United States military operation on Tehran on February 28.

On Sunday, Indian airlines cancelled around 350 flights.

This was in addition to the complete suspension of flights by all Indian carriers to 11 countries in West Asia.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued an urgent safety advisory for all airlines to avoid Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation advised passengers to check their flight status with airlines before heading to airports.

Several international airlines have also suspended operations in parts of the region or are taking alternative routes to bypass West Asian airspace.

The closures have hampered flight operations globally, particularly due to disruptions at major transit hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in West Asia and parts of Europe, The Indian Express reported.

Indian carriers had already been avoiding Iranian airspace in recent weeks. But the larger West Asian corridor is important not only for their operations in the region, but also for overflights to Europe and North America.

On Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that foreign nationals in India who have had to alter their travel plans due to the situation in West Asia and require visa extensions or need to regularise their stay should contact their nearest Foreigners Regional Registration Office.

The conflict

On Saturday, Israel and the US launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government. Iran retaliated to the attacks and said that the US-Israeli operation had begun while the nuclear negotiations were on.

The attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Israel has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

However, amid fears of a potential attack, with a heavy US military deployment off its coast in recent months, Tehran had been forced to reopen negotiations with Washington about its nuclear programme.

On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the US-Israeli military operation. His killing further escalated an already volatile situation in the region.

On Monday, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had fired rockets and drones at Israel in response to Khamenei’s killing, with the Jewish nation responding with a barrage of strikes in Lebanon.

Also Read:

• Top updates: Israel strikes Lebanon after Hezbollah fires missiles across border

• ‘Nobody could sleep last night’: Indian workers on edge as Iran attacks Dubai, Doha

Schools across Kashmir have been closed since Monday and will remain so on Tuesday amid protests in the Union Territory following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israel operation.

“In the interest of administration and safety of students, it was hereby ordered that all Government and Private Recognised Schools of Kashmir Division would remain closed on 2nd and 3rd March, 2026,” the order issued by the Directorate of School Education Kashmir stated, according to ANI.

Schools were scheduled to reopen on Monday after a nearly three-month-long winter break.

According to NDTV, the restrictions were aimed at “preventing miscreants and anti-national elements from exploiting public sentiments in the aftermath of United States-Israel strikes on Iran”.

Protests erupted in several parts of India including Jammu and Kashmir, against the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday in a joint military operation conducted by the United States and Israel.

Amid the demonstrations, the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir also curtailed mobile internet speed.

Khamenei, 86, had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989. He controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces.

He was considered a significant figure among Muslims from the Shia community.

Besides Jammu and Kashmir, protests were also held in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

Also read: Protests across India against killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israel attack

The Indian stock market on Monday tanked as it opened for the first time since the conflict in West Asia began on Saturday.

The BSE Sensex ended the day at 80,238.85, which was 1,048.34 points below the previous closing. The Nifty50 index also lost 312.95 points to end the day at 24,865.70.

Investors had lost Rs 8 lakh crore when the market opened before the benchmark indices recovered marginally, according to Mint.

Other major Asian stock indices, including Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and Japan’s Nikkei, also plunged on Monday morning.

The Indian rupee fell steeply by 42 paise to settle at a provisional figure of 91.50 against the US dollar on Monday, PTI reported.

On Saturday, Israel and the United States launched a joint operation in Iran to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government. Iran retaliated to the attacks and said that the US-Israeli operation had begun while the nuclear negotiations were underway.

The attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Israel has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

However, amid fears of a potential attack, with a heavy US military deployment off its coast in recent months, Tehran had been forced to reopen negotiations with Washington about its nuclear programme.

On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the joint US-Israeli military operation. Tehran vowed revenge and fired missiles at Israel and other countries across the Gulf.

Khamenei, 86, had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989. He controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces.

He is considered a significant figure among Muslims from the Shia community.

India and Canada will aim to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement “by the end of this year”, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday.

The agreement will “reduce barriers, increase certainty, unlock opportunity for exporters, investors and workers” in both countries, the Canadian prime minister said.

Carney arrived in India on Friday for his first visit to India since becoming prime minister. He held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

The two countries have also agreed on a $1.9 million uranium deal and said that they will work on building small modular nuclear reactors and advanced reactors.

The agreement has been signed by India’s Department of Atomic Energy and Canada’s Cameco, one of the world’s largest publicly traded uranium companies.

Cameco will supply 11,000 tons of the reactor fuel to India from 2027 to 2035, Bloomberg News quoted Carney’s office as saying.

The two countries have also agreed to cooperate in sectors including liquefied natural gas, critical minerals, solar and hydrogen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the two countries hoped to reach $50 billion in trade by 2030. “Unlocking the full potential of economic cooperation is our priority,” he said.

Modi added that the two leaders discussed ways to boost cooperation in combating terrorism.

“We agree that terrorism, extremism and radicalisation are shared and serious challenges not only for both countries but for all of humanity,” he said. “Our close cooperation against them is extremely important for global peace and stability.”

Carney’s visit comes amid a thaw in diplomatic relations between India and Canada.

The relations had deteriorated sharply in 2023 after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, told his country’s Parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” tying agents of the Indian government to the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

Nijjar was a supporter of Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is designated a terrorist outfit in India.

New Delhi has rejected Canada’s allegations.

Ahead of Carney’s visit, an unidentified senior official in Ottawa had said that the Canadian government believed that India was no longer linked to alleged violent crimes in Canada.

However, on Monday, Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail quoted two unidentified officials as saying security officials in the country received evidence that Indian consular staff in Vancouver supplied information to allegedly assist in Nijjar’s killing.

At least 555 persons have been killed in Iran since the United States and Israel launched an attack on the country, the Iranian Red Crescent said. In the past two days, 131 Iranian cities have been targeted in the attacks, the humanitarian group said.

Separately, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed that missile strikes had targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the headquarters of the Israeli air force commander. Hours earlier, Israel’s military said it was intensifying its campaign against Iran and would step up strikes on “key elements of the regime”.

Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the country’s nuclear facility at Natanz was struck during the military operations on Sunday. However, Rafael Grossi, the chief of the United Nations watchdog said that the agency had “no indication” that any nuclear installations in Iran had been damaged. Read on.

Flight operations to and from West Asia remained disrupted owing to the conflict following Iran’s retaliatory strikes against a joint Israel-United States military operation on Tehran on February 28. Around 100 flights were cancelled from Delhi, 30 from Chennai, 50 from Bengaluru, 45 from Kochi, 20 from Thiruvananthapuram, among others.

The previous day, Indian airlines had cancelled around 350 flights. This was in addition to the suspension of flights by all Indian carriers to Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation advised passengers to check their flight status with airlines before heading to airports. Read on.

Canada’s security officials have received evidence that Indian consular staff in Vancouver supplied information to allegedly assist in the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian news report has claimed. Quoting two unidentified officials, The Globe and Mail reported that the Indian official allegedly used his position as a visa officer at the Vancouver consulate to collect details about Nijjar from members of the Indian diaspora living in British Columbia, where the separatist lived.

The Canadian officials said the claims are based on investigations by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, intelligence from Canada’s spy agency and its allies in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The news report came amid the first visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mike Carney to India since taking over the post.

Nijjar was killed by masked gunmen on June 18, 2023. His killing had led to a deterioration in the relations between New Delhi and Ottawa after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, alleged the involvement of Indian agents in the murder, claims that New Delhi denied. Read on.

The Maharashtra government will direct online food and quick-commerce companies to ensure mandatory police verification of “delivery partners” and gig workers, the state’s labour minister has said. Akash Fundkar noted that most delivery workers were engaged through online platforms and third-party contracts allowing companies to avoid direct responsibility.

The state home department has held discussions with the labour department and suggested a mandatory police clearance certificate for delivery personnel, Fundkar said.

He added that any worker found working without police verification “should be removed, and with the help of the home department, action will be taken against companies that fail to comply”. Read on.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our Daily Brief newsletter.

Nine members of the Indian Youth Congress who were arrested in connection with a protest at the India AI Impact Summit on February 20 were granted bail by a Delhi court on Sunday, Bar and Bench reported.

Members of the Congress’ youth wing had staged the protest during the artificial intelligence summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and holding placards alleging that he was “compromised”.

The Delhi Police, which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, registered a case against the protesters on charges of rioting and promoting enmity between groups. It alleged that the demonstration was an attempt to disrupt the high-profile event.

On Sunday, Judicial Magistrate First Class Ravi of the Patiala House Court said in his order granting bail that the protest amounted to “political dissent” and not “recidivist violence or organised crime”.

“The protest, at highest, constituted symbolic political critique during a public event,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying.

The court noted that the demonstration involved participants wearing T-shirts with images of political leaders, chanting slogans that were not inflammatory or communal in nature.

“No evidence discloses property defacement, or delegate panic,” the legal news outlet quoted Ravi as saying, adding that the protesters left the venue in an orderly manner under police escort.

The court said that their prolonged pre-trial detention without any investigative requirement amounted to “illicit pre-emptive punishment” and violated their right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, Bar and Bench reported.

Those granted bail were Krishna Hari, Narshimha Yadav, Kundan Kumar Yadav, Ajay Kumar Singh, Jitendra Singh Yadav, Raja Gurjar, Ajay Kumar Vimal alias Bantu, Saurabh Singh and Arbaz Khan.

So far, 14 persons have been arrested in the case, including Indian Youth Congress National President Uday Bhanu Chib, who was granted bail on Saturday.

On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the Narendra Modi government about the police action against members of his party’s youth wing, saying that peaceful protest is not a crime.

“Modi ji, this is not North Korea, it is India,” the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha had said on social media. “When those in power start seeing themselves as the nation and dissent as the enemy – that is when democracy dies.”

The five-day India AI Impact Summit began on February 16 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. It was promoted as a major gathering on artificial intelligence in the Global South, attended by 20 world leaders, technology executives and exhibitors from 30 countries.

Security officials in Canada have received evidence that Indian consular staff in Vancouver supplied information to allegedly assist in the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail claimed on Monday, quoting two unidentified officials.

One of the Indian officials who allegedly gathered information about Nijjar worked as a visa officer at the Vancouver consulate, the newspaper quoted the officials as having alleged. The Indian official allegedly used his position to collect details about Nijjar from members of the Indian diaspora living in Surrey, British Columbia, where the separatist lived.

The Canadian officials said the claims are based on investigations by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, intelligence from Canada’s spy agency and its allies in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Nijjar was killed by masked gunmen on June 18, 2023. His killing had led to a deterioration in the relations between New Delhi and Ottawa after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, told Parliament that intelligence agencies were examining “credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder. India has rejected Canada’s allegations.

Nijjar was an advocate for Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is a designated terrorist outfit in India.

Four Indian citizens are facing trial in Canada in connection with the Khalistani separatist’s killing. They face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

One of the unidentified officials quoted by The Globe and Mail claimed that the visa officer at the Vancouver consulate was also an intelligence officer with India’s Research and Analysis Wing or RAW. The second official did not name the visa officer but said that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had been monitoring an undercover RAW agent posted at the consulate who was also working as a visa officer.

The officials claimed that Singh worked with the Indian consul general in Vancouver at the time.

The newspaper also reported that the information gathered in Canada was allegedly passed to another intelligence officer in New Delhi, who communicated it to members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. A Canada-based member of the group allegedly helped arrange Nijjar’s murder.

The two Canadian officers said that the official in New Delhi was Vikash Yadav, who has also been named in a United States indictment in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill another Sikh separatist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The Globe and Mail report came on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Carney arrived in India on Friday for his first visit to India since becoming prime minister.

On Saturday, India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, told reporters in Mumbai that there had been no foreign interference by Indian officials in Canada, saying “it never happened”, the newspaper reported.

There has been no response from the high commissioner’s office to these allegations.

An unidentified senior government officer in Ottawa also said on February 26 that the Canadian government believed that India was no longer linked to the alleged violent crimes in Canada

‘India perpetrator of foreign interference’: Canadian intelligence

Even as the Indian high commissioner has denied foreign interference by New Delhi, Canadian newspaper The National Post reported on Sunday that the country’s domestic intelligence agency has said India continues to be among the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage against the country.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Eric Balsam, told the newspaper that the agency’s assessment had not changed, marking the first time a Canadian security agency has contradicted a statement by a senior government official, the newspaper reported.

In January 2025, a Canadian inquiry commission accused India of interfering in the country’s electoral process by clandestinely providing financial support to political leaders and engaging in disinformation.

The Indian external affairs ministry had rejected the inquiry panel’s report, and had alleged that it was Canada that was consistently interfering in India’s internal affairs.

On February 8, India and Canada said that they had agreed on a work plan to guide cooperation on national security and law enforcement.

Maharashtra minister Akash Fundkar on Saturday said that the state government will soon direct online food and quick-commerce companies to ensure mandatory police verification of “delivery partners” and gig workers, the Hindustan Times reported.

Responding to a question in the state Assembly about concerns regarding public safety, the labour minister noted that most delivery workers were engaged through online platforms and third-party contracts. This often allowed companies to avoid direct responsibility, he added.

The state home department had already held discussions with the labour department on the matter and suggested a mandatory police clearance certificate for delivery personnel, Fundkar said.

“Companies such as Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto and Amazon, amongst others, have appointed delivery partners without proper police verification,” the Hindustan Times quoted the minister as saying.

Many delivery workers are hired through third-party agencies and operate at all hours, which raises concerns about the safety of women, elderly citizens and other vulnerable groups, Fundkar said.

He added that applying for these jobs requires prospective “delivery partners” and gig workers to submit identity documents, vehicle details and other information, including police verification certificates online.

“However, further directions will be issued to ensure that no delivery worker is hired without police verification,” the Hindustan Times quoted the minister as saying. Companies will also be instructed to engage gig workers only after such verification, he added.

Fundkar said that any worker found working without police verification “should be removed, and with the help of the home department, action will be taken against companies that fail to comply”.

Protests erupted in several Indian states against the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday in a joint military operation conducted by the United States and Israel.

Amid the demonstrations, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir curtailed mobile internet speed, reported PTI.

Khamenei, 86, had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989. He controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces.

He was considered a significant figure among Muslims from the Shia community.

He was killed when Israel and the US on Saturday launched a joint operation in Iran to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government. Iran retaliated to the attacks and said that the US-Israeli operation had begun while the nuclear negotiations were on.

After Khamenei’s death on Sunday, Tehran vowed revenge and fired missiles at Israel and other countries across the Gulf.

In India, protests were held in Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka against the leader’s killing.

Jammu and Kashmir

In Jammu and Kashmir, the police sealed off Lal Chowk in Srinagar and restricted civilian movement on Monday after protests were the previous day in the Union Territory against Khamenei’s killing, The Indian Express reported.

Lal Chowk had been occupied by protesters the entire day on Sunday.

The newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying that the action was taken after a meeting of security officials on Sunday evening to discuss the protests in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley.

The officials added that there were concerns that the protests could potentially lead to law and order disruptions in the Union Territory.

As part of the restrictions, inter-district movement will not be allowed on Monday, The Indian Express reported. Checkpoints will also be set up at entry and exit points to prevent persons from assembling.

While crowds will not be able to assemble, residents would be allowed to mourn the death of Khamenei in imambaras, the newspaper quoted.

Imambaras are specialised religious assembly halls used primarily by Muslims from the Shia community to conduct mourning rituals.

Additionally, the authorities throttled high-speed mobile internet, reported PTI. Network speeds have been curtailed across all mobile networks in the Kashmir valley.

Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday described the closing of Lal Chowk as a “disgrace” and “a shameful act”.

“It [Lal Chowk] is available for dance and music parties, which is the symbolic identity you want to attach to it,” the National Conference leader said. “But when people came out to mourn, to stand in solidarity with the innocent lives being torn apart, it threatens you despite the fact that the demonstrations were entirely peaceful.”

He added: “Do not insult us by treating our grief as a law and order problem. Do not interfere in what are deeply emotional moments for the people of Kashmir”.

Ruhullah also asked the administration not to “side with tyrants”.

Rajasthan

In Rajasthan’s Ajmer, the Shia community on Sunday announced a three-day mourning for Khamenei, PTI reported.

The announcement was made by Syed Asif Ali, a leader from the community, who urged members to refrain from celebrations during the period.

Condolence meetings were also organised at religious places, according to the news agency.

Karnataka

In Alipur village of Karnataka’s Chickballapur district, members of the Shia community called for a protest march and announced three days of mourning, The Hindu reported.

Residents told the newspaper that Khamenei had visited the village and inaugurated a community hospital in 1981 as a 41-year-old cleric in the early years of the Islamic Republic.

“Khamenei inaugurated Imam Khomeini Hospital in Alipur, which is still run by the Anjuman-e-Jafaria Committee in the village,” the newspaper quoted Shafeeq Abidi, an Urdu poet and former journalist from Alipur, as saying. “Today we are all in grief and mourning following the death of Khamenei.”

In Bengaluru, hundreds of Shia Muslims gathered in Richmond Town on Sunday for a condolence meet and a solidarity march, The Times of India reported.

Delhi

Hundreds gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to mourn the killing of Khamenei, The Indian Express reported. The gathering was organised by the All India Shia Council.

The crowds shouted “America Murdabad” and “Netanyahu Murdabad” during the gathering.

Mohseen Taqvi, the imam of the Jama Masjid, said that US President Donald Trump was not just against Iran, but against humanity.

“No one wanted this. Not even Americans,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “It’s just Trump. Look what he is doing to our own country. We are being told what to buy, where to buy.”

Maharashtra

In Mumbai too, Shia Muslims took to the streets to protest against the killing of the supreme leader, ANI reported.

#WATCH | Mumbai, Maharashtra: Shia Muslims take to the streets to protest against the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been killed in Israeli and US strikes pic.twitter.com/jVEP2JXm9T

— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2026

Uttar Pradesh

Protests were held in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow by members of the Shia community.

On Sunday, several gathered near the Bara Imam Bara mosque and shouted slogans during a protest, The New Indian Express reported.

Maulana Yasoob Abbas, general secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, announced that effigies of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be burnt during another protest on Monday.

The Shia community also declared a three-day mourning, according to the newspaper.

Jharkhand

In Jharkhand’s Ranchi, representatives of the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India held a protest to condemn the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

The groups described the attack as “criminal and violent”, saying that it was “in flagrant violation of Iran’s national sovereignty, the UN [United Nations] Charter and all international treaties”.

They said that the attack on Iran, which began immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel, “demonstrated how wrong and damaging this visit was to Indian interests”.

The groups added: “On the one hand, the Modi government compromised 50,000 Indian workers. On the other, abandoning decades of its foreign policy, it is now following these fascists.”

A procession was also taken out by the Jharkhand unit of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, where the participants displayed photos of Khamenei, reported PTI.

Madhya Pradesh

In Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, a condolence meeting and protest were held by Shia Muslims in the Karond area to mourn and condemn Khamenei’s death, The New Indian Express reported.

Prominent religious leaders said that the supreme leader’s “martyrdom” in the holy month of Ramzan and his contributions to Islam would be remembered.

More than 100 members of the community also participated in a protest march, shouting slogans against the US and Israel, after the meeting, the newspaper reported.

The attacks

The attacks in Iran came amid tensions over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Israel has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

However, amid fears of a potential attack, with a heavy US military deployment off its coast in recent months, Tehran had been forced to reopen negotiations with Washington about its nuclear programme.

On Sunday, Khamenei’s daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed in the joint US-Israeli military operation,

Subsequently, senior Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi was appointed to serve as part of the country’s interim leadership. Arafi has been named the jurist member of the temporary leadership council responsible for carrying out the supreme leader’s duties during the transition period until a successor is selected under Iran’s constitutional process.

India on Saturday said that it was “deeply concerned” about the recent developments in Iran and the Gulf. The Ministry of External Affairs urged all sides to exercise restraint, avoid escalation and prioritise the safety of civilians. “Dialogue and diplomacy should be pursued to de-escalate tensions,” it stated.

A Delhi court on Sunday directed the immediate release of 14 students from Jawaharlal Nehru University who were arrested on Thursday after they tried to march to the Union Ministry of Education, PTI reported.

The students had planned the march to demand the resignation of Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit for her remarks that they alleged were casteiest.

More than 50 students had reportedly been detained.

The 14 arrested students had been granted bail by a magistrate court on Friday. However, the court had said that they should be released only after their permanent addresses are verified, reported Bar and Bench.

It claimed that many of the students had concealed or misstated their identities, and had not nominated any family members or friends to be informed about their arrests.

On Sunday, Duty Magistrate Ravi of the Patiala House Court was hearing a petition moved by the students against the magistrate court order, The Indian Express reported.

Ravi noted that if outstation verification was allowed to dictate continued incarceration without outer limits or alternate safeguards, the grant of bail may effectively become illusory, Bar and Bench reported.

The judge said that once the court had reached a “considered conclusion that the accused deserves bail on merits, the verification of their addresses and surety bonds, though important, is essentially a step to secure the efficacy of the bail order and to ensure future presence and compliance with conditions”.

He added that this was “procedural in nature and cannot be allowed to operate in such a manner that the accused continue to remain in custody for an unduly long period for reasons not attributable to them…”

The judge modified the bail conditions in the Friday order and directed that the students be released, saying that the verification of their addresses would not operate as a precondition for their release.

On Thursday, the students were seeking Pandit’s resignation for saying in an interview to The Sunday Guardian that progress for Dalits was not possible “by being permanently a victim of playing the victim card”.

The protesters also questioned the rustication of five JNU students’ union office-bearers earlier this month for allegedly damaging surveillance equipment at the Ambedkar Library. The demonstrators further demanded that a Rohith Act, or a central law named after University of Hyderabad PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, to prevent caste-based discrimination on campuses.

During the march on February 23, clashes took place between the protesting students and the police. While the police alleged that they were assaulted by the demonstrators, the students accused the authorities of using excessive force against them, PTI reported.

The students alleged that several of them were injured because of excessive force used against them.

The police filed a first information report under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to voluntarily obstructing a public servant, voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from performing their duty and assault or use of criminal force to prevent a public servant from carrying out official work.

Among those arrested were three office bearers of the JNU Students Association – President Aditi Mishra, Vice President Gopika and Joint Secretary Danis – and a former union president, Nitish Kumar.

On Saturday, the Election Commission of India published the electoral roll for West Bengal three weeks after its original deadline to do so had lapsed. This list excluded over 61 lakh voters.

But the special intensive revision is still not over in the state. The fate of 60 lakh voters hangs in the balance as they have been placed in a new “under adjudication” category.

The prolonged special intensive revision process has led to fears of disenfranchisement and even disorder in West Bengal. Scroll tracks the chaotic nature of the Bengal SIR and explains how matters have reached such a stage that even Assembly elections are now under question as the state still does not have a final electoral roll.

Uncertainty and chaos

It is unclear how many of the 60 lakh voters, who the Election Commission has labelled as “under adjudication”, will be allowed to vote in the upcoming polls, if at all. At a news conference on Saturday, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, simply said their “cases are not in our jurisdiction now”.

Ordinarily, the state would have been gearing up for Assembly elections by now. But the Election Commission has not even announced the timeline for it so far.

The term of the current Assembly ends on May 7. If the next government is not in place before that, the state will have to be placed under the President’s rule for the first time in nearly half a century.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party does not want an election,” Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, alleged on Sunday, estimating that it would take “four months” to adjudicate all the pending cases. Mamata Banerjee, the party’s founder and chairperson, will hit Kolkata’s streets in protest on March 6, he announced.

Mohit Ray, a member of the BJP’s state executive, saw this as nothing but brinkmanship from West Bengal’s ruling party. Dismissing the possibility of President's rule in the state, he expressed confidence that the judiciary would wrap up the SIR in the “next three weeks”.

How did the judiciary get involved in an exercise being conducted by the Election Commission?

On February 20, the Supreme Court took the “extraordinary” step of transferring the responsibility of completing the SIR from the Election Commission to the state judiciary to try and get a handle on the chaotic exercise, which has gone on for four months now.

However, even that was not enough to meet the deadline of the Assembly elections: the Calcutta High Court said it would need nearly three months to perform the task. The Supreme Court then allowed it to call in judges from neighbouring Jharkhand and Odisha.

Meanwhile, life in courts across the state has virtually come to a standstill with only urgent cases being heard because most judges are on SIR duty. The judiciary taking over the process has got politicians and activists worrying as well.

“The judiciary has a very different pattern of functioning,” explained Sujan Chakraborty, a state committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). “It depends only on paperwork. If the judiciary decides to exclude somebody’s name, that will make him a D voter, a doubtful voter.”

Activist-politician Yogendra Yadav agreed that concerns about lakhs of voters being declared doubtful were “understandable”. For this, he squarely blamed the Election Commission which, in his view, had carried out the SIR “in league with” the BJP.

“The purpose seems to be to delete the names that could not be deleted in the first round of SIR,” he added. “The whole point was large-scale deletion of potential Trinamool Congress voters. The political project failed in stage one. The name of the game is somehow we have to achieve what we set out to achieve.”

Moving the goalposts

The first phase of the SIR that Yadav was referring to had led to the names of around 58 lakh out of West Bengal’s 7.6 crore voters getting listed for removal. Most of them were people who shifted homes, were registered to vote in more than one place or passed away after 2002, the last time such an exercise was carried out in the state.

Notably, analysts found no particular demographic pattern in the deletion of voters. After the first phase ended on December 16, the Election Commission summoned nearly 32 lakh voters for hearings because they were unable to establish their link to the 2002 voter list.

But these so-called unmapped voters also belied the BJP’s allegations that the names of over one crore “Bangladeshis, Rohingyas” were on West Bengal’s voter lists. The Sabar Institute, a Kolkata-based public policy research organisation, found that Hindi speakers and Hindu refugees from Bangladesh – seen as supporters of the saffron party – were overrepresented among such voters.

Then, the Election Commission began summoning voters for what it called “logical discrepancies”. Even those who had established their connection to the 2002 voter list could now be summoned for differences in spelling, errors in recording gender, the number of siblings they have or because their age gap with their parents or grandparents is seemingly unusual. The number of voters deemed suspect for “logical discrepancies” suddenly ballooned to over one crore in West Bengal.

Experts such as the researcher Sabir Ahamed from the Sabar Institute say that the “logical discrepancies” category was improvised specially for West Bengal and extended elsewhere subsequently. The phrase, they point out, had found no mention in the Election Commission’s initial orders regarding the SIR.

The result of this, Ahamed’s data analysis showed, is that the list released on Saturday disproportionately targeted Bengal’s Muslims. Districts such as Murshidabad, Malda, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas, where Muslims are either in majority or have a substantial presence, are home to a large number of the “under adjudication” voters even as they did not have very many unmapped voters after the first phase of the SIR.

“They [the Election Commission] have tailored different mechanisms just to harass citizens,” Ahamed claimed. “It is absolutely clear now that the exercise turned on its head between the first phase and the second phase. Districts with a large number of Muslims are the worst affected.”

Muslims make up nearly a third of West Bengal’s population, according to the 2011 census. In recent years, they have largely backed Mamata Banerjee in election after election, drawing the ire of Trinamool’s principal opponent, the BJP. The arbitrary, chaotic SIR has sparked fears of disenfranchisement in the community.

The role of the Supreme Court

When it comes to deciding whether or not the name of a person is to be included in the voter list, constituency-level officers should be the final arbiters as per law. The Representation of the People Act of 1950 is clear that this power vests in the electoral registration officer, who is usually an employee of the state government.

But in practice, the Election Commission inserted so-called micro observers into the process only in West Bengal and gave them veto powers over decisions made by electoral registration officers. This is what caused sharp disagreement between the state government and the Election Commission, resulting in a logjam that eventually found its way to the Supreme Court.

In the first week of February, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself appeared in the Supreme Court and asked why the Election Commission had made such appointments in her state alone. In response, the constitutional body claimed that it had been compelled to do so because her government had “failed to provide adequate manpower” for the SIR.

Then, the Supreme Court ordered the state government to ensure that an additional 8,505 state officials report for SIR duty. It also agreed with Banerjee and said that “the final decision” on the eligibility of voters would be made by Bengal’s electoral registration officers rather than the Election Commission's so-called micro observers.

Lawyer Gautam Bhatia had observed that the top court was acting like an “administrator” instead of doing its actual job: determining the constitutional validity of the SIR. This became starker at the next hearing, when it asked the Calcutta High Court to take direct control of the SIR.

Why BJP is still backing SIR

Political scientist Maidul Islam worried that Trinamool would launch “a massive offensive” if voters seen as its supporters do not find their names in the list published on Saturday. He blamed the Election Commission for letting the SIR get politicised to such an extent that things had come to this point.

“Basically, because the BJP’s potential voters were deleted first, now they are targeting Bengali Muslims to balance this,” Islam said. “It will be easier for them to say that these are essentially illegal immigrants, Bangladeshi infiltrators. That will match with the narrative of the BJP in this election campaign.”

Ray, the BJP leader mentioned earlier, countered the idea that Muslims were being “targeted” in the SIR. He wholeheartedly backed the ever-changing process. In his view, Muslims were overrepresented in the “logical discrepancies” list because 10% of the state’s population consisted of “Bangladeshi Muslims”.

“West Bengal has become a mini Bangladesh,” Ray alleged. “Both the killers and the victims are Muslims. From the beginning, Mamata was saying that she would not allow the SIR to take place. The state is running on the violence of one group and the ruling party is hostage to them.”

Seventeen persons were killed and 18 others injured on Sunday in an explosion at an ammunition factory in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

The blast occurred at a factory owned by SBL Energy Limited in the Raulgaon village around 6.45 am, The Times of India reported.

The factory produces industrial explosives, including detonators and cartridges for mining and infrastructure projects.

Around 35 workers were reportedly present under two supervisors at the time of the blast.

Rescue teams, including the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local emergency personnel, reached the site and carried out search and rescue operations, The Hindu quoted Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule as saying.

The injured have been transported to hospitals in Nagpur for treatment.

At least 17 people killed and 18 critically injured, after an #Explosion at the SBL Energy Limited, the #Ammunition manufacturing company near #Raulgaon in #Nagpur Rural, #Maharashtra

Rescue operations are currently underway and injured workers have been admitted to a nearby… pic.twitter.com/buu4vk1lck

— Surya Reddy (@jsuryareddy) March 1, 2026

Fadnavis described the incident as “extremely unfortunate and tragic” and said he was in constant contact with the local authorities.

He has announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for the families of those killed, noting that the company has also been directed to provide financial assistance to all families.

“Orders have been issued for a thorough investigation into this incident,” Fadnavis added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the blast “deeply distressing,” and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of those who died and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

The Election Commission on Saturday said that the names of 5.46 lakh persons have been deleted from the voter list of West Bengal as part of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.

Further, a total of 60,06,675 “doubtful and pending” cases have been marked as “under adjudication” in the electoral rolls, the poll panel said. Of these, the names of those approved by judicial officers will be added to the rolls later through a supplementary list, the poll panel said.

The poll panel also said that it did not receive enumeration forms from 58,20,899 voters. These included those who died, were absent, had shifted, had already enrolled and others.

A total of 1,82,036 voters were added to the electoral rolls through Form 6 (form for inclusion) and Form 6A (form for inclusion of overseas electors), the Election Commission said.

West Bengal now has 7.04 crore voters, including the electors in the “under adjudication” list, Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said.

SIR 2026 Electoral Roll at a glance.#ElectoralRoll #SIR@ECISVEEP @SpokespersonECI @PIBKolkata @airnews_kolkata pic.twitter.com/okgapIm1Ae

— CEO West Bengal (@CEOWestBengal) February 28, 2026

The state’s draft electoral rolls, published on December 16, showed that more than 58 lakh voters were removed after being marked dead, shifted or absent.

After the draft roll was published, notices were issued to about 1.36 crore persons regarding logical discrepancies and 31.68 lakh unmapped voters were served summons, The Hindu reported.

The highest number of pending adjudication cases are in Murshidabad, Malda, and South and North 24 Parganas, with smaller numbers in Jhargram and Kalimpong, The Indian Express notes.

Assembly elections in the state are expected to take place in April or May.

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.

The poll body had announced in June that the special intensive revision of voter rolls would be conducted across the country. In a letter on July 5, it had asked all states to begin pre-revision activities.

Bihar was the first state where the revision was completed ahead of the Assembly elections in November. At least 47 lakh voters were excluded from the final electoral roll.

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

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint United States-Israeli military operation on Sunday, the country’s state media reported.

His daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed in the strike.

Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump had posted on social media stating: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead.”

Khamenei, 86, had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989. He controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces.

Here’s more on this and other top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and two other senior officials will lead the country through a transitional phase after Khamenei’s killing, AFP quoted state television as reporting on Sunday.  Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and another official from the country’s legal council will be part of the team overseeing the transition, the state television quoted Mohammad Mokhber, one of Khamenei’s advisors as having said.
• Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported that Khamenei’s security adviser Ali Shamkhani, the country’s army chief of staff, General Abdulrahim Mousavi, defence minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Pakpour were also killed in the strikes. 
• More than 200 residents were evacuated to three hotels in Israel’s Tel Aviv after at least 40 buildings were damaged in Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Saturday, Israeli news outlet Haaretz quoted the city municipality as saying.
• As overnight Iranian retaliatory attacks spread across the Gulf and wider West Asia, Dubai International Airport and its landmark Burj Al Arab hotel sustained damage, the administration in Dubai said on Sunday. Explosions were reported on Palm Jumeirah island, where drone debris sparked a fire in a building, while damage was also reported at Jebel Ali port, AFP quoted unidentified authorities as saying.
• The authorities in Dubai later confirmed an “incident” in the Palm Jumeirah area that resulted in a fire and four injuries. It also said four persons were injured at the airport.
• Later on Sunday, the administration in Dubai confirmed that two persons were injured after debris from intercepted drones fell into the courtyards of two homes. “The sounds heard across the emirate were the result of successful interception operations,” Dubai’s media office said on social media.
• At least one person died and seven others were injured in an “incident” triggered by the interception of a drone at Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, the authorities said on Sunday. “The interception led to falling debris, which resulted in one fatality of an Asian national and seven injuries,” the airport said in a statement.
• On Sunday, the Israeli military said it was carrying out “another wave of strikes” against “Iranian ballistic missile array and air defence systems”, Al Jazeera reported.
• Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani said that Tehran considers attacks on all US and Israeli bases and installations in the region part of its right to self-defence, Al Jazeera reported.
• Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, damaging three buildings in the capital, Manama. The US Embassy in Bahrain on Sunday said all family members and non-essential personnel were authorised to leave the country, AP reported.
• India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that foreign nationals in the country who have had to change their travel plans due to the ongoing developments in West Asia can seek assistance to extend or regularise their visas. The ministry added that such individuals should contact the nearest Foreigners Regional Registration Office for help.
• Hundreds of people stormed the US Consulate in Pakistan’s Karachi protesting Khamenei’s death, on Sunday, AP reported. The police and paramilitary forces used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. At least eight persons were killed and 20 others were injured, Muhammad Amin, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation rescue service, told AFP.

BREAKING:

US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, is now under attack by protesters. pic.twitter.com/rK6g5PZ3G0

— Globe Eye News (@GlobeEyeNews) March 1, 2026

• Protests also broke out in parts of the Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar after Khamenei’s death. A shutdown was also observed in several areas. Unidentified officials told The Hindu that senior police officers were monitoring the situation and that security had been put on alert amid growing street protests. Protests were also held in Lucknow by members of the Shia community, ANI reported. 

#WATCH | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: Shia Muslims take to the streets in Lucknow to protest against the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been killed in Israeli and US strikes pic.twitter.com/lqDuVblCy8

— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2026

• Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah appealed to “all communities to remain calm, uphold peace and avoid actions that could lead to tension or unrest”. “We must also ensure that those who are mourning in Jammu and Kashmir are allowed to grieve peacefully,” the chief minister said. “The police and administration should exercise utmost restraint and refrain from using force or restrictive measures.”

I’m deeply concerned about the unfolding developments in Iran, including the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I appeal to all communities to remain calm, uphold peace, and avoid any actions that could lead to tension or unrest.

We must also ensure that…

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 1, 2026

• Air India on Sunday cancelled several international flights following the closure and restrictions of airspace in West Asia. The airline said it would continue to monitor the situation and issue updates based on ongoing risk assessments. It added: “We regret the inconvenience caused and are making every effort to assist affected passengers with rebooking and alternative travel arrangements.”

#TravelAdvisory

“Close monitoring and careful assessment of the evolving situation in the Middle East have necessitated further curtailment of our scheduled operations, with the safety and security of our customers and crew remaining our highest priority.

In addition to the…

— Air India (@airindia) March 1, 2026

• United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday urged all sides to prevent a wider escalation of war in West Asia amid the fresh conflict. Addressing the UN Security Council, Guterres said that the military action that has embroiled countries in West Asia, carries the risk of “igniting a chain of events that no one can control in the most volatile region of the world”. The UN secretary general noted that the joint military operation by Israel and the US occurred following indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, “squandering” an opportunity for diplomacy.

On Saturday, Israel and the US launched a joint operation to degrade the capabilities of the Iranian government. Iran retaliated to the attacks and said that the US-Israeli operation had begun while the nuclear negotiations were on.

The attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Israel has been claiming that Iran is “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

However, amid fears of a potential attack, with a heavy US military deployment off its coast in recent months, Tehran had been forced to reopen negotiations with Washington about its nuclear programme.

On Saturday, the Israeli military said that it had identified missiles launched from Iran toward Israel and that its defence systems were intercepting the threat. Iran had on Saturday also launched strikes on US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, AP reported. Sites in Riyadh were also reportedly struck.

In Saturday’s strikes in southern Iran, more than 100 children were killed when an Israeli strike hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab in Hormozgan province, the BBC quoted Iravani as saying. “The number of innocent civilians continues to rise,” Iravani said. “This is not only an act of aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity.”

Israel’s emergency service said on Saturday that a woman was killed in the Tel Aviv area after Iran’s missile attack, AFP reported.

BREAKING:

Dubai, right now. pic.twitter.com/QFRiiCaSX4

— Globe Eye News (@GlobeEyeNews) February 28, 2026

On Saturday, India said that it was “deeply concerned” about the recent developments in Iran and the Gulf. The Ministry of External Affairs urged all sides to exercise restraint, avoid escalation and prioritise the safety of civilians. “Dialogue and diplomacy should be pursued to de-escalate tensions,” it said in a statement.

The Indian diplomatic missions are in contact with Indian citizens, the statement said, adding that advisories had been issued asking them to be vigilant. The Indian embassies in Tehran and Tel Aviv had asked citizens to exercise caution and avoid unnecessary movements.

In view of the conflict, large swathes of its airspace became a no-go zone forcing global and Indian airlines to cancel flights to the region and reroute several others to avoid the affected corridors on Saturday.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation too issued an urgent safety advisory valid until Monday for all airlines to avoid 11 countries in the region comprising Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, The Hindu reported.

Our statement on the evolving situation in West Asia ⬇️

🔗 https://t.co/6aGR3mdDrb pic.twitter.com/qdKlTorVU4

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) February 28, 2026

The tensions

The US has repeatedly demanded that Iran give up its nuclear programme, threatening that Tehran must meet its terms or face consequences.

Khamenei had warned on February 1 that an attack by the US would spark a “regional war”.

Israel had been preparing for a possible conflict with Iran for several weeks.

In June, Tehran and Tel Aviv agreed to a ceasefire after 12 days of hostilities.

At the time, the Israeli military had struck what it claimed were nuclear targets, and other sites, in Iran with the aim of stalling Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on Israel.

Both countries had later accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

The two countries had been nudged by the US to accept the ceasefire after Washington on June 22 joined Israel’s war against Iran. The US military had carried out what Trump had described as a “very successful attack” on Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan.

While Trump had claimed at the time that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “completely obliterated” in the attacks, Washington’s preliminary intelligence assessment had said that the strikes only set it back by a few months, and did not destroy its nuclear programme.

Trump’s fresh focus on Iran came after the US’ military operation in Venezuela. On January 3, the US military abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for alleged drug trafficking.

Almost simultaneously, on December 28, protests erupted in Iran initially focused on discontent about rising inflation. However, they later expanded as demonstrations in more than 100 towns demanded an end to clerical rule.

More than 5,000 persons were killed in the crackdown on the protests, according to international rights groups.

Following this, Trump had announced that the US military was moving warships towards Iran “just in case” he wants to take action, saying that he was “watching them very closely”.

Also read: How the Israel-Iran conflict could impact India

Bhopal is often called the “retirement city” for its slow-paced, serene lifestyle. For someone who has lived here for most of the last decade, this also means there are few cultural spaces in the Madhya Pradesh capital where young people can be exposed to new ideas. So, I was glad when I heard that Bhopal would host its first film festival on February 21 and February 22. The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board was listed as one of the sponsors.

Among the “seven curated showcase screenings” was filmmaker and writer Varun Grover’s Kiss, according to the film festival’s website. But it was not screened.

On the evening of Day 1, a cryptic message was posted on the festival’s Instagram page: “The films recently mentioned in certain reports are not part of our official showcase.”

The film was listed on the festival’s website and announced on Instagram. However, on the day of the event, it did not appear on the screening schedule – outside the venue, white tape was stuck on the notice board to blank it out.

Films screened at festivals require exemption certificates from the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Grover told Scroll that he had been informed by the organisers that the certificate for his film had been withdrawn at the last moment.

Looking at the festival’s announcement board and on social media, I could not immediately find any other films being cancelled.

On the Day 2 schedule on the notice board, a white tape covered the panel discussion titled “Finding your voice in Indian cinema”, which was supposed to feature filmmaker Hansal Mehta, best known for Shahid (2013) and Aligarh (2016). Mehta declined to comment on the matter.

Grover said that Kiss has been shown at several national and international festivals “without any problem”.

“Ironically, the film is about censorship,” he said. He added that it is “not at all political” and explores morality in society and the family. The film also deals with queer intimacy.

The festival went on. Screenings were held. Perhaps replacement films filled the vacant slots. By all visible benchmarks, the first edition concluded successfully.

After the event, I began scanning local newspapers to see how they had covered the not-so-subtle change in programme, given the Instagram post and the white tape hastily pasted over the schedule outside the venue.

The Hindi newspapers, which many hold up as the pulse of the “heart of India”, are usually quick to get to news developments before others pick it up. But nothing showed up in my search.

In the run-up to the festival, one publication, Swadesh carried an article criticising the selection of Grover’s film. Another, Panchjanya, published a similarly critical piece shortly after the event concluded.

Swadesh is a Hindi daily and Panchjanya a journal affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh and at the Centre.

The Swadesh report appeared to take as much issue with Grover, if not more, as with the content of the film. It alleged that the film promotes “anti-India family values”. The objections extended to Grover’s public persona, describing him as someone who “promotes leftist ideology” and frequently speaks against the BJP and Hindutva.

The outlet also mentioned that he composed a poem that was popular during the 2019-’20 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act – “Hum Kagaz Nahi Dikhayenge”.

The Swadesh report also referred to filmmaker Hansal Mehta as “vampanthi” or leftist.

Panchjanya threw around terms like “woke” and “cultural Marxism”, objecting to a platform being provided to “directors like Varun Grover, who…is known for his outspoken criticism of the government, the BJP and the RSS”.

I contacted the festival organisers but they declined to comment. The main sponsor of the festival was the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. Officials at the board did not respond to my questions either.

It remains unclear why there was a change in scheduling of the festival, but what remains clear is that what happened in Bhopal is neither new nor surprising.

In December, at the International Film Festival of Kerala, the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry initially denied permission to screen 19 films, including four about Palestine. This caused an uproar. The minister later allowed some of them to be shown.

The difference in Bhopal was that unlike Kerala, there was silence over the censorship.

The silence is perhaps a reflection of something much larger. As Grover said in Scroll’s Adda episode in August, no one has to tell people to be afraid anymore under the current dispensation.

“People are already scared,” he had said. “And in that fear we are asking, can we say this? And if the response from the other side is not yes, then we know we must really get scared.”

“Censorship” often brings up images of dramatic bans or public orders. But, as the events in Bhopal showed, it can take a more mundane form – an empty slot in an event programme, an event taped over on a schedule, nothing to disrupt the event, let alone make headlines.

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

Respite of Kejriwal. A Delhi court discharged Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, and 21 others accused by the Central Investigation Bureau in the liquor policy case. There was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the policy, the court held.

It criticised the CBI for implicating Kejriwal and Sisodia without any cogent material, and said that the chargesheet had several gaps not supported by witnesses or statements. The bench said that it will recommend a departmental inquiry against the agency officials who made a public servant the accused number one in the case.

Also read: Lapses in probe, no proof: What court said while acquitting Kejriwal, Sisodia in excise policy case

Controversial textbook. The Supreme Court banned the publication and re-printing of a Class 8 social science textbook that included a section on “corruption in the judiciary”. The bench also directed the Union government and state education departments to ensure that all copies of the book, printed or digital, are removed from public access.

The Union government apologised to the court and said that the National Council of Educational Research and Training, which published the book, had withdrawn it.

The bench also issued a contempt of court notice to the Department of School Education and NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklan. It told the NCERT director to submit the names of those who were involved in preparing the chapter in question.

Extraordinary intervention. The Supreme Court allowed judges from Odisha and Jharkhand to decide on claims and objections raised during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The bench also permitted the Calcutta High Court to deploy civil judges in the state with at least three years of experience to expedite the process.

The order came after the Supreme Court referred to a letter from the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court, who said that there were 50 lakh cases of logical discrepancies or unmapped categories to be decided and 250 judicial officers were available for the duty. Even if one officer decides 250 matters a day, it will take at least 80 days to complete the process, the chief justice added.

Also on Scroll last week

• India’s top beef exporter made its highest-ever donation to the BJP
• Gujarat wants parental consent to register marriages. Is this legal?
• ‘Keep religion private’: Why an elite Noida neighbourhood is opposing a government-allotted temple
• House numbers, drones, family registers: Bastar villages under web of surveillance
• Why Adivasis displaced by one of India’s first thermal power plants depend on stolen electricity
• Amid protests across Goa, Panjim residents oppose new casino ship in Mandovi river
• In season of Jammu vs Kashmir politics, why cricket team reaching Ranji finals sends a message
• For India’s Hindutva base, Israel is less an ally and more a model
• ‘The Secret Agent’ review: Wagner Moura shines in a chronicle of rebellion and tyranny
• ‘Hamnet’ review: Grief, grace and the first stirrings of genius

Follow the Scroll channel on WhatsApp for a curated selection of the news that matters throughout the day, and a round-up of major developments in India and around the world every evening. What you won’t get: spam.

And, if you haven’t already, sign up for our Daily Brief newsletter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel earlier this week was “shameful”, “ill-timed” and created a “perception of political endorsement of military escalation”, said Congress on Saturday, hours after the Israeli and United States militaries attacked Iran.

The Israeli military described its attack on Iran earlier in the day as a “preventive strike”. An hour after the strikes, United States President Donald Trump said that the US military was also involved in the attack.

However, it was unclear what role the US military had played in the attacks on Saturday.

The strikes came two days after Modi wrapped up his visit to Israel.

On Wednesday, the prime minister said in the Israeli Parliament that New Delhi stood with Israel “firmly, with full conviction, in this moment and beyond”. He made the comments while expressing India’s condolences for the deaths of 1,200 persons, mostly Israelis, during the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.

“We feel your pain” and “share your grief”, Modi told the Knesset.

On Saturday, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh criticised the timing of Modi’s visit to Israel, saying that Tel Aviv and Washington had “begun their joint assault on Iran” two days after it.

“This was fully expected given their military build-up in the last few months,” Ramesh said on social media. “Mr Modi nevertheless chose to go to Israel, where he displayed the highest moral cowardice. He declared that India stood with Israel and got himself an award for saying so.”

The Rajya Sabha MP added that the visit was “shameful and it is even more so in light of the war that has been launched by two of Mr Modi’s ‘good friends’ [referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump]”.

The Congress’ Foreign Affairs Department stated that it was “deeply concerned” about Modi’s visit to Israel at a “moment of heightened tensions, a breakout of hostilities…and the palpable risk of wider conflict in West Asia.”

It added that the Indian prime minister’s visit created the “perception of political endorsement of military escalation”, adding that such “partisan alignment and tacit endorsement of unprovoked aggression” risks compromising India’s calibrated position.

The Opposition party added that this would have grave strategic consequences for the country.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party government needs to be mindful that India has civilisational, economic, energy, geopolitical and diasporic ties not only with Israel, but also with Iran, Palestine, and the wider region,” it said.

It added that “to preserve both moral authority and strategic credibility, India must apply – uniformly and without exception – the very principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful resolution of disputes” it has consistently invoked in the defence of its own national interests.

The Congress also said that the visit risked conveying endorsement of an incumbent government ahead of its national elections. Israel is set to go to the polls later this year.

“It is imperative that Prime Minister Modi understand that relationships are between nations, not between individual leaders or ideologically aligned political parties,” read the statement.

The speech on Wednesday by Modi came during the Indian prime minister’s first visit to Israel since Hamas’ October 2023 incursion into southern Israel and the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.

Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on besieged Gaza since October 2023, leaving more than 70,000 persons dead.

In September, a commission of inquiry set up by the United Nations said that Israelcommitted genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry had rejected the report, describing it as “distorted and false”.

India’s longstanding position has been to support a two-state solution for establishing a sovereign, viable and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living alongside Israel in peace.

Iran’s response to Israel strikes

On Saturday, the Iranian government stated that “malicious attacks” by the US and Israel took place during “the course of negotiations, reflecting the enemy’s mistaken belief that the steadfast nation of Iran would surrender to their ignoble demands through such cowardly actions”.

“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have commenced a decisive response to these hostile acts and will continuously keep the honourable people informed,” it added.

The Israeli Defense Forces also said that it had identified missiles being launched from Iran toward Israel and that defensive systems were “operating to intercept the threat”.

The attacks came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security.

The US has repeatedly demanded that Iran give up its nuclear programme, threatening that Tehran must meet its terms or face consequences.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had warned on February 1 that an attack by the US would spark a “regional war”.

Israel had been preparing for a possible conflict with Iran for several weeks.

From the chaotic arteries of Shyambazar to the manicured lanes of Salt Lake, and even beyond, when walking down streets in Kolkata and its suburbs, the air smells different. The sharp, pungent notes of mustard oil, once the undisputed sovereign of Bengali air, is fast retreating, confined to kitchens of homes.

On the road, outside metro stations, near college gates, at bus stands, another scent dominates: the narcotic perfume of meetha attar, saffron, birista or onions fried crisp, ghee and meat.

Over the last decade, Kolkata has witnessed a culinary coup. Traditional pice hotels, with their clattering metal thalis and temperamental fish curries, have been displaced.

That world has been crowded out by something portable and predictable. The new king is a foil packet, sweating grease, containing a generous helping of yellow rice, a piece of meat and the true monarch of Kolkata’s version of biryani – the potato.

Kolkata’s biryani has always been worshipped by the food lovers of the city. But it has been a dish that the ordinary middle-class would savour on “special occasions”. The sudden “biryani-fication” of Kolkata is more than a change in taste preferences. On closer look, it offers a fascinating case study in economics, logistics and perhaps even the politics of identity.

Food and economics

In the last decade biryani has managed to upstage traditional go-to meals such as puri with chana daal – in Bengali, luchi/kochuri with cholar daal – or samosa with jalebi or the simple meal of rice, daal, vegetables, and fish curry. The wallet explains why. For commuters, students and gig workers, biryani is an efficient bundle: maximum calories and minimum decision-making in one transaction.

A “proper” Bengali meal outside the home often means several items – rice, dal, vegetables, fish, each pushing up the bill and the uncertainty of whether the meal will be satisfying.

The potato is central to that bargain. Stories about why the potato became a part of Kolkata’s biryani vary: some link it to the exile of the Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah, in the city in the mid-19th century and a need (or desire) to adapt the dish. Others treat it as a later innovation that became tradition. Today, the potato does important economic work.

For vendors struggling with volatile meat prices, the potato helps keep portions looking generous without making the meal unaffordable. For the consumer, the giant, soft, saffron-soaked potato offers a psychological satisfaction that a small bowl of macher jhol, or Bengali fish curry, simply cannot match.

In a struggling economy, biryani is fiscal prudence disguised as indulgence.

Meals on wheels

The last decade has also coincided with the rise of the platform economy as food delivery apps have rapidly expanded. Here, biryani has an advantage over Bengali food, which is structurally hostile to the delivery rider’s backpack – fish curry spills, dal leaks, soggy luchis are a tragedy. Biryani, however, is dry, compact and virtually indestructible. A packet of biryani can survive a ride across 10 potholes and reach the customer looking exactly as it left the handi.

Biryani also supports the industrialisation of the kitchen. A pice hotel cook must fry fish to order. A Chinese wok chef must stir-fry every single plate of chowmein. But the biryani ustad cooks 50 kilos in a massive degh at 10am and the job is done. The rest of the day is just dispensing food.

In a high-volume, low-margin market, the batch cook model beats à la carte every time. No wonder biryani is the national delivery heavyweight: Swiggy’s “How India Swiggy’d” reports repeatedly place biryani at the top of India’s most ordered dishes.

Food and identity

But getting to the meat of the matter, is this surge purely economic? Unlikely. In India, everything is political, especially what one eats for lunch. As the national political discourse shifted post-2014, with aggressive vegetarianism and anti-beef narratives dominating North India, West Bengal found itself in a peculiar position: a non-vegetarian stronghold in a country increasingly defined by dietary puritanism. The rise of biryani is perhaps a form of “culinary federalism”.

Chicken or mutton biryani is a “safe meat” compromise. It satisfies the Bengali desire for rich, carnivorous, Mughlai excess while sidestepping the volatile politics of beef. It is a delicious act of resistance against culinary homogenisation. That matters when what one eats can slide from moralising to coercion.

When a Hindu family orders biryani during Durga Puja, or students share packets on a hostel floor, it is not necessarily automatically a manifesto. Most people are simply hungry. Still, everyday choices can carry meanings without being consciously political. Biryani is a subconscious celebration of the state’s syncretic, secular fabric where a Mughlai tradition has been seamlessly adopted as a Hindu festive staple.

There is a cynical side to this politics. In a state where large-scale industrial employment has stagnated, the mushrooming biryani stalls serve two functions. First, they are the new factories, absorbing thousands of semi-skilled migrants and minority laborers.

Second, cheap, rich food acts as a pacifier. As the Romans used to say, if you cannot give the youth jobs, give them bread and circuses. In Kolkata’s case, it is biryani and festivals. A population comatose on carbohydrates and dopamine is less likely to riot.

One dish to rule them all

But biryani’s victory is a loss for food variety and nuanced flavours. The bitter notes of the vegetable dish shukto, the pungency of the Bengali mustard relish kasundi, and the thin, fiery gravies of the Bangal kitchen are being pushed to the margins, reserved for cooking at home on Sunday, or to be eaten in expensive heritage restaurants. The street increasingly belongs to the homogenous, saffron-yellow mass of rice, meat and potato.

Kolkata’s biryani fetish is also being popularised by the influx of food vloggers, whose interventions have also led to a democratisation seen in the rise of several cheap, roadside biriyani hotels like Bacchar Biriyani and “American dada”, challenging the monopoly of the traditional and elite biryani sellers like Rahmania, Aminia and Arsalan restaurants.

But the city’s culinary biodiversity is being traded in for a standardised, reliable, and addictive monoculture. None of this makes biryani the villain. It is a mirror, reflecting inflation, the compression of time, the rise of delivery platforms and the way identity politics seeps into ordinary appetite.

Biryani is now a masterpiece of supply-chain logistics, a symbol of inflation-adjusted economics and a subtle political manifesto. It has conquered the streets, food delivery apps and our arteries. Macher jhol will survive, but it has lost the war for the street.

Niladri Chatterjee is a historian and senior lecturer at Linnaeus University in Sweden.

A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to Indian Youth Congress National President Uday Bhanu Chib, three days after he was arrested in connection with a protest at the India AI Impact Summit, reported Bar and Bench.

Chib was summoned for questioning by the Delhi Police on Monday and arrested on Tuesday morning.

On the same day, he was remanded to four days of police custody.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Vanshika Mehta of Patiala House Courts said on Saturday that Chib had appeared and participated in the investigation after he was served a notice, reported Live Law.

Mehta added that the police had not presented any reason to justify further custody of Chib.

The case pertains to a protest staged by at least 11 persons on February 20 during the AI Impact Summit.

The group had shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held placards alleging that he was “compromised”.

Following this, the Delhi Police, which reports to the Union home ministry, filed a case against the protesters, accusing them of rioting and promoting enmity between groups. It alleged that the protest was an attempt to disrupt the high-profile event at Bharat Mandapam.

The Youth Congress president was the eighth person to be arrested in the case.

A day before he was held, the police had arrested three other officials of the Congress’ youth wing, identified as Jitendra Yadav, Raja Gujar and Vimal Ajay Kumar, on Monday.

Yadav, a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, is the national coordinator of the Indian Youth Congress, the newspaper reported. Gujar is the president of the youth wing’s Gwalior unit, while Kumar is an office-bearer from Bhind.

Four party workers were sent to five days of police custody on February 21.

The five-day India AI Impact Summit began on February 16 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. It was promoted as a major gathering on artificial intelligence in the Global South, attended by 20 world leaders, technology executives and exhibitors from 30 countries.

On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the Narendra Modi government about the police action against members of his party’s youth wing, saying that peaceful protest is not a crime.

“Modi ji, this is not North Korea, it is India,” the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said on social media. “When those in power start seeing themselves as the nation and dissent as the enemy – that is when democracy dies.”

Gandhi remarked that the world’s largest democracy was being “pushed in a direction where dissent is labelled as treason and asking questions is called a conspiracy”.

This came on the same day that a confrontation took place between police personnel from Delhi and Himachal Pradesh on the Chandigarh-Shimla highway when three Youth Congress members were arrested.

The two police forces accused each other of obstructing their investigations. The police in Congress-governed Himachal Pradesh filed a first information report against several Delhi Police personnel, accusing them of kidnapping the members of the ruling party’s youth wing.

Gandhi has been claiming since February 3 that Modi has been “compromised”, adding that he has “sold out” the “sweat and blood” of the country’s farmers by buckling under pressure from the United States to finalise a trade deal.

On a humid morning at Kolavipalam beach in Kozhikode, at one of Kerala’s earliest community-led turtle conservation sites, volunteer Abdul Rahman walks slowly along the fenced hatchery enclosure, scanning the sand for any sign of disturbance.

Two decades ago, he recalls, this stretch of the coast regularly recorded dozens of olive ridley nests each season, attracting conservationists, students, and eco-tourists eager to witness hatchlings returning to the sea. Today, months can pass without a single nesting sighting.

Just two days before this, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced, in her budget speech, a proposed “turtle trail” tourism initiative along the coasts of Kerala, Karnataka, and Odisha.

“The minister talks about turtle tourism,” says Rahman, looking toward the rock-armoured shoreline. “But first, we need turtles. Almost every night, we patrol the beach and find nothing.”

Kolavipalam once symbolised the success of community-driven marine conservation in Kerala, where local fishers maintained day-and-night vigilance against sand mining that could destroy hatcheries. Fishers here have long used turtle-excluding devices in fishing nets, and hatchery maintenance continues, but nesting numbers have declined sharply.

Why sea turtles matter

Sea turtles play a crucial ecological role in maintaining the health of marine and coastal ecosystems. By grazing on seagrass beds and controlling jellyfish populations, they help sustain marine biodiversity and support fish populations that coastal communities depend on for livelihoods.

Nesting activity also contributes to nutrient cycling on beaches, enriching coastal vegetation and stabilising dune ecosystems that protect shorelines from erosion.

Globally, all species of sea turtles are considered threatened or endangered, primarily due to fishing bycatch, habitat loss, coastal development, pollution, and climate change.

Because turtles migrate across oceans and depend on multiple habitats throughout their life cycle, conservation success depends on coordinated protection of beaches, near-shore waters, and open-sea ecosystems. Experts say that the decline of turtle populations often signals deeper ecological stress within coastal environments.

Shrinking nest habitats

Across Kerala, Karnataka, and parts of India’s eastern coast, shrinking nesting habitats, declining arrivals, coastal engineering interventions, and rising conservation costs are raising serious doubts about whether the ecological foundation required for tourism currently exists.

In northern Kerala’s Kannur and Kasaragod, community hatchery groups echo similar concerns. Volunteers who patrol beaches nightly during nesting season say shoreline armouring, artificial lighting, and coastal construction have steadily narrowed suitable nesting stretches. Seawalls are among the main reasons.

“Earlier, turtles could come anywhere along long open beaches,” said C Sudheer Kumar, a member of Naithal, a collective in Kasaragod that maintains hatcheries at Thaikadapuram beach and runs a rehabilitation centre for injured turtles.

Turtles injured after being trapped in fishing nets or affected by other incidents are cared for until they regain health and are released back into the sea. “Now the beach is broken by seawalls, groynes, and harbour structures. Even if turtles arrive, many places are no longer suitable for nesting.”

Local conservation groups in other parts of Kerala such as Malappuram, Thrissur, and Thiruvananthapuram have expanded their work far beyond egg protection. They rescue, transport to veterinary facilities, and treat injured turtles before release, involving fuel costs, coordination with fisheries officials, and post-release monitoring. Much of the work continues through volunteer effort, informal donations, and occasional support from non-governmental organisations.

According to Sudheer Kumar, maintaining a turtle in rehabilitation requires a minimum of Rs 10,000 per month for food alone. “They normally eat sardine and each can eat more than a kg per day. Sardine decline is happening across the region, and so the prices are increasing,” he said.

His team is currently caring for four turtles, with expenses largely from their own pockets. He believes the government’s proposed turtle-trail initiative could help if it channels funds directly into conservation, but along much of the coast, the turtles themselves are increasingly absent.

BC Choudhary, a leading researcher of olive ridley turtles, warned that “tourism plans assume stable nesting numbers, but that stability no longer exists”.

Further north, along Karnataka’s coast, particularly in Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts, community hatchery programmes have often been cited as conservation success stories. Yet volunteers say sea erosion, seawall construction, urban lighting, vehicular movement and expanding beach tourism have significantly altered the nesting landscape.

“Tourism must be carefully controlled,” said Prajwal Bhat, a long-time conservation volunteer in coastal Karnataka. “If tourism increases without strong regulation, it can actually reduce nesting success.”

On the eastern coast, Odisha remains home to the world’s largest olive ridley arribada nesting events at beaches such as Rushikulya and Gahirmatha. Even here, scientists urge caution in linking turtle conservation directly with tourism infrastructure.

“Arribada timing is shifting, and climate-driven shoreline changes are affecting nesting locations. Tourism planning must remain flexible and conservation-first,” Choudhary said.

“Tourism revenue cannot substitute for long-term conservation funding,” wildlife activist Biswajit Mohanty said. “The ecological system must be secured before tourism expectations are built around it.”

Mohanty pointed out that speed boats procured to enforce fishing prohibition during turtle mating seasons were lying defunct. “The efforts of the government should have been to put in place a robust enforcement mechanism instead of turning the site into an ecotourism hotspot,” he said.

Conservation before tourism

Across coastal states, turtle conservation already depends heavily on community labour, while financial support remains limited. Hatchery construction, nest relocation, patrols, rescue operations, and rehabilitation require steady funding, yet most programmes rely on seasonal grants or voluntary contributions.

The turtle-trail initiative reflects an important policy shift linking conservation with livelihoods. Yet the ground reality across states suggests that many stretches of India’s shoreline are currently in a habitat-repair phase rather than a tourism-expansion phase.

Standing on the Kolavipalam shore, Rahman, the volunteer watching over the hatchery enclosure says, “If beaches recover and turtles return in good numbers, tourism will naturally follow. But if we build tourism first and the turtles do not come, what will visitors actually see?”

This article was first published on Mongabay.

The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to religious leader Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati in a case against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, The Hindu reported.

Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha also extended the relief to his disciple Mukundanand Giri, Bar and Bench reported. However, the judge noted that the investigation into the allegations should continue.

The case pertained to allegations that Saraswati, head of the Jyotirmath shrine, had sexually abused two minor boys at a camp in Prayagraj.

A man identified as Ashutosh Brahmachari Maharaj had approached a special POCSO court, claiming that the police failed to act on written complaints in the matter, Live Law reported. The special court then ordered the registration of a first information report, after which a case was filed on February 21 at the Jhunsi Police Station in Prayagraj.

On Friday, the High Court was hearing Saraswati and Giri’s petitions for anticipatory bail, Live Law reported. While reserving its verdict on the petitions, the judge directed both the accused men to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on March 12.

Earlier, Saraswati had said that he was willing to undergo a narco-analysis test if required to establish the truth in the case, The Hindu reported. He has maintained that the allegations were “false” and “politically motivated”, and were aimed at defaming him.

The case against Saraswati came amid recent tensions between the religious leader and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, The Indian Express reported.

In January, Saraswati held a 11 day sit-in protest in Prayagraj against allegedly being prevented by the local administration from taking a dip in the Triveni Sangam on the holy day of Mauni Amavasya on January 18, according to the newspaper.

The religious leader had also given a 40-day “ultimatum” to Chief Minister Adityanath to “declare gau mata [mother cow]” as “rajya mata” and take steps to prevent the export of cow meat.

Saraswati was also among the three other shankaracharyas, or pontiffs of major Hindu shrines, who said that they would not attend the inauguration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January 2024.

Nine more cheetahs from Botswana arrived at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, PTI reported. With this, the number of cheetahs in India stands at 48.

In September 2022, cheetahs were reintroduced under Project Cheetah to India seven decades after the species was declared extinct in the country. The animals were being sourced from African nations like Namibia and South Africa.

Since 2023, at least 18 cheetahs have died.

The new batch of cheetahs from Botswana arrived in Gwalior on an Indian Air Force aircraft, Sheopur Public Relations Officer Avantika Shrivastava told PTI, adding that they were transported to the national park by helicopters.

Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav released the cheetahs into enclosures at the park, PTI reported.

The big cats will be kept under quarantine for a month before they are finally released, Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma told The Print.

VIDEO | Madhya Pradesh: Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav releases cheetahs brought from Botswana at Kuno National Park.

Nine cheetahs have been brought from Botswana at Kuno National Park (KNP), taking India’s total count of the big cats to 48. The third batch of cheetahs from… pic.twitter.com/JnMmGNiM9E

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 28, 2026

The nine cheetahs were the third batch to be brought to India under the translocation programme, The Indian Express reported. Earlier introductions were from Namibia in September 2022 and South Africa in February 2023.

The arrival of the latest batch comes more than two months after a 20-month-old cheetah cub from Kuno National Park was killed on December 7 after being hit by a vehicle on the Agra-Mumbai National Highway in Gwalior.

The cub was one of two male cheetahs born in India to Gamini, a cheetah from South Africa. They had wandered outside Kuno’s boundaries nearly a month ago, The Hindu had quoted forest officials as saying.

Three days earlier, another cub had been found dead, a day after it was released into the wild with its mother and sibling.

In 2025, 12 cubs were born in the park, PTI reported. However, six did not survive. Between February 7 and February 18, nine cubs were also born in two litters. Overall, 39 cubs have been born at Kuno since 2023, according to the news agency.

The cheetah was officially declared extinct by the Indian government in 1952. Before that, the wild cats were last recorded in the country in 1948, when three cheetahs were shot in the sal forests in Chhattisgarh’s Koriya District.

Also read: Did the government gravely underestimate the space needed for Project Cheetah?

The Supreme Court on Friday verbally observed that an undertaking given by the Union government that it would reconsider the offence of sedition under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code cannot stop Parliament from introducing it in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Hindustan Times reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that the legislature functions independent of the executive. It was hearing a batch of public interest litigation petitions challenging several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 152.

The section of the criminal law pertains to acts that endanger India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity. It criminalises a wide spectrum of expressive conduct, including those who “purposely or knowingly” use words to “excite or attempt to excite” secession, rebellion or subversive activities.

Critics have contended that the provision effectively reintroduces the colonial-era offence of sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. They argue that sedition was slipped into the law again in the guise of Section 152 when the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita replaced the Indian Penal Code in July 2024.

In their pleas against provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the petitioners referred to an undertaking given by the Union government in May 2022 to the Supreme Court that Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code would be reviewed.

The court had at the time also ordered proceedings and criminal prosecutions for sedition under the section to be kept in abeyance based on the undertaking.

During the proceedings on Friday, advocate Menaka Guruswamy, representing one of the petitioners, noted that the Union government had earlier said that it would withdraw the offence of sedition, the Hindustan Times reported.

“And yet it is present in the form of Section 152 BNS,” the newspaper quoted the advocate as saying.

Guruswamy said that the Union government “cannot give an undertaking to this court and then reintroduce”, Live Law reported.

However, the bench did not accept the submission, saying that an undertaking given by the Union government does not bind the legislature.

“Parliament is not bound by the government’s undertaking,” the Hindustan Times quoted the bench as saying. “These are executive decisions. The legislature may still want to enact a law. Parliament is absolutely entitled to pass any law.”

While the Parliament’s power to enact a law is independent of the executive, it is left to the judiciary to review whether the legislation fell foul of constitutional principles, it added.

“It is only when courts subject a law to judicial review, we examine whether a provision satisfies the constitutional requirements,” the newspaper quoted the court as saying.

The bench also said that provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita were currently working well.

“It is only with passage of time, we come to know which are the provisions that are causing impediments and if so, whether they can be resolved by courts or need legislative intervention,” it added.

The matter was listed for further hearing in March.

Maharashtra minister Ganesh Naik on Friday said that while the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin scheme is putting financial strain on government departments, it will not be discontinued, The Indian Express reported.

“The government has no intention of rolling back the scheme despite the fiscal strain,” The Hindu quoted Naik as having told the Legislative Council.

The scheme, launched in June 2024, provides a monthly transfer of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 whose families earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh per year.

The Ladki Bahin scheme is said to have played an important role in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance winning 230 seats in the 288-member Assembly in November 2024.

“The government has accepted the Ladki Bahin Yojana,” The Indian Express quoted the forest minister as saying. “Even if it creates conditions that lead to injustice in other departments, the scheme will continue.”

The comment came while responding to a question asked by a Congress MLC about the lack of road connectivity to Dhangar and Adivasi settlements in the forest areas of Kolhapur district.

The Ladki Bahin scheme has sparked controversy due to the strain it has placed on the state’s finances. Monthly scrutiny exercises had also flagged numerous instances of ineligible enrolments.

The state government spends Rs 3,700 crore to disburse the benefits to 2.4 crore beneficiaries each month under the scheme.

In October, Nationalist Congress Party leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal had claimed that all government departments were facing a fund crunch because of the Ladki Bahin scheme.

A review of the scheme in July had found that more than 14,000 men in Maharashtra allegedly received a monthly payout under the scheme for 10 months.

The Women and Child Development Department said that 14,298 men had enrolled in the scheme by misrepresenting their identities, leading to a loss of Rs 21.4 crore to the state exchequer.

Payments to their accounts have since been stopped.

Also read:

• The cash handout burden and its underlying politics
• ‘Election stunt’: Anger, confusion among Maharashtra women as Ladki Bahin payments falter
• As Ladki Bahin squeezes Maharashtra welfare schemes, will discontent surface in civic body polls?

A Delhi court on Friday discharged the 23 persons accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the liquor policy case, including Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, Bar and Bench reported.

There was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the excise policy, the Rouse Avenue Courts was quoted as saying.

Among the 21 other persons discharged in the case was former Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, Live Law reported.

The court criticised the CBI for implicating Kejriwal and Sisodia without any cogent material. It said that the chargesheet had several gaps not supported by any witnesses or statements, Live Law reported.

The bench said that it will recommend a departmental inquiry against the CBI officials who made a public servant the accused number one in the case.

Kejriwal spent around five months in jail in two separate periods. He was finally released in September 2024 after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the CBI case, having already received interim bail in the ED case. Sisodia was in jail for around 17 months before securing bail.

The CBI will approach the Delhi High Court against the verdict, ANI quoted unidentified agency officials as saying.

Following the ruling, Kejriwal on Friday said that truth had emerged victorious.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah “together planned the biggest political conspiracy to finish” the Aam Aadmi Party, Kejriwal alleged.

“The sitting chief minister was dragged out of his house and put in jail,” he told reporters.

आज सत्य की जीत हुई 🙏

BJP के बनाये शराब घोटाले की आज कोर्ट ने सच्चाई बता दी। आम आदमी पार्टी को खत्म करने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी और अमित शाह ने आजाद भारत का सबसे बड़ा षड्यंत्र रचा।

लेकिन आज कोर्ट ने कह दिया अरविंद केजरीवाल, मनीष सिसोदिया और AAP भ्रष्ट नहीं हैं। मैंने… pic.twitter.com/AATQKVvQl9

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 27, 2026

Sisodia said that despite “all the attempts by Modi ji’s entire party and all their agencies to prove us dishonest” it has been proven that he and Kejriwal are “staunchly honest”.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said at a press conference on Friday that the court had acquitted Kejriwal due to the lack of evidence, and said that this was a “technical matter”.

“The CBI will take the next step on this case,” he said. “As far as our party is concerned, we will give a structured response after studying the judgement in detail. One must think – if the charges were baseless, then how were the charges framed?”

Kejriwal’s arrest

Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister at the time, had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2024.

In July 2024, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the case. However, he remained in jail as he had been arrested by the CBI in the same case in June 2024.

He was eventually released from jail in September 2024 after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the case filed by the CBI.

The allegations

The CBI had alleged irregularities in the Delhi government’s liquor excise policy, which has since been scrapped. Based on the CBI case, the Enforcement Directorate also launched an investigation into allegations of money-laundering.

The policy came into effect in November 2021. It was withdrawn in July 2022 with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending an investigation into the alleged irregularities of the policy.

The two central agencies have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government at the time modified the liquor policy by increasing the commission for wholesalers from 5% to 12%. This allegedly facilitated the receipt of bribes from wholesalers who had a substantial market share and turnover.

The party had denied the allegations.

Sisodia, who was the Delhi deputy chief minister at the time, was arrested in February 2023 by the CBI on charges of corruption in connection with the case. A month later, he was arrested by the ED in the same case.

He was granted bail nearly 17 months later in August 2024.

India’s gross domestic product growth slowed to 7.8% in the October-December quarter of the 2025-’26 financial year, down from 8.4% in the previous quarter, data released by the Centre on Friday showed.

The figures were released alongside the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation revising the base year of national accounts to 2022-’23 from 2011-’12.

The government said that the revision expands data sources and improves estimation methods to better reflect changes in the economy.

The revision follows an assessment by the International Monetary Fund in November. The international financial institution had given India’s national accounts a “C” rating while also flagging the outdated base year.

For the financial year ending in March, the government said that it expects the economy to grow by 7.6%, compared to the 7.4% growth forecast under the old data series, the National Statistics Office said on Friday.

Under the news series, the real gross domestic product is projected at Rs 322.5 lakh crore in 2025-’26, up from Rs 299.8 lakh crore in 2024-’25.

Nominal gross domestic product is estimated to grow by 8.6% in the upcoming financial year.

Real GDP measures the value of goods and services produced in the economy after adjusting for inflation. It shows how much actual output has increased.

Nominal GDP measures the value of goods and services at current market prices, without adjusting for inflation. It shows both growth in output and changes in prices.

With these projections, India remains the fastest-growing major economy globally, Reuters reported.

While presenting the Budget for 2026-’27 earlier this month, the government had estimated nominal growth for the next financial year at 10% under the old base year.

India has faced economic uncertainty due to tariffs introduced by United States President Donald Trump, which have weighed on exports, Reuters reported.

In April, Trump imposed the tariffs on dozens of countries, including India, claiming high tariffs the countries imposed on US goods. The levies were eventually reduced once bilateral trade deals had been agreed to, including in the case of India.

On February 2, New Delhi and Washington had agreed on a framework for the deal.

Under the agreement, US tariffs on Indian goods would have been reduced to 18% from a combined rate of 50%.

On February 20, after the Supreme Court struck down his tariffs, Trump imposed a temporary 10% tariff on goods imported into the US, citing his authority under the 1974 Trade Act.

The new tariff is for a maximum of 150 days, unless the US Congress approves an extension. This left the status of recent trade deals with other countries, including India, unclear.

On February 21, Trump said that he was also increasing the global tariffs to the “fully allowed, and legally tested” level of 15% from 10% with immediate effect.

However, it is unclear as to when the increased tariff rate would take effect as only the original 10% rate announced by the White House came into force on Tuesday.

A Delhi court on Friday discharged of corruption charges Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, Telangana Jagruthi founder K Kavitha, and 20 others accused by the Central Investigation Bureau in the liquor policy case.

In its 598-page order, the court criticised the central agency for its handling of the investigation and flagged several lapses, reported Live Law.

It said that Kejriwal and Sisodia were implicated without any cogent material and that there was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent behind the excise policy.

Here’s what the court said in its judgement:

1. Special Judge Jitendra Singh of Rouse Avenue Courts noted that the case against Kejriwal was based on the statements of only one approver, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy. The judge said that the statement was allegedly made in front of 10 to 12 witnesses, but “they have either not been examined or, if examined, have not been cited as witnesses in the charge-sheet”. This raises serious “concerns regarding the completeness and fairness of the investigation”, added the court.

2. It said that the investigation did not begin with the identification of a specific crime and evidence. Instead, the agencies kept widening their scope, appearing to implicate more persons without fresh incriminating material at each stage. “This appears to be based on a preconceived assumption,” said the court.

3. Regarding Sisodia, the judge said that the CBI had failed to establish any prima facie case against the former deputy chief minister. The attempt to link him to the alleged monetary transactions was based on “inference, not admissible proof”, Bar and Bench quoted the judge as saying. “If such a practice is permitted to pass without judicial scrutiny, it carries the grave potential of setting an unhealthy precedent,” Live Law quoted the judgement as stating.

4. The judge also said that the use of the term “South Group” by investigating agencies was not a “legally cognisable classification”. It was arbitrary and unwarranted, the judge added. “It is equally significant that no comparable regional descriptor has been employed for the remaining accused persons,” Bar and Bench quoted him as saying. “The prosecution narrative does not speak of any ‘North Group’ or similar categorisation.” The investigating agencies had alleged that a so-called South Group, of which Kavitha was allegedly a part, paid Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders in exchange for favours related to the policy through a businessman.

5. The court said that investigations by the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate cannot be allowed to enter the “political arena” on allegations of excessive electoral spending by a political party, reported Live Law. Permitting this would lead to the “criminalisation of electoral competition” and arm the executive with “coercive instruments capable of influencing political outcomes”, it added. The judge said that this would erode the level-playing that is “at the heart of free and fair elections”.

6. The judge further noted that once liberty is curtailed, it cannot be meaningfully restored by a subsequent acquittal. The passage of time cannot compensate for the loss of liberty because of pre-trial detention, he added. “The balance between the power of the investigating agency and the right to life and personal liberty is not a matter of legislative grace, but a constitutional command,” the court observed. “Any failure to maintain this balance is likely to undermine both the rule of law and public confidence in the administration of criminal justice.”

7. The court also said that the Enforcement Directorate making arrests and filing prosecution complaints in money laundering cases before the facts of a case are examined in the court “reveals a disturbing inversion of the statutory scheme”, Bar and Bench reported. The judge noted that once a person is charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they are required to meet stringent conditions for bail. “This results in a situation where an individual is deprived of personal liberty on the strength of an allegation whose legal sustainability remains uncertain,” the legal news outlet quoted him as saying.

The CBI has filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court against the verdict, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying.

While Kejriwal spent around five months in jail in the case, Sisodia was imprisoned for 17 months.

Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister at the time, had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2024.

In July 2024, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the case. However, he remained in jail as he had been arrested by the CBI in the same case in June 2024.

He was eventually released from jail in September 2024 after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the case filed by the CBI.