INDIA

Delhi continues to struggle with hazardous air quality in the aftermath of Diwali, with multiple monitoring stations recording ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ pollution levels across the city on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. According to the latest data, four stations are in the ‘severe’ category: Shadipur (401), Wazirpur (406), Jahangirpuri (404), and Burari Crossing (401). Around 25 other stations, including Pusa (366), Punjabi Bagh (386), North Campus DU (356), Mundka (395), Mandir Marg (331), IGI Airport (328), Ashok Vihar (387), NSIT Dwarka (344), Rohini (382), Chandni Chowk (361), Lodhi Road IITM (346), Lodhi Road IMD (333), ITO (349), Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium (370), Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (327), Sonia Vihar (369), and others, recorded ‘very poor’ air quality. A few stations s...

Accusing his party of using displaced Kashmiri Pandits for “political gains”, disgruntled BJP leader Jahanzaib Sirwal on Sunday called upon the party leadership to take meaningful steps to address the “longstanding injustice” with the community. “This community has been among the most steadfast, yet unpaid, unrecognised, and unacknowledged campaigners for the BJP. Their suffering has been referenced over 500 times in Parliament by the BJP leadership for political gains and used as a tool against every political adversary,” Sirwal, who joined the BJP in April last year after leaving Congress, said. “I call upon the party leadership to take decisive and meaningful steps to address the longstanding injustice (with the Kashmiri Pandit community). They deserve more than symbolic gestures or...

A new controversy has gripped social media after writer, producer, and talent manager Roshan Garry called Bigg Boss 19 contestant and actress Farhana Bhatt a “terrorist.” The remark, widely condemned online, has been described as deeply offensive and reflective of growing intolerance in public discourse. Many users have expressed outrage, saying the slur was not just a personal attack but also carried troubling undertones targeting Farhana’s Kashmiri identity. https://twitter.com/JimmyRebellions/status/1980007293254357344 During an online talk show, Garry, also believed to be Bigg Boss contestant Amaal Malik's aunt referred to Farahana as evil, terrorist, which has evoked widespread anger both online and offline. The uproar follows an earlier altercation between singer Amaal Malik and ...

Parvez Rasool, the all-rounder who made history as the first cricketer from Jammu Kashmir to represent India at the international level, has announced his retirement from international cricket. The 36-year-old player from Bijbehara in south Kashmir informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about his decision on Saturday, October 19, and made it official on Monday. Rasool first donned the Indian jersey on June 15, 2014, making his One Day International (ODI) debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Three years later, he appeared in a T20 International against England in Kanpur on January 26, 2017. Although his international career comprised just two matches—one ODI and one T20I—his journey from a small town in a conflict-ridden region to the Indian team remains one of the mo...

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday promised restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at “an appropriate time” and a “good resolution” of demands raised by people of the Union Territory of Ladakh. Speaking at a media conclave in Patna, he also claimed that after the abrogation of Article 370, terror-infested Jammu and Kashmir has “taken a U-turn” and “no local terrorist has been recruited in the last nine months”. “This is a qualitative change that Jammu and Kashmir, where separatism had been festering since the 1990s, witnessed. Earlier, Pakistan felt no need to send terrorists from across the border. They used to place arms in the hands of our children. Now the situation has changed. The people of Jammu and Kashmir feel they belong to the entire country and the entire c...

Protests against smart electricity meters have intensified across India, with Maharashtra witnessing some of the most recent demonstrations. In Nagpur, members of the Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti staged a “power march” and burned electricity bills to express their dissatisfaction with the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited’s rollout of smart meters and recent tariff hikes. Speaking about the protests, VRAS leader Sunil Shinde said, “People are being forced to pay double or triple for their electricity after these meters were installed. We will continue to protest until the government listens.” While authorities have assured that complaints will be investigated, the state has made it clear that the smart meter installation program will continue. In West ...

A senior Indian Police Service officer, DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a corruption case after massive recoveries from his residences in Punjab. Bhullar, a 2009-batch IPS officer currently posted as Deputy Inspector General Ropar Range, was taken into custody along with his alleged middleman, Krishna, for demanding and accepting bribes to settle a criminal case. The investigation began after a businessman from Fatehgarh Sahib filed a complaint accusing Bhullar of demanding an initial ₹8 lakh bribe followed by monthly payments. Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap in Chandigarh’s Sector 21, where Krishna was caught accepting ₹8 lakh on the officer’s behalf. A controlled call was later arranged between the complain...

Police have registered 32 FIRs against celebrity hair stylist Javed Habib, his son Anas Habib, and an associate Saif for allegedly defrauding investors of several crores through an investment scheme. According to police, the accused operated under the name Follicle Global Company and lured people to invest in Bitcoin, promising returns of 50–70 percent. However, after more than two years, none of the investors reportedly received their money back. Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said preliminary investigation indicates a fraud of around ₹5–7 crore. To prevent the accused from leaving the country, a lookout notice has been issued against Habib and his family. “After detailed inquiry, 32 FIRs have been filed and notices sent for questioning,” said Govind Kumar, in-cha...

The trailer for Paresh Rawal’s upcoming film, The Taj Story, was released on Thursday, immediately stirring debate across social media. Written and directed by Tushar Amrish Goel, the film features an ensemble cast including Zakir Hussain, Amruta Khanvilkar, Namit Das, Sneha Wagh, Shishir Sharma, Brijendra Kala, Akhilendra Mishra, and Srikant Verma. In the film, Paresh Rawal plays Vishnu Das, a guide at the Taj Mahal in Agra, who controversially claims that the iconic monument is actually a Hindu temple. The trailer shows him passionately explaining to visitors, “The Taj Mahal is a crown of the world, into which everyone has poured their own stories. What is the truth? What is a lie? Have we forgotten our own history?” Later, he is seen filing a court case to prove his theory, rem...

The T-Series music video "Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai," featuring Varun Dhawan, Rajkummar Rao, Arshad Warsi, and Vikrant Massey, has become one of the rare Bollywood songs to receive such overwhelming negative attention on YouTube. As of 7:27 IST on October 16, the video has 16,33,985 views, with more than 107,626 dislikes compared to around 16,000 likes. The 2-minute-55-second track, composed by Meet Bros with lyrics by Nadaan and vocals by Meet Bros, Adarsh Shukla, and Divya Bhatt, praises Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his work over the years. While the video appears to be intended to highlight Modi’s vision, possibly ahead of the Bihar elections, it has backfired, drawing widespread criticism toward the actors involved. Social media users have called the celebrities "spineles...