INDIA

In a significant development, the Bombay High Court has acquitted all 12 men convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, nearly 18 years after the deadly attacks that killed 189 people and left over 800 injured. The accused were arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and convicted in 2015 by a special court. Five of them had been sentenced to death, while seven others were given life imprisonment. The High Court, however, found that the prosecution had failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The division bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak delivered the ruling after years of delay in hearing the appeals. A push for speedy hearings in 2024 had led to the formation of a special bench. Senior advocate Dr. S. Muralidhar, forme...

A massive landslide struck the old track to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of Jammu Kashmir on Monday, leaving at least 10 persons including five pilgrims, injured, officials said. Officials said a booking office and an overhead iron structure caved in under the weight of the landslide, triggered by heavy rains which lashed Katra town, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the shrine atop Trikuta hills, they said. The yatra to the shrine has been suspended till 1 pm as a precautionary measure. The incident occurred around 8.30 am at Gulshan Ka Langar near Banganga, the starting point for the yatra where mostly pony riders gather along the old track and register before taking the pilgrims to the cave shrine, 12 km from the town. "The landslide resulted in critical i...

The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has initiated an investigation into allegations of religious discrimination after four female students from Jammu Kashmir were reportedly barred from attending classes at a Bengaluru-based nursing college for wearing the hijab or burqa. The controversy came to light after the Jammu Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) submitted a formal complaint to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing the Sri Soubhagya Lalitha College of Nursing of targeting the students on religious grounds and threatening them with expulsion. Speaking to The Indian Express, RGUHS Registrar (Evaluation) Riyaz Basha said, “We’ve already taken statements from the college principal and chairman. We’ve now called the affected students to hear their side b...

The planned execution of Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old Hindu nurse from Kerala sentenced to death in Yemen, has been postponed following a crucial intervention by Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, a prominent Muslim cleric known as the Grand Mufti of India. The move is being seen as a rare moment of interfaith solidarity, where a Muslim religious leader stepped in to save a Hindu woman's life abroad. Nimisha, convicted of murdering a Yemeni man in Sana’a, under Houthi rebel control, has maintained through her legal team that the act was not premeditated but committed in a state of distress following alleged prolonged abuse. With diplomatic channels appearing exhausted, Sheikh Abu Bakr responded to a request from Congress MLA Chandy Oommen and reached out to respected Yemeni Sufi scholar Sheikh Umar ...

Opposition leaders across party lines have strongly criticized Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane for his controversial remarks suggesting that Urdu be replaced with Marathi in madrasas and that the Adhaan (call to prayer) be recited in Marathi. Rane’s comments, made while reacting to reports of the Congress launching Marathi schools in Mumbai, have been slammed as inflammatory and Islamophobic, with critics accusing him of attempting to stoke communal tensions ahead of upcoming elections. "Why should Congress run Marathi schools? The Opposition should ask Muslims to give the Azaan (Adhaan) in Marathi. Teach Marathi in madrasas instead of Urdu—otherwise, all you get from there is a gun," Rane said, sparking outrage. Opposition parties, including the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)...

The Punjab Police’s State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) has arrested a serving Indian Army soldier, Devinder Singh, on charges of leaking sensitive military information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Singh was taken into custody on July 14 from Uri, a border town in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district. According to the Punjab Police, Singh, a resident of Nihalgarh village in Sangrur district, was arrested after revelations made by Gurpreet Singh, an ex-Army personnel currently in custody in an espionage case. Gurpreet, also known as Guri or Fauji, reportedly disclosed the involvement of Devinder Singh while being held at Ferozepur Jail. Acting on this input, investigators located and apprehended Devinder Singh in Uri. He was presented before a Mohali court on Jul...

In a significant boost to its indigenous air defence capabilities, India has successfully conducted high-altitude trials of the Akash Prime surface-to-air missile system in Ladakh. The Indian Army carried out the tests in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Army Air Defence Corps at an altitude exceeding 15,000 feet. During the trials, Akash Prime scored two direct hits on fast-moving aerial targets, demonstrating its high-precision engagement capabilities in extreme environmental conditions. Akash Prime is an advanced variant of the original Akash missile system, designed specifically for high-altitude operations. It features an indigenously developed active RF seeker, improved guidance and control systems, and better accuracy against lo...

In just over five months, the Indian government has approved the clearing of more than 8,500 hectares of forest land, including parts of tiger reserves and protected areas, for infrastructure and defence projects, despite a Supreme Court order restricting such clearances without safeguards. Between February and June 16, 2025, the Indian government approved the diversion of 8,518.23 hectares of forest land for various non-forest activities, as per Down to Earth. This clearance includes land from ecologically sensitive areas such as tiger reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and eco-sensitive zones. The forest land, equal to nearly 12,000 football fields, was cleared across India for construction projects like roads, railways, power lines, quarries, mobile towers, irrigat...

Jammu Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has taken personal responsibility for the deadly terror attack that occurred in Pahalgam earlier this year, acknowledging it as a grave lapse in security. In an interview with The Times of India, Sinha described the incident as a Pakistan-sponsored act of terror aimed at disrupting the region’s growing economy and sowing communal discord. “I take full responsibility for the incident, which was undoubtedly a security failure,” Sinha said. “This was not just an attack on innocent civilians, it was a calculated attempt by Pakistan to derail our progress and divide our people.” According to Sinha, the attack targeted not just lives but also the economy of Jammu and Kashmir, especially its flourishing tourism sector. “In the past five years, t...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that India held a unique potential to use its infinite powers of the world’s largest youth population and democracy to shape its future on the global stage. He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the 16th Rozgar Mela via videoconferencing at 47 locations, including Convention Centre, Jammu. The PM distributed more than 51,000 appointment letters to newly appointed youth in various government departments and organisations on this occasion. Greeting the new appointees, he said that the occasion marked the beginning of new responsibilities for them and, despite different roles, their common goal should remain national service, guided by the principle of “Citizen First.” Referring to his government’s initiatives to create new ...