Imphal, Jul 21 (PTI) Security forces have arrested three militants belonging to two banned organisations from Manipur's Imphal East and Kakching districts, police said in a statement on Monday.

Three others were also apprehended from Imphal West district for allegedly being involved in the trading of ammunition, it said.

A self-styled sergeant major of the banned Prepak was arrested from his residence at Kontha Ahallup in Imphal East district on Saturday, the police said, adding that he had received basic military training at Tanal in Myanmar and had recruited a cadre in October last year for the outfit.

Two active members of the proscribed UPPK were apprehended from a market in Kakching on Sunday for allegedly being involved in extortion activities in the district and adjoining areas, the police statement said.

Security forces also arrested three persons from Thangmeib and Khuyathong Polem Leikai areas in Imphal West district on Sunday for their alleged involvement in illegal sales of ammunition, it said.

More than 100 ammunition items were recovered from their possession, the police said.

Security forces have been conducting search operations in Manipur since ethnic violence broke out two years ago.

More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.

The Centre had on February 13 imposed the President’s rule in Manipur after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.

The state assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation. PTI CORR BDC

Thane, Jul 21 (PTI) Police have arrested three persons after seizing drugs valued at more than Rs 22 lakh following two raids in Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a room near the Valdhuni river under Khadakpada police station area in Kalyan on July 17 and seized 1.12 kilograms of ganja (cannabis) valued at Rs 25,000, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-III, Kalyan) Atul Zende said in a release.

A man, identified as Ravi Shivaji Gavli (30), resident of Anupam Nagar, who was found in possession of the narcotic substance was immediately taken into custody, the official said.

On July 18, the police carried out another raid at a location behind the APMC Market Road in Kalyan where two individuals were allegedly attempting to sell banned narcotic substances.

"During the raid, our team seized 110 grams of MD (mephedrone), a synthetic drug, from the possession of the accused. The market value of the seized drug is estimated at Rs 22 lakh," Zende said.

The police arrested the two accused, identified as Mohammad Kaif Mansur Shaikh (24), resident of Kalyan, and Fardin Asif Sheikh (24), from Kongaon in Bhiwandi, the official said.

The Khadakpada and Bazarpeth police have registered FIRs against the accused under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he said.

"We are now conducting further investigations to trace the supply chain - from where the drugs were procured and to whom they were being sold," the official said. PTI COR GK

Important matters listed in the Supreme Court on Monday, July 21:

* SC to hear suo motu case over the issue of probe agencies summoning lawyers who offer legal opinions or represent parties during investigation of cases.

* SC to hear suo motu case relating to allotment of land for Bombay HC's new building complex in Mumbai.

* SC to hear plea related to acid attack survivors, including concerning payment of compensation.

* SC to hear plea concerning Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.

* SC to hear petition to declare that consumers have a 'right to know' about quality of products besides details of distributor and sellers so as to seek redressal against unfair restrictive trade practices. PTI ABA

RHL

New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) A group of prominent citizens under the banner Bharatiya Bhasha Samooh has expressed concern over the recent incidents related to Bengali-speaking migrant labourers in various parts of the country.

The group said it believed that linguistic attack is a "serious threat to the diversity of our country".

"In the last one month, there have been reports from various parts of the country that Bengali-speaking migrant labourers are being harassed, beaten, arrested, deported to Bangladesh, and not released despite valid identity documents being shown to the police," the group said in a statement on Sunday.

The group feels that the only "crime" of Bengali-speaking people is that they speak in their mother tongue.

It claimed that migrant workers from Delhi, Maharashtra and Odisha were directly sent to Bangladesh despite possessing valid Aadhaar and PAN cards.

"We strongly condemn the arrest and harassment of these Bengali-speaking citizens. These actions violate the rights of migrant workers guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, and their fundamental rights,“ such as the right to equality, the right to life and personal liberty, and social security for inter-state migrant workers," the statement said.

The signatories to the statement include economist Jayati Ghosh, and activists Shabnam Hashmi, Sandeep Pandey, Subhash Gatade, and Anil Chamadia. PTI SKU RHL

Pratapgarh (UP), Jul 21 (PTI) Eight people, including a woman, were arrested in connection with a case of religious conversion, officials said.

According to Additional Superintendent of Police (West) Sanjay Rai, acting on a tip-off, a police team searched Kachha Dube Ka Purwa village under Jethwara police station limits and arrested the accused.

During the search, police recovered religious posters, a wooden cross, religious literature, and photographs of Jesus Christ, officials said.

Police took action after allegations that the accused were involved in religious conversion, luring people to adopt Christianity, they said.

Those arrested were identified as Ramchandra Verma, a resident of Doodhnath, Rajendra Verma of Gehari, Ram Sanehi Saroj, Ashok Saroj, and Surendra alias Kallu Saroj (all residents of Bhaggupurwa), Mukesh Kumar Saroj of Sansaripur, and Sunil Saroj, a resident of Dhingwas.

Besides, police also arrested a woman whose identity was not disclosed, the officials said.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, police said. PTI COR ABN RHL

New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) Delhi University has received 72,659 acceptances from candidates in the first round of undergraduate seat allocation, and colleges have approved 14,939 applications so far, the university said in an official update.

The figures reflect the real-time status of Round-I admissions as of 9.40 pm on July 20, following the release of the first CSAS-UG allocation list at 5 pm on Sunday.

The university has made 93,166 allocations against 71,624 seats this year, indicating that multiple reallocations and internal movement are expected, a trend seen in previous years.

A senior university official said, "More than 93,000 allocations have been done based on the pattern and requirement of previous years, as many students shuffle their seats from one college to another."

These allocations span 79 undergraduate programmes across 69 colleges and cover various categories such as general, Other Backward Class (OBC), Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Sikh Minority, Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), Kashmiri Migrants, Single Girl Child, and Orphan (male and female).

In category-wise data, the university noted that 1,325 allocations were made under the single girl child category, while 259 orphan candidates -- 127 females and 132 males --” were allotted seats.

The university also said that the response was swift; within the first two hours of the allocation list going live, 27,533 candidates had already accepted their seats.

The acceptance deadline for candidates is 4.59 pm on July 21, followed by college-level verification and approval by July 22. The last date for fee payment under the first round is July 23.

The admissions are being conducted through the common seat allocation system (CSAS-UG), which is based on CUET-UG scores, reservation policies, and candidate preferences.

The university also clarified that allocations for certain performance-based programmes,” including Hindustani Music, Karnataka Music, Percussion Music, Physical Education and Fine Art,” will be carried out in the third round.

Candidates have been advised to check trial schedules on the respective college or department websites.

In a transparency measure, the university has also enabled candidates to view minimum allocation scores and ranks on their individual dashboards.

These will also be published on the official admission website for public access.

The second round of seat allocation will be announced on July 28 at 5 pm, while the academic session for first-year students begins on August 1. PTI MHS RHL

Balasore, Jul 21 (PTI) The Crime Branch of the Odisha Police, which is investigating the self-immolation death of a college student in Balasore, said that the 20-year-old woman had set herself on fire as her complaint of sexual harassment was "not validated" by an internal enquiry committee of the institute.

Crime Branch DG Vinaytosh Mishra said its sleuths found discrepancies in the statements of witnesses in the case.

"The college authorities had taken action on her complaint, and an internal inquiry was conducted. But the inquiry team did not validate her complaint. Her extreme step was a reaction to the non-validation of her plaint," the director general of the crime branch told reporters on Sunday.

The branch’s Crime Against Women & Children Wing (CAW&CW) has been probing into the self-immolation death of the student after being denied justice over alleged sexual harassment by Samira Kumar Sahoo, the head of the department of Integrated BEd of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College.

The student immolated herself on July 12 and died on the night of July 14, triggering nationwide outrage.

The crime branch, which took over the investigation from the Balasore district police, started an inquiry into the matter on July 17.

“We have found inconsistencies between statements of witnesses to the internal complaints committee and police, and their posts on social media. They have given different views and opinions before and after the incident. A thorough analysis of every statement is necessary, and it will take time. A proper analysis is needed against digital evidence to reach a conclusion,” the DG said.

Stating that all will get justice as per the law, Mishra said the crime branch will ensure that no innocent person is held responsible for the death of the college student.

He said the government has taken the matter seriously, and CAW&CW inspector general S Shyni has visited Balasore twice to oversee the investigation.

He said this was a complicated case and the local police had arrested two persons, Sahoo and then principal of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College Dillip Ghose.

The crime branch is mandated to identify all those directly or indirectly involved in the incident, the DG said.

He said the CCTV footage and other digital evidence collected by the crime branch were being sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for its opinion.

Statements of internal complaints committee members and college staff were also being recorded, he said, adding that the probe was underway to find out whether anyone provoked her to go for self-immolation.

"The crime branch has got a number of leads in the case. We assure all that the probe has been conducted in a fair manner to ensure justice for the 20-year-old woman," Mishra said.

Replying to a question, the crime branch DG made it clear that the victim had not submitted a written complaint with the police, though the then principal of the college had invited some police officials to a meeting on her allegation.

In addition to the crime branch, a four-member fact-finding team from UGC and a high-level team of Odisha’s higher education department were also conducting investigations separately, an official said.

The UGC team’s probe entered the third day on Sunday, and its members refused to give any indication of their findings.

The members of the internal complaints committee, formed by the college authority to look into the grievances of the student, were being questioned by the investigating teams, and their statements had been recorded, an official said without divulging details. PTI CORR AAM BDC

Jammu, July 21 (PTI) An earthquake hit Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district in the early hours of Thursday, officials said. There were no reports of any loss of life or damage to property, they said.

The earthquake, with its epicentre near Kishtwar and a magnitude of 3.1, occurred at 1.36 am on Monday, the National Centre for Seismology said.

The depth of the earthquake was 10 km below the surface at latitude, 33.17 degrees north and longitude 75.87 degrees east, it said. PTI AB SKY

SKY

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) A team of doctors from the Safdarjung Hospital here have successfully removed a 10.6 kg gastrointestinal stromal tumour that had extensively put pressure on multiple organ systems of the patient.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours are cancerous in nature and are very rare, developing in the digestive system's connective tissue, originating in specialised cells called interstitial cells of Cajal, that is often referred to as the gastrointestinal tract's "pacemakers."

The tumour had occupied all quadrants of the patient's abdomen and was engulfing external iliac vessels bilaterally, causing right hydronephrosis, the hospital said in a statement.

The patient had been suffering from the condition for eight months.

The procedure required extraordinary surgical expertise due to the tumour's massive size and extensive attachment to multiple abdominal organs, omentum, and bladder dome, making it extremely difficult to retract and handle during the surgical process.

"This remarkable surgical achievement represents the pinnacle of collaborative medical excellence at the Hospital," stated Dr Sandeep Bansal, the Director of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital.

He said, "The successful removal of this massive 10.6 kg tumour that had extensively involved multiple organ systems, demonstrates our team's unwavering commitment to patient care and surgical innovation."

Such complex cases require not only advanced surgical skills but also seamless coordination between departments, from the expert surgical team to skilled anesthesiologists and dedicated nursing staff, the director said.

The hospital, in its statement, said the surgery was completed successfully with complete tumour removal. The patient's recovery is being monitored by the medical oncology team after discharge, it added. PTI PLB NSD

NSD

Chelmsford (UK), Jul 20 (PTI) India U-19 bowlers struck at regular intervals before skipper Thomas Rew and Ekansh Singh came to the home team's rescue on day one of the second Youth Test here on Sunday.

Thanks to Rew and Ekansh's 90-run partnership, England U-19 recovered from 80 for five to reach 177 for six in 44 overs.

Rew top-scored for England U-19 on the opening day after RS Ambrish and Aditya Rawat picked up two wickets apiece.

India U-19 skipper Ayush Mhatre won the toss and chose to field, and the decision was straightaway vindicated as Rawat and Henil Patel struck once each with the new ball to leave England at 4/2 in the second over.

Rawat, in fact, struck with the very first ball of the match, trapping Ben Dawkins in front of the wicket at the County Ground.

In the day's second over, Patel got Adam Thomas out lbw to leave the England U-19 team in all sorts of trouble, even as one-down bat Aaryan Sawant got off the mark with a boundary.

After a delayed start due to rain, the match was interrupted when the heavens opened up again with England U-19 reaching 18 for two in 5.3 overs.

The interruption was lengthy, forcing the umpires to call for an early lunch.

When the proceedings began after the weather cleared up, Sawant and Rocky Flintoff tried to rebuild the innings.

However, Rawat cut short Flintoff's stay in the middle when he had the batter caught by Vihaan Malhotra for a 26-ball 16 to leave the home team at 29 for three.

All-rounder RS Ambrish dismissed Sawant caught by Malhotra after the batter had reached 20 with the help of three boundaries.

Ben Mayes and Thomas Rew, who is performing the dual role of captaining and keeping in this match, then steadied the innings for a brief while before the former was dismissed by Ambrish for a 31 off 40 balls. His knock contained five hits to the fence.

Rew was then joined by Ekansh Singh (46 batting) in the middle, and the two forged a much-needed partnership of 90 runs for the sixth wicket to give England U-19's innings a semblance of respectability before leg-spinner Naman Pushpak took the important wicket of the home team skipper.

Brief scores:

England U-19: 177/6 in 44 overs (Thomas Rew 59; Aditya Rawat 2/42, RS Ambrish 2/39) vs India U-19. PTI AH AH ATK

Budapest, Jul 20 (PTI) India's Greco Roman wrestler will return with two medals from the UWW Ranking Series event with Sumit winning a silver and Anil Mor securing a bronze, here Sunday.

Competing in the 60kg category, Sumit produced a dominant run before falling to Azerbaijan’s Nihat Mammadli 0-5 in the final.

Earlier, he began with a 9-3 win against Sadyk Lalaev and pinned Korea's Dahyun Kim and Kazakhstan's Galym Kabdunassarov en route the final.

In the 55kg, world number one Anil lost his quarterfinal 1-6 to Emin Narimanovitch Sefershaev. Since his rival made it to the final, Anil bounced back in medal contention through the repechage route.

Up against world number three Artium Deleanu, the 18-year-old Indian won 7-0 and in the bronze play-off he got the better of Uzbekistan's Iktiyor Botirov, ranked fourth in the world.

Indian women wrestlers took home six medals, including gold won by Antim Panghal (53kg) and Harshita (72kg).

In men's freestyle event, Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) won a gold while Rahul (57kg) added a bronze to India's tally. PTI AT AT ATK

Peshawar, Jul 20 (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Sunday administered oath to 25 opposition MPAs for reserved seats, in compliance with an order of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).

The development comes hours after the opposition MPAs filed a petition in the PHC, urging the chief justice to nominate an authority to oversee the oath-taking process after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker adjourned the session due to a lack of quorum Sunday morning.

Twenty-one women and four minority members took their oath as members of the Assembly on reserved seats.

Earlier, Governor Kundi took to X and said that in line with the court's order, he will administer the oath to the MPAs at 6 pm at his official residence in Peshawar. 

Provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur challenged the oath-taking, terming the move "unconstitutional", stating that oaths must be administered only on the floor of the assembly.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session was adjourned shortly after it commenced as lawmakers of former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party skipped the crucial sitting.

Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, who started the proceedings with a delay of over two hours, adjourned the session when PTI MPA Sher Ali Afridi pointed out the lack of quorum.

The chair then ordered headcount and rang the bells for a five-minute break before finally adjourning the session until July 24.

Leader of the Opposition in the provincial assembly Dr Ibadullah Khan expressed displeasure over the speaker's move, warning that the opposition would take legal action.

“We’ll go to court and request the chief justice to intervene,” he said. “If the oath isn’t taken now, it should at least happen later this evening.”

He added that the opposition was committed to preserving "what little political space remained and ensuring it is not further eroded".

Following the PHC directives, a spokesperson for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said the Senate polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will take place at 11 am in the Jirga Hall on Monday.

The swearing-in is a key procedural requirement to complete the electoral college for the Senate elections.

Elected members on reserved seats for women and minorities in the provincial assembly had not taken their oath on Sunday, prompting the ECP to formally request the Chief Justice of the PHC to nominate a suitable individual for administering the oath, the spokesperson added.

In anticipation of Monday’s proceedings, the ECP has directed the Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the chief secretary, and the Inspector General Frontier Constabulary to ensure foolproof security arrangements. 

The commission emphasised that a secure and uninterrupted environment is essential for the smooth conduct of the electoral process.

The recent development followed escalating tensions within PTI over the distribution of Senate tickets, as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and the party’s political committee failed to appease disgruntled members.

The first round of negotiations, held in Peshawar a day ago, ended without consensus after five covering candidates refused to withdraw from the race.

They rejected the party leadership’s directive to step aside under a 6-5 formula that allocates six Senate seats to the PTI and five to the opposition parties.

The dissidents demanded that one seat each from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) be reclaimed before they would consider withdrawing. 

A second meeting took place later the same night between the chief minister and the same dissident candidates, but it also failed to yield an agreement. 

A total of five candidates have refused to withdraw their papers from the polls slated for Monday.

Insiders confirmed that the chief minister had instructed the group to withdraw unconditionally, but they remained defiant.

The standoff escalated when former PTI Peshawar City President Rehman Jalal addressed a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, warning the leadership to revise the ticket list or face street protests. PTI AYZ GRS

GRS

Moscow, Jul 20 (PTI) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday received Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei’s senior aide here and discussed the aggravation of the situation in West Asia and issues of Iran’s nuclear programme.

The visit by Ali Larijani, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, comes almost a month after Putin met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

“On behalf of the Iranian leadership, Ali Larijani shared the assessments of the current escalation in the Middle East and the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters without elaborating.

On June 23, President Putin during his meeting with Araghchi had assured Tehran of Moscow's support in de-escalating the Israel-Iran conflict hours after the US strikes at Iranian nuclear sites at dawn on June 22.

Moscow and Tehran have signed a strategic partnership treaty, but it does not provide for military assistance in case any side is attacked.

However, Tehran and Moscow under the treaty have an obligation not to take the side of the aggressor and enter into urgent political consultations to mitigate the situation.

Russia supports Tehran’s right to pursue its civil nuclear research under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) oversight.

Earlier reports said Larijani had played a key role as the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament in the negotiation and eventual approval of the now defunct Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

He was instrumental in navigating domestic political complexities and securing parliamentary support for the agreement, which involved significant concessions from Iran in exchange for sanctions relief.

However, US President Donald Trump had walked out of the deal in his first term under pressure from Israel.

In his second term, Trump ordered the bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites and demanded the complete end to Tehran’s enrichment activities under civilian nuclear programme, allowed under NPT to which Iran is a signatory. PTI VS NPK

NPK

Peshawar, Jul 20 (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Sunday administered oath to 25 opposition MPAs, in compliance with the Peshawar High Court (PHC) order.

Twenty-one women and four minority members took their oath as members of the Assembly on reserved seats.

Earlier, Governor Kundi took to X and said that in line with the court's order, he will administer the oath to the MPAs at 6 pm at his official residence in Peshawar. 

The development comes hours after the opposition MPAs filed a petition in the PHC, urging the chief justice to nominate an authority to oversee the oath-taking process after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker adjourned the session due to a lack of quorum Sunday morning.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session was adjourned shortly after it commenced as lawmakers of former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party skipped the crucial sitting.

Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, who started the proceedings with a delay of over two hours, adjourned the session when PTI MPA Sher Ali Afridi pointed out the lack of quorum.

The chair then ordered headcount and rang the bells for a five-minute break before finally adjourning the session until July 24.

Leader of the Opposition in the provincial assembly Dr Ibadullah Khan expressed displeasure over the speaker's move, warning that the opposition would take legal action.

“We’ll go to court and request the chief justice to intervene,” he said. “If the oath isn’t taken now, it should at least happen later this evening.”

He added that the opposition was committed to preserving "what little political space remained and ensuring it is not further eroded".

Following the PHC directives, a spokesperson for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said the Senate polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will take place at 11 am in the Jirga Hall on Monday.

The swearing-in is a key procedural requirement to complete the electoral college for the Senate elections.

Elected members on reserved seats for women and minorities in the provincial assembly had not taken their oath on Sunday, prompting the ECP to formally request the Chief Justice of the PHC to nominate a suitable individual for administering the oath, the spokesperson added.

In anticipation of Monday’s proceedings, the ECP has directed the Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the chief secretary, and the Inspector General Frontier Constabulary to ensure foolproof security arrangements. 

The commission emphasised that a secure and uninterrupted environment is essential for the smooth conduct of the electoral process.

The recent development followed escalating tensions within PTI over the distribution of Senate tickets, as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and the party’s political committee failed to appease disgruntled members.

The first round of negotiations, held in Peshawar a day ago, ended without consensus after five covering candidates refused to withdraw from the race.

They rejected the party leadership’s directive to step aside under a 6-5 formula that allocates six Senate seats to the PTI and five to the opposition parties.

The dissidents demanded that one seat each from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) be reclaimed before they would consider withdrawing. 

A second meeting took place later the same night between the chief minister and the same dissident candidates, but it also failed to yield an agreement. 

A total of five candidates have refused to withdraw their papers from the polls slated for Monday.

Insiders confirmed that the chief minister had instructed the group to withdraw unconditionally, but they remained defiant.

The standoff escalated when former PTI Peshawar City President Rehman Jalal addressed a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, warning the leadership to revise the ticket list or face street protests. PTI AYZ GRS

GRS

Kathmandu, Jul 20 (PTI) Floods and landslides following the incessant rain since Saturday has led to the complete blockage of 11 national highways across Nepal affecting daily life for far flung hilly areas, officials said Sunday.

In view of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology forecast of heavy rainfall across the country till July 21, Nepal's Independent Power Producers Association has urged all hydropower projects to remain on high alert to minimise potential human and material losses.

The Home Ministry officials have warned people near major rivers to be careful and follow caution in view of the severe weather predictions as the weather system, which will be active from eastern Nepal, then move towards western Nepal.

Rivers Koshi, Tamor, Arun, Tamakoshi, Dudhkoshi, Kankai in eastern Nepal are likely to witness significant rise in water level, with the Koshi river possibly reaching or exceeding the danger level, a statement from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said.

“The Bagmati river floods are likely to affect the Kathmandu Valley and downstream areas. The Mahakali and its downstream areas in western Nepal too are likely to be flooded by Monday afternoon,” it said.

The Baglung, Myagdi, Parbat, Syangja, Palpa, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi districts and other parts of central Nepal along the Narayani river watershed are likely to be affected while there is a possibility of moderate impact on the Rapti and Babai regions in the west too, the statement added.

Among the highways affected by floods and landslides include the Koshi Highway in Sankhuwasabha, Mechi Highway in Panchthar, Tamor Corridor Road section in Panchthar, and the Mid-Hill Highway in Panchthar.

Similarly, the Pasang-Lhamu Highway in Rasuwa, the Kali Gandaki Corridor in Baglung, the Jomsom-Lomanthang Road in Mustang, the Sahid Highway in Rolpa, the Jajarkot-Dolpa Bheri Corridor in Rukum West, and the Mahakali Highway in Baitadi all are completely blocked due to natural disaster, said Nepal Police and Home Ministry sources.

Likewise, the road section from Tokha in Kathmandu to Nuwakot, the Kali Gandaki Corridor in Baglung Municipality, the Mid-Hill Highway in Galkot, Baglung, the Kali Gandaki Corridor in East Nawalparasi, and the Sahid Highway in Parivartan Rural Municipality, Rolpa, are operating one-way only, according to the officials.

Meanwhile, the Independent Power Producers Association, Nepal (IPPAN) has urged all hydropower projects to remain on high alert for the next three days.

Following an agreement between IPPAN and the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology to exchange flood early warning information, the department has been continuously sharing information with the IPPAN for disaster preparedness.

The IPPAN, in a statement on Saturday, urged all hydropower projects under-construction and in operation across the country, including those affiliated with IPPAN, to take precautionary measures to minimise potential human and material losses from disasters taking into account the weather-related warnings.

The IPPAN's message for precaution comes days after nearly 10 hydropower projects, both under-construction and operational, in Rasuwa and Nuwakot had suffered massive damage after flash floods in the Bhotekoshi river on July 8. PTI SBP NPK

NPK

FGN1 UN-NITI

**** Progress in India enabled by dual strategy of strong safety nets, reforms that foster growth: NITI Aayog VC

United Nations: India’s progress across various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been enabled by a dual strategy that encompasses strong safety nets and reforms that foster growth through a more enabling environment, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Suman Bery has said. ****

FGN13 NEPAL-INDIA-OLI

**** Nepal PM Oli to visit India in mid-September

Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will pay an official visit to India towards mid-September, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. ****

FGN5 PAK-RAINS

**** 10 more killed in Pak due to monsoon rains, toll crosses 200

Islamabad: The death toll in Pakistan due to monsoon rains crossed 200 on Sunday as another 10 people have been killed, according to the country’s chief disaster control body. ****

FGN3 LANKA-POLICE

**** Sri Lanka sacks high-ranking police officer over Easter Sunday bombings

Colombo: A deputy inspector general of police in Sri Lanka has been sacked from the service following a disciplinary inquiry related to the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. ****

FGN27 ISRAEL-2NDLD GAZA

**** 73 Palestinians killed while waiting for humanitarian aid across Gaza, health ministry says

Deir al Balah (Gaza Strip): At least 73 people were killed while attempting to access aid at locations across Gaza on Sunday, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said. ****

FGN18 RUSSIA-4THLD QUAKE

**** Tsunami threat is over after several large quakes off Russia's Pacific coast

Moscow: The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says there is no longer a danger of tsunami waves on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula after five powerful quakes — the largest with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck in the sea nearby on Sunday. **** PY

PY

Karachi, Jul 20 (PTI) Security forces have gunned down four insurgents, suspected of attacking a passenger bus earlier this week that killed three members of a qawwali troupe, in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province Sunday.

The four were killed early in the morning during an intelligence-based operation in the Parod area of Kalat district in Balochistan, security sources said.

The insurgents who attacked the bus had taken refuge in the mountainous areas near Parod, the sources said.

On July 16, unidentified insurgents had opened fire on the passenger bus on the national highway in Kalat when it was going from Karachi in Sindh province to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

The incident had garnered much attention as it was taking a qaawali troupe linked with the late Amjad Sabri group for a private function. Among those killed was Muhammad Asif, an upcoming popular Bass player, Muhammad Bashir Sabri and Muhammad Raza, long-time members of the qawwali troupe.

Insurgent groups have been active in recent weeks in the restive Balochistan province. Earlier on July 10, they had attacked a passenger bus in the Zhob-Loralai highway and after offloading nine passengers, all belonging to different areas of the Punjab province, killed them. Incidents of passenger buses being attacked by insurgent groups have increased in the volatile Balochistan province in recent months.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has been in the grip of low-level violence for the last two decades. Ethnic Baloch groups involved in armed struggle accuse the federal government of exploiting the mineral wealth of the region. PTI CORR NPK

NPK

Karachi, Jul 20 (PTI) Seven persons were killed and over a dozen injured in two separate road accidents in Pakistan's Sindh province on Sunday.

Six people were killed and 12 injured when a bus they were travelling in met with an accident near Makli in Thatta district.

The bus was taking picnic-goers to the historical tombs of Makli, about 100 kilometres east of Karachi, when the driver lost control, the vehicle overturned and fell into a ravine.

According to Faisal Edhi of the Edhi rescue service, six bodies were taken to a morgue while the 12 injured were transported to Karachi for treatment.

In another accident, at least one person was killed and several others, including women and children, were critically injured when a passenger bus overturned on the Gambat National Highway in Sindh’s Khairpur district, officials said. PTI CORR NPK

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**** Progress in India enabled by dual strategy of strong safety nets, reforms that foster growth: NITI Aayog VC

United Nations: India’s progress across various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been enabled by a dual strategy that encompasses strong safety nets and reforms that foster growth through a more enabling environment, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Suman Bery has said. ****

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**** Nepal PM Oli to visit India in mid-September

Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will pay an official visit to India towards mid-September, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. ****

FGN5 PAK-RAINS

**** 10 more killed in Pak due to monsoon rains, toll crosses 200

Islamabad: The death toll in Pakistan due to monsoon rains crossed 200 on Sunday as another 10 people have been killed, according to the country’s chief disaster control body. ****

FGN3 LANKA-POLICE

**** Sri Lanka sacks high-ranking police officer over Easter Sunday bombings

Colombo: A deputy inspector general of police in Sri Lanka has been sacked from the service following a disciplinary inquiry related to the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. ****

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**** Tsunami threat is over after several large quakes off Russia's Pacific coast

Moscow: The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says there is no longer a danger of tsunami waves on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula after five powerful quakes — the largest with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck in the sea nearby on Sunday. **** PY

Kathmandu, Jul 20 (PTI) Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will pay an official visit to India towards mid-September, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

“Preparations for the upcoming visit of the prime minister are underway. However, the date and the detailed schedules of the visit are yet to be finalised,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said.

However, sources at the Prime Minister’s Office said that Oli will embark on his official visit to the southern neighbour on September 16.

The visit will be short this time, probably for two days, the sources added.

Oli, the chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) - popular as the CPN-UML - had assumed the office of prime minister for the fourth time last July.

He had chosen to visit China for his maiden foreign visit, breaking the tradition of visiting India as the first destination after assuming the post of prime minister.

Prime Minister Oli visited China in December last year at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang. During his four day visit, the prime minister addressed a function at Peking University in Beijing and met President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Qiang.

Amid speculations by some sections of local media that he didn’t receive any invitation from India for an official visit, indicating that his relations with New Delhi had soured, Oli on Thursday said he will be visiting India and that ground work is underway on both sides for the trip. He, however, had not specified any timeframe for the visit at that time. PTI SBP NPK

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New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Russian oil giant Rosneft on Sunday termed as unjustified and illegal the sanctions that the EU has slapped on its Indian unit, Nayara Energy.

"Rosneft Oil Company considers the European Union's decision to impose restrictive measures on the Indian refinery of Nayara Energy as unjustified and illegal," it said in a statement.

"These sanctions are yet another example of extraterritorial implementation of politically motivated restrictions that blatantly violate international law and infringe on the economic interests of a sovereign state."

The European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on the Indian oil refinery of Rosneft and lowered the oil price cap, as part of a new raft of measures against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

The fresh sanctions package on Russia included new banking restrictions and curbs on fuels made from Russian crude oil.

The lowered oil price cap - currently set at USD 60 per barrel - means Russia will be forced to sell its crude at reduced rates to buyers like India. As the second-largest purchaser of Russian oil, India stands to benefit from this move. Russian crude currently accounts for nearly 40 per cent of India's total oil imports.

"Rosneft emphasizes that it is not a controlling shareholder of Nayara Energy - the Company's share in the authorized capital of the enterprise is less than 50%," the Russian firm said, adding Nayara is managed by an independent Board of Directors.

Rosneft said the European Union's grounds for imposing sanctions are completely far-fetched and false in content. "Nayara Energy is an Indian legal entity whose economic activity is aimed at the development of its assets. The entity is taxed entirely in India.

"Nayara Energy shareholders have never received dividend payments and the accumulated profits have been used exclusively for the development of the refinery and petrochemicals and the company's retail network in India," it said.

The Nayara Energy refinery is a strategically important asset for the Indian energy industry, providing a stable supply of petroleum products to the country's domestic market.

"The imposition of sanctions against the refinery directly threatens India's energy security and will have a negative impact on its economy," Rosneft said.

"Such actions of the European Union demonstrate complete disregard not only for international law, but also for the sovereignty of third countries.

“Rosneft views these sanctions as part of the EU's destructive policy aimed at destabilizing global energy markets. The restrictions on Nayara Energy are yet another example of the EU's use of unfair competition practices," it said.

Rosneft said it is counting on the fact that Nayara Energy will take measures to protect the legitimate interests of its shareholders and consumers, which will be supported by the governments of Russia and India. PTI ANZ MR

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Guwahati, Jul 20 (PTI) In a measure to boost the dairy sector in the state, the Assam government on Sunday launched a scheme to provide a subsidy of Rs 5 per litre of milk to farmers.

During the day, the ‘bhoomi pujan’ was also conducted for doubling the processing capacity of a plant of West Assam Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Ltd (WAMUL) at Guwahati's Panjabari to 3 lakh litres per day (LLPD).

“Empowering our dairy farmers. Today, we formally rolled out the subsidy scheme for our dairy farmers who will now receive Rs 5/litre subsidy for the milk they give for processing at cooperative societies,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a post on X after launching the scheme at a programme here.

He said the scheme will encourage dairy farmers to increase production, boost their income and bring a dairy revolution in the rural areas, “which will feed into the ambitious processing plants we are building and churn out more opportunities for the people of Assam”.

“This ticks off another promise from our bucket list,” Sarma added.

This initiative is expected to benefit over 20,000 dairy farmers across the state, officials said.

Sarma also participated in the ‘bhoomi pujan’ for the expansion of the Panjabari plant of WAMUL, which runs the popular brand Purabi Diary.

The upgraded facility will double the plant’s milk processing capacity from 1.5 LLPD to 3 LLPD, an official statement said.

The Rs 104-crore expansion project is in accordance with the MoU signed between WAMUL and National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) during the Advantage Assam 2.0 Summit in February.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarma said, “The expansion of the Purabi Dairy plant is a crucial step towards realising our vision of a self-reliant Assam in the dairy sector. By doubling the processing capacity of this plant, we are not only ensuring better market access for a larger number of dairy farmers in the state but also enhancing nutritional security for our people.”

Meenesh Shah, chairman, NDDB and WAMUL, said, “With this expansion, we are building the capacity needed to support a growing dairy network, improving milk collection, streamlining processing and reaching more consumers across the region.”

The Panjabari plant is the largest dairy processing facility in the North East region, the release said.

Under the expansion plan, pasteurised pouch milk production will rise from 1.15 LLPD to 2.0 LLPD.

A new ice cream production facility of 20 TLPD (thousand litres per day), expandable to 30 TLPD, and other dairy products totalling 70 TLPD will be included in the expansion.

This plant is part of the Assam Dairy Development Plan (ADDP), which envisions processing 10 LLPD across the state in the formal dairy sector. PTI SSG BDC

Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has roped in veteran pilot and Air India's former director of operations Captain RS Sandhu as a domain expert in the ongoing probe into the Ahmedabad plane crash that killed 260 persons last month, sources said on Sunday.

Sandhu, who was also a designated examiner for the Boeing 787-8 fleet at Air India, had taken delivery of the now-crashed 787-8 plane -- VT-ANB -- in 2013.

On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft en route to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad crashed into a building soon after takeoff, killing 260 people, including 19 people on the ground. Out of the 242 people onboard, one passenger survived.

On July 12, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report into the fatal crash.

"AAIB has onboarded seasoned aviator RS Sandhu in the ongoing investigation of the Air India Boeing 787-8 plane crash in Ahmedabad last month," one of the sources told PTI.

AAIB had apparently approached Sandhu to be a domain expert in the ongoing probe, and he agreed to the proposal, the sources said.

Sandhu, who was with Air India for close to 39 years in various capacities, is the founder of aviation consultancy firm Aviazione. He had also headed a team that worked on the integration of the Tata Group airlines.

Various pilot unions had raised concerns over the absence of subject matter experts in the probe. Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India) has been urging AAIB to include its representatives in the Air India aircraft crash probe.

Details about other domain experts, who are part of the AAIB investigation, could not be immediately ascertained.

A five-member team, headed by 56-year-old Sanjay Kumar Singh, is probing the fatal crash of the Air India aircraft.

Experienced pilots, engineers, aviation medicine specialists, aviation psychologists and flight recorder specialists have been taken on board as subject matter experts to assist in the investigation in the area of their domain expertise, according to AAIB. PTI IAS RAM BAL

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New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Auto components Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd (Sona Comstar) on Sunday said it has formed a joint venture with Jinnaite Machinery to enter the Chinese electric vehicle market with an investment of USD 12 million (about Rs 100 crore).

The company has signed a binding term sheet with Jinnaite Machinery Co Ltd (JNT) to establish a joint venture (JV) firm in China, Sona Comstar said in a statement.

Sona Comstar will invest USD 12 million and have a 60 per cent stake, while JNT will contribute USD 8 million in assets and business to the joint venture in the first phase, it added.

The JV will start operations in H2 FY26 to fulfil existing orders from EV and non-EV customers, marking a significant milestone in Sona Comstar's expansion into the Chinese EV market.

It will manufacture and supply driveline systems and components to automotive OEMs in China and globally, the company said.

Sona Comstar is the largest supplier of differential assemblies for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in North America and ranks among the top suppliers in Europe.

"The driveline manufacturing operations in China align with the company's strategy to expand its presence in Asian markets, particularly in India, China, Japan, and South Korea, while also working to increase its market share further in North America and Europe," the statement said.

China is the world's largest automotive market, especially for electric vehicles. In 2024, annual EV sales in China reached 11 million, accounting for two-thirds of global EV sales, it added.

Stating that Chinese OEMs dominate the market, accounting for 76 per cent of global EV sales last year, Sona Comstar said it is natural for any company with aspirations to be a global EV supplier to be part of the Chinese market and supply chain.

"This joint venture marks a significant step in our strategy to expand into the rapidly growing Asian markets. As the largest electric vehicle market in the world and a leader in EV technologies, China offers tremendous opportunities for innovation and growth," Sona Comstar MD and Group CEO Vivek Vikram Singh said.

By leveraging the strengths of both partners, this venture is well-positioned for strong growth, and it has the potential to become a key supplier of driveline solutions for electric vehicles in the region, he added.

"With a robust order book already in place, we expect operations to commence later this year," Singh said.

JNT operates a world-class foundry utilising patented technology to manufacture complex castings and moulds, it added.

It is actively engaged in the formulation of Chinese national standards, having contributed to the development of five national standards.

"The joint venture leverages Sona Comstar's expertise in driveline system design, precision forging, and precision machining, combined with JNT's proficiency in casting and moulding," the company said.

This collaboration, along with JNT's established customer relationships in China, supplier connections, and understanding of local regulations, positions JV for strong growth over the medium term, it added. PTI RKL BAL

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New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Capital markets regulator Sebi has disposed of 4,415 complaints in June through its online grievance redressal platform SCORES.

The regulator received 4,959 fresh complaints in the month, and a total of 5,107 grievances remained unresolved at the end of June, slightly higher than the 4,563 charges that were pending as of May 31, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a public notice on Friday.

The regulator also highlighted that the average resolution time taken by the entities to submit the Action Taken Reports (ATRs) in June was eight days, while the average time taken for complaints under First Level Review was four days.

SCORES, or Sebi Complaint Redressal System, is an online platform which facilitates investors in lodging and tracking complaints against listed companies and registered intermediaries.

Under the SCORES 2.0 mechanism, complaints are automatically forwarded to the respective entities, which are required to respond within 21 days. If an investor is not satisfied, they have 15 days to seek a First Level Review.

A similar review opportunity is available at the Second Level with the designated body and subsequently with Sebi, each within a 15-day window.

Complaints are also treated as resolved if the investor chooses the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) mechanism.

In a separate public notice on Friday, Sebi said MCS Share Transfer Agent Ltd and Smartowner Capital Growth Trust were the entities whose investor complaints had remained unresolved for more than three months on its SCORES platform as of June 30. PTI HG BAL

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New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) India's petroleum product exports worth USD 15 billion to the European Union (EU) may be at risk as Brussels moves to restrict imports of Russian crude oil refined in third countries, economic think tank GTRI said.

The 18th package of sanctions by the 27-nation EU included a set of measures largely aimed at curbing the revenues of Russia's oil and energy sector, such as an import ban on refined petroleum products made from Russian crude oil and coming from any third country.

The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that a central component of the package is a ban on the import of refined petroleum products made from Russian crude and exported via third countries, excluding only a select few allies like the US, UK, Canada, and Switzerland.

This measure will hurt nations such as India, Turkey, and the UAE, which have been refining Russian crude and selling diesel, petrol, and jet fuel to Europe, it said.

"India's USD 5 billion exports of petroleum products to the EU are at risk. The EU's new sanctions ban imports of refined petroleum made from Russian crude via third countries like India," GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said.

India exported USD 19.2 billion worth of petroleum products to the EU in FY24, but this dropped by 27.1 per cent to USD 15 billion in 2024-25, according to the think tank.

It added that India imported USD 50.3 billion of crude oil from Russia in FY2025, over a third of its total USD 143.1 billion crude bills.

"Although India continues to engage in legitimate trade with Russia, the political optics of such transactions are shifting in Western capitals. As energy ties deepen, India will have to walk a fine line between economic pragmatism and geopolitical pressure," Srivastava said. PTI RR ANU

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New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has suffered a security breach, resulting in theft of USD 44.2 million, or Rs 378 crore, even as the founders took to X to reassure that customer funds remained unaffected and safe, with the compromise limited to an internal operational account.

The total exposure is being absorbed entirely by CoinDCX, using the company's treasury reserves, the company said in a First Incident Report released on Sunday.

According to the report, on July 19, at 4 AM IST, CoinDCX security systems detected an incident involving unauthorised access to one of its accounts on the partner exchange, leading to a financial exposure of about USD 44 million.

The incident once again puts the spotlight on mounting security threats in the highly volatile world of cryptocurrencies. Last year, crypto exchange WazirX faced a hack in India, leading to the loss of more than USD 230 million, and marking one of the biggest such heists in India. The theft had prompted a thorough examination of safety measures and eroded sentiments.

CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal took to the social media platform X to address the situation, confirming that the attack was the result of a sophisticated server breach, targeting an internal wallet, not the ones holding customer assets.

The incident was first flagged by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, following which the exchange made the disclosure public.

"Today, one of our internal operational accounts -- used only for liquidity provisioning on a partner exchange -- was compromised due to a sophisticated server breach. I confirm that the CoinDCX wallets used to store customer assets are not impacted and are completely safe. This won’t cause any loss to our customers. CoinDCX will be bearing the full amount," Gupta said.

"The total amount lost was USD 44Mn out of our treasury assets. Coindcx Treasury will be bearing these losses," Khandelwal wrote.

Following this, users rushed to check their balances, leading to a spike in withdrawal requests. The sudden surge in activity led to CoinDCX’s portfolio APIs, which display user balances and transaction histories, becoming jammed and unresponsive. For several hours, many were unable to even see their holdings on the app, adding fuel to rumours and anxiety online.

The co-founders later updated that Portfolio APIs have been restored.

Affected infrastructure has been completely isolated, and CoinDCX operations continue to run normally, the company said.

CERT-In, or the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, has been informed about the incident. Detailed forensics with two globally reputed security agencies is being carried out, and reports will be shared for public benefit, it added.

"CoinDCX services remain fully operational. Trading activity, INR deposits and INR withdrawals continue. INR withdrawals below Rs 5 lakhs will reflect in your account within 5 hours, while withdrawals above Rs 5 lakhs will be processed within 72 hours. The incident was isolated and has no impact on your portfolio access or operations," the company stated.

Social media is flooded with mixed reactions. While some praised CoinDCX for absorbing the losses and protecting user funds, others criticised the delay in public disclosure and raised concerns over the broader security of crypto platforms in India.

"Coindcx silent for 17 hours? That's more suspense than a thriller! In crypto, transparency isn't optional; it's key. Stay open to keep trust alive!" a user wrote.

"Good to see CoinDCX acting responsibly, assuring user funds are safe, and not passing losses onto customers. Sets a positive precedent for Indian crypto exchanges," another said. PTI ANK MBI ANK BAL

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Jaipur, Jul 20 (PTI) About 1,190 MW capacity decentralised solar plants were installed in the last one year in Rajasthan under the PM-KUSUM scheme, an official statement said.

A total of 684 decentralised solar plants with a combined capacity of 1,305 MW have been set up in Rajasthan so far, of which 592 plants (1,190 MW) were installed in the past 12 months.

Unlike conventional large-scale solar parks, KUSUM scheme promotes small-capacity, grid-connected plants installed by farmers themselves or in partnership with developers on barren land. The plants are set up within 5 km of a grid substation and offer electricity at a significantly lower rate , Rs 2.09-3 per unit” compared to thermal power.

As a result, the scheme is now being seen as a dual solution for clean energy and rural livelihood, with farmers turning into power producers while discoms benefit from low-cost, low-loss distribution, the statement said.

The scheme's implementation, previously handled by the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation, has now been handed over to power discoms as per central guidelines.

Officials said that procedural bottlenecks were addressed by setting up dedicated officers, issuing SOPs, and facilitating land and loan-related issues to speed up installations.

Among the state's three discoms, Jodhpur leads with 997.5 MW, followed by Jaipur (169.22 MW) and Ajmer (137.33 MW). Nationally, Rajasthan ranks first in the KUSUM scheme's Component-A and third in Component-C, after Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The state government has said it aims to provide daytime electricity for agriculture to all farmers by 2027, with around 1 lakh already benefiting from the scheme.

Officials claim this could help reduce the state's discom losses, which are reportedly over Rs 90,000 crore, mainly due to high-cost thermal power purchases. PTI AG ANU

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Kolkata, Jul 20 (PTI) Indian rice millers and exporters are upbeat about Bangladesh's "plan to import 9 lakh tonnes of rice", anticipating a boost in demand and better prices for the cereal, stakeholders said on Sunday.

With India accounting for 46 per cent of global rice exports, the country is expected to "emerge as the primary beneficiary of the move for its proximity, availability, and competitive pricing", they said.

"Of the total import plan, 4 lakh tonnes will be procured directly by the Bangladesh government through international tenders, while another 5 lakh tonnes will be imported by private traders of the neighbouring country. The decision comes earlier than usual, amid fear of crop loss due to heavy rain that could impact Bangladesh's Amon paddy currently being sown," Ricevilla Foods CEO Suraj Agarwal told PTI.

Jai Baba Bakreswar Rice Mill Director Rahul Agarwal said the rice industry in the country, especially in Bengal, is well-positioned to benefit from the proposed plan by the Bangladesh authorities, and he did not foresee any diplomatic hurdle amid India's curbs on the import of garments and jute through the Petrapole border.

"At least 30-40 per cent of the private imports will likely be sourced from Bengal mills and traders. Bengal mills will also participate in the government tenders for 4 lakh tonnes. States like Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Bihar will benefit the most," he said.

Popular Indian rice varieties such as 'Swarna', 'Ratna', 'Miniket', and 'Sona Masoori' are expected to see price gains in both West Bengal and southern India amid the anticipated demand surge, he said.

Prices of 'Swarna Mansoori' parboiled rice, now at Rs 29 per kg (ex-mill), may rise to Rs 31-32, while 'Miniket' variety currently being sold at Rs 41-42, could touch Rs 45 per kg in the coming weeks, Suraj Agarwal said.

Bangladesh's early import plan reflects "precautionary steps ahead of possible floods during the Amon season", the stakeholders said.

The Bangladesh government has already procured 3.76 lakh tonnes of Boro paddy and 9.50 lakh tonnes of rice against a target of 14 lakh tonnes, with procurement set to conclude by mid-August, according to reports.

From August, Bangladesh proposed to expand its food-friendly programme to 55 lakh families, providing 30 kg of rice per month at Tk 15 per kg during August, September, October, November, February, and March, the reports suggested.

Exporters believe the development will further strengthen "India's position as Bangladesh's key rice supplier while firming up prices for low-to-medium rice varieties in the domestic market".

Visakhapatnam and Paradip ports are major ones for rice exports. PTI BSM BDC

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Brigade Hotel Ventures Ltd, owner and developer of hotels in South India, is set to launch its Rs 749.6-crore initial public offering (IPO) on July 24.

The IPO is scheduled to close on July 28, and the one-day bidding for the anchor investor will open on July 23, according to the red herring prospectus (RHP).

Brigade Hotel Ventures' IPO is entirely a fresh issue of equity shares with no offer-for-sale (OFS) component.

Of the total issue proceeds, Rs 468.14 crore will be used for debt payment, Rs 107.52 crore will be utilised for the purchase of an undivided share of land from the promoter, BEL, and the remaining funds will support acquisitions, other strategic initiatives, and general corporate purposes.

Earlier this month, Brigade Hotel Ventures raised Rs 126 crore by selling equity shares to 360 ONE Alternates Asset Management.

Brigade Hotel Ventures Ltd is a subsidiary of Bengaluru-based real estate company Brigade Enterprises Ltd (BEL).

BEL entered into the hospitality business in 2004 with the development of its first hotel, Grand Mercure Bangalore, which commenced operations in 2009.

The company has a portfolio of nine operating hotels across Bengaluru (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Kochi (Kerala), Mysuru (Karnataka) and GIFT City (Gujarat) with 1,604 keys.

These hotels are operated by global marquee hospitality companies, such as Marriott, Accor and InterContinental Hotels Group.

JM Financial and ICICI Securities are the book-running lead managers to the issue. Shares of the company are expected to list on the bourses on July 31. PTI SP BAL

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Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) Realty firm Kalpataru Ltd has clocked a 41 per cent growth in its pre-sales to Rs 4,531 crore in the last fiscal, driven by higher demand for residential properties.

Kalpataru Ltd, one of the leading real estate developers in the country, has recently been listed on the stock exchanges.

"For the full FY25, pre-sales were at Rs 4,531 crore, up 41 per cent YoY (year-on-year)," Kalpataru Ltd said in a presentation to analysts and investors.

In 2023-24, the Mumbai-based company sold properties worth Rs 3,202 crore.

In the last fiscal, the company launched 7 new projects, totalling 6.5 million square feet of saleable area.

Last fiscal, Kalpataru Ltd signed development agreements (DA) for two new society redevelopment projects with an estimated GDV (gross development value) of Rs 2,100 crore.

During the entire 2024-25, Kalpataru Ltd posted a net profit of Rs 21.62 crore against a loss of Rs 94.98 crore in the preceding year.

The total income increased to Rs 2,331.59 crore last fiscal from Rs 2,039.93 crore in the 2023-24.

The company's net debt stood at Rs 9,310 crore at the end of March this year, down by Rs 673 crore compared to March 2024.

Kalpataru Ltd raised Rs 1,590 crore in equity through IPO (Initial Public Offering) in June 2025. Out of this, Rs 1,192.5 crore have been utilised for debt repayment as on date in line with the objects of the issue. As a result, the net debt-to-equity number has further improved, the presentation said.

Kalpataru Ltd has completed 77 real estate projects (18.4 million sq ft area). It has 35 ongoing, forthcoming and planned projects with a developable area of 47.3 million square feet.

The company has a significant presence in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune markets. PTI MJH BAL

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Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) Veteran filmmaker Chandra Barot, best known for directing the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer “Don”, passed away on Sunday due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mumbai, his family said.

He was 86.

After the announcement of Barot's passing, tributes poured in from several Bollywood personalities, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who described the filmmaker as his "dear dear friend".

Barot was battling 'Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis' (IPF-fibrosis of lungs) for the last 11 years and had been receiving treatment at the Guru Nanak Hospital, as per his family.

“Chandra passed away at the Guru Nanak Hospital this morning at 6.30 due to cardiac arrest caused by a chest infection. He had IPF, which is fibrosis of the lungs, for the past 11 years,” his wife Deepa Barot told PTI.

The last rites of the filmmaker were held around 4 pm in the presence of family and friends.

Chandra Barot is survived by his wife and a son.

In a heartfelt note, Amitabh Bachchan said he was deeply saddened by the passing of his close friend Barot.

"Another and another sad moment .. Dear dear friend and my director of DON - Chandra Barot passed away this morning.

"It is difficult to put in words the loss. We worked together, yes, but he was more a family friend than any else ..I can only pray," the 82-year-old actor wrote on his blog.

Before making his directorial debut with “Don”, Barot served as an assistant director to actor-director Manoj Kumar in “Purab Aur Pachhim”, “Roti Kapada Aur Makaan”, “Yaadgaar”, and “Shor”.

After “Don”, Chandra Barot directed a Bengali film - “Aashrita” (1989).

Released in May 1978, "Don", featuring Amitabh Bachchan in a double role – that of a mafioso and a simpleton – went on to become a blockbuster with its racy music, iconic dialogues and pulsating action.

One of the most celebrated films of Chandra Barot's career, "Don" had its fair share of ups and downs.

On the 40th anniversary of the movie in 2018, Chandra Barot in an interview with PTI shared an interesting insight that he, along with his friends Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Pran – all three who featured in “Don” – decided to make the film to pull one of their producer friends, Nariman Irani, out of debt.

“Bawa’s (Irani) wife was a hairdresser and knew writer Salim Khan. We asked her to put in a word for us. When we met Salim, he didn't have a script ready but told us, 'There is one subject which no one understands'.

"We said, 'we don't care, we just want 'Salim-Javed' written on the posters'. It was a ready script and we took it immediately. It didn't even have a title. Everyone in the industry called it 'Don waali script',” Chandra Barot had recalled.

Sadly, Irani passed away six months before the release of “Don”, he added.

The filmmaker also revealed that many big stars in the industry, including Dharmendra, Jeetendra and Dev Anand, had refused the movie, which was one of the highest-grossing Indian films of 1978.

“Don” was turned into a franchise by filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, son of Javed Akhtar, who had written the original script of the movie along with Salim Khan.

Film industry colleagues took to social media to mourn Chandra Barot's death, remembering him as a wonderful filmmaker who made one of the most entertaining Hindi movies – "Don".

Farhan Akhtar paid tribute to the ‘OG’ “Don” filmmaker on Instagram.

“Saddened to learn that the director of the OG Don is no more. RIP Chandra Barot-ji. Deepest condolences to the family,” said the actor-filmmaker.

Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment bought the rights to the 1978 film and directed it in 2006, with superstar Shah Rukh Khan playing the titular role.

He made the follow-up movie “Don 2” in 2011. The third part of the franchise will see actor Ranveer Singh stepping into the shoes of Khan.

Filmmaker Kunal Kohli fondly remembered assisting the late director on an unreleased movie, “Boss”, starring Vinod Khanna.

“Chandra ji RIP sir. The only director I assisted. Not in ‘Don’. For a film with Vinod Khanna called ‘Boss’ that never saw the light of day. But what an enriching experience working with him. Heard so many BTS stories of ‘Don’," Kohli said on X.

"I sided bunk college and assisted Chandra ji. Remarkably sharp man. Lovely person. Had a very enlightening and fun chat with him. Thank you, sir, for giving us #Don Indian cinemas' most stylish films to date,” he added.

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta thanked Barot for making “Don”, which he described as one of the most entertaining Hindi movies ever made.

“Rest In Peace, Chandra Barot Sir. Many thanks for DON. One of the most entertaining Hindi films ever,” he said. PTI KKP GK NR

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Bollywood actor Sonu Sood shared a video on his social media as he rescued a snake, but urged people to approach professionals in such situations.

The "Fateh" actor uploaded a post on his Instagram handle on Saturday. It shows him catching the non-venomous rat snake and placing it in a bag, before he hands it over to the team, asking them to safely release the snake in the forest.

People around are seen smiling and recording videos of the actor.

Sood said the snake came onto the premises of the society, but insisted that people do not try catching them on their own.

"Yeh humari society ke andar aa gaya. This is a rat snake, non-venomous, but we have to be very careful. Kahi baar humari societies mein aate hain, toh professionals ko zarur bulao. Hume toh aata hai pakadna, isiliye pakad liya, but be careful. Very, very important to be careful. Always call professionals, don’t try this," he can be heard saying in the video.

Sood's latest work is "Fateh", which also marked his directorial debut. Released in January, the action thriller revolved around an ex-special ops operative who investigates a cybercrime syndicate after a young woman falls victim to a scam.

It also starred Jacqueline Fernandez in a pivotal role. PTI ATR ATR

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Kolkata, Jul 20 (PTI) Actor cum cricket show host Mandira Bedi has said that while people generally adopt infants, grown-up parentless children should also have adoptive parents.

She also said the process should be made simpler to encourage people to go for adoption.

Bedi, the mother of a biological and an adoptive child, said, “For us, adoption was never the last resort."

"Even when I was dating my husband, I told him I’ve always wanted to have a biological child and adopt one. It wasn't just a passing thought—it was a dream I held on to from my early 20s," she said.

Motherhood is not defined by blood, but by intention, love and lifelong commitment," Bedi said while speaking at a panel discussion ‘Normalising and Encouraging Adoption in India’.

While adoption conversations often centre around infants, Bedi turned the spotlight on a reality often overlooked —the plight of older orphaned children in the adoption system.

“So many children get missed out. Everybody wants a baby they can hold from the very beginning. But slightly older children remain in the system unseen and forgotten. Think of them too, because nobody else does,” she said.

Speaking from her experience as an adoptive mother, Bedi revealed that her daughter Tara was four years old when she came home.

She recalled a heart-wrenching incident at the adoption agency—another young girl who had been picked for adoption thrice, only to be returned each time due to unforeseen circumstances.

“It was heartbreaking. That little girl still hadn’t found a home. It’s very sad when older kids get left behind. But I’m living proof—it works. You can teach them your values, nurture them with love, and they grow into everything you dreamed of,” the actor said.

Bedi, who has a biological son Vir Kaushal and an adopted daughter Tara Bedi Kaushal, had lost her husband Raj Kaushal in 2021.

Bedi essayed acclaimed roles in TV soaps 'Aurat', 'Kyunki Saaas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi', and was a popular host of ICC Cricket World Cups and the IPL in the past.

The discussion was hosted by 'Sunfeast Mom's Magic' last week. PTI SUS NN

Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) Veteran filmmaker Chandra Barot, best known for directing the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer “Don”, passed away on Sunday due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mumbai, his family said.

He was 86.

Barot was battling 'Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis' (IPF-fibrosis of lungs) for the last 11 years and had been receiving treatment at the Guru Nanak Hospital, as per his family.

“Chandra passed away at the Guru Nanak Hospital this morning at 6.30 due to cardiac arrest caused by a chest infection. He had IPF, which is fibrosis of the lungs, for the past 11 years,” his wife Deepa Barot told PTI.

Before making his directorial debut with “Don”, the filmmaker served as an assistant director to actor-director Manoj Kumar in “Purab Aur Pachhim”, “Roti Kapada Aur Makaan”, “Yaadgaar”, and “Shor”.

After “Don”, Chandra Barot directed a Bengali film - “Aashrita” (1989).

Released in May 1978, "Don", featuring megastar Amitabh Bachchan in a double role -- that of a mafioso and a simpleton -- went on to become a blockbuster with its racy music, iconic dialogues and pulsating action.

One of the most celebrated films of Chandra Barot's career, "Don" had its fair share of ups and downs.

On the 40th anniversary of the movie in 2018, Chandra Barot in an interview with PTI shared an interesting insight that he, along with his friends Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Pran – all three who featured in “Don” -- decided to make the film to pull one of their producer friends, Nariman Irani, out of debt.

“Bawa’s (Irani) wife was a hairdresser and knew writer Salim Khan. We asked her to put in a word for us. When we met Salim, he didn't have a script ready but told us, 'There is one subject which no one understands'.

"We said 'we don't care, we just want 'Salim-Javed' written on the posters'. It was a ready script and we took it immediately. It didn't even have a title. Everyone in the industry called it 'Don waali script',” Chandra Barot had recalled.

Sadly, Irani passed away six months before the release of “Don”, he added.

The filmmaker also revealed that many big stars in the industry, including Dharmendra, Jeetendra and Dev Anand, had refused the movie, which was one of the highest-grossing Indian films of 1978.

Chandra Barot is survived by his wife and a son.

“Don” was turned into a franchise by filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, son of Javed Akhtar, who had written the original script of the movie along with Salim Khan.

Film industry colleagues took to social media to mourn Chandra Barot's death, remembering him as a wonderful filmmaker who made one of the most entertaining Hindi movies - "Don".

Farhan Akhtar paid tribute to the ‘OG’ “Don” filmmaker on Instagram.

“Saddened to learn that the director of the OG Don is no more. RIP Chandra Barot-ji. Deepest condolences to the family,” said the actor-filmmaker.

Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment bought the rights to the 1978 film and directed it in 2006, with superstar Shah Rukh Khan playing the titular role.

He made the follow-up movie “Don 2” in 2011. The third part of the franchise will see actor Ranveer Singh stepping into the shoes of Khan.

Filmmaker Kunal Kohli fondly remembered assisting the late director on an unreleased movie, “Boss”, starring Vinod Khanna.

“Chandra ji RIP sir. The only director I assisted. Not in ‘Don’. For a film with Vinod Khanna called ‘Boss’ that never saw the light of day. But what an enriching experience working with him. Heard so many BTS stories of ‘Don’," Kohli said on X.

"I sided bunk college and assisted Chandra ji. Remarkably sharp man. Lovely person. Had a very enlightening and fun chat with him. Thank you, sir, for giving us #Don Indian cinemas' most stylish films to date,” he added.

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta thanked Barot for making “Don”, which he described as one of the most entertaining Hindi movies ever made.

“Rest In Peace, Chandra Barot Sir. Many thanks for DON. One of the most entertaining Hindi films ever,” he said. PTI KKP GK

Los Angeles, Jul 20 (PTI) Actor Josh Lucas of "Sweet Home Alabama" fame got married to television meteorologist Brianna Ruffalo.

The duo announced the news of their wedding, which took place in Vatican City, with a series of Instagram posts on Friday.

Ruffalo, 34, shared pictures from their wedding day, featuring her alongside the actor.

"Mr. and Mrs. Incredibly blessed to receive this sacrament together inside the heart of the Catholic Church and holy city," read the caption of the post.

Lucas, 54, also shared pictures from their big day on his social media handle.

The couple began dating in 2022 and got engaged in June 2024. They announced their engagement with a social media post.

"For the last 2 years in Every Way and Every Day this beautiful soul has made me and my life better, deeper, and more whole. I am so grateful and thrilled she said 'Yes'. I WAY love you Brianna. & Thank You to our families and all the people and places that made this come true. am absolutely aware I got crazy lucky," the "Yellowstone" actor wrote in the caption of the post.

Lucas will next star in "The Map That Leads to You". Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, the film also features Madelyn Cline. PTI SMR ATR SMR ATR

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Los Angeles, Jul 20 (PTI) Hollywood actor Janel Parrish, best known for her work in the drama series "Pretty Little Liars", will feature in a new indie film, titled "Bound For Glory".

According to the entertainment news outlet The Hollywood Reporter, the film also stars Michael Naizu and marks the collaboration for both actors, who have previously worked in "Christmas Is Canceled". The film was released in 2021.

"Bound For Glory" is directed by Naizu, alongside his brother, John Wilcox. It is inspired by Naizu’s background as a Chinese American navigating Hollywood, and follows “a mixed-race, working-class couple in crisis, interweaving themes of identity, codependency and generational expectation," according to the official synopsis.

The production of the film is slated to begin in the fall in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.

Parrish said she is happy to collaborate with her "Christmas Is Canceled" co-star. "So happy to be working with Michael Naizu again, this time to tell his beautiful and compelling story," the 36-year-old actor said in a statement.

"It means so much to collaborate with AAPI storytellers and help bring narratives to life that reflect who we are and why representation matters," she added.

Naizu said the story is deeply personal for him.

"This is a story I’ve been trying to tell my whole life. It’s deeply personal, rooted in my experience navigating identity and purpose in an industry that is extremely competitive and volatile. To now be making this film with my brother John, my childhood best friend Derik, and Janel Parrish — someone I’ve admired for years — it feels like everything is coming full circle," he said.

"To have Bound For Glory backed by a trailblazing organization like Gold House is incredibly meaningful. I honestly can’t wait to get cameras up and bring this story to life," he added. PTI ATR ATR

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Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) Veteran filmmaker Chandra Barot, best known for the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer “Don”, passed away on Sunday due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mumbai, his wife said.

He was 86.

Barot was battling 'Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis' (IPF-fibrosis of lungs) for the past 11 years and had been receiving treatment at the Guru Nanak Hospital, as per his family.

“Chandra passed away at the Guru Nanak Hospital this morning at 6.30 due to cardiac arrest caused by a chest infection. He had IPF, which is fibrosis of the lungs, for the past 11 years,” his wife, Deepa Barot told PTI.

Before making his directorial debut with “Don”, the filmmaker served as an assistant director to actor-director Manoj Kumar in “Purab Aur Pachhim”, “Roti Kapada Aur Makaan”, “Yaadgaar”, and “Shor”.

After “Don”, Chandra Barot directed a Bengali film “Aashrita” (1989).

The filmmaker is survived by his wife and a son.

“Don”, which gained a cult status, was turned into a franchise by filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, son of Javed Akhtar, who had written the original script of the movie along with Salim Khan.

Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment bought the rights to the 1978 film and directed it in 2006, with Shah Rukh Khan playing the titular role.

He made the follow-up movie “Don 2” in 2011. The third part will see Ranveer Singh stepping into the shoes of Khan. PTI KKP GK

Los Angeles, Jul 20 (PTI) Popular singer Billie Eilish says she is set to collaborate with the Oscar-winning director James Cameron on an upcoming 3D project.

The "Bad Guy" singer performed in Manchester on Saturday, where she shared the news during her performance. She is currently on her "Hit Me Hard and Soft" tour.

Eilish said she is working on something "very special" with the "Avatar" franchise director, Cameron.

While not revealing many details, the Grammy winner told the crowd, "So you may have noticed that there are more cameras than usual in here," according to the entertainment news outlet Variety.

"Basically, I can’t say much about it but what I can say is that I’m working on something very, very special with somebody named James Cameron and it’s going to be in 3D. So, take that as you will and these four shows here in Manchester, you and me are part of a thing that I am making with him. He’s in this audience somewhere, just saying. So don’t mind that, and also I’ll probably be wearing this exact outfit for like four days in a row," the 23-year-old singer added.

Although she didn't specify the title of the project, fans are speculating she meant the upcoming installment of the "Avatar" franchise.

Released in 2009, "Avatar" became the top-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office with more than USD 2.8 billion in revenues. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards including best picture and best director, and won three Oscars, for best cinematography, production design and visual effects.

The blockbuster movie featured Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. Its second installment released in 2022, titled "Avatar: The Way of Water".

Cameron's next, titled "Avatar: Fire and Ash", which is the third installment in the franchise is slated to hit the big screen on December 19.

"Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour" began in October last year and will conclude in November. PTI SMR ATR

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Los Angeles, Jul 20 (PTI) "Vampire Diaries" star Paul Wesley got engaged to his long-time girlfriend and model Natalie Kuckenburg.

Kuckenburg shared the news of their engagement on her Instagram handle on Saturday. The picture featured her hand with the engagement ring on it. "Yes, Always and forever," read the caption of the post.

Wesley, 42, and Kuckenburg, 25, got engaged during their recent trip to Italy, according to the entertainment news magazine People.

They first visited Tuscany and later travelled to Amalfi Coast. The duo has also actively shared pictures of their trip on their respective social media handles.

Kuckenburg and Wesley began dating in 2022. But avoided making any public statement about their relationship despite often being spotted together.

They however, didn't step away from sharing each other's pictures online.

Wesley, also known for his work in projects such as "Beneath the Blue" and "Roll Bounce", among others, was previously married to actor-singer and songwriter Torrey DeVitto. They took the vows in 2011 but got divorced in 2013.

The "Vampire Diaries" actor later married Ines de Ramon in 2019, but the couple decided to go their separate ways. They were granted a divorce in 2024. PTI ATR

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New York, Jul 20 (PTI) India is on the precipice of an “amazing, undeniable” global soft power whose "guardians" in equal measure are both those living in the homeland as well as the Indian diaspora, Emmy-Award winning comedian and actor Vir Das has said.

“I think something that the diaspora does really well is protect culture,” Das said here during a special interaction hosted at Asia Society.

Das, who won the 2023 International Emmy for Best Comedy for his comedy special ‘Landing’, said amid applause and laughter from the audience at the event that what he finds “lovely" about the Indian diaspora is that while they have an American accent and American values, but “at your shaadi, you (dance) to ‘Mehendi laga ke rakhna’.

The Asia Society event on Thursday was presented in collaboration with global media platform, community and agency South Asian Trailblazers and was held on the eve of the premiere of Das’s latest comedy special ‘Vir Das: Fool Volume’.

“India is on the precipice of an amazing, undeniable global soft power, and it only translates when the bridge happens from me to you. So we are both ends carrying that soft power,” Das said, a message for the Indian diaspora settled across the world.

“We are both guardians of India's soft power at an equal level.”

Citing the example of Indian actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh, who became the first Punjabi singer to perform at the popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California in 2023, Das said, “When Diljit performs at Coachella, that is an amazing, undeniable thing."

"The diaspora has to show up to pack Coachella. When he shows up in India, we'll pack it for him. But when he comes to Coachella, show up, for modern Indian culture,” he said.

Das, who was first nominated for the 2021 International Emmy for Comedy for his previous Netflix special ‘Vir Das: For India’, had hosted the prestigious global awards last year.

Responding to a question during the interactive Q&A session with the audience on what are some of the things the next generation should adopt from the current one, Das said one would be to know “that India is far more open-minded than you think it is. I say this with all due respect to the diaspora.

“ Sometimes you are raised in a time capsule version of India, that is the last version of India that your parents left behind, and that India doesn’t exist anymore,” he said to applause from the audience.

Das added that "You are raised in more conservative households than we are, many times. So, please come and visit modern India."

"Come and visit a place that does everything from Diljit to Mika to ‘RRR' to ‘Hanumankind’,” Das said, referring to the popular Indian artists, the blockbuster movie which won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 2023 Academy Awards for 'Naatu, Naatu' and the India-born rapper Sooraj Cherukat.

Das underlined that there are things happening in India right now that kids of the Indian diaspora need to know.

“The second thing is that it is okay to be flawed. I feel like children who are raised in the diaspora, you are under tremendous pressure to have model minority behaviour, more so than kids who are raised back home” because opportunities are far more scarce.

“It is a smaller community here, but try and create the abundance mindset that you had when there were a billion jobs for you. I know that there are fewer jobs, that's a very tough mindset to create, but I think your child would be better served by creating that mindset,” Das said. PTI YAS NSA

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Chelmsford (UK), Jul 20 (PTI) India U-19 bowlers struck at regular intervals before skipper Thomas Rew and Ekansh Singh came to the home team's rescue on day one of the second Youth Test here on Sunday.

Thanks to Rew and Ekansh's 90-run partnership, England U-19 recovered from 80 for five to reach 177 for six in 44 overs.

Rew top-scored for England U-19 on the opening day after RS Ambrish and Aditya Rawat picked up two wickets apiece.

India U-19 skipper Ayush Mhatre won the toss and chose to field, and the decision was straightaway vindicated as Rawat and Henil Patel struck once each with the new ball to leave England at 4/2 in the second over.

Rawat, in fact, struck with the very first ball of the match, trapping Ben Dawkins in front of the wicket at the County Ground.

In the day's second over, Patel got Adam Thomas out lbw to leave the England U-19 team in all sorts of trouble, even as one-down bat Aaryan Sawant got off the mark with a boundary.

After a delayed start due to rain, the match was interrupted when the heavens opened up again with England U-19 reaching 18 for two in 5.3 overs.

The interruption was lengthy, forcing the umpires to call for an early lunch.

When the proceedings began after the weather cleared up, Sawant and Rocky Flintoff tried to rebuild the innings.

However, Rawat cut short Flintoff's stay in the middle when he had the batter caught by Vihaan Malhotra for a 26-ball 16 to leave the home team at 29 for three.

All-rounder RS Ambrish dismissed Sawant caught by Malhotra after the batter had reached 20 with the help of three boundaries.

Ben Mayes and Thomas Rew, who is performing the dual role of captaining and keeping in this match, then steadied the innings for a brief while before the former was dismissed by Ambrish for a 31 off 40 balls. His knock contained five hits to the fence.

Rew was then joined by Ekansh Singh (46 batting) in the middle, and the two forged a much-needed partnership of 90 runs for the sixth wicket to give England U-19's innings a semblance of respectability before leg-spinner Naman Pushpak took the important wicket of the home team skipper.

Brief scores:

England U-19: 177/6 in 44 overs (Thomas Rew 59; Aditya Rawat 2/42, RS Ambrish 2/39) vs India U-19. PTI AH AH ATK

Batumi (Georgia), Jul 20 (PTI) Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy played out a fine counterattacking game to hold International Master Yuxin Song of China and march into the semifinals of the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup here on Sunday.

Having won the first game with white pieces, Humpy was only a draw away from reaching the last four stage, and she achieved it after a keenly contested second game against the Chinese.

With fourth place assured, Humpy will get two chances to reach the top three which will also guarantee her a place at next Women's Candidates' tournament for which the top three from here qualify.

The all-Indian duel between Grandmaster D Harika and IM Divya Deshmukh ended in a draw which means that the two will battle it out in the tie-break games scheduled for Monday.

Grandmaster R Vaishali ran out of luck as she lost from slightly better prospects against former world women's champion Zhongyi Tan of China. Vaishali who had drawn the first game lost by the same score as Song.

Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.

Yuxin Song had to win to stay in the hunt against Humpy and her preferred choice was the Jobava's London, an opening that is fancied these days by many strong Grandmasters. Humpy equalised without much ado but then sacrificed two pawns in tandem to give white some hopes.

However, Song's pawn structure was really broken with three pawns standing on a sole file and Humpy found her counter play in the centre. Recovering the pawns Humpy was happy to lead the game to a level rook and pawns endgame.

Song tried in vain for 53 moves before splitting the point.

Vaishali took her chances in the middle game and got the dynamic balance she was looking for. However, resourceful as she is, Tan capitalised on an unforced error to gain the upper hand.

Vaishali again got some chances according to the computer but it was always a tall order to find all correct moves.

Harika tried safely as white and like the previous game the players reached a drawn rook and pawns endgame. Interestingly this is the only match that goes into tie-break games of shorter duration which also means that there will be two Indians in the semifinals.

Quarterfinal results: Koneru Humpy (Ind) beat Yuxin Song (Chn) 1.5-0.5; Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) lost to Tingjie Lei (Chn) 0-2; R Vaishali (Ind) lost to Tan Zhongyi (Chn) 0.5-1.5; Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with D Harika (Ind) 1-1 goes to tiebreaker. PTI Cor AH

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Budapest, Jul 20 (PTI) India's Greco Roman wrestler will return with two medals from the UWW Ranking Series event with Sumit winning a silver and Anil Mor securing a bronze, here Sunday.

Competing in the 60kg category, Sumit produced a dominant run before falling to Azerbaijan’s Nihat Mammadli 0-5 in the final.

Earlier, he began with a 9-3 win against Sadyk Lalaev and pinned Korea's Dahyun Kim and Kazakhstan's Galym Kabdunassarov en route the final.

In the 55kg, world number one Anil lost his quarterfinal 1-6 to Emin Narimanovitch Sefershaev. Since his rival made it to the final, Anil bounced back in medal contention through the repechage route.

Up against world number three Artium Deleanu, the 18-year-old Indian won 7-0 and in the bronze play-off he got the better of Uzbekistan's Iktiyor Botirov, ranked fourth in the world.

Indian women wrestlers took home six medals, including gold won by Antim Panghal (53kg) and Harshita (72kg).

In men's freestyle event, Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) won a gold while Rahul (57kg) added a bronze to India's tally. PTI AT AT ATK

Manchester, Jul 20 (PTI) Pacer Anshul Kamboj was on Sunday added to India squad as cover for Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh, who are racing against time to be ready for the fourth Test against England, beginning here Wednesday.

Akash Deep, who is dealing with a groin niggle, played in the second and third Test against England at Birmingham and Lord's respectively, while left-arm pacer Arshdeep is yet to feature in a match in the on-going series.

According to sources, India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is also doubtful for the fourth match after sustaining a knee injury during a gym session on Sunday.

"Nitish suffered a knee injury during his training in gym today," a source said.

Reddy was part of the playing XI in the second and third Tests.

There is no clarity as yet on Akash Deep's availability, while Arshdeep is unlikely to be available for selection for the Manchester Test, and therefore the selectors decided to call Kamboj, PTI has learned.

Arshdeep copped a blow on his left hand while trying to stop a shot from Sai Sudharsan in his follow through during the net session at Beckenham on Thursday, which necessitated the bandaging of his bowling arm.

"We'll take a call on the combination we play, particularly given the Arshdeep situation as well, we'll make that call closer to Manchester," assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had said.

“He took a ball while he was bowling…it’s just a cut, so we have to see how bad the cut is. Obviously the medical team has taken him off to see a doctor and obviously if he needs stitches or doesn't need stitches that's going to be important to our planning for the next few days,” he added.

The 24-year-old Kamboj is a worthy addition to the squad after his impressive effort for India A against the England Lions in two side games prior to the Test series.

He took five wickets across four innings at Northampton and Canterbury while moving the ball appreciably and finding disconcerting bounce on occasions.

The Haryana pacer is a hit the deck seam bowler and is being looked as a future prospect as Mukesh Kumar is already on the wrong side of 30s while Harshit Rana is yet to find his strides in red ball cricket.

Kamboj shot into fame after taking all 10 wickets in an innings against Kerala last year in a Ranji Trophy match at Lahli.

He is only the third bowler to achieve that feat in the Ranji Trophy after Bengal’s Premangsu Chatterjee (1956-57) and Rajasthan’s Pradeep Somasundaram (1985-86).

Overall, he took 34 wickets from six matches in the last edition of the premier domestic red-ball tournament. PTI BS UNG APA ATK

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Manchester, Jul 20 (PTI) In a memorable sporting crossover, the Indian cricket team on Sunday linked up with players of the world renowned football club Manchester United and exchanged jerseys and pleasantries while engaging in some light-hearted drills.

With the caption 'United in Manchester', the BCCI shared several pictures of the meeting in which the likes of Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant can be seen playing football with the Red Devils in their training ground at Carrington.

In one of the images which were also shared by Adidas, Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj can be seen bowling to star defender Harry Maguire.

The meeting between the two teams was felicitated by the leading sportswear manufacture, it claimed.

Pictures of the head coaches of the teams Ruben Amorim and Gautam Gambhir, who is a supporter of Manchester United, posing together have also gone viral.

In other pictures, Gill is seen posing for a photo with Bruno Fernandes, Siraj with Amad Diallo, Jasprit Bumrah chatting with Mason Mount and Harry Maguire. There was also a joint photo of the two teams and their support staff.

The event kicked off with a warm welcome by senior Manchester United officials and club legends, followed by a symbolic jersey exchange between the two teams.

The collaboration unfolded through a series of engaging moments: from light-hearted football and cricket drills to candid conversations between players and coaches.

The event also included a special segment where coaches from both teams exchanged insights on leadership, team dynamics, and the nuances of managing elite athletes across different sports.

"This activation marks a significant moment in sports, reinforcing adidas' reputation as a brand that not only equips athletes with premium gear but also brings teams across different sports together," the sportswear said in a press release.

The Indian cricket team is in Manchester to play the fourth Test against England from July 23. England lead the five-match series 2-1 after wins at Leeds and London with India emerging victorious at Birmingham. PTI AH AH PDS

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Manama (Bahrain), Jul 20 (PTI) Indian cueists had a good day in office as five of them were assured knockout berths in the IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championships here on Sunday.

Reigning champion Kamal Chawla, Manan Chandra, Brijesh Damani, Paras Gupta and Pankaj Advani registered twin wins apiece in their respective groups.

National champion Gupta, and three-time world champion Advani were solid from the get-go. The duo didn’t need much time to get accustomed to the conditions as they outplayed their rivals without breaking a sweat.

Gupta, who finished runner-up at the Asian event last month, scored identical 4-1 wins in his two matches in Group K.

Advani, who got a wildcard into the event, also registered 4-1 wins over Ahmad Abul (Kuwait) and Ayman Alamri (Saudi Arabia) in Group M.

Chawla, Chandra and Damani were equally impressive en route to their second straight victories in their respective groups.

In the U-21 category, India’s Mayur Garg and Shahyan Razmi booked their places in the knockouts with twin wins.

Results (Indians unless mentioned):

Group A: Kamal Chawla beat Ali Hussein (Irq) 4-3 (37-26, 5-52, 71-0, 40-1, 6-48, 21-32, 33-23).

Group J: Brijesh Damani beat Abdulrahman Saif (UAE) 4-1 (8-48, 50-1, 67-0, 55-1, 41-6); Damani beat Asif Imran (Ban) 4-1 (40-48, 39-10, 31-3, 36-17, 36-0).

Group K: Paras Gupta beat Abdulla Mohammed (Bhn) 4-1 (43-15, 20-46, 39-9, 48-10, 60-6); Gupta beat Sami Al Hamrashdi (Oman) 4-1 (39-49, 58-16, 46-6, 26-15, 28-13).

Group L: Manan Chandra beat Susantha Boteju (SL) 4-0 (32-20, 33-19, 41-25, 60-8); Chandra beat Ihab Al-Salih (Irq) 4-2 (49-19, 49-24, 32-19, 17-31, 1-59, 39-13).

Group M: Pankaj Advani beat Ahmad Abul (Kuw) 4-1 (27-13, 36-13, 28-32, 45-34, 49-0); Advani beat Ayman Alamri (KSA) 4-1 (65-0, 43-31, 60-6, 16-33, 46-4). PTI UNG PDS

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Berlin, Jul 20 (PTI) India opened its medal account in the World University Games (WUG) through the shuttlers, who won a bronze in the mixed team event despite defeat against Chinese Taipei, while swimmer Srihari Nataraj continued his record-breaking spree in the pool on Sunday.

The Indian mixed team comprising Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, Devika Sihag, Saneeth Dayanand, Tasnim Mir, Varshini Viswanath Sri and Vaishnavi Khadkekar lost to their Chinese Taipei opponents 1-3 in the semifinals.

Under the rules of competition, both the losing semifinalists -- the other being Korea -- will secure a bronze each.

China and Chinese Tapei will square off in the final. China beat Korea in the other semifinal on Sunday.

For India, only Devika was able to win her women's singles match as she beat Huang Ching Ping 15-10 15-10.

Karunakaran was the first to take the field and he lost his men's singles match to Su Li Yang 13-15 15-13 10-15.

After Devika's win, the Indian men's doubles pair of Dayanad and Karunakaran went down 8-15 13-15 to Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh.

The women's doubles pair of Tasnim and Varshini then lost 3-15 8-15 to Hsu Yin-Hui and Yang Chu Yun in the fourth match as Chinese Taipei wrapped up the semifinal.

In the swimming competitions, Nataraj bettered the 'Best Indian Time' in the men's 100m freestyle, clocking 49.46 seconds to qualify for the semifinals.

The 24-year-old Nataraj erased Guangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist Virdhawal Khade's long-standing mark of 49.47 seconds, set way back in 2008.

He won heat number 6 race and made it to the semifinals at 12th position overall.

On Friday, Nataraj had twice bettered his own 'Best Indian Time' in the 200m freestyle event.

In swimming, national record timings are those achieved only at the National Aquatics Championships. Timings clocked in other meets are considered 'Best Indian Time' or 'Best Indian Performance'.

Compatriot Jashua Thomas Durai failed to make it to the semifinals with a 47th place finish overall with a time of 51.45s in the heats.

Nataraj also qualified for the 50m backstroke semifinals after winning heat 4 with a time of 25.59s and finishing 10th overall.

Another Indian in the fray, Dhyaan Mahesh Kumar took the 35th spot overall in the heats and missed out on the semifinals.

In women's 100m butterfly, India's Nina Venkatesh (1 minute 04.49 seconds) and Nilabjaa Ghosh (1:05.52) finished 28th and 31st overall respectively in the heats to make an exit.

The same was the case for Divyanka Dibya Pradhan and Anushka Sayaji Patil, who finished 29th and 34th overall respectively in the women's 200m breaststroke.

Meanwhile, the Indian team did not start (DNS) in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay heats.

In fencing, the Indian women's Epee team of Mitva Jesangbhai Chaudhari, Tanuja and Yashkeerat Kaur lost 21-45 to Germany in the pre-quarterfinals.

The men's Sabre team of Aditya Atul, Abhay Krishna Shinde and Dhruv Walia also lost 11-45 in the pre-quarterfinals against Korea.

In tennis, the mixed doubles team of Vaishnavi Adkar and Atharva Sharma won their round of 32 match against Reina Castilo and Gonzalez Torres of Spain 6-1 6-4.

However, Anjali Rathi lost to Li Zongyu of China 1-6 4-6 in women's singles round of 32 match.

In table tennis, Suhana Saini, Pritha Vartikar and Sayali Wani won their respective women's singles group matches, while Harkunwar Singh did the same in the men's category.

Taekwondo player Deepanshu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of men's 58kg after beating Ricki Gene Farnes of Denmark. PTI PDS PDS AT

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Singapore, Jul 20 (PTI) The displaced women cricketers from Afghanistan, who fled their country due to Taliban rule, will receive key engagement opportunities during the next two global events, the ICC said during its annual conference on Sunday.

They will be involved in the women's 50-over World Cup in India and Sri Lanka later this year and the 2026 women's T20 World Cup in England.

During the last meeting in Harare, it was decided that a high-powered committee comprising representatives from the three richest cricket boards -- India, England and Australia -- will come together to help the Afghan women cricketers, most of whom fled to Australia after Taliban came to power.

"In line with ICC's initiative for supporting the displaced women cricketers of Afghan descent, the players will receive key engagement opportunities at ICC events, including the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 and the T20 World Cup next year in England, as well as through high-performance initiatives and domestic playing opportunities," the ICC stated in a release.

"The initiative is being advanced through a collaborative effort led by the ICC under the supervision of Deputy Chair Mr Imran Khwaja, in collaboration with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and Cricket Australia (CA)," it further stated.

While the ICC release didn't specify what kind of "engagement opportunities" will be provided to them during the two global events, it has been learnt that Afghan women cricketers will get a chance to speak to cricketers and attend workshops conducted by international coaches under the aegis of ICC.

The meaning of "domestic opportunities" is still very sketchy as most of these cricketers live in Australia.

It could be a case of integrating them into the lower tier of the cricket system and give them an opportunity to play grade cricket Down Under. PTI KHS KHS AH

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Cairo, Jul 20 (PTI) Teen squash sensation Anahat Singh will lead a 12-member Indian contingent at the World Junior Squash Championships, starting Monday at the Black Ball Sporting Club here.

The championships, running from July 21 to 26, will feature 234 of the world’s top under-19 players.

India’s squad comprises six men and six women competing in singles.

Anahat, seeded second in the women’s draw behind Egypt’s three-time defending champion Amina Orfi, is carrying rich form into the tournament. The 17-year-old, ranked 54th in the senior world rankings, recently clinched the U19 Asian girls’ title and also secured Asian senior doubles gold earlier this year.

Joining her in the women’s section is Anika Dubey, a bronze medallist in U17 at the Asian Junior Championships in South Korea last month.

In the men’s draw, Arihant KS and Yusha Nafees are seeded, while Aryaveer Dewan, the reigning U17 Asian champion, is also part of the squad. Egypt’s Mohamad Zakaria, the defending champion, is top seed in the men’s category.

No Indian has won an individual junior world title so far. Joshna Chinappa came closest as runner-up in 2005.

Squash is set to debut at the LA 2028 Olympics, raising the stakes for emerging talents worldwide.

Indian squad.

Men: Arihant KS, Yusha Nafees, Karan Yadav, Shiven Agarwal, Aryaveer Dewan, Sandhesh P.

Women: Anahat Singh, Anika Dubey, Unnati Tripathi, Rudra Singh, Navya Sundararajan, Aradhya Porwal. PTI ATK KHS

Singapore, Jul 20 (PTI) The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday awarded the hosting rights for the next three editions of World Test Championship finals to England.

The global body made the decision at its annual conference which concluded here Sunday.

The three WTC finals scheduled in 2027, 2029 and 2031 after completion of two year cycles will in all likelihood be held in June, which is the time for the cricket season in England.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has already hosted the 2021 final in Southampton (India vs New Zealand), 2023 summit clash at the Oval in London (India vs Australia) and the 2025 edition finale at the Lord's (South Africa vs Australia).

".....the England and Wales Cricket Board have been awarded hosting rights for the next three World Test Championship Finals. The first three editions of the WTC Final were held at different venues in England, with Lord’s hosting the most recent final between South Africa and Australia last month," the ICC stated in a release.

Since the scheduling of the WTC cycle is such that only possible country where there is likely to be least weather intervention in June is England. Australia's cricket season runs from October to March.

"We are absolutely delighted that England and Wales has been chosen to host the next three ICC World Test Championship Finals," Richard Gould, ECB CEO, said.

"It's a testament to the passion that fans in this country have for this treasured format of the game and the willingness of supporters from around the world to travel here for these games.

"Hosting these finals is a privilege, and we look forward to working with the ICC to build on the success of the previous editions," he added.

In case of India, Test cricket isn't the most popular format and if India doesn't play the final, then there would be bare minimum footfalls even if top cricketing nations play the summit clash.

New Associate Members

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The ICC also welcomed two new members in Timor Leste Cricket Federation and Zambia Cricket Union which were included as Associate Members, taking the ICC’s total membership to 110.

USA Cricket given 3 months to set house in Order

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Among other decisions, the USA Cricket has been given three additional months to undertake comprehensive governance reforms, including but not limited to completing free and fair elections within the period.

USA Cricket has been facing non compliance issue for the longest time and there is a suspension looming large on the immediate regime if they don't set their house on order.

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Among other announcements, Mr Gurumurthy Palani (France Cricket), Mr Anuraag Bhatnagar (Cricket Hong Kong, China) and Mr Gurdeep Klair (Cricket Canada) were elected to the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) as Associate Member representatives. PTI KHS AT KHS AT

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Thane, Jul 21 (PTI) Police have arrested three persons after seizing drugs valued at more than Rs 22 lakh following two raids in Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a room near the Valdhuni river under Khadakpada police station area in Kalyan on July 17 and seized 1.12 kilograms of ganja (cannabis) valued at Rs 25,000, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-III, Kalyan) Atul Zende said in a release.

A man, identified as Ravi Shivaji Gavli (30), resident of Anupam Nagar, who was found in possession of the narcotic substance was immediately taken into custody, the official said.

On July 18, the police carried out another raid at a location behind the APMC Market Road in Kalyan where two individuals were allegedly attempting to sell banned narcotic substances.

"During the raid, our team seized 110 grams of MD (mephedrone), a synthetic drug, from the possession of the accused. The market value of the seized drug is estimated at Rs 22 lakh," Zende said.

The police arrested the two accused, identified as Mohammad Kaif Mansur Shaikh (24), resident of Kalyan, and Fardin Asif Sheikh (24), from Kongaon in Bhiwandi, the official said.

The Khadakpada and Bazarpeth police have registered FIRs against the accused under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he said.

"We are now conducting further investigations to trace the supply chain - from where the drugs were procured and to whom they were being sold," the official said. PTI COR GK

Pratapgarh (UP), Jul 20 (PTI) Eight people, including a woman, were arrested on Sunday in connection with a case of religious conversion, officials said.

According to Additional Superintendent of Police (West) Sanjay Rai, acting on a tip-off, a police team searched Kachha Dube Ka Purwa village under Jethwara police station limits and arrested the accused.

During the search, police recovered religious posters, a wooden cross, religious literature, and photographs of Jesus Christ, officials said.

Police took action after allegations that the accused were involved in religious conversion luring people to adopt Christianity, they said.

Those arrested were identified as Ramchandra Verma, a resident of Doodhnath, Rajendra Verma of Gehari, Ram Sanehi Saroj, Ashok Saroj, and Surendra alias Kallu Saroj (all residents of Bhaggupurwa), Mukesh Kumar Saroj of Sansaripur, and Sunil Saroj, a resident of Dhingwas.

Besides, police also arrested a woman whose identity was not disclosed, the officials said.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, police said. PTI COR ABN ABN KVK

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Kanpur (UP), Jul 20 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday announced cash rewards ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 for information leading to the arrest of 21 absconding persons, including three women, an official said.

A separate list of the absconders, which includes advocates and political workers, has been released, the official said.

Rewards of Rs 20,000 each have been announced for 12 persons -- Ram Pratap Singh, Rahul Singh, Deepak Jadaun, Shrot Gupta, Narain Bhadauria, Anoop Shukla, Sanjay Upadhaye, Aridaman Singh, Merajul Haq, Shyam Sundar Prajapati, Abhishek Katiyar and Shivam Rathore, police said.

Most of the wanted persons are accused in cases of serious crimes such as cheating, forgery using fake documents and criminal intimidation, they added.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Satyajeet Gupta said rewards have also been declared against absconding women Vibha Sachan, Kamini Tripathi and Priti Singh, who are wanted for cheating and forgery. PTI COR ABN OZ

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Gurugram, Jul 20 (PTI) Refusing to give Rs 20 to her drug addict son cost a 56-year-old woman in Haryana's Nuh her life as she was hacked her to death by him in rage, police said on Sunday.

The incident happened in Jaisinghpur village of Nuh district on Saturday, they said.

After killing his mother, Jamshed slept in the same house the whole night, the police said, adding that the accused has been taken into custody and is being questioned.

According to the police, last night Jamshed asked his mother Rajiya for Rs 20 and she refused to give him the money. Angered by this, he hacked his mother with an axe, resulting in her death on the spot.

Jamshed is a drug addict and has been consuming marijuana and opium for a long time, they said.

A senior police officer said that an FIR has been registered and the body was handed over to family after a post-mortem.

Rajiya’s husband Mubarak had died just four months ago, the police said. PTI COR NB

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Baghpat (UP), Jul 20 (PTI) The semi-nude body of an ASHA worker with bullet injuries was recovered by police in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat, with her family accusing the woman's brother-in-law of the murder.

According to police, her body was found inside a plastic bag from an under construction house in Kotana Road of the Baraut area.

The woman has been identified as Anjali aged between 40 to 45 from Khampur village of the area. She had left home on Saturday morning saying that she was going to the Community Health Center (CHC), but did not return till evening.

When the family tried to contact and found that her phone was switched off they informed police, Station House Officer (SHO) Manoj Chahal said.

He said the family has accused the woman's brother-in-law Bhupendra, who works at a sugar mill and is a resident of Titauli village in Shamli district, of the murder.

A case has been registered against him and efforts are on to arrest him.Further investigations are underway. PTI COR CDN OZ

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Chaibasa, Jul 20 (PTI) Two persons were arrested on Sunday in connection with the murder of a finance company's recovery agent in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, police said.

Sumit Singh Yadav, 35, was shot dead in New Colony Nimdih in Sadar police station area in Chaibasa on the night of July 13, they said.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the case.

It identified five people as involved in the crime from footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the area, police said.

Two of them were arrested following a series of raids, they said.

Those arrested were identified as Abhijeet Adhikari (28) and Saurav Raj alias Victor (20). They have confessed to their involvement in the crime, police claimed.

Abhijeet's blood-stained shirt has also been seized, they said.

Raids were underway to apprehend the other three accused, who are on the run, they added. PTI BS SOM

Dehradun, Jul 20 (PTI) A Haridwar man allegedly pushed his 17-year-old daughter into a canal, causing her to drown, when she refused to stop seeing a man she loved, police said on Sunday.

The man, Pradeep Kumar Dhiman, a resident of Dhalwala of Sidkul, was arrested and the body of the victim, Prachi, was fished out.

According to police, Dhiman took Prachi to the Mangalore canal bridge Saturday evening and pushed her into it.

When police reached the spot, they found kanwariyas surrounding Dhiman, ready to beat him.

After he was rescued from the pilgrims, Dhiman told police that his daughter had been having an affair with a man living in front of his house, which he did not like. PTI DPT HIG VN

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Amethi (UP), Jul 20 (PTI) Two youths were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a boy, beating him up and making him lick their spit in a village here, police said on Sunday.

According to police, the boy's father filed a complaint alleging that his 15-year-old son was taken away by Nitin (23) and Rohit (24), residents of the same village, on their motorcycle on the evening of July 18.

They took him to Barsanda village and beat him up. They took him to a garden in nearby Singhnamau village, where they sexually assaulted him and made him lick their spit, the complainant told the police.

SHO of Bazar Shukul police station, Abhinesh Kumar, said that both the accused have been arrested and further action is being taken in the case. PTI COR NAV HIG

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Hoshiarpur, Jul 20 (PTI) A couple died and their four-year-old son injured after a truck hit their scooter near Musahibpur village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur here, police said on Sunday.

Rakesh Kumar (40), his wife Jyoti (35) and their son Krish were travelling towards Pathankot on a scooter from their native Bhattian Rajputtan village when a truck rammed into their vehicle from behind, Mukerian SHO Joginder Singh said.

The couple died on the spot, while their son was seriously injured and has been admitted to the Civil Hospital in Mukerian, he said.

The truck driver fled the scene along with the vehicle.

The vehicle was identified through CCTV footage and efforts are on to arrest the accused, the officer said.

A case is being registered and further investigation is underway, he added. PTI COR CHS NB

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Jammu, Jul 20 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir Police's Crime Branch has registered three separate cases against fraudsters for allegedly duping several job seekers of nearly Rs 1.50 crore, a senior officer said.

Senior Superintendent Police, Crime branch Jammu , Benam Tosh said the FIRs were registered against the accused on the basis of separate complaints.

"Stringent possible action under law is being taken against notorious elements involved in job scams , but job seekers, their parents and guardians are also required to be beware of such fraudsters," he said.

He said an FIR has been registered against Ajay Kumar, a resident of Sungli village of Doda on two written complaints submitted by six victims, claiming that he hadduped them of Rs 1.06 crore on the pretext of providing government jobs.

Kumar impersonated himself as a Secretariat official to win confidence of job seekers, the officer said, adding he is a notorious fraudster and more complaints against him are pouring in.

Another FIR has been registered against suspended government school teacher Jameel Anjum of Jammu, on the joint complaint lodged by nine complainants from Lower Gadi Garh Jammu, he said.

The victims alleged that Anjum, presently in jail on judicial custody in another case, duped them of Rs 39 lakhs on the false promise of providing Government jobs, the SSP said.

This was the 11th FIR registered against Anjum who used to pose himself as PA of high dignitary to loot the gullible youth, he said, adding more complaints against him are being received from the victims of job scams.

He said the third FIR has been registered against two accused -- Iftikhar Ali and Nazir Ali of Chanderkote Ramban -- following a written complaint by a person from their neighbouring village, Mohd Taki, alleging that they have duped him after promising a government job. PTI TAS NB

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Chandigarh, Jul 20 (PTI) The Punjab Police on Sunday said they have arrested three operatives of the terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) for their alleged involvement in two grenade attacks on two police posts in Punjab's Patiala and Haryana.

Two hand grenades and two pistols were recovered from their possession, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

"Acting on specific intelligence inputs, Counter Intelligence (CI) Patiala and State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Mohali apprehends three operatives of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) involved in grenade attacks on police posts at Badshahpur, Patiala on April 1, 2025, and Azeemgarh, Haryana on April 6, 2025," Yadav said in a post on X.

"Preliminary investigation reveals that the accused executed both attacks on instructions from foreign-based BKI operatives Manu Agwan (Greece) and Maninder Billa (Malaysia). They were acting under the direction of Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda and Pakistan's ISI," said Yadav.

The module had received logistical and financial support from these handlers and was actively planning further attacks on police establishments in Punjab, Yadav said.

An FIR has been registered at State Special Operation Cell Mohali, he said adding, further investigations are underway. PTI CHS NB

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Important matters listed in the Supreme Court on Monday, July 21:

* SC to hear suo motu case over the issue of probe agencies summoning lawyers who offer legal opinions or represent parties during investigation of cases.

* SC to hear suo motu case relating to allotment of land for Bombay HC's new building complex in Mumbai.

* SC to hear plea related to acid attack survivors, including concerning payment of compensation.

* SC to hear plea concerning Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.

* SC to hear petition to declare that consumers have a 'right to know' about quality of products besides details of distributor and sellers so as to seek redressal against unfair restrictive trade practices. PTI ABA

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Bareilly (UP) Jul 20 (PTI) Three persons, including a former army havildar, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court here in connection with the 2016 murder of a relative of former Uttar Pradesh minister Bhagwat Saran Gangwar, the prosecution said on Sunday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabrez Ahmed on Saturday convicted former army havildar Satendra Pal Singh alias Pintu Rana, his brother Ravindra Pal Singh alias Rinku Rana and brother-in-law Manjeet Singh alias Monu and sentenced them to life imprisonment, Additional District Government Advocate (ADGC) Rajeshwari Gangwar said.

A total fine of Rs 6.90 lakh has also been imposed on the three convicts.

Rajpal Gangwar, who was killed in the incident, was the husband of Bhagwat Saran Gangwar's niece.

The incident occurred on 24 March 2016 in Shastrinagar, when Holi celebrations were underway at the house of Bhagwat Saran Gangwar's younger brother Yogendra Gangwar. On the same day, Yogendra's daughter had come to his house with her husband Rajpal Gangwar.

Guests who had come to the house of a neighbour -- army man Satendra Pal Singh alias Pintu Rana -- had blocked the road by parking their vehicle.

When Yogendra asked them to remove the vehicle, there was a quarrel, and the accused entered Gangwar's house and fatally shot Rajpal Gangwar with a licensed gun and also attacked other family members.

In this case, an FIR was lodged against Satendra Pal Singh (55), Rinku Rana (45) and Monu (25) in Premnagar police station under sections related to murder, attempt to murder and other related sections.

The police completed the investigation and filed a chargesheet in the court.

ADGC Rajeshwari Gangwar said that 13 witnesses were presented in this case. The court completed the hearing and pronounced the sentence on Saturday.

Former minister Bhagwat Saran Gangwar expressed satisfaction over the court's decision.

"This is an example not only for the family of the convicts but also for the society that justice is definitely served, even if it is delayed," he said. PTI COR CDN RT

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Ranchi, Jul 20 (PTI) A division bench of the Jharkhand High Court delivered a split verdict while hearing appeals against the death sentence given to two Maoists for the 2013 attack on a police team, in which six personnel, including Pakur SP Amarjit Balihar, were killed.

Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay was in favour of acquitting the convicts, while Justice Sanjay Prasad upheld the death sentence.

The HC was hearing a criminal appeal filed by Pravir Murmu alias 'Pravir Da' and Santan Baskey alias 'Tala Da'.

The trial in the case was conducted at the Dumka sessions court, which gave a death sentence to the convicts on September 26, 2018.

Thereafter, the convicts filed their respective appeals before the HC.

The division bench of the HC delivered a 197-page judgement on July 17.

The police team, led by SP Balihar, was attacked by Maoists on July 2, 2013.

The Maoists opened fire on two police vehicles, claiming the lives of six personnel -- Rajiv Kumar Sharma, Manoj Hembram, Chandan Kumar Thapa, Ashok Kumar Srivastava, Santosh Kumar Mandal and Balihar.

Constables Lebenius Marandi and Dhanraj Maraiya, who were part of the team, had survived the carnage.

Marandi and Maraiya gave statements as eyewitnesses and claimed that they heard the names of Pravir and Tala being called out by the attackers.

The prosecution examined 31 witnesses, including the two eyewitnesses.

While delivering his judgment, Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay held that the statements of the eyewitnesses were not reliable.

They had deposed that they had become unconscious after the attack and therefore could not have heard the names of the appellants, he noted.

Though both Marandi and Maraiya were witnesses to the occurrence, they had not seen the convicts participating in the mayhem, he observed.

Justice Mukhopadhyay set aside the order of conviction and the death sentence given in the case.

Justice Prasad took a divergent view and held that the eyewitnesses had identified Pravir and Tala in court to be present at the place of occurrence.

He further held that the gruesome murder of an IPS officer along with his team during the discharge of their official duty does not evoke any sympathy.

Affirming the death sentence, Justice Prasad directed the state government to provide a compensation of Rs 2 crore to the kin of the deceased SP, and give a job in the rank of DSP or deputy collector to his son or daughter.

Also, a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each should be provided to the family members of the five policemen who died in the incident, he directed, asking the state government to also give class IV jobs to them on compassionate grounds.

The case is expected to be taken up by the HC's chief justice for further legal procedures. PTI CORR NAM SOM

Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) A consumer commission here has directed Apple India and Croma to refund an i-Phone cost of Rs 65,264 to the legal heirs of a customer for failing to resolve a microphone defect in the device, holding the two companies deficient in service.

Both the manufacturer and the seller are "jointly and severally liable for the defective product", the commission said in the order passed earlier this month, as the two companies failed to resolve the defect in the device purchased by the customer (now deceased).

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mumbai (Suburban) held that the "manufacturer (Apple) merely mentioning certain unauthorized modification or damage in hardware cannot be the correct resolution" for the customer's grievance.

It further ruled that the seller (Croma) too cannot escape liability merely by stating the "defect is attributable to the manufacturer".

"Once the product was sold through their outlet, they assumed responsibility for ensuring that the product was free from defects and serviceable," the commission noted.

It said the "principle of vicarious liability squarely applies", as the seller stands in a position of trust and derives commercial benefit from the sale.

The complainant purchased an iPhone 11 for Rs 65,264 from a Croma store in Mumbai on June 4, 2021.

Shortly after the purchase, the device developed an issue as the speakerphone function was not working during calls, with specifically "no speech from mic".

The complainant approached Apple's authorised service centre, but repairs were denied on the grounds of "unauthorized modifications in the device," rendering it ineligible for warranty service.

Despite repeated complaints and emails, the opposite parties failed to address the grievance, following which the complainant approached the commission.

During the course of proceeding, the customer passed away, but the complaint was continued by his legal heirs.

The Apple India Private Limited, in its response, admitted the purchase and the issue with the microphone. But it reiterated that the device had unauthorised modifications, voiding the warranty.

Infiniti Retail Limited (Croma) failed to appear and was proceeded against ex-parte.

The commission, after perusal of documents on record, held that Apple failed to specify exactly which term or condition of the warranty was breached by the complainant.

"Merely referring clauses of warranty terms and condition cannot be sufficient to attribute the particular defect as certain unauthorized modification or damage to software," it noted.

The commission concluded that documents and evidence brought on record are sufficient to ascertain the defect in goods coupled with deficiency in service provided by the opposite parties.

It ruled that both the manufacturer and the seller are "jointly and severally liable for the defective product".

The commission directed both the opposite parties to refund the iPhone cost of Rs 65,264, along with a 6 per cent interest per annum from the date of the complaint (August 6, 2021) until the date of actual payment.

The two companies were also directed to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation for mental agony and Rs 2,000 for legal expenses to customer's family. PTI AVI GK

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Jul 20 (PTI) A court here has sentenced a man to 10 years of imprisonment for attempting to rape a minor Dalit girl in 2017.

Additional District and Sessions Judge, Muzaffarnagar, Manjula Bhalotia on Saturday also imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 on the convict Jitendra Kumar, government advocate Pradeep Baliyan said on Sunday

Giving details of the case, Baliyan said Kumar had entered the house of the 15-year-old and tried to rape her on September 23, 2017.

The girl's uncle lodged a complaint against Kumar following which police had registered a case. PTI COR NAV

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Chennai, Jul 20 (PT) The Madras High Court has observed that the ED was not a "drone" to attack at will, and nor was it a "super cop" to investigate anything and everything which comes to its notice.

A division bench of Justice M S Ramesh and Justice V Lakshminarayanan made the observations while hearing the plea by city-based RKM Powergen Private Ltd challenging the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seizing Rs 901 crore of its fixed deposits in connection with a PMLA case.

The ED action came on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI in 2014 over the allocation of coal blocks for a power plant in Chhattisgarh earlier.

The agency filed a closure report in 2017 saying it found no irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks.

The CBI court did not agree with the closure report and wanted further probe in some aspects.

In 2023, CBI filed a supplementary final report, which found that there were sufficient incriminating materials warranting prosecution under sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Later, the ED conducted searches in the premises of directors and holding companies associated with RKMP. On January 31,2025 a freezing order was passed wherein the fixed deposit to the tune of Rs 901 crore was frozen by the ED. The company challenged the said order and the court set it aside.

The bench said that a careful perusal of Section 66(2) of PMLA points out that if during the course of investigation, the ED comes across violations of other provisions of law, then it cannot assume the role of investigating those offences also.

It is to inform the appropriate agency, which is empowered by law to investigate that offence. If that agency, on the intimation from the ED, commences investigation and registers a complaint, then certainly the ED can investigate into those aspects also, provided there are "proceeds of crime".

"In case, the investigating agency does not find any case with respect to the aspects pointed out by the ED, then the ED cannot suo motu proceed with the investigation and assume powers. The essential ingredient for the ED to seize jurisdiction is the presence of a predicate offence. It is like a limpet mine attached to a ship. If there is no ship, the limpet cannot work. The ship is the predicate offence and "proceeds of crime". The ED is not a loitering munition or drone to attack at will on any criminal activity," the bench said.

It further said that a perusal of the papers show that no complaint had been lodged with respect to any of the aforesaid alleged criminal activities. "The ED is not a super cop to investigate anything and everything which comes to its notice."

There should be a "criminal activity" which attracts the schedule to PMLA, and on account of such criminal activity, there should have been proceeds of crime, it said. PTI SA ROH

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to declare that consumers have a "right to know" about the quality, purity and certification of products, besides details of distributors and sellers for redressal against unfair restrictive trade practices.

It has also sought directions to the Centre and the states to ensure that every distributor, trader and shop owner displays details of registration, including name, address, phone number and number of employees at the entry gate in bold letters on a display board visible to people.

The plea is slated to come up for hearing on July 21 before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

The petition filed by petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay said "right to know" was crucial for consumers to make informed choices and to protect themselves from unfair or restrictive trade practices and unscrupulous exploitation.

"Right to know helps consumers avoid falling prey to a fraudulent or deceptive distributor, dealer, trader, seller and shop owner, who might misrepresent a product/service or disappear after sale, purchase and money transaction," said the plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey.

It said that if a consumer has an issue with a product or service, knowing details about the distributor, dealer, and seller is essential for filing a complaint and seeking redressal through consumer redressal forums.

"When a distributor, dealer, trader, seller and shop owner are transparent about their details, it fosters a fair and competitive market where consumers can make informed choices," the plea said.

It said in essence, the right to know empowers consumers to be informed or protected and to make choices when engaging in sales, purchases and money transactions.

The plea has sought to direct and declare that "every consumer has 'right to know' not only about quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard, manufacturing date, expiry date and BIS/FSSAI certification of good/products, but also about the details of the distributor/dealer/ trader/seller and shop owner, so as to seek redressal against unfair restrictive trade practices and unscrupulous exploitation in spirit of sections 2(6), 2(9), 2(10) and 2(11) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019". PTI ABA RHL

Kochi, Jul 20 (PTI) In a landmark move, the Kerala High Court has come out with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage policy which specifically prohibits usage of such tools for decision making or legal reasoning by the district judiciary.

The High Court has come out with the 'Policy Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in District Judiciary' for a responsible and restricted use of AI in judicial functions of the district judiciary of the state in view of the increasing availability of and access to such software tools.

According to court sources, it is a first-of-its-kind policy.

It has advised the district judiciary to "exercise extreme caution" as "indiscriminate use of AI tools might result in negative consequences, including violation of privacy rights, data security risks and erosion of trust in the judicial decision making".

"The objectives are to ensure that AI tools are used only in a responsible manner, solely as an assistive tool, and strictly for specifically allowed purposes. The policy aims to ensure that under no circumstances AI tools are used as a substitute for decision making or legal reasoning," the policy document said.

The policy also aims to help members of the judiciary and staff to comply with their ethical and legal obligations, particularly in terms of ensuring human supervision, transparency, fairness, confidentiality and accountability at all stages of judicial decision making.

"Any violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action, and rules pertaining to disciplinary proceedings shall prevail," the policy document issued on July 19 said.

The new guidelines are applicable to members of the district judiciary in the state, the staff assisting them and also any interns or law clerks working with them in Kerala.

"The policy covers all kinds of AI tools, including, but not limited to, generative AI tools, and databases that use AI to provide access to diverse resources, including case laws and statutes," the document said.

Generative AI examples include ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Deepseek, it said.

It also said that the new guidelines apply to all circumstances wherein AI tools are used to perform or assist in the performance of judicial work, irrespective of location and time of use and whether they are used on personal, court-owned or third party devices.

The policy directs that usage of AI tools for official purposes adhere to the principles of transparency, fairness, accountability and protection of confidentiality, avoid use of cloud-based services -- except for the approved AI tools, meticulous verification of the results, including translations, generated by such software and all time human supervision of their usage.

"AI tools shall not be used to arrive at any findings, reliefs, order or judgement under any circumstances, as the responsibility for the content and integrity of the judicial order, judgement or any part thereof lies fully with the judges," it said.

It further directs that courts shall maintain a detailed audit of all instances wherein AI tools are used.

"The records in this regard shall include the tools used and the human verification process adopted," it said.

Participating in training programmes on the ethical, legal, technical and practical aspects of AI and reporting any errors or issues noticed in the output generated by any of the approved AI tools, are the other guidelines mentioned in the policy document.

The High Court has requested all District Judges and Chief Judicial Magistrates to communicate the policy document to all judicial officers and the staff members under their jurisdiction and take necessary steps to ensure its strict compliance. PTI HMP HMP ROH

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has asked authorities to decide a plea of a former special judge of the National Investigation Agency seeking an arms licence.

Citing personal security reasons, the judge sought direction to the Delhi government and police to decide his application for issuance of the arms licence.

Justice Sachin Datta, while disposing of the petition, noted that the counsel for the authorities have submitted that the decision on the November 2023 application will be taken and the petitioner would be informed.

"The above redresses the immediate grievance of the petitioner," the court noted in its May 30 order.

It also said if the petitioner is aggrieved with the decision taken by the authorities, he would be at liberty to take appropriate remedies under law.

According to the plea, the judge served as a special NIA judge in Tripura and was currently on deputation in Delhi. He said he applied for an arms licence in November 2023 but no action was taken by the Delhi Police licence authority.

It said since his family is permanently stationed in Delhi, he applied for an arms licence to ensure safety so that he is free from any "external criminal threats and potential non-interference in free movement and is able to defend himself".

"It is shocking that the petitioner and his family are living with no security and this potentialises both direct and indirect threats to their personal safety and security," the plea submitted. PTI SKV DV

DV

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on July 21 a suo motu case over the issue of probe agencies summoning advocates who offer legal opinions or represent parties during the investigation of cases.

The matter is slated to come up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria.

The case comes in the wake of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoning senior lawyers Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal.

However, on June 20, the ED said it has directed its investigating officers not to issue summons to any advocate in money laundering investigations being carried out against their clients, adding that an exception to this rule can only be made after "approval" by the agency's director.

The statement from the federal probe agency came in the wake of the lawyer-client privilege-linked controversy that erupted after the ED issued summons to the two advocates for giving legal advice to Care Health Insurance Limited on the employee stock ownership plan given to Rashmi Saluja, former chairperson of Religare Enterprises.

The ED, tasked with combating money laundering crimes, issued a circular for guidance of its field formations, stating that "no summons" should be issued to any advocate in violation of Section 132 of the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023.

"Further, if any summons needs to be issued under the exceptions carved out in proviso to Section 132 of the BSA, 2023, the same shall be issued only with the prior approval of the director, ED," the agency said.

The summons issued to these advocates was condemned by the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association, calling it a "disturbing trend" that struck at the very foundations of the legal profession.

The bar bodies had urged the Chief Justice of India to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

On June 25, an apex court bench of justices K V Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh had said that allowing police or probe agencies to directly summon lawyers for advising clients would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession and was a "direct threat" to the independence of justice administration.

It had observed that the legal profession was an integral component of the process of administration of justice.

The bench had framed a couple of questions on the matter.

"...when an individual has an association with a case only as a lawyer advising the party, could the investigating agency/prosecuting agency/police directly summon the lawyer for questioning?" the bench asked.

Another question read, "Assuming that the investigating agency or prosecuting agency or police have a case that the role of the individual is not merely as a lawyer but something more, even then, should they be directly permitted to summon or should a judicial oversight be prescribed for those exceptional criteria?"

The order came when the top court was hearing a plea of a Gujarat-based advocate, challenging an order of the high court passed on June 12.

The high court in March 2025 refused to quash a notice summoning the lawyer before the police in a case against his client.

The top court, however, directed the state not to summon him till further orders and stayed the operation of the police's notice issued to him.

The bench asked the apex court registry to place the case files before the CJI for passing appropriate directions. PTI ABA RHL