No bikes, autorickshaws allowed on India’s longest sea bridge
The maximum speed limit for four-wheelers on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), India’s longest sea bridge, will be 100kmh, while motorbikes, autorickshaws and tractors won’t be allowed on it, the police said on Wednesday.
The MTHL, also known as Atal Setu and named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
It is a six-lane sea link, with 16.5km of the stretch on the sea and 5.5km on land. Motorists will be able to cover the distance between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai in just 20 minutes. It otherwise takes two hours.
Call to ‘shun Maldives’ increases after row over ministers’ comments
A larger number of Indian citizens have called for a boycott of the Maldives after three Maldivian junior ministers mocked India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi early this week.
The controversy erupted after Mr Modi posted images on X of himself snorkelling and walking along a beach in Lakshadweep, a southern Indian island chain in the Laccadive Sea, off the coast of Kerala.
He did not mention India’s picturesque neighbour Maldives in his post, but his effusive praise of the beautiful scenery of the lesser-known archipelago was probably seen as a charm offensive to draw people there for vacation rather than the Maldives.
Three Maldives ministers responded to his post, describing Mr Modi as a “clown,” “terrorist” and a “puppet of Israel,” according to Reuters. The Maldives government have suspended the three officials and distanced itself from their comments.
New York court asks for proof against Indian man in murder case
A New York Court has ordered the federal government to respond to a motion filed by lawyers of Nikhil Gupta seeking material relating to charges against him in a conspiracy to kill a Khalistani proponent on American soil.
Federal prosecutors have charged that Indian national Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds both US and Canada citizenship.
Gupta, 52, was arrested in the Czech Republic at the request of the US and is in a jail in Prague.
Four men go missing in Manipur, fresh firing reported
Four men from Manipur’s Kumbi assembly constituency, who had gone out to collect firewood near the hill ranges adjoining Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts, went missing on Wednesday, police said.
Sources told NDTV that the possibility of Mr Dara Singh, Mr Ibomcha Singh, Mr Romen Singh and Mr Anand Singh being held captive by militants cannot be ruled out, and help from central forces have been sought.
Militants also reportedly launched fresh gun and bomb attacks at Haotak village in Bishnupur district forcing more than 100 women, children and elderly to flee to safer areas.
Supreme Court quashes release of men in Muslim woman’s gang-rape
The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the release of 11 Hindu men who had been jailed for life for gang-raping a pregnant Muslim woman and murdering her relatives during Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002.
The court directed the men to surrender to the prison authorities within two weeks.
The victim, Ms Bilkis Bano, was three months pregnant when she was gang-raped.
The men, convicted in early 2008, were freed by the Gujarat government in August 2022 after the prison they were being held in recommended their release considering the time served and their good behaviour.
Government to ‘take action’ after completing cough syrup probe
The Central government will take “appropriate action” after completing an investigation into a complaint that a drug regulator helped switch samples of cough syrup linked to the death of children in Gambia in return for a bribe, two officials told Reuters.
The World Health Organisation linked the syrups made by Indian company Maiden Pharmaceuticals to the deaths of 70 children in 2022, though the Indian government said subsequent tests at an Indian government laboratory showed the syrups were not toxic.
Maiden, whose factory is based in Haryana, denies wrongdoing.
Delhi’s drainage system ‘pathetic’, observes High Court
The drainage system in the national capital is “absolutely pathetic” and in a “very bad state of affairs”, the Delhi High Court observed on Wednesday while asking authorities to wake up and act against the problem of waterlogging.
The High Court also said the agencies connected with water drainage cannot be ordered to set things right, and that the reform has to come from within.
India’s purchases of discounted Russian crude reach 11-month low
India’s purchase of discounted Russian crude oil has fallen to an 11-month low with the rise in prices, AFP reported, citing figures from global energy trade intelligence platform Kpler.
India had continued to purchase Russian oil even after Western sanctions on Russia and had made it clear it would make decisions according to its national interests.
However, the oil purchase has fallen after production cuts from OPEC+ and increased demand from China jacked up prices.
Kpler reported that refiners in India purchased 1.45 million barrels per day of Russian oil last month. This is the lowest figure since last January.
Court allows Jet Airways founder to meet ailing wife at Mumbai home
A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday permitted Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, an accused in the alleged defrauding of Rs538 crore ($86.2 million) from Canara Bank, to meet his ailing wife tomorrow on humanitarian grounds.
He has also been allowed to consult his private doctors for multiple ailments.
The order came days after Goyal told the court he had “lost every hope of life”, and it would be “better if he died in jail” than living in such a situation.
He said he was badly missing his wife, who is in the last stages of cancer.
Accused arrested 13 years after chopping off professor’s palm
The main accused in a case related to the chopping of a Kerala professor’s palm was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on Monday, 13 years after the crime.
Savad, who was an activist of the banned Popular Front of India, chopped off the right palm of Professor T.J. Joseph for his alleged remarks against Prophet Mohammed in a question paper he prepared for students at Newman College in Idukki district’s Thodupuzha.
The professor was attacked while he and his family were returning from a church on July 4, 2010. The attackers had also thrown a bomb before escaping from the scene.
Savad, who was carrying a reward of Rs1 million for his arrest, was caught in Mattannur in Kannur district.
