Delhi's temperature read 37°C. It felt like 53°C

NEW DELHI, June 30: India's Capital city on Tuesday recorded a ‘real feel’ temperature of 53°C. The day’s high on the thermometer was 37°C.

The difference between the two captures the discomfort that comes with high humidity levels, a phenomenon that isn’t common for much of north India.

Meteorologists say this mugginess is the result of southwesterly winds off the Arabian Sea feeding moisture into northwestern India, even as the monsoon, delayed past its normal Delhi onset of June 27, is yet to arrive.

Until it reaches, the combination of humidity and heat may only be broken by scattered, short-lived relief from thunderstorms in the region.

‘Real feel’ temperature or heat index (HI) is the estimate of how hot the temperature feels to a person. The concept was anchored on the idea that high humidity slows evaporation of sweat, affecting the human body's ability to cool down.

American meteorologist Robert Steadman, in the 1970s and early 80s, came up with a formula that quantified the physiological effects of high heat and humidity on human beings. The US National Weather Service fitted a regression equation – called the Rothfusz equation – to Steadman’s tables in 1990, and it is this format that most meteorological agencies use till date.

Though uncommon in the northern plains, humidity levels rise ahead of monsoon’s onset every year.

And this poses a unique health risk than just hot and dry conditions because high humidity disrupts the body’s main cooling mechanism: sweating.

As body temperature rises, the brain triggers sweating and a widening of blood vessels in the skin that redirects blood from the body’s core to its surface, so heat can escape into the air. This only works when moisture in the air is low enough for moisture on the skin to evaporate readily. As humidity climbs, sweat simply pools on the skin and drips off without cooling anything at all.

With evaporation impaired, the body leans harder on its other channel — pumping more blood to the skin — which makes the heart work harder. This is why cardiovascular strain, rather than a heatstroke, is considered a more common consequence of exposure to humid heat.

A related but separate indicator is wet-bulb temperature, which measures – in effect – the human body’s ability to cool down when exposed to heat and humidity.

Between June 28 and June 30, as Delhi’s heat index crossed the 50°C-mark, wet-bulb temperatures inched close to 30°C, Met department data showed.

In its elementary form, this reading was captured with a thermometer bulb wrapped in a water-soaked wick, then exposed to the air and allowed to cool to the lowest temperature that evaporation can achieve.

When wet-bulb temperature is low, sweat evaporates easily. But when it nears skin’s temperature, evaporation – the body's main route for releasing heat – grinds to a halt.

The body cannot survive prolonged exposure to the hot and humid weather once wet-bulb temperature exceeds 35°C, scientists say.

The threshold may be even lower than this. Researchers have warned that core body temperatures in young, healthy adults can begin rising uncontrollably after the wet-bulb reading crosses 31°C, putting them at risk of heat-stress and heat strokes.

Heat index was calibrated to a roughly 67kg adult walking at an easy pace in light, Western-style summer clothing, in the shade, with a gentle breeze. This ‘normal’ type was drawn from the western world, not India’s climate or dress.

Applying this to a country where a vast number of people work outdoors in direct sun could potentially understate the risk of heat-related illnesses.

In 2023, researchers from IIT Delhi tried to close this gap by building a separate India Heat Index (IHI). “All existing indicators were developed based on data from developed countries,” the study’s co-author Sagnik Dey said.

Ayodhya police record Champat Rai’s statement in Ram temple donation embezzlement probe

AYODHYA, June 30: Ayodhya police have recorded the statement of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai as part of the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, days after he offered to resign taking "moral responsibility" for the controversy, officials said on Tuesday.

A police official confirmed that Rai's statement had been recorded but declined to disclose when, where or for how long the questioning lasted.

"Yes, his statements have been recorded," the official said.

While the official refused to elaborate further, sources said Ayodhya Circle Officer Ashutosh Tiwari, who is heading the investigation, visited Rai's Bharat Kuti residence at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya to record his statement.

According to the sources, the police sought details and documents relating to the alleged donation theft from Rai, who is believed to have become aware of the suspected fraud before it snowballed into a major political controversy.

Asked about media reports claiming Rai admitted that not lodging an FIR immediately after learning about the alleged theft was a mistake. The sources acknowledged that the temple trust had become aware of the alleged donation theft before June 7, when the issue first entered the public domain.

However, they were unable to explain why the FIR against the accused was lodged only on June 25, several days after a viral video circulated on June 5 purportedly showed the recovery of a bag allegedly containing stolen donation money from the residence of accused Avinash Shukla.

The controversy first erupted on June 7 after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple. Rai had then rejected the allegations, saying that "nothing noteworthy" had emerged during an internal audit of the donation management system.

Subsequently, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 13. Its preliminary report is believed to have found widespread violations of standard operating procedures governing the handling and counting of temple donations, including the absence of mandatory security checks, failure to preserve CCTV footage for the stipulated period and lapses in the custody of donation box keys.

Based on the preliminary findings submitted on June 23, an FIR was registered on June 25 and eight persons associated with the temple's donation-counting process were arrested. The police have said nearly ₹80 lakh in cash, besides some foreign currency, has been recovered from six of the accused so far.

One of those arrested, Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, is a former driver of Rai and, according to the SIT, was in possession of keys to several donation boxes. This was in violation of the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday questioned one of the arrested accused, Avinash Shukla, inside the district jail after obtaining permission from the court, the sources said.

They said Investigating Officer and Ayodhya Circle Officer Ashutosh Tiwari moved an application before the court seeking permission to interrogate Shukla in judicial custody.

After the court allowed the request, Tiwari visited the jail and questioned the accused in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Ram Janmabhoomi temple donations.

According to the sources, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust recovered ₹20 lakh from Shukla on June 5.

The alleged embezzlement has since developed into a major political controversy, with opposition parties demanding accountability and the probe continuing to examine the extent of the fraud and the sequence of events leading to the registration of the FIR.

Congress terms donation theft at Ayodhya Ram Temple a ‘maha paap’, questions PM’s silence

NEW DELHI, June 30: Stepping up its attack over the alleged embezzlement of donations to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Congress on Tuesday described the episode as a "maha paap" (cardinal sin). The Opposition questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue, saying he must accept responsibility for the Trust that oversaw the temple after claiming credit for its construction and consecration.

Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the alleged theft was “not merely a donation scam but an attack on the faith of over one billion Hindus”.

“This isn’t just some donation theft or scam. This is a maha paap, an attack on the faith of Hindus all over the world,” Shrinate said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh were attempting to shield senior functionaries of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust while action had been confined to lower-level employees, she alleged.

Demanding that the alleged irregularities be investigated under the supervision of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, she argued that the Uttar Pradesh government could not conduct an impartial probe.

The Congress also demanded that the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) be made public; the Trust be dissolved; First Information Reports be registered against its office-bearers; and an independent audit be conducted of all donations received since the Trust’s inception.

“When the theft has indeed taken place inside the Ram Temple, what is the government trying to hide? The SIT report should be uploaded on a public website so that every citizen can know the truth,” Shrinate said, questioning the government’s refusal to release the SIT report.

The CCTV footage available to investigators, reportedly covering around 40 days and documenting about 70 instances of theft, represented only a fraction of the alleged misappropriation, the Congress spokesperson alleged.

“Who will account for the previous five-and-a-half years?” she said.

Referring to reports that about ₹80 lakh had been recovered, Ms. Shrinate questioned where the remaining donations had gone. It was implausible that employees earning modest salaries could have orchestrated the alleged operation without the involvement of higher authorities, she said.

Standard operating procedures jointly framed by the Trust and the State Bank of India for handling donations had not been followed and complaints by whistle-blowers had been ignored, she also alleged.

Targeting Modi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Prime Minister’s “silence” on the alleged “loot” amounted to “a direct assault on the religious faith of crores of people”.

The Union government had constituted the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust without transparency, filled it with members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and kept it outside the purview of the Right to Information Act, he alleged.

Eight people have been arrested on the basis of the SIT’s findings after the State government constituted the inquiry following complaints of alleged misappropriation of temple donations.

Ethanol blending in petrol is an experiment, govt tells SC, 'will know results next year'

NEW DELHI, June 30: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a status quo in a matter regarding increased ethanol supply allocation to oil marketing companies by the Karnataka high court.

A partial court of Justice MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu, while hearing a petition filed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), ordered a status quo in the matter. The oil marketing company contested the earlier order directing them to increase ethanol allocation for 2025-26.

BPCL, represented by Atorney General R Venkataramani, argued that the high court order could destabilise the national policy for the 20 per cent ethanol-petrol blending, according to reports.

To be sure, India follows an ethanol blending programme, where 20 per cent ethanol is mixed with petrol, popularly known as E20 fuel.

Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the government, informed the Supreme Court that the ethanol blending programme is an ongoing experiment and the impact of the policy would be clearer by next year, according to reports.

Venkataramani said the ethanol supply contracts were concluded in October 2025.

The top law officer said the ethanol allocation exercise attained finality on October 17, 2025, and allocations were communicated to 378 suppliers for a total supply of 1,050 crore litres of ethanol, of which 680 crore litres had already been supplied by them by June 18.

While Venkataramani spoke of E-20 being rolled out on experimental basis, there was no government records mentioning a timeline. In turn, the government has proposed raising the ethanol blending to new limits.

The blending programme has already became a contentious issue in the country, with people raising damage to older vehicles and reducing fuel efficiency.

The government, meanwhile, has rubbished the concerns, saying there is no evidence to link the blended petrol to mechanical damage.

What Karnataka high court order said?

The matter began when an ethanol manufacturer approached the high court challenging the reduced allocation of ethanol supply.

The distillery said the plant had a production capacity of 9.9 crore litres, but was only allotted 3.92 crore litres in 2025-2026, according to repots.

The oil marketing companies opposed the policy saying if the oil marketing companies considers the plea of petitioner, it would require the government policy in itself to be changed.

The Karnataka high court sided with the distillery and directed the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited to consider enhancement of ethanol allocation for 2025–26.

The government amended the National Policy on Biofuels in 2022 and announced a gradual blending of ethanol in petrol.

The target was to increase ethanol blending to 12.06 per cent in 2022-2023, 14.6 per cent in 2023-24 and 17.98 per cent in 2024-25 up to February 2025.

The government has already achieved the target of 20 per cent ethanol blending.

Though, the official policy mandates that no decision has been on increasing ethanol blending beyond 20 per cent, but union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Hardeep Singh Puri have suggested that the ethanol content can be raised to 85 per cent.

Tharoor says Umar Khalid's six years in jail sans trial ‘a travesty of justice’

NEW DELHI, June 30: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday questioned why former JNU student leader Umar Khalid continues to remain behind bars without a trial. The Parliamentarian called Khalid’s six years-long confinement in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots a “travesty of justice and a blot on our democracy".

His reaction came as Umar Khalid's interview with The Guardian was published in which the PhD scholar questioned the silence of Opposition parties. Sharing the interview-cum-analysis, Tharoor wrote, “This moving article on [Umar Khalid] in prison prompts a simple question: if he really has incited terrorism, why not prove it in a court of law?”

“Why deny him the basic right of any Indian citizen accused of a crime, the right to a fair trial? Languishing six years behind bars, without a chance to defend himself legally, is a travesty of justice and a blot on our democracy. I think the people of India have a right to know why,” Tharoor added.

Khalid's bail pleas have repeatedly been delayed, adjourned or heard by judges who later recused themselves. Each application has ultimately been rejected. The BJP has denied any role in the legal proceedings, while publicly welcoming court decisions denying him bail.

In his first interview since his 2020 arrest, Khalid criticised the opposition's failure to speak up for political prisoners jailed since the BJP came to power.

He told The Guardian, “Six years down the line, I must say that I am really disappointed and even feel isolated. This silence – of opposition parties, of civil society groups, of celebrity activists who have made a career out of piggy-backing on people's movements – emboldens this regime to go after further dissidents.”

Before he became prisoner number 626714 in Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail, Khalid was a prominent face of peaceful resistance.

Highly educated, with a PhD in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he spent years speaking out against the marginalisation and ghettoisation of India's over 20 crore Muslims.

In late 2019, massive, largely peaceful protests swept the country. Khalid was a key figure, famously telling a crowd, “We won’t respond to violence with violence. We won’t respond to hate with hate. If they spread hate, we will respond to it with love.”

In February 2020, deadly riots broke out in northeast Delhi and left over 50 dead. Khalid was arrested seven months later on the charge of "masterminding" the riots to engineer a violent regime change.

He was held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Khalid has consistently denied the allegations against him and said they were politically motivated. He remains jailed with no trial date set.

On the psychological toll of nearly six years in prison, Khalid said prolonged incarceration affected both his mental health and sense of self. "When you are reduced to just an image, either negative or positive, it becomes difficult to maintain not just your humanity but even your sanity at times," he said.

He also claimed that the years behind bars had not altered his political views. He told The Guardian that "the process of India becoming a post-truth society is near complete" and describing the "normalisation and glorification of hate speech and genocidal language."

"You even hear murmurs about yourself from fellow prisoners you shared meals with, calling you a terrorist behind your back. This propaganda dehumanises me in people's eyes. Humanity is a privilege that is not granted to people like me," he said.

His father, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, told The New York Times in 2024, "As they say, the process is the punishment. And it is very easy to frame someone with a Muslim name these days."

His mother, Sabiha Khanam, recalled one of the few moments she was able to meet her son in court. "I hugged him hard and prayed for his release," she said, as per The NYT.

Earlier this month, Khalid was granted a three-day interim bail by the Delhi High Court from June 1-3 to care for his mother, who underwent surgery.

The court granted him temporary relief after a trial court rejected his request for 15 days' bail to attend his maternal uncle's Chehlum ceremony and help his mother during and after her operation.

Ram Temple Donation Row: Champat Rai, Anil Mishra Resign

AYODHYA, June 27:The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Saturday confirmed that it had received the resignation letters of its General Secretary, Champat Rai, and trustee Anil Mishra amid an ongoing probe into alleged irregularities involving temple donations.

The Trust also sought to reassure devotees, saying that all donated silver bricks, ornaments and other offerings made to the Ram Mandir were safe and properly documented.

In a press release posted by the Trust, the temple body said it was "shocked, hurt, and deeply saddened by the incidents that have come to light in Shri Ram Temple (Ayodhya) over the past few days".

It added that, as "representatives of all devotees of Lord Ram and the volunteers serving here", it was "committed to ensuring a fair investigation and reassuring the devotees."

The Trust confirmed that it had received the resignation letter of General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.

"The Trust has received a resignation letter from Shri Champat Rai, General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra (Trust), and from Trustee Shri Anil Mishra. The Trust will consider the matter in its upcoming meeting.”

Assuring devotees about offerings made to the temple, the Trust said, "The Trust assures those devotees who personally handed over silver bricks, ornaments, and other items to the Trust officials as offerings in the service of Lord Shri Ram that these items are safely available along with proper records."

On the alleged irregularities involving temple donations, it said, "Regarding the incident related to funds received through the temple donation boxes, based on the interim report submitted by the SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh administration at the request of the Trust, the Trust has lodged an FIR and legal proceedings are underway."

The Trust also said, "We assure everyone that steps will be taken to ensure that such unfortunate situations do not arise in the future. The guilty will receive strict punishment in accordance with the law and serve as a deterrent."

It further asserted that "anti-social, irreligious, and self-serving elements will not be allowed to succeed in their attempts to tarnish Sanatan Dharma" and urged people to protect themselves from "misleading and baseless rumours being spread."

“These clouds will pass, the darkness will recede, the light of truth will prevail, and the powerful stream of devotion to Lord Ram will continue to flow uninterrupted,” it concluded.

Passport is a travel document, not proof of citizenship: MEA

NEW DELHI, June 24: The passport is a travel document, not a document of citizenship, officials of the external affairs ministry said on Wednesday, while highlighting measures incorporated into new chip-based e-passports, such as biometric data, to boost global acceptance and reduce the risk of fraud.

The external affairs ministry will organise a two-day Human Resource Mobility Forum next week to highlight legal pathways for migration and facilitate networking between foreign employers and Indian nationals seeking jobs abroad, the officials said on the occasion of Passport Seva Divas, observed on June 24 to commemorate the enactment of the Passports Act in 1967.

The passport remains a travel document, and not a document of citizenship, as it attests the nationality of Indians when they are abroad, the officials said.

“A passport is issued after a lot of due diligence, and it is based on documents from several government agencies,” an official said.

A total of 14.7 million e-passports have been issued since the chip-based documents were rolled out last year as part of a revamp of the Passport Seva Programme, the officials said.

The e-passports, which have an embedded antenna and a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip containing personal particulars and biometric data, account for about 10% of the total passports. All new passports are currently chip-based passports.

The e-passports offer heightened security and significantly reduce the scope for unauthorised access or tampering of the data, as well as the possibility of obtaining the document through fraudulent means, the officials said. “It is more difficult to generate fake passports, and the e-passports offer greater reassurance to immigration authorities abroad and make clearances faster,” an official said.

The chips used in e-passports are sourced from the India Security Press in Nashik, which in turn sources them from abroad, the officials said. Best practices from other countries were studied to make the Indian e-passports as robust as possible, and efforts are underway to further enhance the security of the documents, they said.

While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) acts as the technology and service provider for the Passport Seva Project, all data related to passports is stored on the servers of the external affairs ministry, the officials said.

Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia will be the focus countries for the Human Resource Mobility Forum to be held on June 30 and July 1, and the external affairs ministry is working with the labour and education ministries to organise the event that seeks to bring together workers, recruitment agencies and foreign employers.

The officials acknowledged the importance of proper education and training of workers going abroad and the use of structured platforms for foreign recruitment in the context of problems such as Indian workers being duped into joining the Russian armed forces. “Ethical employers have to be matched with the aspirants, who have to be told what to watch out for,” an official said.

At the same time, efforts are on to expand the number of countries offering visa-free travel or visa-on-arrival services to Indian nationals and to further improve the functioning of Passport Seva Kendras and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras, including cutting the time taken to process applications.

A total of 27 countries currently offer visa-free travel for Indians, up from 16 in 2019, while 47 countries offer visa-on-arrival services, up from 38 in 2019. Sixty-six countries offer e-visas to Indians. India also has migration and mobility agreements with 25 countries, mostly in Europe, that have enhanced legal pathways for migration and also helped facilitate the return of illegal migrants, the officials said.

The processing time for passport applications has been cut to an average of five to six days, and steps have been taken to ensure that applicants spend less than 45 minutes at a Passport Seva Kendra, the officials said. There are 544 such kendras across the country, up from 77 a decade ago.

Efforts are also underway to slash the time for police verification of passport applicants, with the focus on replicating the success of some states in reducing this to two to three days in other parts of the country, the officials said.

15 dead in Lucknow fire

LUCKNOW, June 22: A total of 15 people have been confirmed dead by authorities after a fire broke out in a three-storey building on Usha Mehta Marg in Lucknow's Aliganj area on Monday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who visited the incident site, has announced an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each for the family of those killed in the fire incident and ₹50,000 each for the injured.

Earlier, PM Narendra Modi had announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each deceased, while the injured would receive ₹50,000.

UP deputy CM Brajesh Pathak confirmed that the building housed multiple establishments, including a coaching centre, an animation centre, and a pet shop. He noted that some students sustained injuries while attempting to escape.

"Some children jumped out; they sustained injuries and have been sent to the hospital. The priority is to ensure the injured receive proper medical treatment," Pathak said.

Modi becomes India’s longest serving Prime Minister

NEW DELHI, June 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the longest-serving elected Prime Minister of India today.

Modi took the oath of office on 26th May 2014. He has surpassed the record of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who first took the oath as an elected Prime Minister on 13th May 1952 and served until 27th May 1964. Pandit Nehru’s tenure as an elected Prime Minister amounted to four thousand 398 days. From 26th May 2014 to today, 10th June 2026, Prime Minister Modi’s continuous tenure is now four thousand 399 days, making him the longest-serving elected Prime Minister in India’s history.

Kashmir-Ladakh Zojila tunnel's ends meet as mountain piercing complete

SRINAGAR, June 9: For decades, winter in Ladakh has meant isolation — roads sealed by snow, supplies rationed, medical emergencies with no way out. On Tuesday, a detonation beneath the Zojila Pass moved that reality measurably closer to ending.

A breakthrough blast at the East Portal of the Zojila tunnel near Minimarg in Ladakh connected the two ends of the 13-km passage beneath the Zojila Pass, completing the piercing of the mountain. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha attended the event.

Tuesday marked the point at which both ends of the tunnel are now physically linked, but civil work, ventilation, electrical installation and safety systems need to be installed.

“This tunnel is state-of-art. This tunnel has been constructed with world class safety standard, and it will provide all weather connectivity to Ladakh. I visited Ladakh when I was BJP president and people told me that everything remains closed for six months and there’s connectivity. It pained me to see how the locals here are facing so many difficulties,” Gadkari said.

The tunnel is a horseshoe-shaped, two-lane stretch that runs 13.1 km beneath the Zojila Pass at approximately 11,578 feet above sea level. It is 9.5 metres wide and 7.5 metres high.

It traces the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, with its western portal at Baltal in central Kashmir's Sonmarg, and its eastern end at Minimarg in Drass, Ladakh. An 18-km approach road feeds it at either end. The full project, including approach roads and bridges, stretches 31 km from Sonmarg to Minimarg.

Executing agency Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) deployed the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) — a technique that uses the surrounding rock as part of the load-bearing structure — to drive through the geologically fragile Himalayas.

The Zojila Pass is snowbound during the winter months every year. So is the Manali-Leh road, the only alternative surface route. In the absence of scheduled air services to Kargil, that leaves residents effectively cut off each winter—unable to move freely for education, healthcare or trade at the time.

When the tunnel opens, crossing time over the pass will fall to 15 minutes, and the route will remain operational year-round.

“For decades, people of the region faced immense hardships due to the closure of the Zojila Pass in winter. The tunnel would significantly improve the lives of residents by facilitating easier access to education, healthcare, tourism, trade and commerce,” the CM said Tuesday.

The tunnel’s significance is not only civilian. The Srinagar-Leh highway is India’s primary military supply artery to Ladakh.

During the 1999 Kargil War, Pakistani forces targeted positions overlooking the highway to choke the Indian military's supply lines.

The project, Gadkari said on Tuesday, was prioritised by the Narendra Modi-led central government.

“Our government came to power in 2014 under the leadership of Modi and he gave the highest priority to infrastructure development. I was handed over the responsibility of this department and then this project was initiated. The original tender of this project was ₹12,000 crore and I am happy to announce that all the work related to this project has been completed in ₹7,000 crore and we have saved at least ₹5,000 crore,” the Union minister said.

He added: “This is not just a tunnel but a lifeline.”

The project was originally scheduled for completion by September this year, but suffered a two-year delay.

In a parliamentary reply to National Conference MP Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi, Gadkari had attributed the delay to the Covid-19 pandemic, a 2024 terrorist attack on the Sonmarg Tunnel Project, and extreme weather conditions.

Tuesday's breakthrough was achieved six months ahead of the revised schedule, officials of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), which is overseeing the project, said.

The tunnel is expected to open to the public in February 2028. Civil work will take another seven to eight months and electrical installation will follow.

The Zojila tunnel is the centrepiece of a broader effort to build an unbroken all-weather road corridor between Srinagar and Leh. A preceding link — the Z-Morh tunnel at Sonmarg — was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January. Once complete, the Zojila tunnel will extend that corridor to Minimarg.

The tunnel addresses road connectivity, but Kargil remains without direct air services — a gap that Abdullah used Tuesday's occasion to press. He appealed to Gadkari to use his influence to bring scheduled flights to the region.

“Another dream needs to be realised, that is, regular and direct air service to Kargil. I had tried but without any success. This is another long-standing demand of the people of Kargil,” Abdullah said.

8 workers killed in Vizag steel plant mishap

VIZAG, June 8: Molten iron was spilled onto workers of Andhra Pradesh’s Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in Vishakhapatnam on Monday. The incident left at least eight workers dead and injuring six others.

According to information shared with health minister Satya Kumar Yadav by Visakhapatnam district health officials, the bodies of four deceased have reached the steel plant's general hospital.

As rescue and assessment operations are underway, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the incident. “He spoke to the steel plant authorities and enquired about the incident. He asked the district authorities to rush to the spot and take up rescue operations,” an official statement said.

A large quantity of molten iron fell on the workers at the plant, leaving several dead and others injured. The incident took place at around 4.30pm in the plant's Continuous Casting Department (CCD) under the Steel Melting Shop (SMS) section.

According to the police, molten iron was spilt while being moved in a bucket by a crane. Police said the molten iron was extremely hot at about 1,600 degrees Celsius.

Media distrust emerges as a key theme among Cockroach Janta Party protesters

NEW DELHI, June 6: At the Jantar Mantar protest by Cockroach Janta Party, an online movement seeking to translate its instant virality into on-the-ground impact within three weeks, distrust of the media emerged as a key theme among participants in Delhi on Saturday.

While the protest called by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who returned from the US in the morning, remained peaceful, a section of the protestors wanted less of the mainstream media there.

“Hum Godi Media se baat nahi kareinge,” said a number of protesters to multiple news outlets, using the popular term for ‘lapdog’ or pro-government media that has evidently reached the Gen-Z lexicon too. Slogans to that effect were raised too, such as “media-walo bahar niklo” (‘get out, you mediapersons’).

However, CJP spokesman Ashutosh Ranka calmed this section of the protests, saying that “truly biased media” had “already left after declaring everyone here as anti-national”.

He assured the protestors that the ones still there, talking to the crowd, were “not like them”. “Jo zor-zor se chillaate hain, woh already live karke, humein anti-national bol kar, chale gaye hain. Yeh sab log, ache log hain. Humari protest cover karna chahte hai, aur inka saath humein dena hai,” said Ranka, telling the crowd not to target all journalists.

The Jantar Mantar protest was planned after Dipke — who set up the CJP social media accounts mid-May to reclaim the word ‘cockroach’, used by Chief Justice Surya Kant during a hearing — announced his return to India in a video on June 1. In this video message, Dipke called for his “fellow cockroaches” to gather.

The focused demand was the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over recent exam-related controversies, such as the NEET-UG leak and the CBSE paper-checking system seeing problems.

After securing police permission for the protest at the last minute on Saturday, hundreds gathered in the sweltering heat.

The crowd, led by Dipke and newly-appointed CJP spokespersons Vijeta Dahiya, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, called for Pradhan’s resignation.

As they chanted “Dharmendra Pradhan isteefa do,” the sentiment on the ground went beyond just exams. Many referred to India’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index 2026, which is 157th, down from 151st in 2025. This ranking was also mentioned during a row that erupted during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Norway, when a question from a Norwegian journalist triggered a rebuttal from the Ministry of External Affairs.

The ‘Cockroach’ protest overall drew a crowd that went beyond students and Gen-Z. Teachers, parents and even senior citizens joined in.

18 Foreigners Among 21 Killed In Fire At Delhi Hotel

NEW DELHI, June 3: At least 21 people were killed, and several were injured after a massive fire ripped through a bed-and-breakfast in Delhi's Malviya Nagar. The fire, which is believed to have been caused by a short circuit, has pushed the Delhi government into action as the capital reels from this disaster.

While police officials believe the death toll may increase, it has been confirmed that at least 18 foreign nationals were killed in the fire on Wednesday morning.

As per people familiar with the matter, the victims were nationals from African nations, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and more. The ministry of external affairs said it was in touch with the respective embassies and extending assistance.

The hotel, which caught fire on Wednesday, Flourish Stay BnB, reportedly did not have any fire safety clearance. As per a PTI report, the building originally had a ground floor and one storey, when fire clearance was not required. However, six to seven years later, more floors were constructed without informing the required authorities. Furthermore, officials also said that the BnB only had permission for six rooms under government policy, but was operating 24 rooms.

Police have registered an FIR under charges of culpable homicide and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in connection with the fire.

Police officials stated that the owner of the building in Malviya Nagar, Lavkesh Bajaj, had been detained. There was no update regarding the whereabouts of licence holder Jai Mishra.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Wednesday ordered a month-long drive to check fire safety compliance at all hotels, nursing homes, coaching institutes, restaurants and other vulnerable commercial establishments in the capital. Sandhu also chaired a meeting with the concerned departments and directed the officials to commence the drive from June 4 to check strict compliance with fire safety norms.

Delhi's home minister Ashish Sood also ordered a city-wide enforcement drive for Bed and Breakfast establishments across Delhi. Based on the minister's orders, the Delhi Fire Services and the Power Department have been asked to immediately conduct a comprehensive physical inspection of all registered and suspected B&B establishments.

DK Shivakumar Takes Oath As Karnataka Chief Minister, G Parameshwara Is His Deputy

BANGALURU, June 3: DK Shivakumar, one of Congress's best-known faces from south India, took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka today. G Parameshwara, who served as the state's home minister, took oath as his deputy. Apart from both leaders, 12 others were inducted into the state cabinet.

Among them were Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Priyank Kharge, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, KH Muniyappa, KJ George, Krishna Byre Gowda, Ramalinga Reddy, UT Khader, Eshwar Khandre, Byrathi Suresh and Dr Sharan Prakash Patil.

Hours after he took oath as the chief minister of Karnataka, DK Shivakumar rolled out a slew of welfare measures, with a focus on youth recruitment and students.

Among the announcements made after his first cabinet meeting in the state was the decision to issue free bus passes to students.

Shivakumar said that travel for students in government buses would now be free of cost. “We will issue free bus pass to all students,” he said. These will be applicable for non-luxury government buses.

In a bid to address the issue of unemployment, the Karnataka CM said his government would set up a private employment exchange where people can enrol for jobs. “Modalities for private employment exchange will be finalised within a month,” Shivakumar stated.

Shivakumar further said that for youth recruitment in government jobs, a calendar of events would be announced soon and further promised decisions to address and prevent the migration of farmers. “The government has already announced 56,000 jobs. By the next cabinet meeting, we will call all departments and release a calendar indicating when notifications will be issued and how the recruitment process will begin,” he said.

Shivakumar also said the state government would extend the drive to issue A-Khata document to unauthorised buildings across Karnataka, and announced the setting up of 10,000 Bharat Jodo Yuva Sangha to raise leadership quality and build social harmony. ₹10 lakh would be given to the Bharat Jodo Yuva Sangha in each village Panchayat, he added. The CM said that each gram panchayat and urban ward would have one such youth body with 150 to 200 members.

The cabinet also approved an outlay of ₹2,000 crore for road infrastructure works in Bengaluru, including areas under the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Bengaluru Development Authority.

Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah resigned from his post on May 28, saying he had been asked by the Congress high command to step down. Shivakumar, who was deputy CM in Siddaramaiah's cabinet, was unanimously elected as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Karnataka on May 30. He had since 2020 held the post of the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

After Shivakumar's oath-taking, senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad was appointed as the new president of the KPCC.

Rahul meets Gen-Z blogger Sarthak as govt finally acts on CBSE amid paper-checking scandal

NEW DELHI, June 2: Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday evening met Sarthak Sidhant, the 17-year-old whose blog exposed alleged irregularities in the procurement of the CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. He is the second teenaged whistleblower — of the three overall — whom Gandhi has publicly backed in three days.

The meeting came hours after Sidhant deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, sharing his probe; hours after which the Narendra Modi government changed the CBSE chairman and ordered an inquiry into the OSM procurement.

Sidhant says he caught "at least 15 discrepancies" in successive CBSE tenders, and that rules were rewritten to favour the firm running OSM, Coempt EduTeck; the CBSE and the firm have denied the allegations. The CBSE has acknoledged errors in the OSM and sought to correct them over the past week since the issue blew up.

“Sarthak, apne sidhanton pe adig raho,” Rahul said in Hindi on X, using the student's name in wordplay to say, “Sarthak, stay firm on your principles ('sidhant').”

He also used the coinage ‘#TenderInvestigator’ in another a play on the teenager's trawl through tender documents on the Central Public Procurement portal.

The gesture follows Gandhi's May 31 meeting with Vedant Shrivastava, the Class 12 student who found that the Physics answer sheet CBSE uploaded under his roll number was not his. His X post had crossed 2.5 million views and forced the board to admit a scanning mix-up.

In a video of that interaction, Gandhi turned the online abuse the students had faced into mockery of their critics. "A revealing chat with my fellow 'anti-national Soros agents'," Gandhi wrote.

"Vedant and his friends are brilliant, brave young Indians who asked CBSE and the Modi government simple questions but got insults instead of answers. They deserve a bright and secure future. We will make sure they get it."

In the clip, Vedant told Gandhi he had been branded a "Pakistani agent" for flagging the wrong answer sheet. Gandhi asked the students, "Were you also called 'terrorists'? Tell me!" He then laughed: "Seventeen-year-old 'deep state agents'! Show their faces… Come on, show the faces of these 'terrorists'!"

Vedant's elder brother Siddhant said critics had tried to portray them as "deep state agents" seeking to create unrest rather than engage with their complaints.

Sidhant, Vedant and a third teenager — 19-year-old Nisarga Adhikary, an ethical hacker who flagged vulnerabilities in the OSM portal — have become the public faces of a wider revolt against this year's run of examination failures, which also includes the cancelled NEET-UG 2026 medical entrance test, now headed for a June 21 re-test after a paper leak. (Nisarga does not exactly show his face, using Anime images instead as his identity.)

Their findings have been picked up also by the Cockroach Janta Party, an online movement that came last month. It is demanding the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and plans a protest at Jantar Mantar on June 6. That ‘party’ is itself a wordplay on the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant's comments referencing insects and parasites last month.

Rahul Gandhi has separately demanded Pradhan's removal and a judicial inquiry into the OSM row. Pradhan has said he takes "full responsibility" for the disruptions and promised no further lapses.

CBSE Chairman, Secretary Transferred, Panel Formed To Probe Irregularities In On-Screen Marking System

NEW DELHI, June 2: The Chairman and Secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education have been transferred following the huge controversy over the On-screen Marking System or OSM.

A panel has been formed To probe the irregularities.

The CBSE officials have acknowledged that around 20 cases of answer-sheet mismatches had been identified during the evaluation process.

CJP chief Dipke to return to india on June 6 to demand eductions minister's resignation

NEW DELHI, June 1: Online activist outfit Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday said he will return to India on June 6 and hold a protest offline, to demand the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over recent mess-ups in several examinations across the country, including NEET, CBSE, SSC and CUET.

He said that his party's petition for Pradhan's resignation has the backing of 8 lakh people.

Dipke posted a video message on CJP's official X handle, announcing his return to New Delhi.

"I am coming back to my country, my home, India, to ask for the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. You have been seeing for so many days that we are raising our voice on social media that because of the paper leak, the children who committed suicide and the hard work of lakhs of students that has been wasted — for that, Dharmendra Pradhan should resign," Dipke said.

The CJP had created an online petition on its website, inviting signatures to support the demand for Pradhan's resignation.

Dipke said that 8 lakh young persons have signed the petition, citing that more than 1 crore students were overall affected by the disruptions in the competitive exams. "Crores of people have supported this demand on social media as well. And not just that, there are protests taking place in many places in the country like Lucknow, Jaipur, Maharashtra, Delhi, but still, they (government) are not getting affected," Dipke stated.

"Today, NEET's 22 lakh students, CBSE's 17 lakh students, CUET's 16 lakh students and SSCGD's 40 lakh students, there are more than 1 crore students whose lives have been mocked by the system," he added.

Dipke said that due to these tensions, students are “very anxious and worried about their future.”

If Pradhan fails to resign, Dipke said, it would imply that there is no accountability left in India. He said it appeared as if the system could make as many mistakes without consequences, leaving the students to bear the brunt.

"How long will this go on? That's why the time has come. We all have to come together and walk on the path of India's constitution and peacefully raise our voice and demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. If we all raise our voice together, then he will have to listen to us," Dipke affirmed.

He invited CJP supporters to meet him at the Delhi airport on the morning of June 6, saying that together, they would go to the Parliament Street Police Station and obtain permission for a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar.

The Cockroach Janta Party's "petition to sack the education minister" has so far been signed by 7,94,518 people, according to the online movement's website. The petition alleges that the education system "is compromised".

"From the tragic loss of students who died by suicide, to the millions of futures broken by a decade of paper leaks, this failure cannot go ignored. There must be consequences. Sign below to demand the immediate removal of the Education Minister," the petition reads.

The central government has increasingly been facing flak from both students and opposition parties after competitive exams, including the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), and the Staff Selection Commission GD Constable Exam (SSC-GD) examinations, faced multiple disruptions.

First, the NEET-UG 2026 exams, held on May 3, 2026, were cancelled by the National Testing Agency (NTA) after an alleged nationwide paper leak. While the Central Bureau of Investigation is probing the matter, the NTA has rescheduled the examinations for June 21.

Then the CBSE Class 12 board exams were mired in a series of mess-ups. Students had to endlessly wait for the results as the education board kept sharing 'coming soon' updates, with no results in sight. Later, CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal created tensions for students, as several claimed that the evaluated answer sheets uploaded to the site were not theirs. One such student, who raised the matter on X, got massively trolled and was even tagged a 'Pakistani'. However, CBSE later admitted to the answer sheet mix-up.

Soon after, a 19-year-old 'ethical hacker' claimed to have found massive irregularities and loopholes in the OSM portal. Another 17-year-old raised flags after 'examining' the OSM contract.

Days after the 19-year-old's allegations, the CBSE said on Sunday that it is "closely monitoring the situation" with a team of cybersecurity experts. It said that the identified vulnerabilities of the OSM portal had been contained, adding that other "exploitable weaknesses" were being ruled out.

"We are grateful to all alert citizens and ethical hackers pointing out such weaknesses, and have gotten in touch with some of them directly," the board said in a statement on X.

After the NEET-UG 'paper leak' row, NTA faced another big blow with the delay of the CUET exam. The exam, which was scheduled for May 30, was delayed at some centres across the country due to a technical glitch, according to NTA.

The agency said the examination at the centres that experienced the glitch was being conducted with full compensatory time, causing no loss to candidates.

The SSC GD exam, held on May 25, also spiralled into chaos at several centres across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with students reportedly left stranded at various places due to sudden cancellations.

In one such instance, authorities at an examination centre in UP's Kanpur were forced to cancel both shifts after nearly double the number of candidates were allotted seats. As many as 819 candidates were issued admit cards for each shift at a centre with a seating capacity of 399 candidates.

Several political leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and former Delhi chief minister Atishi, launched stark attacks on education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They slammed the controversies surrounding competitive exams.

“NEET. CBSE. SSC. And today CUET. Four exams. One crore children. Not a single one conducted with honesty," Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “completely ruined the entire education system”.

Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee also slammed the irregularities in the NEET, CBSE, and SSC GD exams, saying that "India's youth are being pushed into a cycle of anxiety, uncertainty and BETRAYAL."

"Crores of students spend years preparing, sacrificing sleep, resources, mental peace and family expectations with the hope that hard work will secure their future. What do they receive in return? Paper leaks. Technical glitches. Mismanagement. Overcrowded centres. Broken systems," Banerjee posted on X.