India Archive

The Ministry of Finance has strongly denied reports and viral social media claims suggesting that the Government of India is preparing to monetise gold owned by temples and religious institutions across the country. The clarification came after widespread discussions online claimed that the government was considering plans linked to temple gold reserves and possible gold bond schemes connected to religious trusts.

The West Bengal government led by CM Suvendu Adhikari has begun the process of transferring 120 acres of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) in the highly sensitive Chicken’s Neck corridor in North Bengal. Along with this, the state government has also approved the transfer of several important National Highway stretches to central agencies in a move aimed at strengthening security and infrastructure in one of India’s most strategically important regions.

In a major success against an international narcotics network, India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized around 227.7 kilograms of the banned synthetic drug Captagon, estimated to be worth nearly ₹182 crore in the illegal market. The operation also led to the arrest of a Syrian national linked to a transnational drug smuggling syndicate. Investigators found that the accused had been overstaying in India after his tourist visa expired.

Fresh tension gripped central Kolkata on Sunday after protests against the newly enforced restrictions on roadside namaz and loudspeaker volume spiralled into violent clashes between members of the Muslim community and police personnel in the busy Park Circus area. What began as a demonstration soon turned chaotic after protestors blocked a section of Park Street, triggering a confrontation with the police force already stationed in the area.

In one of the first major administrative decisions taken after coming to power in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has decided to withdraw the state government’s petition pending before the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court’s landmark 2024 judgment that cancelled the Other Backwards Class (OBC) status granted to 77 communities in the state.

A major controversy has surfaced in Jabalpur after several Hindu women employees associated with St Aloysius School accused the school administration of allegedly forcing them to convert to Christianity. The women claimed that pressure was repeatedly put on them by senior members of the institution and that they were threatened with losing their jobs if they refused to change their religion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 16th May, delivered one of his most serious warnings yet on the condition of the global economy, cautioning that the world is slowly slipping into what he described as a “decade of disasters.” Speaking during his visit to The Hague in the Netherlands, the Prime Minister said that repeated international crises are threatening to reverse decades of economic progress and could push millions of people back into poverty if urgent corrective steps are not taken.

A shocking incident has surfaced from Bihar’s Darbhanga district, where a marriage ceremony was abruptly called off after the bride’s family allegedly discovered that the groom, who had come to marry a Hindu woman, was actually a Muslim man using a different identity. The matter quickly escalated, leading to the detention of the groom and several people accompanying him by the bride’s relatives. Police later intervened and arrested five individuals connected to the case.

A tense atmosphere spread across several parts of West Bengal’s Asansol late on Friday night, 15th May, after violence broke out in the Kasai Mohalla area following a dispute linked to loudspeaker volume during prayers at temples and mosques. What reportedly began as an awareness drive by the police over sound control soon spiralled into a major law and order situation after rumours spread through the locality claiming that Friday night namaz was being stopped.

In a decisive legal milestone that brings clarity to a dispute spanning generations, a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Indore delivered a landmark ruling this past Friday. The court officially recognized the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex in Dhar as a Bhojshala containing a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Maa Saraswati).