India Archive

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).

Setting the scene for a highly unusual courtroom drama, Mamata Banerjee—the formidable political leader who held the office of Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2011 to 2026—recently caused a stir at the Calcutta High Court. According to extensive media reports, she arrived at the courtroom on Wednesday, May 13, outfitted in traditional legal garments: a black advocate’s gown paired with white bands. By the very next day, Thursday, she formally presented herself as the representing attorney for the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh has initiated disciplinary action against one of its newly appointed leaders after a massive political rally involving hundreds of vehicles triggered controversy and criticism. The party removed Sajjan Singh Yadav from the post of Bhind district president of the BJP Kisan Morcha only days after appointing him, citing his failure to follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated public appeals regarding fuel and energy conservation.

On Wednesday, May 13th, the Modi administration authorized a monumental ₹37,500 crore project centered on coal gasification. This sweeping initiative is designed to fundamentally transform India’s massive coal and lignite deposits into synthesis gas, establishing a new foundation for domestic fuel generation and the manufacturing of essential chemicals, fertilizers, and other critical commodities.