India News Live: INDIA bloc floor leaders to meet in Parliament tomorrow; discuss strategy, agenda

A teenager died and three others of a family were injured after their vehicle fell into a ravine in Mangan district of Sikkim, officials said.

The accident occurred around 10.30 pm on Sunday when the vehicle was moving from Gangtok towards Ringhim village.

Emergency evacuation was conducted by the police with the help of locals, they said.

A 13-year-old child died on the spot, while the three injured persons were taken to STNM Hospital in Gangtok, the officials said

Nine peddlers were nabbed with drugs and Rs 20 lakh in their possession from different places in Jammu and Udhampur districts, police said on Monday.

A drug peddler was detained under Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act in Kathua, while two shops of an alleged drug peddler were demolished in Rajeev Nagar of Jammu, they said.

A police spokesperson said a man and his son-in-law were arrested after 283 grams of heroin and Rs 20 lakh were recovered from their car during a check at Sikandarpur Kothey in Bishnah area in the outskirts of Jammu.

The son-in-law was identified as Sadiq Ali alias "Jattu" of Marheen area of Kathua and the older man as Saif Ali alias "Safu" of Bishnah.

A 22-year-old man was stabbed to death near his house in the Paldi Meena area of Jaipur over an old enmity, police said on Monday.

Vipin was stabbed in the chest on Sunday by Anas and taken to the SMS Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, they said.

According to police, the two had a long-running feud. On Sunday night, Anas and his friends caught Vipin near his house. An argument ensued, following which Anas stabbed Vipin before fleeing, police said.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday inspected the landslide-affected stretch of National Highway 29, between Kohima and Dimapur, which has been severely affected by heavy monsoon rainfall.

The stretch of the highway, along with a part of the road between Kohima and Imphal NH-2, in the southern Angami region, witnessed multiple mudslides and subsidence, causing severe disruption to vehicular movement this monsoon.

At the old Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) dumping area, a portion of the road has caved in significantly, leaving only a narrow passage for light vehicles.

A Christian man has been arrested on blasphemy charges in Pakistan's Punjab province, police said on Monday.  The incident took place in Lahore's Nishat Colony last week.  A police officer, Zulifqar Ali, told PTI that Amir Masih has been arrested on the complaint of a Muslim, Sanoor Ali.

"Ali told police that his neighbour Masih came to his grocery shop and started talking about leaving Pakistan because of poor economic conditions. Then he suddenly passed derogatory remarks against the Prophet. I tried to overpower him, but he managed to flee," he said.  The officer said later Ali approached the police and filed a complaint against Masih, who was later arrested and booked under section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Section 295-C deals with the offence of defiling the name of the Prophet. The punishment for this offence is either death or imprisonment for life, along with a fine.

One kanwariya was killed while two others were seriously injured after their motorcycle hit a road divider near the Bhojpur toll plaza in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, police said on Monday.

According to Modinagar ACP Gyan Prakash Rai, the three men -- Akash Bisht, Anshul Awasthi and Rahul Chaubey, all in their mid 20s -- were returning to Bhangel in Noida after collecting holy water from Haridwar as part of the annual Kanwar Yatra.

Around midnight on Sunday, their bike crashed into a divider after the rider, Akash, allegedly fell asleep while driving, the officer said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, an open critic of the 1960 Indus-Water Treaty, is hopeful that the central government will give a go-ahead for the completion of the Tulbul Navigation project in Kashmir and the diversion of Chenab River water to alleviate Jammu's water scarcity.

In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror strike on April 22 that killed 26 people, mainly tourists, the Centre announced a slew of measures against Pakistan for supporting terror groups and waging a proxy war against India. It included keeping the 1960 Indus-Water Treaty in abeyance.

According to the treaty, India has unrestricted access to the waters of the eastern rivers -- Sutlej, Beas and Ravi -- amounting to around 33 million acre-feet (MAF) annually, while Pakistan receives the majority of the water from the western rivers -- the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab --totalling around 135 MAF annually.

A major religious and political controversy has erupted over the construction of a temple named Kedareshwar Mahadev Dham in Saifai, the native village of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Several prominent Hindu seer bodies and priest associations have strongly opposed the temple, alleging that it is a symbolic replica of the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand and an affront to the spiritual and cultural sanctity of one of India’s holiest Jyotirlingas. Read full article here.

The Bombay High Court on Monday quashed the conviction of 12 persons in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case and acquitted them, noting the prosecution has "utterly failed" to prove the case against them.

The judgment comes 19 years after the terror attack that shook the city's Western Railway network, resulting in the loss of over 180 lives and leaving several others injured.

A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak said the evidence relied by the prosecution was not conclusive to convict the accused persons.

"The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence their conviction is quashed and set aside," the HC said. -- PTI

Police have arrested three people for allegedly supplying drugs along the Kanwar Yatra route here and seized contraband from them, officials said on Monday.

They also seized Rs 19,450 in cash from the trio during the arrest under the Civil Lines area here on Sunday evening, officials said.

Circle Officer Raju Kumar Sab said a case has been registered against Vaibhav, Gulshan Kumar, and Krishan Kumar under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Former West Bengal minister and veteran Congress leader Abu Hena died at his residence in Salk Lake, following a prolonged illness, party sources said on Monday. Hena, 75, breathed his last around 10:45 pm on Sunday, they said. He was the president of the Murshidabad District Congress Committee.

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.

The Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory on Monday regarding the arrangements for the Kanwar Yatra, stating that major routes in the national capital will remain closed from July 21 to 23.  In the advisory, the police stated that the GT Road, from Apsara Border to Shahdara, Seemapuri to Apsara Border, Anand Vihar to Apsara Border, and the GT Road to Vivek Vihar Underpass will remain closed during this period.

Sharing a traffic advisory on X, Delhi Traffic Police wrote, "Due to Kanwar Yatri arrangements, the following roads will be closed from July 21, 2025, 8:00 AM to July 23, 2025, 8:00 AM: 1. GT Road from Apsara Border to Shahdara 2. Seemapuri to Apsara Border 3. Anand Vihar to Apsara Border 4. GT Road to Vivek Vihar Underpass 5. Traffic from Swami Dayanand Marg to Keshav Chowk (towards GT Road) 6. Traffic from Pusta Road to Shastri Park."

Suggesting alternative routes, the traffic police added, "For traffic from Seemapuri to Apsara Border, use the underpass towards Road No. 56. - For traffic from Anand Vihar to Apsara Border, use the underpass towards Seemapuri. - For traffic on GT Road to Vivek Vihar, use the Apsara Border route and then Road No. 56. - For traffic on Swami Dayanand Marg, use Vikas Marg or NH-9. - For traffic on Pusta Road, use NH-9 or Ring Road."

"Precautions Please plan your route accordingly and follow traffic guidelines to ensure a smooth journey," the X post read. -- ANI

China's Premier Li Qiang announced the start of construction on what will be the world's largest hydropower dam, located on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau and estimated to cost around $170 billion, the official Xinhua news agency said. The project is part of China's push to expand renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions.

Consisting of five cascade hydropower stations, the dam will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and could affect millions downstream in India and Bangladesh.

Li described the hydropower project as a "project of the century" and said special emphasis "must be placed on ecological conservation to prevent environmental damage", Xinhua said in its report on Saturday.

An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 struck Tajikistan on Monday, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said. As per the statement, the earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 23km, making it susceptible to aftershocks.

In a post on X, the NCS said, "EQ of M: 4.6, On: 21/07/2025 04:43:29 IST, Lat: 37.39 N, Long: 72.58 E, Depth: 23 Km, Location: Tajikistan."

Shallow earthquakes are generally more dangerous than deep earthquakes. This is because the seismic waves from shallow earthquakes have a shorter distance to travel to the surface, resulting in stronger ground shaking and potentially more damage to structures and greater casualties.

Earlier, an earthquake of magnitude 4.0 jolted Tajikistan on Sunday, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck Alaska on Monday, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said. As per the statement, the earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 48km, making it susceptible to aftershocks.

In a post on X, the NCS said, "EQ of M: 6.2, On: 21/07/2025 03:58:02 IST, Lat: 54.99 N, Long: 159.98 W, Depth: 48 Km, Location: Alaska Peninsula."

Earlier on July 17, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter Scale rattled Alaska, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said. As per the NCS, the massive earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 36km, making it susceptible to aftershocks.