The 45-day Maha Kumbh 2025, billed as the world's largest gathering of humans, began on Monday with the first major bathing ritual or 'Shahi Snan' at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers in Prayagraj, India. This edition of the Kumbh is being held after 12 years, with the Uttar Pradesh government expecting over 35 crore devotees to visit. The event is being touted as a 'Digi-Kumbh' with Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used for various aspects, including security and cleanliness. The Maha Kumbh will be held from January 13 to February 26, and is expected to transform the area into the world's largest temporary city. Thirteen Akharas of seers from different sects are participating in the event, attracting attention from those seeking to learn about Indian spiritual beliefs.
The Home Ministry's recommendation to withdraw elite National Security Guard security cover to some VIPs has evoked mixed reactions from political leaders.
Even as Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde visited the Dilsukhnagar area blast site at Hyderabad on Friday morning, investigators are struggling to find clues.
New Delhi has turned into a virtual fortress ahead of the Independence Day celebrations as thousands of armed security personnel kept a hawk-eyed vigil to pre-empt any possible terror strike in the city.
'Suspect all, fix all.' 'It is this mindset that begins at the very top of an establishment and then trickles down and across,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The interim budget 2024-25 on Thursday allocated Rs 202868.70 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with the highest share of funds going to the paramilitary forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Secular Force (CISF), showing priority on internal security and border guarding.
Former National Security Guard Commando P V Maneesh, who had suffered serious head injuries in the Mumbai 26/11 terror attack, said Ajmal Kasab's hanging will increase the "morale and courage" of soldiers who risk their lives to protect the Nation's interests.
'...an hour before he was hanged from the film Badal, 'Apne liye jiye toh kya jiye'... 'I saw eight hangings -- Ranga and Billa, Maqbool Bhat, Kartar Singh and Ujagar Singh (Dr N S Jain murder case), Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh (Indira Gandhi assassination case) and Afzal Guru.'
Security has been beefed up in the national capital with thousands of Delhi police and paramilitary personnel keeping a hawk-eyed vigil in the city to thwart any possible threats in the run-up to Independence Day later this week.
Around 800 police and paramilitary personnel sacrificed their lives in the past one year during operations or attacks on them with Central Reserve Police Force topping the list with 191 such cases.
In underlining the role of border villages as custodians of India's frontiers, New Delhi is following China's example in Tibet.
A five member team of the National Security Guard has commenced its investigation into the Bangalore blast case.
At this moment it is not possible to say whether any organisation or an individual was involved, the home minister said. There were certain theories during his visit to the cafe on Friday night, expressing suspicion that someone might have done it out of 'heartburn', unable to digest the cafe's success and expansion.
Commando Surender Singh was injured fighting terrorists at the Taj Mahal hotel in the 26/11 attacks. Now, as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate for the Delhi state elections, he says he is fighting corruption. Rediff.com's Sumit Bhattacharya reports.
The overnight operation in the Arabian Sea was carried out in coordination with the Gujarat Anti-terrorism Squad and the Narcotics Control Bureau, it said.
These stunning photos are a tribute to the martyrs and capture the 'men in black' at their combative best.
A lawyer was killed on Tuesday during clashes between the security personnel and followers of a Hindu community leader, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a court in the port city of Chattogram in Bangladesh, police said.
An officer's enclave in memory of National Security Guard commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan, killed while fighting terrorists in Taj Hotel in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, was unveiled in the presence of his parents in Bangalore in Friday.
Mumbai Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar and Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Ombale, apart from National Security Guard commandos Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havildar Gajender Singh too would receive the medal posthumously for their acts of bravery during the November Mumbai attacks. Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who died fighting terrorists in the Batla House operation in the capital in September last year, has also been named for the award.
Subhash Joshi was on Tuesday appointed as the new chief of Border Security Force while special secretary in the home ministry Ajay Chadha would now head the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, while special director general of BSF Arvind Ranjan has been appointed as director general, NSG.
In a surprise departure from norms, investigators of the National Security Guard post-blast study team were not allowed to gather vital data of the terror-struck and burnt Israeli embassy SUV citing "diplomatic reasons".
A multi-tier security cover has been put in place in the national capital with thousands of security personnel guarding vital installations and specialised units like NSG deployed ahead of Independence Day to pre-empt any terror strike.
Despite his best efforts, the NSG has not been able to overcome bureaucratic and procedural hurdles in procuring and acquiring new weapons and equipment, says RS Chauhan in the second and concluding report on the National Security Guard
Glimpses of the colourful parade we will see on Rajpath in New Delhi on Thursday.
There were 406 such incidents, which include IED and ordnance explosive blasts, in the country. Iraq came second with almost half the number at 221, the report by the National Bomb Data Centre said though it did not mention the casualties.
He also said that his country would continue to talk about the Kashmir issue "through channels that are acceptable" and prayed that "the issue is amicably resolved".
Prayers and candle-light vigils were held across Mumbai and various parts of the country on Thursday to pay homage to the victims on the first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks. The Mumbai police will hold a peace flag march in a show of strength from the Air India building at Nariman Point to Girgaum Chowpatty. The march will also include Force One, the Quick Response Team and the police team's newly-acquired armoured vehicles.
The officials said the jawan was the youngest to die among the CAPFs. All other fatalities were over 45 years, they said.
Five army personnel were killed and six injured on Monday when terrorists ambushed their vehicle in the remote Machedi area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, officials said.
At least 30 suspects have been detained in Bangladesh's Chattogram city for their alleged involvement in the killing of a lawyer and attacking security personnel following the arrest of a prominent Hindu community leader. The violence erupted after Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was denied bail and sent to jail in a sedition case. The lawyer, Assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, was killed during clashes between security personnel and Das' followers. The interim government has condemned the violence, urging people to remain calm and has ordered an investigation into the killing and appropriate legal measures.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Police over the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf when they were being escorted by police in Prayagraj, officials said on Tuesday.
Farmers from different parts of Uttar Pradesh demanding adequate compensation for their lands acquired by the government marched towards Delhi on Monday but were stopped at the Noida-Delhi border where they sat on a dharna.
The assailants believed to be Pakistani terrorists, meticulously studied the site layout before executing their plan.
India has not only been decked in tricolour hues in the lead up to the 76th Independence Day celebrations, but also put under a heavy security blanket, right from Delhi, the epicentre of the mega celebrations, to Jammu and Kashmir.
Admitting that there were gaps in the intelligence set up, the government on Thursday said it will take steps, including strengthening laws and setting up a National Investigation Agency to insulate the country from terror strikes like in Mumbai. In a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government has decided to set up a Coastal Command to secure India's 7,500-km coastline and create various National Security Guard hubs.
The National Security Guard on Saturday rejected allegations of financial irregularities made by a former commando, saying all gift cheques the force received for the 26/11 Mumbai operation have been accounted for and in case of personal ones, they were returned.
National Security Guard commandos based at their hub in Mumbai have moved into their permanent structures after experts declared them safe for occupation following reports of cracks in them.
Addressing the 23rd Raising Day celebration of National Security Guards at the training centre of NSG at Manesar, Gurgaon, Patil praised the service to the nation of dedicated NSG commandos.
In the wake of the deadly blast outside the Delhi high court, the government has issued a nationwide alert asking all states to step up vigil and take precautionary measures.
They said a sniper is believed to have targeted the truck from the front before the other terrorists sprayed bullets and lobbed grenades on it.
