Net NPAs increased to Rs 36,260 crore in the December quarter from Rs 34,843 crore in September and Rs 33,116 crore in December 2023, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch Kerala Cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. Kumar, who was previously an Election Commissioner, will serve until January 26, 2029. His appointment comes amidst controversy as the Congress party demanded the government defer its decision until the Supreme Court concludes its hearing on a petition challenging the composition of the selection panel. Kumar's tenure will see him oversee several state assembly elections, including Bihar, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
India is proposing a new law that would impose a jail term of up to seven years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh on anyone found using a forged passport or visa to enter, stay, or exit the country. The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025, also mandates reporting of foreign visitors by hotels, universities, and hospitals to track overstaying individuals. The bill aims to simplify laws, ease business, and strengthen national security while promoting economic growth and tourism.
Additional security personnel have been deployed on the ground and drones are being used for aerial surveillance, they said.
A militant was killed today in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. "One militant has been killed so far. The operation is on," a police spokesman said.
Two terrorists were mauled to death and another seriously wounded after a bear attacked their hideout in a forest area in south Kashmir, a senior police officer said.
Ninty-five youth have joined militancy over the last one year in Kashmir where 200 militants are active, a senior police official said on Monday, adding that recent incidents showed criminalization creeping into the ranks of the ultras.
The operation to neutralise the terrorists involved in the encounter that led to the killing of four security forces personnel continued for the second day on Thursday, September 14, 2023.
Most places in Kashmir continued to reel under intense cold with the night temperature staying below the freezing point, while Kargil town in Ladakh region registered the season's coldest night at minus 9.2 degrees Celsius.
Security forces on Sunday intensified their operation to flush out terrorists from the forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on the second day of encounter that has left two soldiers and a civilian dead.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
Authorities on Friday imposed strict restricts on the movement of people in old Srinagar city and Anantnag town in south Kashmir, fearing law and order problems over the anti-Islam video made in the US.
Dulat, who was advisor on Jammu and Kashmir to the central government during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, also advocated the need for starting a dialogue with Pakistan.
At least eight persons were injured, two of them critically, in a powerful hand grenade explosion in south Kashmir's Bejibehara town late on Sunday afternoon.A senior police officer said militants hurled a grenade in the main market in the highway town of Bejibehara in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, 54 kms from Srinagar late on Sunday afternoon. The grenade exploded under a passing car, injuring all the four occupants and four bystanders.
Abdul Hamid Najar, a resident of Mohiendpora area of Budgam in central Kashmir, was shot at and critically injured by terrorists in his native village on Sunday, the official said.
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
Travelling from South India to Kashmir in December was magical for Ganesh Nadar as he feasted his eyes on the beauty of the snow-capped Himalayas.
'The lack of opportunities here remains the biggest worry.' 'We have seen investment summits, but if you look around, much of it is only on paper and not on the ground.'
Three terrorists were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag.
Three persons, including two women, were killed in two separate strikes by militants in south Kashmir on Sunday night. A senior police officer said four militants barged into the house of Mohammad Hussain Gorsi in the Nanmarg forest area of Damhal Hanjipora in south Kashmir's Kulgam district and fired indiscriminately, killing his 40-year old wife and 19-year daughter on the spot. Gorsi managed to escape unhurt.
Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar has directed personnel to apprehend those responsible for the attack as soon as possible.
The BJP's victory in the Delhi Assembly elections has sparked speculation over who will lead the next government. Several prominent leaders, including Pravesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Pawan Sharma, Vijender Gupta, and Satish Upadhyay, are in the running for the chief minister's post. The party's national leadership is expected to make the final decision, leaving the contenders in a state of anticipation.
Intense cold wave gripped Kashmir, with Kargil becoming the coldest place this winter.
More than a dozen Mountain Rescue Teams assisted thousands of pilgrims during this year's Amarnath pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said on Monday, as the annual yatra concluded with more than 5.10 lakh pilgrims offering prayers at the cave shrine.
The home minister also reviewed the preparations for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage scheduled to begin on June 29.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
A police official said the curbs have been imposed to maintain law and order in view of the separatists call for a march to the three districts of Baramulla, Pulwama and Srinagar.
Top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Saddam Padder is also believed to be among the slain terrorists.
Clashes also broke out at several places in Kashmir on Tuesday, leaving several persons injured.
A delegation of diplomats from 16 countries, including the United States, Norway and Singapore, on Wednesday observed the ongoing assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Former winners Vidarbha will rely on their red-hot form to stake claim for a title they last won over five years ago, while first-time finalists Kerala will be driven by grit when the two contrasting teams clash in the summit showdown for the 90th Ranji Trophy, starting in Nagpur on Wednesday.
Dhoni's two-week stint with his unit was approved by the Army headquarters last week on his request.
The nomination papers of 35 candidates including that of jailed separatist Sarjan Barkati were on Wednesday rejected during scrutiny for the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving 244 contestants in the fray.
Police have detained a computer engineer and is on lookout for two more persons in connection with the March 22 deadly car bomb explosion that left one dead and wounded 20 in south Kashmir.
A two-member team of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) met Rohingya Muslims at a slum in Jammu amid a heated debate whether the illegally settled immigrants be provided water and electricity.
'Why should I as a common man not know where my parents are in Kashmir, how they are doing. It is my right,' student Mohammed Aleem Syed, who moved the Supreme Court to be allowed to visit Kashmir, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Laway is named in two FIRs registered at Damhal Hanjipora Police Station. He is accused of instigating a mob on July 9, 2016 -- a day after Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter -- to cause damage and destruction to government property, the officials said.
Waseem Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined the insurgency in May this year.
Four security personnel, including two army officers and a police officer, lost their lives in the gunfight, which Kumar said is over.
