BENGALURU: Nathavaram police in Anakapalle district have arrested eight people, including a Bengaluru-based software engineer, for allegedly supplying high-quality Sheelavathi strain cannabis from Narsipatnam to Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Police said this appears to be the first instance of ganja from the Andhra–Odisha border being smuggled to Sri Lanka.

The arrested woman, identified as 28-year-old Gade Renuka, a native of Santhakaviti in Vizianagaram district, was reportedly involved in cannabis trafficking across Payakaraopeta, Narsipatnam, Saluru, and Bengaluru, earning her the nickname “lady don.” Renuka and her associate, Surya Kalidas, had rented a house in Narsipatnam to procure cannabis from Odisha and supply it to Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Acting on a tip-off, Inspector Y. Tarakeswara Rao and Nathavaram sub-inspector intercepted the gang near Srugavaram village, seizing 74 kg of dry cannabis, a car, two bikes, and mobile phones. Investigations revealed that Renuka had established a network, renting houses in Bengaluru and Coimbatore to expand operations. With the help of middleman Adduri Prasad, she procured cannabis from tribals in Balimela and Chitrakonda in Odisha at Rs 5,000 per kg. Drivers Madhan Kumar and Naga Muttu transported the consignments to Rajanagaram highway junction, from where they were routed to Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Police added that the gang also sold cannabis in small packets across Tamil Nadu, leveraging Renuka’s links with state-based smugglers to push consignments into Sri Lanka.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that Russia wanted to see Ukraine succeed, which left President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speechless and laughing. After the meeting, both presidents held a presser discussing the peace deal progress. At the presser, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was very generous in his feelings toward Ukraine succeeding. “Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. It sounds a little strange, but Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity and other things at very low prices. So a lot of good things came out of that call today,” Trump said. This line left Zelenskyy speechless and even laughing. Several videos emerging on social media showing Zelenskyy shocked, and then laughing. Trump met Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-lago apartment as they have to discuss the peace talk. After the meeting, the presidents held a presser but the reality is that they didn’t crack their twingled relationship.

BJP: Cong has become asset of ‘fake’ Gandhis

NEW DELHI: Congress has lost its foundation and has become a private asset of “fake” Gandhi family, BJP alleged on Sunday, taking a jibe at the opposition party on its foundation day. The governing party mocked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge – who recalled his party’s rich legacy and accused BJP of pursuing divisive politics – as a “remote-controlled” politician, and said it is his compulsion to keep quiet on critical observations of senior functionaries like Digivijay Singh and Shashi Tharoor.“Partition, POK, losing territory to China, Emergency… and anti-Sikh riots of 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi justified violence… are legacy of Congress,” BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said. He added that the opposition party now stands for “corruption, and dynastic and communal politics”. “Kharge is so helpless as he serves the fake Gandhi family. He cannot speak a word about their dictatorial style,” Bhatia alleged.“It is ironical that a party whose foundation has been shaken is celebrating its foundation day,” he said, adding that Congress has become the weakest link in the Indian democracy. The party should instead connect with the masses and stop denting PM Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’, he said.

File photo: Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Sukhu

KULLU: Within hours of Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Sukhu’s appeal to doctors, Resident Doctors Association of IGMC-Shimla called off its str-ike Sunday. “Instead of trusting me, doctors went on strike,” Sukhu remarked, adding the decision to sack Dr Raghav Narula would be reviewed.“Following the assurance given by the CM that a detailed inquiry would be conducted into the matter and the termination of Dr Narula would be revoked, the indefinite strike has been withdrawn,” RDA president Sohil Sharma said in a statement, adding RDA would remain “completely vested in the inquiry”.Earlier in the day, the CM urged doctors to join duty from Monday, assuring that govt decisions “can be reviewed”.

JALANDHAR: At least 10 Indians have been killed in Ukraine, and four are missing after joining the Russian army and being deployed to the frontlines, said a man from Punjab’s Jalandhar, who went to Moscow to look for his missing brother. Three of the dead are from Punjab, and the others are from UP and Jammu.Jagdeep Kumar of Goraya made two trips to Moscow this year in search of his brother Mandeep. After his second visit, he brought back a list of th-ose “confirmed killed according to Russian authorities”.“I have been trying to coordinate with authorities to get their bodies back and called on (Rajya Sabha MP) Baba Seechewal today as he had helped me visit Russia,” he said Sunday. Jagdeep presented all the documents to Seechewal’s office, including those that confirm the deaths.

BAREILLY: Two Muslim boys were booked for “breach of peace” after attending their Hindu friend’s birthday party at a cafe in UP’s Bareilly. The action was taken after the members of the Bajrang Dal barged into the cafe alleging love jihad. The police, however, subsequently refuted the love jihad angle. Police said the nursing student had invited her classmates, six girls and four boys, for a small celebration. Minutes into the gathering, Bajrang Dal members barged in, accused the Muslim guests of “love jihad” and allegedly thrashed one of them and the girl who tried to intervene. A few videos from the spot shows police restraining the girl as she resists being taken away.Though the police inquiry found no wrongdoing by the students, two Muslim boys and a café staffer were booked under breach of peace for disturbing public order. “They crashed my birthday party and attacked my friend. There were only two Muslims present, while most of the guests were Hindus. The videos shared by right-wing members only showed partial footage; they did not capture the entire incident. The claim of “love jihad” was also unfounded”, the victim of the Bareilly Cafe clash told TOI.The right-wing group members who disrupted the event were advised to disperse.

File photo: Congress MP Jairam Ramesh (Picture credit: PTI)

NEW DELHI: A day before Supreme Court hears the suo motu civil case on the new definition of Aravali hills and ranges, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday wrote to environment minister Bhupender Yadav, asking him four questions pertaining to assessment of Forest Survey of India (FSI) and views of one of the members of the central empowered committee (CEC) on the issue.Claiming that the acceptance of the new definition of the Aravallis will lead to fragmentation and undermining of the geographical and ecological integrity of the range, Ramesh said there were understandably widespread concerns with the redefinition of the hills that restricted them to landforms having an elevation of 100m or more.The environment ministry has clarified that the uniform definition would leave out only a fraction (nearly 0.2%) of the Aravalis for mining, FSI on Dec 23 refuted the claims that it carried out a study showing 90% of the hills would be left unprotected following the Nov 20 judgment. Nevertheless, Ramesh raised the question. “Is it not a fact that the FSI, in a communication to the ministry of environment, forests and climate change dated Sept 20, 2025 had stated the following: The smaller hill formations of the Aravalis serve as natural barriers against desertification… Because the protective effect of a barrier against windblown sand scales directly with its height, even modest hills of 10 to 30 m act as strong natural wind breaks?”He further asked, “Is it not a fact that the definition of the Aravali Hills and Ranges in Rajasthan since 2012 had been based on a report of the FSI of Aug 28, 2010 that had said the following: All such areas having a slope of 3 degrees or more shall be delineated as hills… Is it not a fact that CEC, constituted by the SC, had in its report of Nov 7, 2025, concluded that 164 mining leases in Rajasthan were inside the Aravali Hills and Ranges as defined by the then-prevailing FSI definition?”