NEW DELHI: Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh made a stark remark against Om Birla‘s Bangladesh visit calling it a reward from the Centre for not letting the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, speak in the Lok Sabha. Om Birla will be visiting Dhaka for the swearing-in ceremony of Bangladesh PM-elect Tarique Rahman.Speaking to ANI, Singh said, “Om Birla must have been rewarded by the government for not allowing the LoP to speak in the Lok Sabha. At the same time, now that a new government has been formed (in Bangladesh), the Indian government should go there and strongly raise the issue of the atrocities being committed against minority Hindus and end the tension there.”The Congress leader also endorsed remarks made earlier by Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, who questioned the legal and financial status of the RSS. Kharge had described the BJP as a “devil’s shadow” and raised concerns about the RSS’s registration, funding sources and tax compliance.“His question is valid because the RSS hasn’t been registered for a long time. Regarding the money issue, it’s true that when electoral bonds were introduced, there was some kind of fraud. It evolved a certain party in such a way that a level playing field no longer existed,” he said.Earlier, Priyank Kharge asked why the RSS had not registered itself despite operating extensively in India and abroad.“They’re unregistered. They don’t want to register. All I’m asking is to follow the law of the land. If you’re an individual, that does not mean that you should not be registered. Which law says that? You should be registered. I’m asking how you’re getting the donations? Where are you getting the donations from? Who is donating? How come you’re running such large operations domestically and internationally, and you’re still not paying taxes?” he said.Citing media reports, Kharge claimed that over 2,500 organisations were responsible for funding the RSS and called for greater transparency. “This is a question the government should be asking,” he said.He also referred to statements by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat about the organisation functioning on “Guru Dakshina”, traditionally offered to a guru. Kharge questioned whether collecting funds in the name of the RSS’s symbolic saffron flag — which the organisation considers its “guru” — exempted it from financial scrutiny. Drawing a comparison with religious institutions, he argued that even temple donations are subject to audits and asked whether the RSS considered itself “above the law.”Kharge further cited Bhagwat’s past remarks linking the BJP’s political success to the RSS’s support, reiterating his claim that the BJP functioned as the “shadow” of the RSS.

NEW DELHI: A 9-judge bench of Supreme Court will hear the pleas relating to discrimination against women at religious places, including Kerala‘s Sabarimala Temple.The hearing is set to begin April 7 and proposed to be concluded on April 22. The composition of the 9-judge bench will be notified by the Chief Justice of India separately through an administrative order.A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi passed the orders on Monday for the listing of the reference before the 9-judge bench.“A nine judge bench shall commence hearing in these matters on April 7, 2026 (Tuesday) at 10:30 AM. The review petitioners or the parties supporting them shall be heard from April 7-9, April 2026. The original writ petitioners opposing the review petitioners shall be heard on April 14-16, 2026. The rejoinder submissions if any will be heard on April 21, 2026 followed by the final and concluding submissions by the learned amicus which is expected to be over by April 22. The parties shall adhere to the above time schedule,” the top court noted.“The nodal counsels in consultation with arguing counsel of the parties shall prepare the internal arrangement so that oral submissions from both sides can be heard within stipulated timeline” it added.Listed along with these were petitions relating to the issues of Muslim women’s entry in Dargah/mosques, entry of Parsi women in Fire Temples if they have married a non-Parsi, validity of the practices of excommunication and Female Genital Mutilation among Dawoodi Bohra community.In 2018, a Constitution Bench of the apex court, permitted the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, striking down the centuries-old practice that barred women between the ages of 10 and 50.Subsequently, a nine-judge Constitution Bench on February 10, 2020 upheld the decision of the Sabarimala Review Bench to refer to a larger Bench broad questions concerning the interplay between essential religious practices, equality, and constitutional morality across faiths.Centre along with other parties are supporting the review petitions, effectively challenging the 2018 ruling that allowed entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple.The original writ petitioners now respondents in the review proceedings, are opposing the review pleas and seeking to uphold the 2018 judgment.

On paper, India’s prison crisis is usually flattened into neat averages. Occupancy hovers at 121%, budgets have inched up, new capacity added. The lived reality is less reassuring.In parts of the country, jails are operating without doctors, without counsellors, and with inmates left in limbo even as the barracks continue to fill.New data presented last week at a national consultation on prison overcrowding by the India Justice Report in collaboration with Prayas, a field action project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, shows the scale of the strain. Over 300 prisons across India are running at twice their capacity, a level at which even basics like sleeping space, healthcare and supervision become difficult.The report on prison capacities cautions that state and national averages often mask ground realities. Individual jails reveal far more extreme pressure points. In Delhi’s Central Jail No. 4, overcrowding has risen steadily since 2020, reaching 550% in 2023. Danapur Sub-Jail in Bihar and Gumla district jail in Jharkhand have operated at over 300% capacity, while Kandi Sub-Jail in West Bengal peaked at 450% in 2022.The biggest reason prisons remain this crowded is not a surge in convictions, but delay. Around 76% of India’s prison population consists of undertrials, many of whom have not been found guilty of any crime. They are also spending longer periods inside. The share of undertrials jailed for three to five years has nearly doubled over the past decade, and in 2023, nearly one in four undertrials nationwide had already spent between one and three years in prison. In West Bengal, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir, the proportion is even higher.Who stays stuck in this waiting room of justice is not random. Around two-thirds of undertrials and nearly 70% of convicts come from SC, ST or OBC communities that often have less access to legal help and fewer resources to secure bail quickly. While caste data is unavailable, the overrepresentation of marginalised communities inside prisons is telling of social inequalities.Around 30% of guarding staff posts are vacant nationwide, while 29 states have not sanctioned even a single mental health professional for prisons, despite rising stress and self-harm among inmates. Although the model prison manual mandates 1,150 psychiatrists nationwide, only 65 posts have been sanctioned and just 35 filled, leaving a policy vacuum in prison mental healthcare. Medical care is similarly stretched, with one doctor for every 797 prisoners on average and far worse ratios in some states. Karnataka and Nagaland report having no prison doctors at all, and rely instead on occasional visits from district hospitals.For Prof Vijay Raghavan, project director of Prayas (TISS), the problem lies in how prison reform is framed. “Typically when you talk of overcrowding, you say we need more space, toilets, beds… But how can we look at it from a different perspective where even if the prison capacity doesn’t increase too much, we can still have better living conditions and fewer people in our prisons,” he said, arguing that the focus must shift from building more jails to non-custodial alternatives.Around 30 NGOs at the consultation, many of them working inside prisons, said these shortages are worsened by restricted access. Human rights advocate Ajay Verma pointed out that while states like Maharashtra and Karnataka still allow social workers into prisons, many others do not. “Security concerns could be addressed through police verification rather than blanket denial,” he argued. What irks Raghavan is that religious groups are often allowed entry, while trained social workers are kept out.Verma’s teams meet prisoners regularly during mulaqat. Once trust is built, prisoners begin to talk. “Regular, sustained meetings, once every fortnight for a few focused hours, can make the difference between prolonged detention and a workable bail application,” he said.

A CSO working in Karnataka recommends creating a social and economic profile of every undertrial at the point of admission, recording family ties, housing and livelihood. When shared with courts, this data can support bail on personal bond. Southern states often show lower occupancy rates, sometimes under 100%, but the same CSOs caution that this is partly because new prisons have been built and not necessarily real reduction in incarceration.For Murali Karnam of National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, meaningful reform depends on how early civil society intervenes. “There is no point in getting a bail under trial after three months. You are expected to be there for three months in any case. But because of our intervention, we are able to get it after 15 days of arrest, that’s the hallmark of intervention,” he said, stressing on the need to strengthen prison legal aid clinics.Karnam argued that social workers are often more effective than lawyers in the early stages. “They’re able to identify multiple needs,” he said, pointing at the many undertrials who remain inside despite having bail orders simply because families are not informed or cannot navigate the system. Money alone, however, cannot solve the problem. Although prison budgets have increased in recent years, many states still spend less than Rs 100 a day on each prisoner, even as new criminal laws under the BNNS Act are expected to push numbers up further.At the consultation, Salman Azmi, member secretary of the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority, said judges today are more sensitised to prison conditions, partly because jail visits are now institutionalised. But the real challenge, he argued, is stopping incarceration before it begins. “Many problems start at the police station. A structured pre-arrest legal aid mechanism could prevent thousands from entering overcrowded prisons in the first place.”For now, review committees meant to ease pressure have made only a small dent, with just over 1% of prisoners released nationwide, which isn’t merely a numbers problem, but one that plays out daily behind prison walls.

NEW DELHI: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Sunday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of indulging in “money laundering”, questioned its sources of income and asked why it was not paying taxes.Addressing a gathering at an event here, Kharge alleged financial irregularities and sought greater accountability from the organisation.“It (RSS) has a network of more than 2,500 organisations, they are from America, England. They take money from them. I am telling — that these people are into money laundering,” he said.Questioning the source of its funds, he added, “they want us to be good citizens, pay income tax, but they want to remain free. How is it possible. We will have to question this.”Kharge said the same law and Constitution applicable to everyone in the country should apply to the RSS as well. Later, speaking to reporters, he pointed out that the RSS is an unregistered organisation and asked whether “they are above law or Constitution.”“It is good that all organisations should come under the ambit of law and constitution, whether it is RSS or any other organisations. Are they above law and constitution. Mohan Bhagwat (RSS chief) says it (RSS) is a body of individuals. So is Bangalore Club, have they not registered? Are they not paying taxes?” he further asked.Stating that his question is why the RSS was unregistered, he said, “Where is their Guru Dakshina (donation) coming from.”Kharge said, “If we ask about the source of RSS money, they tell us that we will get Guru Dakshina. However, when I did some research, according to them, Guru Dakshina means ‘flag’. So, tomorrow morning, if I also hoist the blue flag and collect money, I will ask the government and them (RSS) whether they will agree. Thus, no one can escape baseless words. From now on, I will not give up until this RSS organisation is registered under the Constitution and the law.““Who is paying it? Why is it (RSS) not paying tax? When every rupee of others is being accounted for, why is there no accountability for their (RSS) money,” he asked.Kharge also took a swipe at the organisation over patriotism, saying, “RSS did not hoist the national flag in their office for 52 years. They teach us about patriotism.”“Ramayana, written by Valmiki, is different; what is happening now is different. Politicians and religious leaders are talking about religion as they wish. No religion incites violence. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who says that one should have three children, is not getting married. However, he talks about raising other people’s children. Thus, the BJP is constantly saying things outside and inside, and is sending the children of the poor to the streets,” Kharge said.Meanwhile, Kharge launched a sharp attack on the demand to confer the Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar, asking why a person who, according to him, “worked against Bharat” should receive the country’s highest civilian honour.In a post shared on X, Kharge posted a long list of questions targeting Savarkar’s role during the freedom struggle. His attack came in response to comments made by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on February 8, at a two-day lecture series titled ‘100 Years of Sangh Journey – New Horizons’. Addressing questions over the delay in honouring Savarkar, Bhagwat said the award would elevate the prestige of the Bharat Ratna itself. Bhagwat further said that he was not on the decision-making committee but would raise the issue if given the chance.

NEW DELHI: Gujarat, Maharashtra and UP have emerged as frontrunners in rooftop solar installations, even as over 23 lakh rooftop solar systems (RTS) were installed across the country in the last two years under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.Launched on Feb 13, 2024, with a financial outlay of Rs 75,021 crore, the scheme aims to install RTS in one crore households by March 2027. The Centre provides a one-time financial assistance of up to Rs 78,000 per household, while several states offer additional subsidies.According to the national portal, 23,68,383 systems with an aggregate capacity of about 8,691 MW have been installed till Feb 13 this year. Govt has released Rs 16,932.4 crore in subsidies.Under the scheme, a 3-kW solar plant can generate about 300 units of electricity per month — enough to reduce the bill to zero if consumption stays within that limit. More than 12.5 lakh consumers have received zero electricity bills in at least one month since the launch.The number of installations is estimated to be close to three million when statelevel subsidy programmes are included.Gujarat leads with nearly 5.6 lakh installations, followed by Maharashtra (4.5 lakh), UP (3.7 lakh) and Kerala (1.9 lakh). Adoption remains low in the Northeast: Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura together account for only 4,174 installations. Delhi, Goa, West Bengal and Chandigarh also have recorded modest numbers, with 6,209, 1,721, 1,265 and 1,050 installations, respectively.Govt acknowledged that nearly three-fourths of installations are concentrated in 1011 states. Many states are yet to notify virtual net-metering guidelines that allow consumers to feed surplus power into the grid and receive payment. “This is a model with a customer-first approach. It has become immensely popular,” said JVN Subramanyam, joint secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy.