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Process to declare Ram Setu a national heritage monument underway: Centre to SC

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The Central government on Thursday told the Supreme Court it was examining the issue in connection with declaring the Ram Setu a national heritage monument.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, asked petitioner Subramanian Swamy, a former Rajya Sabha member, to make a representation to the government, if he wants.

The bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, said that Justice Narasimha will not be part of the proceedings as he had earlier appeared in the matter as counsel.

The top court noted that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the process is currently underway in the Ministry of Culture. “He states that the petitioner may submit additional communication if he may so wish,” the bench said.

The bench asked the Centre to take a decision on the issue and granted Swamy the liberty to move before it again if he is not satisfied.

The two-judge bench, comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Pardiwala, disposed of Swamy’s interim application on the issue.

During the hearing, Swamy said he does not want to meet anybody. “We are in the same party; it was there in our manifesto… I will come again,” he said. Mehta said the process is underway.

Swamy informed the top court that in 2019, the then Culture Minister Prahlad Patel had called a meeting on the issue and recommended declaring the Ram Setu as a national heritage monument.

He submitted: “The issue is that they have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

On January 12, the Centre had told the Supreme Court it would file its response by February first week on a plea filed by Swamy seeking a direction to declare the Ram Setu a national heritage monument.

Swamy’s plea sought a direction to the Central government and the National Monument Authority to declare ‘Ram Setu’ as a monument of national importance. Ram Setu, which is also known as Adam’s Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island or Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.

Swamy contended that the government has already accepted the existence of ‘Ram Setu’ and in 2017, a meeting was also convened to examine his demand, but things have not moved after that.

In April last year, a bench headed by the then Chief Justice S.A. Bobde had directed that the plea seeking National Heritage Status for Ram Setu be listed before the next Chief Justice of India.

The UPA government, in 2007, had proposed a Sethusamudram project. Under this project an 83-km-long deep-water channel was to be made by extensive dredging and removal of the limestone shoals, to link Mannar with Palk Strait. Swamy moved against this decision in the court and the government resorted to another plan to link Mannar with Palk Strait.

Maharashtra

Six vehicles involved in accident on Mumbai Coastal Road; SUV catches fire; no injuries

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A few vehicles collided, causing a pile-up. A Mahindra XUV700 then crashed into the stationary vehicles and burst into flames, an official said

Six vehicles were involved in an accident on the Mumbai Coastal Road in the early hours of Friday (November 13, 2026), following which a sports utility vehicle (SUV) caught fire, officials said.

No one was injured in the incident that occurred around 2.40 a.m. on the northbound carriageway between Marine Lines and Worli.

After being alerted, fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze by 3.26 a.m., he said. In all, six vehicles were involved in the accident.

Besides firefighters, police, 108 ambulance service and Coastal Road staff were also mobilised to handle the situation, the official said, adding that traffic was briefly affected on that arm of the road.

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Maharashtra

Bangur Nagar: Drugs worth ₹21 crore seized, two accused arrested.

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On November 2, at 20:00 hours, officers and personnel from the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) team of the Bangur Nagar Police Station were patrolling Link Road in Goregaon West, Mumbai. Near Shivam Society on the southbound side of Link Road, they stopped an individual—Phul Chandra Ishwar Dayal Kashyap, aged 38, a resident of Madh Village, Malad West, Mumbai (originally from Uttar Pradesh)—on the basis of suspicion and conducted a search. During the search, 5.97 grams of cocaine, with an estimated value of ₹2,98,500, was recovered from his possession and seized in the presence of witnesses (as documented in a panchnama).

Suspecting that the accused might be in possession of a larger quantity of narcotics, a search of his residence was conducted. In the early hours of November 3, at 03:02 AM, a total of 4,221 grams of cocaine—with an estimated value of ₹21,10,50,000 (twenty-one crore, ten lakh, fifty thousand rupees)—was discovered at his home in Madh Village, Malad West. This was seized, and a detailed panchnama of the house search was prepared. Consequently, a case (Crime No. 1039/2026) was registered against the individual at the Bangur Nagar Police Station under Sections 8(c) and 21(c) of the NDPS Act, 1985. During the interrogation regarding the seized narcotics, the suspect identified an accomplice—Mujahid Ali, a resident of Madhya Pradesh—as having been involved in the commission of the crime. Consequently, the police team has arrested Mujahid Ali as part of the ongoing investigation. To date, a total of 4,226.97 grams of cocaine, valued at Rs 21,13,48,500 (twenty-one crore, thirteen lakh, forty-eight thousand, five hundred rupees), has been seized in connection with this case.

Further investigation is underway to determine the source of the seized cocaine, the intended recipients, and the identities of any other individuals who may have assisted the two suspects in this illicit activity.
This operation was carried out by DCP Purushottam Karad, under the directives of Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Kurla Hallow Bridge Firing: Two Accused Arrested, Tension Continues.

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In connection with a shooting and murder case at the McDonald Compound near Halav Bridge in Kurla, Mumbai, the police have claimed the arrest of two assailants, one of whom is a minor. The accused, Nepal Pawar, carried out the crime alongside a minor associate. Both were taken into custody in the Powai area and subsequently placed under formal arrest. Investigating Officer Dipali Kulkarni led her team, utilizing technical investigative methods, which ultimately resulted in the apprehension of the suspects. Furthermore, the weapon used in the crime—a locally-made firearm—was recovered; the accused had dismantled it after the shooting and discarded the various parts in different locations. The police have stated that the murder stemmed from a personal vendetta, and the investigation is currently focused on this motive. While two individuals have been arrested, the police are continuing to investigate who else may have assisted in the execution of the shooting and the source from which the weapon was obtained. Following the arrests, the police have claimed to have solved the case. It is worth noting that, in the aftermath of the shooting, a protest took place outside the local police station, where demonstrators expressed their outrage and demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators. The police had formed several teams to resolve the case, which eventually led to this breakthrough. Following the daylight shooting, Additional Commissioner (East Region) Dhananjay Kulkarni and DCP Ganesh Shinde inspected the crime scene, while a forensic team collected evidence. The team was active on the ground, which led to the swift arrest of the suspects. This was the second shooting incident within six months; maintaining law and order posed a significant challenge for the police, yet they proved that no task is impossible once a firm resolve is made. A member of this same family had been targeted in a previous shooting as well. Following the murders of two individuals from the same family within a six-month span, the situation had become tense.

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