National News
Varanasi court rejects plea for carbon dating of ‘Shivling’

In a jolt to Hindu petitioners, a Varanasi court, on Friday, rejected the petition seeking carbon dating of the purported ‘Shivling’ found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
Hindu petitioners said that they would study the verdict and then decide whether to approach the high court.
The petitioners had claimed that the ‘Shivling’ found in the ‘wuzu khana’ or reservoir of the mosque during survey work on May 16 was part of the property.
The Hindu side demanded carbon dating and other scientific tests of the Shivling-like structure.
Carbon dating is a scientific process that ascertains the age of an archaeological object or archaeological finds.
The Gyanvapi Masjid committee had opposed the carbon dating plea filed by the Hindu side.
Last month, four of the five Hindu women petitioners filed a plea seeking “scientific investigation” on the ‘Shivling’.
They contended that it was necessary to determine its age. The women have claimed that ancient idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses are located inside the mosque.
The mosque committee objected to scientific investigation, arguing that the case was about worshipping at a shrine inside the mosque and had nothing to do with its structure. The object being called a ‘Shivling’ is actually a “fountain”, they argued.
Last week, the court asked if the purported ‘Shivling’ can be made a part of the case and whether a scientific investigation can actually be ordered.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, lead advocate for Hindu women, told reporters that he tried to convince the court on both counts.
“We said two things – that in our prayer we asked for rights to pray before visible and invisible deities inside the mosque complex. The Shivling was earlier covered by water and when the water was removed it became a visible deity and so it is part of the suit,” he said.
On September 12, the Varanasi district judge dismissed a challenge by the mosque committee that argued that the case by the Hindu women seeking permission for year-long worship inside the mosque complex has no legal standing.
Their challenge was rejected on all three counts they cited. The most important of these is the 1991 law, which freezes the status of a place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. The petitioners do not want ownership, just the right to worship, the court ruled.
Earlier this year, a lower court in Varanasi ordered the filming of the centuries-old mosque based on the women’s petition. The videography report, controversially leaked by the petitioners, claimed a ‘Shivling’ was found in a pond used for ‘Wuzu’ or the mandatory purification rituals before Muslim prayers.
The Gyanvapi mosque, located in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is one of the several mosques that Hindu hardliners believe were built on the ruins of temples.
It was one of the three temple-mosque rows, besides Ayodhya and Mathura, which the BJP raised in the eighties and nineties, that gained national prominence.
Crime
Manipur govt launches verification of papers of arms license holders

Imphal, April 19: The Manipur government has launched a drive to verify the licensed arms and asked all the district administrations to examine the papers of the arms license holders and arms dealers, officials said on Saturday.
A senior official said that the Commissioner (Home) has, in an urgent circular, asked the Deputy Commissioners of all 16 districts to take steps to verify the papers of arms license holders and arms dealers in their respective districts.
Accordingly, all the Deputy Commissioners directed the arms license holders and arms dealers to submit their papers in their nearest or respective police stations on or before April 25.
“Non-compliance with the orders may lead to penalisation and cancellation of arms license,” the official said, referring to the circular of the Commissioner (Home). Till March 6, around 1,000 looted and illegally held weapons, including many sophisticated arms, and a huge cache of ammunition, have been returned to the security forces since Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla appealed for the first time on February 20.
The initiative to recover the looted and illegally held arms began on May 31, 2023, when former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh made an appeal to all concerned to surrender the firearms looted from security forces and police armouries.
Officials said that before Singh’s resignation as Chief Minister on February 9, a total of 3,422 firearms had been voluntarily surrendered to the authorities and police stations in different districts.
Various official reports, political parties claimed that during the ethnic riots, which broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, over 6,020 varied types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of different types of ammunition were looted from the police stations and police outposts by the mobs, attackers and militants.
Education
JEE Main 2025 session 2 results declared, 24 candidates score 100 percentile

New Delhi, April 19: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday officially declared the results of JEE Main 2025 Session 2 Paper 1 on its official website, jeemain.nta.nic.in.
Notably, 24 candidates have achieved a perfect 100 percentile score in the exam, with the highest number of toppers hailing from Rajasthan, followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, among other states.
The NTA announced that the results of 110 candidates found using unfair means, including forged documents, in JEE (Main) have been withheld. More than 9.92 lakh candidates had appeared for the second edition of the crucial exam.
The JEE Main 2025 scorecard includes a detailed breakdown of each candidate’s performance, featuring raw marks, subject-wise percentiles, the overall NTA score, All India Rank (AIR), and JEE Advanced eligibility status.
Alongside individual scores, NTA has also released the category-wise cut-offs for JEE Advanced 2025 eligibility. These cut-offs will help students evaluate their chances of progressing to the next phase or securing seats through the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) counselling process, expected to commence in June 2025.
This announcement marks a crucial academic milestone for lakhs of aspirants across the country, JEE Main serves as a gateway to top engineering institutions, including NITs, IIITs, and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs).
It is also the qualifying exam for the prestigious JEE Advanced, which paves the way to admission into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
In a move to maintain transparency and accuracy in the evaluation process, NTA released the final answer key for the JEE Main 2025 April session on Thursday.
As per the updated key, two questions have been officially dropped, one from the April 3 first shift (domestic set) and another from the April 2 first shift (international set).
These decisions were made after reviewing valid objections submitted during the challenge window. However, the answer key was briefly removed from the official website late Thursday night.
Candidates who have qualified for JEE Advanced 2025 can now begin the registration process and ramp up their preparation. Those who did not qualify will participate in JoSAA counselling to explore other premier engineering opportunities.
disaster
4 dead, 12 feared trapped in Delhi’s Mustafabad building collapse: NDRF (LD)

New Delhi, April 19: At least four people have died and around 12 are feared trapped after a four-storey building collapsed in the Mustafabad area of Delhi in the early hours of Saturday, officials said.
The incident occurred around 3 a.m., following intense overnight rainfall and thunderstorms that hit several parts of the city.
Sandeep Lamba, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East District), said, “Four among the 14 rescued succumbed to their injuries… The building was four floor high. Rescue operations are ongoing, and eight to ten people are still feared trapped.”
Providing an update from the ground, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official Mohan Shaheedi said, “Around 12 people are feared trapped under the debris, including 9 adults and 3 children. According to information from local sources, 6 people have been rescued so far and shifted to the hospital. Two NDRF teams are present at the site, supported by Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, and volunteers.”
He added, “Authorities are identifying cavities and possible locations under the debris where survivors may be trapped. Technical searches are underway using rescue dogs to detect any signs of life. If any indication is found, special focus is given to that area. The operation is highly challenging and is being carried out with the utmost care.”
Teams from the NDRF, Delhi Police, Fire Services, and local volunteers continue to work tirelessly at the site.
The area has been sealed off as the rescue operation enters a critical phase. The exact cause of the collapse will be investigated once the rescue efforts conclude. Rescue operations are underway.
The house collapse incident occurred just hours after a sudden shift in Delhi’s weather on Friday night when heavy rainfall and thunderstorms lashed several parts of the city.
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