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The six-year-old was unaware of the contents of his bags. He was flown back to the UK on Wednesday and is staying with his father.

A six-year-old British boy was detained in Mauritius after customs officials found 14 kilograms of cannabis hidden inside his suitcase. According to The Telegraph, the child was detained alongside seven other people at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport on Sunday. The group was reportedly carrying more than 161 kilograms of cannabis, worth 1.6 million pounds (approximately Rs 18.8 crore), hidden in the luggage. Seven of the suspects were British, including the boy whose luggage contained 24 packages of drugs wrapped in clear cellophane. 

The group was stopped at the main international airport in Mauritius as they disembarked from a British Airways flight from Gatwick, per the outlet. The boy’s mother was also arrested and had 17kg hidden in her own bags. The eighth suspect was reported to be a Romanian living in Britain. He was allegedly holding 32 packages of cannabis. 

Mauritian authorities described the use of a child to transport drugs as “outrageous and inhumane”, adding, “This is one of the most revolting cases we have encountered in recent years”. 

The boy was unaware of the contents of his bags. He was flown back to the UK on Wednesday and is staying with his father. 

Authorities discovered 11 Apple AirTags, suggesting links to a drug gang. The drugs cache was found during a joint operation by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS) and the Anti-Drug & Smuggling Unit (ADSU) at the airport. Officials are treating the group as part of an organised crime network responsible for smuggling drugs from Europe to Mauritius. 

The seven suspects, 5 women and 2 men, have been charged with drug trafficking and placed in custody. They appeared at Mahebourg court on the island’s south-eastern coast on Monday, with all remaining in pre-trial detention.

Authorities also carried out a series of targeted raids on hotels containing British nationals after police received a lead that more foreign passengers may have been transporting drugs. No arrests were made at any of the three locations searched

Shefali Jariwala has been laid to rest at Mumbai’s Oshiwara Crematorium. Her father, brother, and husband performed her last rites as per Hindu traditions.

For the unversed, this is the same place where Sidharth Shukla’s final rites took place back in 2021. Shefali and Sidharth were seen together in the thirteenth season of the reality show Bigg Boss.Shefali and Hindustani Bhau had formed a close bond during their time in the Bigg Boss house. In fact, she even used to tie rakhi to him.

Earlier, when Hindustani Bhau visited the RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital where Shefali was taken post her demise, he addressed the media saying, “She was like my family. More than a sister, she was my child”.A lot of members from the fraternity were present at the funeral to pay their last respects.

Shefali passed away on the night of June 27 after suffering a cardiac arrest. Official confirmation to be out with postmortem reports.

When her husband took her to the hospital, she was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Affairs, Yogesh Kadam assured a thorough investigation into the sudden death of the 42-year-old actress.

Speaking to IANS, he shared, “The police have gathered information, and the investigation is ongoing. If there is any foul play or if any complaint is received, we will definitely examine that angle and conduct a thorough inquiry. We cannot speculate at this stage, but if there is any doubt, action will be taken.”

Additionally, police have also recorded the statements of eight people in the matter including statements of the family members, servants and the doctor at Bellevue Hospital.

While the initial reports suggest that Shefali might have suffered a heart attack, the official cause of death is yet to be shared by the doctors who performed the postmortem.

The goal of making India a developed country by 2047, is “plausible” if the economy stays to the current growth rate of 6 per cent, economist Martin Wolf told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. If the growth rate goes slightly higher, the climb might be easier, he said. “I have always felt India could grow at 8 per cent a year. And if that happened, you would definitely become developed”.

But there is a caveat. During his ongoing visit in Delhi, Mr Wolf said staying on an even course might not push India into a textbook definition of “developed” but it would still be very well off and “sophisticated”.  

The definition of a “developed country”, he said, varies. “In my definitions, that wouldn’t really make India a developed nation. But that’s a matter of division,” he added.

But it would still be “an upper-middle-income country… a considerably bigger economy and more sophisticated than today. So does it matter, it wouldn’t be precisely a developed country as I define it?” he added. 

Commercial maritime traffic surged 30% on June 24, the day after the ceasefire, according to the JMIC. Roughly a fifth of the world’s fuel and oil consumption moves through the Strait of Hormuz.

Vessels typically broadcast their destinations or say “For Orders”. Occasionally, vessels also transmit messages such as “Armed Guards on Board” to deter pirates or other attacks.

Unusual messages were almost only seen in the Red Sea before June 12, said Windward’s Daniel. The Red Sea had been the focus of a series of attacks by Houthi rebels since the Israel-Gaza war broke out.

“I’ve never seen it in the Persian Gulf,” Daniel said.

Panama-flagged container ship Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan, bound for Pakistan, was broadcasting “PKKHI all Chinese” on Thursday as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz, according to LSEG data.

China-flagged supertanker Yuan Yang Hu was broadcasting “Chinese ship” on Thursday morning while crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to China, the signal changed to “CN NBG”, the Chinese Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, once the vessel had cleared the Strait.

Singapore-flagged container ship Kota Cabar was signalling “Vsl no link Israel” as it sailed through the Red Sea.

JMIC also warned of electronic interference in the region affecting Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). 

A jammed GNSS can cause ships to go off course, increasing the risk of collision with other vessels or obstacles

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said this in response to a query on the advisory issued recently by the US for its citizens travelling to India.

The travel advisory also states that “rape is one of the fastest growing crimes in India” and violent crimes, including sexual assault, happen at tourist sites and other locations.

The MEA spokesperson, in his response to the query during a weekly media briefing here, said, travel advisories are “periodically issued” by countries based on their “assessment of various factors”.

“We have noted that the United States has also updated the travel advisory for India. This happened, I think, on the 16th of June,” Jaiswal said, adding thereafter New Delhi has been informed by the US authorities that there has been no change in the advisory level for India, which “remains at level 2, same as before”.

“And the US’ travel advisory level for India has been at level 2 for several years,” he added.

The travel advisory for India also says that the US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to its citizens in rural areas, which stretch from eastern Maharashtra and northern Telangana through western West Bengal.

It also advised its citizens not to travel to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, except for visits to the eastern Ladakh region and Leh, due to terrorism and civil unrest.

Rajnath Singh Attends SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Qingdao, China

Sending a stern message to India’s neighbours, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has refused to sign a joint statement at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet because it did not mention the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 innocent lives and did not reflect India’s strong position on terror. 

India has consistently trashed Pakistan’s allegations about its involvement in Balochistan and said Islamabad must look within and stop backing terror instead of making wild allegations. 

India is not satisfied with the language of the joint document. There was no mention of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, there was mention of the incidents that happened in Pakistan, so India refused to sign the joint declaration, and there is no joint communique either,” a Defence Ministry source said.

Mr Singh is currently in China’s Qingdao to attend the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting. The summit is being attended by member states, including Russia, Pakistan and China, to discuss issues related to regional and international security. Established in 2001, SCO aims to promote regional stability through cooperation. The bloc currently has 10 member states — Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Addressing the summit, the Defence Minister called upon SCO members to unite to eliminate terrorism for collective safety and security. He said the biggest challenges faced by the region are related to peace, security and trust deficit, with radicalisation, extremism and terrorism being the root cause of these problems.

Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack, he said India had exercised its right to defend against terrorism and pre-empt as well as deter further cross-border attacks. “During the Pahalgam terror attack, victims were shot after they were profiled on religious identity. The Resistance Front, a proxy of UN-designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility for the attack. The pattern of Pahalgam attack matches with LeT’s previous terror attacks in India. India’s zero tolerance for terrorism was demonstrated through its actions. It includes our right to defend ourselves against terrorism. We have shown that epicentres of terrorism are no longer safe and we will not hesitate to target them,” he said.

The Defence Minister’s refusal to sign the joint statement reflects India’s stern stand against terror now and falls in line with the global messaging in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. Eight delegations were sent abroad to articulate New Delhi’s stand on terror and how it plans to tackle it going forward.

A Pakistani woman identified as ‘Priya Sharma’ – clearly a fake name – befriended the Indian clerk on Facebook and offered moneyIt was a crypto currency trail that led intelligence agencies to upper division clerk Vikas Yadav in Nau Sena Bhavan, the naval wing of the Defence Ministry.

Mr Yadav was addicted to online gaming, sources said. A Pakistani woman identified as ‘Priya Sharma’ – clearly a fake name – befriended him on Facebook three years ago after seeing his addiction, and persuaded him into spying for Pakistan. Thereafter, she became her handler.

After that, he switched to communicating with her on WhatsApp and Telegram.

So, how exactly did intelligence operatives find out Mr Yadav, the upper division clerk in the Nau Sena Bhavan, was a spy?

The case goes back to another one linked to a spy, Ravi Prakash Meena, a Rajasthan resident who was arrested in 2022. Mr Meena was a Class 4 employee in the Defence Ministry’s Sena Bhawan. Investigators found that Mr Meena received money through a cryptocurrency channel in return for providing sensitive information like maps to his Pakistani handler.When intelligence agencies put Mr Meena’s cryptocurrency channel under surveillance, they were led to two more people. One of them was Mr Yadav, the clerk in the Nau Sena Bhawan. They found that Mr Yadav had been getting money from the same cryptocurrency channel as Mr Meena.

Thereafter, intelligence operatives put Mr Yadav under surveillance for over two years before finally arresting him. A large sum of money was being transferred from this cryptocurrency channel to Mr Yadav, who in turn used the money to feed his online gaming addiction.

The intelligence agencies have got four-day custody of Mr Yadav. His mobile phone has been sent to a forensics laboratory.The police suspect that Mr Yadav was scanning sensitive naval documents and sending them to his Pakistani handler, ‘Priya Sharma’.

The method used by the Pakistani handlers is clear. They looked for clerical staff in the Defence Ministry and either lured them with honeytrap or offered money to give sensitive information.

Intelligence agencies also suspect Mr Yadav gave sensitive information during Operation Sindoor.

During the divorce proceedings, the courts gave custody of the children to Karisma and granted visitation rights to Sunjay

Karisma Kapoor’s ex-husband Sunjay Kapur died after suffering a heart attack during a polo match in England on June 12. He was 53. Though Karisma and Sunjay filed for a divorce through mutual consent in 2014, things became bitter when they had different understandings of the custody of children and their assets. As per an ANI report (2016), Sunjay Kapur bought bonds worth Rs 14 crore for both the children with an interest payment of Rs 10 lakh as he wanted to make a substantial contribution for his children’s future.

What’s Happening

Sunjay Kapur and Karisma Kapoor filed for a divorce through mutual consent in 2014. 

Their divorce was finalised in 2016.

As per an ANI report back in 2016, Sunjay bought bonds worth Rs 14 crore for both the children with an interest payment of Rs 10 lakh. During the asset allotment, Karisma was also given ownership of a house owned by Sunjay Kapur’s father.

. At Samaira’s 18th Birthday

Sunjay Kapur, along with his third wife Priya Sachdev, attended Samaira’s (Sunjay and Karisma’s daughter) 18th birthday and shared pictures on his X handle. 

In his post, he wrote, “A father holds his daughter’s hand for a short while, but he holds her heart forever. Happy 18th birthday to my first love, Samaira. Welcome to adulthood. Remember to be responsible and live your life to the fullest. You are beautiful inside out. And we are all so proud of you.”

Sunjay married Karisma in 2003. The couple became parents to daughter Samaira in 2005 and son Kiaan in 2011. In 2014, Karisma and Sanjay filed for divorce through mutual consent. Their divorce was finalised in 2016. After the separation, Sunjay married Priya Sachdev.

Priya already had a daughter from her previous marriage. The couple later had a kid themselves, a boy named Azarius.

How Sunjay Kapur Died

According to sources close to him, Kapur was playing polo at the Guards Polo Club when he felt suffocated. He requested to stop the game and then left the ground. Thereafter, he suffered a heart attack and died.

The sources further said, Sunjay Kapur apparently swallowed a bee and the sting in his throat caused a heart attack. Sunjay was running a polo team – Aureus – of which he was the patron. He was playing against Sujan, which is a team run by Jaisal Singh, a hotelier. 

In A Nutshell

Karisma Kapoor’s ex-husband Sunjay Kapur bought bonds worth Rs 14 crore for his children after his divorce from the actress in 2016. 

To settle the dispute between the Delhi government and the LG, the Supreme Court asked the centre to propose a list of five names and said the Delhi government could pick from that list.

The Supreme Court interverned Friday in the tussle between the Delhi goverment and the Delhi Lieutenant Governor over the appointment of a new Chief Secretary, directing both sides to sit down and amicably discuss the shortlist of candidates to be provided on Tuesday by the central government.

This comes after the Delhi government – controlled by the Aam Aadmi Party – moved the court against the centre extending the tenure of the current Chief Secretary – Naresh Kumar, who retires this month – or appointing a new official. The challenge was against the backdrop of the contentious ordinance that gave the centre control over posting of bureaucrats, and the Delhi government had argued such appointments could not be made without it being consulted.

In today’s hearing, arguing for the Delhi government, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said, “… it always the Delhi government that appointed. Now there is a generic ordinance… what I am objecting is the unilateral decision of the LG.”

To this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the centre, said it was, in fact, the Union Home Ministry that made these appointments “even prior to the impugned amendment”, referring to the Delhi Services Bill. However, Mr Singhvi argued this point, saying the ministry would only make appointments based on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

“Why don’t LG (Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena) and CM (Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal) meet?” the bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud responded and then observed, “… (but) last time we said that, for the appointment of DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission) Chairperson, they never agreed…”

“So… why doesn’t LG and centre propose a panel of names? Ultimate choice will be from a panel made by you. You suggest a panel. Then they (the Delhi government) will pick up one name,” the Chief Justice proposed.

Mr Mehta accepted this and said he would return with a shortlist as directed, but took a swipe on his way out, saying, “…(but) the officers, the way they’re being treated – much is to be said about it.”

“How will I treat? I have no authority. All officers are under LG,” Mr Singhvi shot back.

The reference was to the corruption allegations surrounding Mr Kumar, whose son was linked to an alleged real estate scam in a news report published on November 9. On Wednesday the Delhi High Court gave Mr Kumar relief, directing the news website to take down the article that was said to be defamatory of the current Delhi Chief Secretary.

Mr Kumar, in his plea, sought to take down the article as well as a direction to restrain the news portal and the reporter from publishing any further defamatory articles against him. His counsel had said the article was “pre-planned” in order to “activate” people against him and to “please some people”.

Four hundred Indian cuisine restaurants tapped the work permits in the first three months after applications were accepted in September

Indian restaurants in Singapore have welcomed a government move to allow them to hire cooks from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on work permits. Cooks are not easy to come by for the many Indian restaurants in Singapore, and festive periods like Deepavali put further strain on them, according to a report by Channel News Asia on Tuesday. It has become a little easier for these eateries after the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) allowed them to hire cooks from the three South Asian countries.

Four hundred Indian cuisine restaurants tapped the work permits in the first three months after applications were accepted in September last year, the Channel had the Ministry as saying. “During (the festive season), we require a lot of hands because of catering (orders), because there are also certain special items which are made like sweetmeats which are not on our normal menu,” Indian Restaurants Association president Gurcharan Singh said.

Applications from restaurants are assessed by industry stakeholders such as renowned chefs. Government agencies are also involved, including the Indian Heritage Centre. Among the businesses that have benefitted is Riverwalk Tandoor along Rangoon Road. Its managing director Sharonjeet Kaur went as far as saying the move was a “dream come true” amid the challenges the restaurant was facing in hiring chefs. “Anyone can say, ‘I’m a chef’, but to specialise in tandoor, curry, even frying is a bit difficult because it’s Indian food. It’s not something that any person can just come in and do,” the Channel quoted Kaur as saying.

The restaurant was able to hire three more cooks over the past year. With a small shift in manpower strength, the restaurant was able to take more than 40 catering orders per day in the lead-up to Deepavali last week, compared with about 30 previously. Kaur said the restaurant has even been exploring new types of dishes, taking inspiration from Western and Chinese cuisine. “In India currently, the trend is Indian fusion everywhere, so … we started on it, new ideas, new chefs. When they come in, they come up with their own cooking style. So that’s how we actually grow,” she said.

“The move has allowed Indian restaurants to up their game,” said Gayatri Restaurant managing director S Mahendran. “Within this one year, I think we have seen tremendous changes within the Indian culinary space. I speak for my restaurant and my fellow restaurateurs who have been in the industry for quite some time,” he added. While restaurants expressed gratitude for being able to hire more chefs, they said a higher quota for such foreign workers would help meet demand even more. Currently, the cap for such workers is 8 per cent of its total workforce.

“You need to have a total of 12 local workers to have that one foreign Indian chef in your kitchen,” Mahendran pointed out, adding that he hopes the proportion of work permits allowed will increase. Besides the quota, Riverwalk Tandoor also hopes it can retain the Employment Pass (EP) holders it hires when they are up for renewal. The restaurant hires 11 EP holders who have been with the company for more than 10 years, said Kaur. “The EP (holders) that we have right now in hand, I believe they should be extended or given a chance, because that’s how we are surviving,” she said.