A 24-year-old leader of the state Congress's tribal unit was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Monday.

The Uttar Pradesh Police have intensified their crackdown on the alleged illegal trade, diversion and distribution of regulated codeine-based cough syrup, arresting six persons in separate operations in Etah and Mirzapur districts, officials said on Monday.

The Kerala government on Monday assured stringent action in the mob lynching of a Chattisgarh native mistaken to be a thief, and promised justice to the family, even as the ruling CPI(M) targeted the RSS over the assault, a charge denied by the BJP.

The Kerala government has issued a strong warning that schools will not be allowed to turn into “laboratories of communalism,” taking serious note of reports that some private school managements in the state imposed restrictions on Christmas celebrations and refunded money collected from students for the event.

 The trial of the seven accused in the Zubeen Garg death case began on Monday in a court here, with all of them appearing virtually.

The Delhi High Court on Monday protected the personality rights of Bollywood actor R Madhavan by restraining several websites and online platforms from illegally using his name or images for commercial gain without his consent.

 A petition to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from performing a ceremonial chadar at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah during the 814th annual Urs of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti was rejected by the Supreme Court for immediate hearing.

 Union Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav refuted claims that the Centre had weakened safeguards for the Aravalli hills, saying that the government is still steadfast in its commitment to protecting the delicate ecosystem and that almost 90% of the Aravalli landscape will remain protected.