The High Court of Justice in London on Wednesday refused to reopen fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s extradition case, in a verdict that appears to exhaust his last legal avenue in the United Kingdom and potentially clearing the path for his return to India after more than seven years in British custody.. The CBI, which has been pursuing Modi’s extradition since 2018, said its investigating officers had travelled to London. (Mint Print). The ruling hinged on assurances from the Indian government — delivered in September 2025, December 2025, and through a note verbale from the Indian High Commission in London in February 2026 — that Modi will not be interrogated by any of the five investigating agencies handling his cases. The assurances proved crucial — Modi had sought to reopen his extradition by citing the case of defence consultant Sanjay Bhandari, whose extradition was blocked by a UK court last year on human rights grounds, arguing that the same risk of torture applied to him.. Without the government’s pledges, the court said, it would have been minded to reopen the appeal.. Also Read | Ex-PNB clerk seeks discharge in ₹13,700-crore Nirav Modi fraud case, hearing on April 13. The bench of Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay found the assurances “specific and not general and vague,” given by a ministry of home affairs official competent to bind the government of India, the state of Maharashtra, and all five agencies. The assurances had been given “in good faith and with the intention that they should be binding,” the judges said, adding that they had “not been given with an eye to wriggling out of them.”. But the judgment made clear how close the outcome had been. The court acknowledged that the Bhandari ruling presented a “worrying picture” of the use of proscribed treatment to obtain confessions, which it characterised as “commonplace and endemic.”. The CBI, which has been pursuing Modi’s extradition since 2018, said its investigating officers had travelled to London to assist the Crown Prosecution Service in countering Modi’s application. The agency on Wednesday said the challenge posed by the Bhandari judgment had been “successfully overcome” through “sustained and coordinated efforts.”. Separately on Wednesday, Modi turned up at a London court hearing a plea filed by Bank of India seeking to encash a personal guarantee given by the fugitive tied to a multimillion-dollar lending facility.. India did not contest that the Bhandari findings applied to Modi, resting its case entirely on the quality of the assurances, the order noted as the court accepted this approach. It stated that the bilateral relationship between the UK and India, the high-profile nature of the case, and Modi’s guaranteed daily access to lawyers and a medical team under previous assurances all weighed in India’s favour — even though the new assurances will not be formally monitored. The court also obs 

 Balendra Shah ‘Balen,’ a senior leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, is likely to be sworn-in as Nepal’s youngest prime minister on Friday, an RSP leader said Wednesday.. Shah, popular as ‘Balen,’ who was projected by the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as the prime ministerial candidate during the campaign ahead of the March 5 general election, will also be the first person from the Madhes region to hold the top executive post in the country. (ANI Video Grab ). Shah, popular as ‘Balen,’ who was projected by the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as the prime ministerial candidate during the campaign ahead of the March 5 general election, will also be the first person from the Madhes region to hold the top executive post in the country.. Balen, 35, will be sworn-in as a member of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Thursday by 78-year-old Arjun Narsing KC, the eldest among the newly elected members of the HoR and then on Friday, he will be given oath as the prime minister by President Ramchandra Paudel.. On Thursday, the RSP will hold its central committee meeting, which will form the Parliamentary Party.. The Parliamentary Party meeting will then elect Balen as its leader, formally qualifying him for the top executive post of the country, according to Shanker Shrestha, secretary of the RSP’s central organisation committee.. The central secretariat will then finalise the names of the ministers to be inducted in the new council of ministers on Thursday itself, he added.. Earlier on Wednesday, as per the tradition, President Paudel administered oath of office and secrecy to KC, elected to the Lower House under the proportionate voting system representing Nepali Congress party.. On Thursday, KC will administer oaths to all the newly elected members of the HoR, including Balen, as the Parliament is yet to elect its Speaker, sources said.. The president will then initiate the process of formation of the government by making a formal call by Thursday evening, according to sources at the President’s office.. As the RSP secured 182 seats out of a total 275 seats in the HoR, it is eligible to form a majority government under Article 76 (1) of the Constitution.. According to sources at the President’s Office, Balen, 35, will be sworn-in as the prime minister during a special ceremony at the President’s Office, Sheetal Niwas on Friday, March 27.. Sources close to Balen’s secretariat said he is likely to form a small cabinet with the number ranging between 15 to 18.. Earlier in the month, Nepal chose fresher Balen and his RSP to form the next government decimating the traditional parties in the first general elections since last year’s violent Gen Z protests that sought generational change and corruption-free regime.. Rapper-turned-politician Balen defeated four-time prime minister K P Sharma Oli, the chair of Nepal’s legacy party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) by a huge margin in Jhapa-5 constituency, the latter’s stronghold for 

 Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill to amend a law on protection and rights of transgender persons that proposes excluding social orientations from the ambit of the statute, with Rajya Sabha giving its nod, even as opposition members pressed for sending it to a select committee.. LGBTQIA+ community members hold placards during a protest demanding the withdrawal of the Transgender Amendment Bill 2026, in Mumbai, India, March 25, 2026. (REUTERS). The bill, which seeks to amend Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act 2019, also provides for graded punishment based on the gravity of harm inflicted on such people. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.. Replying to the debate on the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Upper House, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar said the proposed legislation is an effort to take along all segments of the society together.. He said that the bill aims to provide protection to only those who face discrimination due to biological issues. The minister asserted that the amendment will ensure that transgender persons continue to get legal recognition and protection.. The Modi government is committed to protecting all those people who are suffering due to biological reasons, he said adding that their rights will be protected.. The minister opined that such persons should be brought into the mainstream so that they should not live in dejection.. Highlighting the steps taken by the government for the welfare of the community, the minister said that transgender welfare boards have been set up in over 30 states. This bill will bring administrative clarity and protect rights of the transgender persons.. The minister said that the legislation will help end discrimination of transgender persons saying the bill is clear resolve of the Modi government which believes in Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.. The government is working towards emancipation and empowerment of every person and the proposed legislation is an effort to take all segments of society together, he stated.. The Modi government is committed to protecting all those people who are suffering due to biological reasons.. The bill was passed by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha after rejecting amendments moved by the Opposition. The House did not approve the demands by Opposition for sending the bill to select committee.. “The bill reflects our nation’s commitment to ensuring that every citizen enjoys equal rights and lives with dignity and respect. This bill is not merely a legal reform but a pathway to justice for those who have long faced social exclusion and discrimination due to their identity,” he said.. “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas is not just a slogan, but a firm resolve of our government, which under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working toward building and India where every citizen can move forward with dignity and hope,” he said.. He assured t 

 A parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), in its report submitted to Parliament on Wednesday, flagged concerns over the reactive nature of highway maintenance budgeting, underutilisation of research and development funds, and slow progress in key projects such as port connectivity under the Bharatmala project.. Parliamentary panel raises concerns over highway upkeep, R&D fund utilisation and delays in key Bharatmala port connectivity projects. (Representative photo). The report highlighted that while overall budget utilisation might suggest good absorption of funds, there is wide variation across verticals.. “The ministry stated that budget utilisation has been consistently above 99% in recent years, with 90% utilisation expected in the current year with Rs. 870 crore pending. The Committee observes that while the aggregate capital head shows high utilisation, this figure masks significant sub-head level variations: Highway Research at 80.59% under-utilisation in 2025-26; MMLP at under 20% utilisation; and Parvatmala at 53% utilisation. The Committee is of the view that aggregate utilisation figures, while broadly positive, should not mask specific areas of persistent under-absorption,” the report said.. The standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, in its 390th report on demands for grants, recommended that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways adopt specific, measurable annual targets to reduce road crashes and fatalities under its outcome budget framework.. In the ropeway sector under the Parvatmala Pariyojana too, the committee recommended expediting notification of comprehensive national standards for safety and operations, along with a vendor development programme to boost domestic manufacturing. The report comes after the March 22 ropeway trolley crash in Chhattisgarh that resulted in the death of a woman. Currently, eight projects covering 36 km have been awarded, and five projects are under implementation, with the Varanasi Ropeway targeted for operationalisation and 10 new projects planned for award in 2026–27, the committee noted. To be sure, the ropeway is not operated by MoRTH.. On maintenance planning of highways, the committee said it continues to rely on incremental precedents rather than scientific assessment of asset deterioration, resulting in disruptions to systematic repair cycles. It noted a recurring pattern of underestimation in budget estimates (BE), followed by sharp upward revisions. In 2024–25, maintenance allocation was projected at ₹2,500 crore (BE) and later revised upward by 86.4% to ₹4,660 crore (RE). For 2025–26, the BE was ₹4,555 crore, revised to ₹4,895.02 crore, while actual expenditure till January 2026 stood at ₹3,744.31 crore, leaving around 18% to be spent in the final two months.. To address this, the committee recommended a shift to a “zero-based maintenance budgeting” framework, under which annual projections woul 

 The government has blocked 652 mobile applications over concerns related to data security and “other malpractices,” the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.. The government has blocked 652 mobile applications over concerns related to data security.. In a written reply to a question raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Minister of State for MeitY Jitin Prasada said the blocking was carried out under Section 69A of the IT Act, which allows the government to restrict access to online content in the interest of sovereignty, security and public order. However, the government’s response did not address several specific questions raised by Gandhi. The government did not provide a list of Chinese-origin apps that may still be operating in India under rebranded versions, nor did it clarify what action has been taken against such entities.. HT reached out to IT Ministry officials to ascertain how many of the 652 blocked apps are of Chinese origin but did not receive a response. However, China has claimed that since June 2020, India has banned over 300 Chinese mobile applications across sectors such as social media, e-commerce and gaming, as per the minutes of a World Trade Organisation Council for Trade in Services meeting dated July 25, 2025, which records proceedings from June 13.. India’s first round of app bans in June 2020 came in the immediate aftermath of the Galwan Valley clash, which escalated tensions between India and China. The government then said the 59 apps were blocked over concerns that they were collecting and transmitting user data to servers outside India. Among the apps banned, and which remain banned to this day, include TikTok, PUBG, WeChat and Shein.. Over the years, several Chinese apps banned by India have resurfaced on Android and iOS app stores, often under rebranded or altered versions, a concern also flagged by Gandhi in his question.. In 2022, then MoS MeitY Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha, said the Ministry of Home Affairs had identified 348 mobile apps, developed across multiple countries including China, that were collecting user data and transmitting it to servers outside India without authorisation. Acting on the MHA’s request, MeitY blocked these apps. The latest figure of 652 apps suggests the number has nearly doubled in four years.. On surveillance, the government, in its parliamentary response on Wednesday, highlighted new CCTV security rules such as disclosing hardware origins, testing for vulnerabilities, and mandatory lab certification. It said 507 models are now certified and that non-compliant devices cannot be procured by government departments. However, it did not share how many CCTV cameras have been bought in the past five years or where they came from.. Further, the ministry did not elaborate on the security protocols governing AI systems used by the government or identify any foreign AI platforms curre