News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: THE HINDU

President Murmu in Rome to attend Pope Francis’ funeral

President Droupadi Murmu arrived in Rome on Friday (April 25, 2025) to attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Francis, who was the first non-European Pope in nearly 1,300 years, died on Monday. He was 88.

India will not allow single drop of water from Indus River into Pakistan: Union Minister Paatil

The government is working on a strategy to ensure that not a single drop of water flows from India into Pakistan, Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Paatil asserted on Friday following a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah.

NHRC condemns Pahalgam attack, asks State to ensure necessary steps to fix accountability

Three days after 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed by terrorists in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday condemned the attack and asked the state to fix accountability and bring the perpetrators to justice. In a communique, the human rights commission said that it is deeply disturbed by the news of the killings, which were carried out after identifying the faith of the victims. The commission added that it has been said time and again at various forums that terrorism is one of the biggest causes of human rights violations in the world. The time has come to act against those aiding, abetting, supporting and advancing terrorism and to hold them accountable for this menace, it asked.

Pahalgam terror attack: Houses of LeT terrorists demolished in Kashmir

The residential houses of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, suspected to be behind the Pahalgam attack, were destroyed in Pulwama and Anantnag. The houses of Asif Sheikh at Tral, Pulwama district, and Adil Thoker in Bijbehara, Anantnag, were razed to the ground apparently using explosives, several media outlets reported in Srinagar.

U.S. House Committee slams New York Times report on Pahalgam attack

The U.S. House Committee of Foreign Affairs has slammed a report by the New York Times on the Pahalgam attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed. The New York Times report titled “At Least 24 Tourists Gunned Down by Militants in Kashmir” states that Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India “called the shooting, the worst against civilians in the region for years, a ‘terror attack’ and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice”. In a post on X, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority said, “Hey, @nytimes we fixed it for you. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK plain and simple. Whether it’s India or Israel, when it comes to TERRORISM the NYT is removed from reality.”

Pakistan Senate passes resolution rejecting India’s ‘attempt’ to link Pahalgam terror attack with Islamabad

Amid heightening tensions between the two countries, Pakistan’s Senate on Friday passed a resolution rejecting India’s “frivolous and baseless attempts” to link the country with the Pahalgam terror attack. The attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar moved the resolution, which got across-the-board support from parties in the upper house of Parliament. “Pakistan remains fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression, including water terrorism or military provocation,” the resolution said.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urges India, Pakistan to exercise ‘maximum restraint’

“United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following the situation between India and Pakistan “very closely and with very great concern” and appeals to both governments to exercise maximum restraint and ensure no further deterioration,” his spokesperson said. “We were very clear in our condemnation of the terror attack that occurred in Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, two days ago, which killed a large number of civilians,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the daily press briefing on Thursday

Will support India as it hunts for those responsible for Pahalgam attack’: DNI Tulsi Gabbard

U.S. Director of National IntelligenceTulsi Gabbard on Friday (April 25, 2025) said America stands with India as it hunts down those responsible for the heinous Pahalgam attack.

Waqf row: Can’t stay law made by Parliament when validity presumed, Centre tells SC

The Centre on Friday sought the Supreme Court to dismiss the pleas challenging validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, and said there cannot be a “blanket stay” on the law as there was a “presumption of its constitutionality”. In a 1,332-page preliminary counter affidavit, the government defended the contentious law saying that “shockingly” after 2013, there were an addition of over 20 lakh hectare (precisely 20,92,072.536) in waqf land. “Right before even Mughal era, pre-independence era and post-independence era, the total of waqfs created was 18,29,163.896 acres of land in India,” the affidavit said. It claimed “reported misuse” of earlier provisions to encroach upon private and government properties.

.Russia’s senior military officer killed by a car bomb, says officials

A senior Russian military officer was killed by a car bomb on Friday, Russia’s top criminal investigation agency said. The Investigative Committee said that Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow. The committee’s spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, said the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel. She said that investigators were at the scene.

China vows in politburo meeting to support firms, workers affected by U. S. tariffs

China's top policymakers pledged to support firms and workers most affected by the impact of triple-digit U.S. tariffs, the ruling Communist Party's politburo said on Friday, according to state media. The politburo, a top policy decision-making body, reiterated plans to accelerate debt issuance, ease monetary policy and vowed to support employers to safeguard jobs, in an effort to maintain stability at home as China hunkers down for a prolonged trade war with the United States.

Pakistan doing West’s dirty work for decades: Pakistan Defence Minister

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has admitted the country’s history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations as “dirty work” for the West, a mistake for which he said Pakistan had suffered.

Urban Affairs Ministry vision for Viksit Bharat focuses on providing ‘drink from tap’ facilities

Aligning with the Centre’s “Viksit Bharat” vision, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has created a blueprint for achieving comprehensive water security and sustainability across the country, with a focus on shifting to “drink from tap” facilities.

India, France to finalise ₹63,000-crore deal for 26 Rafale-M jets on April 28

India and France are set to formally announce the conclusion of the around ₹63,000-crore deal for 26 Rafale-M fighter jets on Monday (April 28, 2025), official sources confirmed. With the earlier planned visit of French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu to India for the signing deferred due to personal reasons, the government-to-government (G-to-G) deal is now being inked by the two Ministers remotely, sources in the know said.

Trump says ‘Crimea will stay with Russia’ as he seeks end to war in Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia," the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege.

NIA searches 18 locations in Pakistan-backed arms & drugs smuggling case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has carried out searches at 18 locations in five States and one Union Territory in a case linked to Pakistan-backed smuggling of arms and narcotics by “Khalistani” operatives.

191 Pakistani nationals return home through Attari-Wagah border in Punjab

A total of 191 Pakistani nationals visiting India returned home through the Attari-Wagah land route in Punjab's Amritsar on Friday, after the Centre set a 48-hour deadline for them to leave the country in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said.

Govt. revokes 14 categories of visas given to Pakistani nationals

The government has revoked 14 categories of visas, including business, conference, visitor and pilgrim, given to Pakistani nationals, following the terror attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 people were killed, the Union Home Ministry said on Friday.

Kasturirangan tapped space for the benefit of common man

Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, the former ISRO Chairman, is no more. Starting as an X-ray astronomer, he grew up in positions, and his scholastic services as well as accomplishments in the fields of science, technology and education have left an indelible mark.