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deportation of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and professor at Brown University’s medical school, has sparked concerns about the treatment of H-1B visa holders under the Trump administration. Despite holding a valid H-1B visa and a federal court order temporarily blocking her removal, Alawieh was deported, raising questions about the future of employment-based visas in the United States. Dr. Alawieh, a Lebanese citizen, was detained at Boston Logan International Airport after returning from a family visit to Lebanon. She was held for 36 hours before being put on a flight to Paris, even though US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had been ordered to give 48 hours' notice before any such action. CBP has not provided an explanation for why the court order was disregarded. Legal representatives for Dr. Alawieh and her cousin, Yara Chehab, have filed cases against senior Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seeking answers on whether her deportation signals a policy shift against H-1B visa holders.

Destiny Church, to violate teenage boys has been convicted and jailed for his despicable acts. The 29-year-old Kiwa Hemi Tamati Edward Hamiora-Te Hira had in December 2024 pleaded guilty to the charges of sexual offences and was on Monday (March 17) sentenced to six years and four months in prison by the Manukau District Court. While reading out the sentence to Hamiora-Te Hira, Judge Clare Bennett observed that his victims were aged between 13 and 24 years. They had come to the convict, who was a member of the Destiny Church, for counselling where he won their trust and then went on to sexually abuse them, the judge noted. The convict was working with Boys2Men and Youth Nation when he met his victims who were young boys then. Hamiora-Te Hira was found guilty after many of his victims described the details of what transpired between them. One of the victims described Hamiora-Te Hira as a «brother and a father figure», outlining the deep faith and trust they had placed on the perpetrator. «He was like a brother… father figure to me. I have flashbacks and nightmares about what happened,» stated the victim. Judge Bennett pointed out that Hamiora-Te Hira was “persistent and pernicious” in his predatory behaviour.

Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members, officials said Sunday. Flights were in the air at the time of the ruling. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday temporarily blocking the deportations, but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air — one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement Sunday, responded to speculation about whether the administration was flouting court orders: «The administration did not 'refuse to comply' with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory.» The acronym refers to the Tren de Aragua gang, which Trump targeted in his unusual proclamation that was released Saturday In a court filing Sunday, the Department of Justice, which has appealed Boasberg's decision, said it would not use the Trump proclamation he blocked for further deportations if his decision is not overturned.

CBI court has set a fresh eight-day deadline for the accused, booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the IRCTC hotels case, to conclude their counter arguments on framing of charges against them. Last month, the court had set a six-day deadline to conclude arguments on framing of charges against former Union railways minister Lalu Prasad, wife Rabri Devi, son and Bihar's former deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and others booked by CBI in the IRCTC hotels case. However, the same could not be concluded.

EPIC — from commitments made in court to the legal amendments required and the political opposition that is bound to follow. First is the question of the 66.23 crore Aadhaar numbers already collected by the poll panel until 2023. Shared voluntarily by EPIC holders, the 12-digit Aadhaar numbers have been «seeded» against Voter ID cards but the two databases have not been linked till date.

Venezuelan gang to be imprisoned in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele said Sunday, after US counterpart Donald Trump invoked wartime authorities to expel migrants. Trump signed an order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on Friday, but it was not publicly announced until Saturday. The wartime authority allows a president to detain or deport citizens of an enemy nation, but has been invoked only three times before during major international conflicts. Civil rights groups sued to block the order, with a federal judge Saturday granting a temporary suspension of the order, apparently as planes were already headed to El Salvador. «Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country,» Bukele said on X. Bukele, in a meeting last month with US secretary of state Marco Rubio, had offered to house prisoners from the US in his country. He said in his post that the alleged gang members had been sent to the country's maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center. The detention and expulsion order will apply to all Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members who are over 14 and not naturalized US citizens or lawful permanent residents.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Trump administration is seeking to deport Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student arrested last week after his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, under a seldom-used provision of immigration law. Khalil, a 30-year-old lawful permanent resident, is awaiting his fate in a federal Louisiana immigration detention facility after being arrested in New York on Saturday.

Wherever the Congress comes to power, it tries to strangle the basic spirit of the Constitution, he alleged. The Siddaramaiah government has given its nod for amending the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act to provide four per cent reservation in government tenders to Muslim contractors. Sai said, «The decision is a well-planned conspiracy of the Congress to spread animosity in the society. The courts have already declared religion-based reservation unconstitutional, so this decision too will not stand before judicial review. The Congress is playing with the rights of the deprived sections just for vote bank politics.» The injustice to tribals, Dalits and deprived sections of the society will not be tolerated, the BJP leader said.

Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal began on Sunday morning, an advocate of the mosque side said. The Allahabad High Court on March 12 directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to undertake and complete the whitewashing at the mosque within one week.

Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations under Trump's order. The act is a sweeping wartime authority that allows non-citizens to be deported without being given the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge. ALSO READ: Trump invokes the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act

Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, claiming the United States was being invaded by a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua. This rarely used war-time law grants the president broad powers to expedite mass deportations, potentially advancing Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown. Trump asserted that Tren de Aragua was acting on behalf of Venezuela's government, describing the gang as a hostile force that poses a serious threat to the United States. «Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organisations, including TdA,» Trump's statement read. «The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States.» Hours after Trump’s proclamation, US District Court Chief Judge James E. Boasberg issued an emergency order blocking deportations under the 18th-century law. Boasberg intervened after reports emerged that the government had already begun flying deportees to El Salvador and Honduras for detention.

This comes amid a heightened political debate, particularly after the Trinamool Congress raised concerns about duplicate EPIC entries in West Bengal. The EC has already announced plans to eliminate duplicate voter entries within three months. However, the move to link Aadhaar with EPIC is a significant and likely contentious step forward. Currently, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, allows electoral officers to request voters' Aadhaar numbers, but it remains voluntary and is complicated by legal and privacy concerns. The EC has successfully entered a significant number of Aadhaar numbers into its database voluntarily but has been unable to fully integrate the two systems due to privacy concerns. Despite this, the EC has consistently advocated for Aadhaar seeding as a tool to prevent duplication in the electoral roll. In 2017, the EC even filed an application in the Supreme Court to continue linking Aadhaar with voter IDs, emphasizing its role in ensuring a clean and accurate electoral roll.

Following the offer on Friday, Israel said the Palestinian militants had «not budged a millimetre» after a proposal from US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy. The first phase of the truce, which began in January, ended on March 1 without agreement on next steps. A Hamas official said negotiations began in Doha on Tuesday. «The ball is in Israel's court,» a Hamas spokesman said. «We want to solidify the ceasefire agreement and force (Israel) to implement its terms,» Abdul Latif al-Qanou told AFP, accusing Israel of «delaying» its enforcement.

Bombay High Court has upheld the mandatory use of FASTag, the electronic toll collection system, and the imposition of double toll fees for vehicles without it. The court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pune resident Arjun Khanapure, challenging the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) directive, which mandates that vehicles without FASTags pay twice the regular toll fees. Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Bharati Dangre, in their ruling on Thursday, emphasized that the implementation of FASTag is a well-considered policy decision aimed at ensuring efficient and smooth road travel. «The system of FASTag, introduced in 2014, is here to stay,» the judges remarked, stating that there was no legal basis to intervene in the Centre's policy, which is being carried out by NHAI. Khanapure had filed the PIL after NHAI's circular in February 2021, which made it mandatory for all vehicles to use FASTag to pass through toll plazas. He had urged the court to keep at least one toll lane for hybrid payment options, such as cash.

Lakhimpur Superintendent of Police Mihirjit Gayan told PTI that Singh was arrested after a complaint by the wife of BJP MLA Manab Deka for a post on X two days ago. «We have arrested him under relevant sections of law. He is being brought to Lakhimpur now,» he added. Singh made a post on X on March 13 with a news report about three individuals being convicted by a court for a rape case in the Dhemaji district in 2021. «These culprits got the punishment they deserved. But what @BJP4Assam r@pe accused Ministers and MLAs like Manab Deka, Ex Party President Bhabesh Kalita, ex Minister Rajen Gohain? Is the law equal for all?» the Congress leader had asked in his post. Live EventsKalita, who was the BJP Assam president till January this year, is an MLA with Deka, while Gohain was the Union Minister of State for Railways during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term. During the arrest of the Congress leader, a lot of drama unfolded at the apartment of the accused in the Ulubari area, with Singh initially clai

This troubling development comes despite legislative mandates designed to expedite trials, primarily due to the absence of sufficient dedicated courts to handle such cases. The alarming statistics were revealed in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by city-based activist Vihar Durve on February 6, 2025, requesting details on the pendency of POCSO-related cases in the state. A reply provided by the Bombay High Court’s Public Information Officer on March 4 disclosed that the number of pending cases rose from 32,988 at the beginning of 2023 to 41,977 by January 31, 2025. This increase occurred even as laws stipulate the fast-tracking of cases involving child victims. The backlog has been growing significantly each year. In 2024 alone, 12,838 new cases were registered, while only 7,942 were resolved, contributing nearly 5,000 additional cases to the pile. The pendency rate has risen by 11.2% in 2023 and 13.3% in 2024, with 405 new cases added to the backlog in the first month of 2025 alone.

Centre for Public Interest Litigation, also sought direction of the court mandating that the CAG shall be appointed by the President in consultation with an independent and neutral selection committee comprising of the prime minister, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and the Chief Justice of India and in a transparent manner. It said that the direction for appointment of CAG should be similar to the appointment of other bodies including Information Commissions and the Central Vigilance Commission. The PIL will be taken up for hearing on Monday by a bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh. The plea filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan contended that the present mode of appointment of the CAG, which is done solely by the executive i.e. by the prime minister who handpicks any individual and recommends his name to the President for appointment, is unconstitutional as it is violative of Article 14 and several basic features of the Constitution. «The appointment of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India solely by the executive and the Prime Minister of India undermines the independence of the office of the CAG, suffers from grave conflict of interest and thereby is detrimental to good governance and democracy in India. It is also manifestly arbitrary, detrimental to institutional integrity and violates several basic features of the constitution,» the plea said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In August 2024, Madhabi Puri Buch, then-chairperson of India’s market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), was on a long-overdue vacation in Turkey when a crisis erupted. Hindenburg Research, the now-defunct US short seller, alleged that Sebi’s probe into its January 2023 reporton the Adani Group was compromised.

I rarely get any physical mail anymore. In fact, if it weren’t for my weekly New Yorker magazine subscription, my mail carrier would have no reason to visit my front stoop. Over a decade ago, I switched all my bills (hydro, natural gas, home internet, credit cards, etc.) to email delivery, and this includes most tax slips, as well as correspondence from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee was granted permission by a special court to be an approver in the school jobs scam, ED sources said. His son-in-law Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya was also named as an accused beneficiary in the case. Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in 2022 for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore primary teacher recruitment scam. His close associate Arpita Mukherjee was also arrested at that time. «Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya wanted to turn an approver in the case. He approached the special ED court in this regard, and it granted him permission,» a source said. Bhattacharya is likely to give a confidential statement before a magistrate, the source said. The officials of the Enforcement Directorate have interrogated Bhattacharya and in one of its supplementary charge sheets, his name was found to be an accused beneficiary.