Daily News Capsules
1. India plans Iran rescue ops; Tehran assures no executions of protesters
Indian authorities are making preparations for the possible evacuation of Indian nationals from Iran because of the evolving situation in the country amid apprehensions of US military intervention, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The Indian embassy in Tehran is currently focused on ascertaining the number of Indian nationals wishing to return but the internet shutdown imposed by Iranian authorities is proving a major hurdle in contacting citizens, the people said on condition of anonymity. There are some 10,000 Indians in Iran, including a large number of students. The students will be the focus of any evacuation effort, though it was not immediately clear when the first repatriation flight will be operated, the people said. The plans emerged hours after US President Donald Trump said he had been told the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted, but added that he would “watch it and see” about threatened military action. Reuters said four Arab states conducted intense diplomacy with the United States and Iran this week to prevent a threatened U.S. attack on Iran. However, on Thursday evening, the US imposed sanctions on five Iranian officials it accused of being behind the crackdown on protests and said it was tracking Iranian leaders’ funds being wired to international banks. Despite the apparent climbdown, Iran closed its airspace temporarily to most flights late on Wednesday, forcing airlines to cancel, reroute or delay some flights and raising concerns about military action. The people said the current exercise of reaching out to Indian students in different parts of Iran is largely being done physically as the internet remains suspended and telephone connectivity isn’t available everywhere. Officials are also contacting colleges and universities with sizeable numbers of Indian students to ascertain how many want to return. A semblance of normalcy has returned to Tehran and other cities that witnessed large protests since late December.
Possible Question
How does India conduct evacuation operations of its citizens from conflict zones abroad, and what diplomatic, logistical and international law challenges arise during such missions?
2. Kashmiri separatist Andrabi, 2 aides convicted in UAPA case
A Delhi court on Wednesday convicted Kashmiri separatist Asiya Andrabi and two others under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for hatching a conspiracy to wage war against the country and heading a terrorist organisation. Andrabi, founder of the banned all-women separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DEM), and her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen were arrested in 2018 on charges of running a terrorist organisation and using various media platforms to spread insurrectionary imputations and hate speeches that endanger the integrity, security and sovereignty of India. Hearing the matter on Wednesday, additional sessions judge Chanderjit Singh found them guilty of offences under UAPA sections 18 (punishment for conspiracy) and 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation). The three were also convicted under several penal sections pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups, imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration, conspiracy to wage war against the government and criminal conspiracy. All the three convicts were produced physically before Singh, now posted at the Karkardooma Court, amid tight security. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had lodged a case against Andrabi, her associates and their organisation, DEM, in April 2018 on the directions of the Union home ministry.They were formally charged by a special NIA judge of Patiala House Court in February 2021, following which they pleaded not guilty and were put on trial.
Possible Question
What are the key provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and how has the law shaped India’s counter-terrorism framework while raising concerns about civil liberties?
3. Top court holds colleges answerable for suicides
The Supreme Court on Thursday held higher educational institutions (HEIs) accountable for students’ mental well-being, making it mandatory to report every suicide or unnatural death and provide round-the-clock medical help on residential campuses, based on recommendations from an expert panel headed by a former SC judge. A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan adopted findings from the National Task Force (NTF), constituted by the court in March 2025 under retired justice Ravindra S Bhat’s chairmanship. The panel identified systemic changes to curb student suicides based on a survey of HEIs. NTF was formed after the court took suo motu cognisance of rising campus suicides and the lack of effective redressal mechanisms. While separate UGC guidelines exist on ragging, drug abuse, sexual harassment, accessibility, suicide prevention and mental health, the court noted they remain largely on paper —”prescriptive”, with no implementation mechanism. Using its Article 142 powers, which allow the court to pass any order in the interest of complete justice, the bench directed that Sample Registration System data on suicides be maintained by all HEIs for 15-29 age group. It also ordered the National Crime Records Bureau to distinguish between school student suicides and those in higher education. NTF’s interim report found that in the 15-29 age group, suicide is the highest cause of death among women and second highest in men. Though only 3.5% of 60,383 HEIs responded to the survey, the bench said: “The youth of this country are increasingly becoming vulnerable to suicides than the overall population.” The NTF found over 70% of HEIs had no medical service provider and less than 20% had external linkage for such cases. Among disadvantaged students admitted on scholarships, the NTF found many institutions refused exam access or class attendance because of delayed scholarship disbursements by states or the Centre. The court held: “No student should be prevented from appearing in an examination, removed from hostels, barred from attending classes, or have their marksheets and degrees withheld because of delays in disbursal of scholarships.”
Possible Question
What directions has the Supreme Court issued to higher educational institutions to address student suicides, and how do these orders expand institutional accountability using Article 142 of the Constitution?
4. Tiger case puts treaty claims in focus
The Supreme Court ruled that Tiger Global is liable to pay capital gains tax on its sale of Flipkart shares more than seven years ago, in a precedent-setting verdict for investors from countries with which India has tax treaties. A bench of justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan said the real control of Tiger Global’s Mauritian entities lay with its US parent, backing the tax department’s position. Once the mechanism of using Mauritian entities is found to be illegal or sham, it ceases to be “a permissible avoidance” and becomes “an impermissible avoidance” or “evasion”, the apex court ruled. In 2018, the Mauritian entities of Tiger Global sold shares of Flipkart Singapore (which owned Flipkart India) to Walmart for $1.6 billion. Tiger Global’s request for a tax exemption citing the Mauritius tax treaty was rejected by the tax department, but upheld by the Delhi High Court. Thursday’s SC ruling overturns the HC verdict, making Tiger liable to pay tax in India. The judgment potentially changes how India taxes foreign investors and how it reads its most important tax treaty, the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). Experts said that it may also prompt the tax department to scrutinise similar transactions closer. According to Gouri Puri, partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, it will impact all current and prior mergers and acquisitions where investors have claimed tax treaty benefits. “Private equity players and foreign portfolio investors need to look at their investment structures and rethink returns. Tax litigation around tax treaty claims may increase and impact the tax insurance market. “But the big takeaways are dilution of tax residency certificate, use of general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), and a key landmark in the evolution of India’s tax treaty jurisprudence,” she added.
Possible Question
How does the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Tiger Global case reinterpret the India– Mauritius DTAA, and what implications does it have for tax avoidance, GAAR, and foreign investment structures?
5. Pak, B’desh among 75 nations hit as US halts visa processing
The Trump administration on Wednesday announced pausing immigrant visa processing for individuals from 75 countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Russia, as part of increasing crackdown on foreigners likely to rely on public benefits in the US. “The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the State Department said in a post on X. “The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people. The pause impacts dozens of countries – including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea – whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival. We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused,” the State Department said. A report in the Fox News said that the pause will begin from January 21. The State Department memo, seen first by Fox News Digital, directs “consular officers to refuse visas under existing law while the department reassesses screening and vetting procedures”. The list of countries include Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Myanmar, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Possible Question
What is the US “public charge” doctrine in immigration policy, and how do visa restrictions based on welfare use affect migration patterns and diplomatic relations with affected countries?
Editorial Snapshots
A. Do not shoot the messenger
Danish shuttler and world number 3, Anders Antonsen, has served a wake-up call to Indian authorities about what the future could become if Delhi’s air pollution goes unchecked. Antonsen withdrew from the ongoing India Open after citing “extreme pollution” in the city. “I don’t think it is a place to host a badminton tournament,” Antonsen, a four-time World Championship medal-winner, said. Badminton federation officials can fret over the shuttler’s brutal but honest assessment of the city air and slap a $5,000 fine on him, but Antonsen is not the first to complain about the less-than-ideal conditions for playing sports in the national Capital, and he is unlikely to be the last. In December 2017, an India-Sri Lanka cricket Test in New Delhi was interrupted multiple times after Sri Lankan players complained about breathlessness due to pollution. An India versus South Africa T20 match scheduled on December 17 in Lucknow was abandoned due to smog. The Commission for Air Quality Management recently wrote to the Delhi and NCR state governments to halt outdoor physical sports activities in schools due to poor air quality. The fact is that winter in northern India has become synonymous with poor air, smog, low visibility, and pollution-related ailments. As per the Sameer app, between November 1, 2025 and January 14 2026, Delhi logged a total of 53 “very poor” air days, eight “severe” air days and 14 “poor” air days.The Supreme Court’s scathing remarks underline a public health emergency that city residents, having few other choices, are forced to bear with. It is preposterous to expect visitors to accept the situation as a fait accompli. Where does this leave Delhi and NCR? Antonsen’s action may have a cascading effect on Delhi’s sporting calendar: The city may lose out on marquee events until pollution subsides. Venues in southern, western, or eastern India, which offer relatively better air, especially in winter, could be asked to host them. (The Central Pollution Control Board in December found that seven of the 10 most polluted cities in India were located in NCR.) Pollution in Delhi has ceased to be a domestic issue; it now threatens India’s international reputation. And over time, it will reduce Delhi-NCR’s appeal as a place to live and work. Breathable air needs to be viewed through the prism of the right to life, and its absence considered as life-threatening. Maybe the people who run the Capital will listen to the voice of a visitor over that of long-suffering citizens.
Possible Question
How does severe air pollution in Delhi–NCR implicate the constitutional right to life under Article 21, and what governance failures have the courts repeatedly flagged in addressing it?
B. Ensuring effective RTE implementation
The Right to Education (RTE) Act provision of private, unaided schools needing to reserve 25% of seats in Class I for students belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) was borne of the realisation within policy circles of the many deficiencies of public education in India. The EWS quota was expected to harness private education in a manner where the poor benefitted while the schools were reimbursed by the government for costs incurred. In the 16 years since, however, the significantly low intake of EWS students relative to vacancies, despite a large population of eligible children, underscores a failure in the implementation of the provision. It is in this context that the Supreme Court has ordered the framing of binding rules on EWS admissions across states and Union Territories. But the challenge is also one of battling mindsets. Integration of EWS students has been a pressing issue among schools that have reluctantly implemented the provision. There are several reports of schools discouraging EWS students, through segregated seating in classrooms to separate shifts at inconvenient timings. Several other hurdles are also reported, from disputed documentation to reluctance on the part of schools due to delays in reimbursements from the government. All of this has been exacerbated by learning gaps within nominally integrated classrooms — fostering an “equal-but-separate” atmosphere. Eliminating EWS vacancies will need these issues to be addressed, but it can only play a supplementary role in bridging the accessibility gap. For a truly robust school ecosystem, public schools will need to get better in terms of quality of education and infrastructure — obviating the need for quotas in private schools.
Possible Question
Why has the 25% EWS reservation under the Right to Education Act faced persistent implementation challenges, and what institutional and fiscal reforms are needed to make it effective?
Fact of the day
Temp breaches 1.5°C threshold for 1st time 3 yrs in a row: Global temperatures from 2023 to 2025 averaged more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, marking the first three-year period which has exceeded the threshold, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Wednesday. Last year was the third warmest year on record, only marginally (0.01°C) cooler than 2023, and 0.13°C cooler than 2024 , the warmest year on record, C3S added. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed that 2025 was one of the three warmest years on record, continuing the streak of extraordinary global temperatures. The past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record, it said, adding that ocean temperatures were among the highest last year. Berkeley Earth, which focuses on land temperature data analysis has warned that the warming spike in 2023 to 2025 appears to have deviated significantly from the previous largely linear trend. “Since 1970, global warming has proceeded at a roughly linear pace. This roughly linear pace has been consistent in both rate and magnitude with the expected effects of increasing greenhouse gases during this period,” it said. “But the warming spike in 2023 to 2025 appears to have deviated significantly from the previous trend,” it said on Wednesday. The Berkeley Earth analysis has indicated that changes in low cloud cover and reductions in man-made aerosol pollution may be responsible for additional recent warming. In 2025, air temperature over global land areas was second warmest, whilst the Antarctic saw its warmest annual temperatures on record and the Arctic its second warmest, C3S said. The last three years were exceptionally warm for two main reasons, scientists said. “The first is the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, from continued emissions and reduced uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) by natural sinks. Secondly, sea-surface temperatures reached exceptionally high levels across the ocean, associated with an El Nino event and other ocean variability factors, amplified by climate change. Additional factors include changes in the amounts of aerosols and low cloud and variations in atmospheric circulation,” C3S said.
