Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said on Friday that there have been several instances of Hindu temples being defaced with anti-India graffiti in the US. “…such cases are being investigated as hate crimes,” the minister told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Friday.

Kirti Vardhan Singh all incidents of attack and desecration of temples and places of worship in the US are immediately taken up with the US government through diplomatic channels.

“The respective temple management authorities and the community associations have also registered complaints with the local law enforcement authorities and have called for proper investigations, and stringent action against those responsible for these acts, and for providing the places of worship with adequate safety and security arrangements,” Kirti Vardhan Singh said.

The minister’s reply stated, “The law enforcement authorities have conveyed that such cases are being investigated as hate crimes. Members of the US Congress have also urged the concerned agencies to come up with a broader strategy to counter hate crimes targeting Hindus in the United States.”

Hate crime not limited to US

Incidents of defacement of Hindu temples have also been reported in Canada and Bangladesh.

India earlier expressed deep concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Bangladesh, particularly regarding the safety of minorities.

Between August 2024 and February 2025, over 2,374 incidents were reported, but the police verified only 1,254 of them, with 98 per cent deemed “political in nature”.

In November 2024, an Indian consular camp at the Hindu Sabha Temple in Canada’s Brampton witnessed a “violent disruption” on Sunday in Brampton, near Toronto. The incident sparked widespread criticism in and outside Canada.

India has repeatedly expressed its deep concern about extremism and the culture of violence and anti-India activities in Canada and has asked Canadian authorities to take action against these activities.

With a view to strengthen parent-child-school partnerships across India, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has designed a parenting calendar that proposes a series of orientations and initiatives to provide holistic support to students and parents, aligning with the National Education Policy, 2020. The calendar was designed based on a survey of parents across the country. 

The survey conducted by the CBSE garnered responses from 13,000 parents across India, including from Delhi, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Ladakh and Manipur, with 69.6% of the respondents being mothers, 28.2% being fathers and 2.1% guardians. 

Also read: Vulnerable students and India’s need for an inclusive academic system 

The survey indicated that while the parents felt confident in managing their children’s education and behaviour, many still required structured guidance, resources, and support from schools. Strengthening parent-school collaboration through workshops, teacher engagement, and accessible parenting resources can bridge the existing gaps, ensuring a more holistic approach to child development, it said. 

According to the survey, 19.7% of parents, or around one in five, indicated that they were still navigating challenges of parenting; 43.5% believed they fully understood the impact of their parenting choices on their child’s growth; 36.8% expressed a desire to learn more; 12.3% said they sought guidance to help their child build social skills and relationships; 10.9% sought help in managing their own emotions and their children, and 11% said they sought help in setting rules, boundaries and encouraging the child.

Also read: How to make India a global study destination

Other areas of concern where parents sought guidance were guiding the child with patience and positive feedback (12.1%), communicating effectively with children (11.1%), guiding their child with patience and positive feedback (7.5%), saying no respectfully without causing conflict (9.5%), supporting academic learning (13.7%), and time management as well as study habits (11.8%). 

While 54.4% of parents felt confident in managing behavioural issues, 40.1% struggled at times, and 5.5% required more support. Similarly, in academics, 53.5% of parents felt assured, while 40.9% reported occasional difficulties, and 5.6% needed additional help. 

In terms of school support, 49% of parents believed that schools provided adequate assistance in aligning parenting with education. However, 29.5% felt that more support was needed. Regarding communication with teachers, 72% of parents felt comfortable discussing their child’s emotional and social needs, though 3.8% felt hesitant. 

When asked how they would like to enhance parent-school collaboration, parents expressed a preference for workshops and training programs (32.6%), regular parent-teacher communication (21.4%), and personalised guidance along with after-school activities (17.4%).

Parents had clear expectations from parenting programmes, with 26.5% hoping for improved behaviour and emotional well-being, 25.2% expecting better academic performance, and another 25.2% seeking stronger parent-child communication. Additionally, 73.7% of parents believed that Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) could play a more active role in supporting parenting needs. 

The calendar proposes scheduled parent-teacher interactions at key academic and development milestones of student to discuss their progress, challenges and achievements. These include parenting workshops focusing on self-care, behaviour management, cognitive development and foundational learning skills in early childhood. It also has advice on addressing separation anxiety, managing screen time, and understanding the child’s emotional needs. In kindergarten, the calendar proposes teaching emotional regulation, raising happy children, resilience, and managing tantrums with positive strategies. In Grades 1 and 2, it aims to guide parents to have a literary-rich home, develop story telling habits, teach co-operation, empathy, conflict resolution and setting boundaries. 

From Grades 3 to 5, parents should focus on enhancing logical reasoning, decision-making skills, online safety, and self-discipline and from Grades 6 to 8, they should be guided on navigating hormonal and emotional shifts in adolescence, addressing social influence, cyber bullying and so on. Suggestions for Grades 9 to 12 deal with managing campus stress, handling distractions, discussing relationships, consent and safety, career road map and so on. 

Earthquake today LIVE: Another quake hits Myanmar amid rescue efforts, with a magnitude of 4.2

Across the border in Thailand, eight people were confirmed dead in the collapse of a skyscraper, with 70 more missing and believed trapped in the twisted metal and rubble of the under-construction building.

The Myanmar earthquake’s epicenter was located 16 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of the city of Sagaing, at a depth of 10 kilometers, around 12:50 pm local time (0620 GMT), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Myanmar earthquake | Key points

– Tremors were also felt throughout northern Thailand and down to Bangkok, where residents fled to the streets as buildings shook. Visuals shared on social media showed a building collapse in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district.

– Due to the tremors, some metro and light rail services were suspended in Thailand’s Bangkok. Jolts of the Myanmar earthquake were also felt in Vietnam.

– Tremors were also felt in China’s southwest Yunnan province, with Beijing’s quake agency reporting the jolt as a 7.9 magnitude earthquake.

– Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where between 1930 and 1956, six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or higher struck near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the center of the country, according to the USGS.

– Mild tremors were felt in West Bengal’s Kolkata and Manipur’s Imphal as well after the powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar. According to official sources cited by news agency PTI, there have been no reports of damage to property or loss of life in the city due to the tremor.

Vijayawada: Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday reiterated that the state govt will set up a ‘Quantum Valley’ in Amaravati and is actively collaborating with key stakeholders including IIT-Madras, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and the dept of science and technology (Govt of India) to advance deep technology.
Naidu, who was one of the spotlight speakers at the prestigious four-day research scholars’ summit at IIT-Madras, highlighted how Indians are dominating Silicon Valley, NASA, and Wall Street, and predicted that by 2047 Indians would be the “most influential community worldwide”.
Stressing on the importance of AI adoption, he noted that 65% of Indians use AI compared to 30% globally. He urged students to apply AI for real-time decision-making and in emerging technologies like quantum computing.
The chief minister mentioned Google’s upcoming data centre in Andhra Pradesh and the sea cable from Singapore to Visakhapatnam to enhance global digital links. He also addressed demographic trends, highlighting the declining fertility rates in South India and the need for stable population growth and skilled migration.
Speaking on AP’s leadership in green energy, with solar power now costing Rs 2 per unit as he had anticipated, he said India aims to produce 500 GW of green energy within five years, with 160 GW coming from AP.
“My state is set to receive Rs 10 lakh crore in green energy investments, creating 7.5 lakh jobs. NTPC is setting up a green hydrogen unit, and Reliance is investing in bioenergy projects. We are going to install rooftop solar panels in 2 million houses over the next two years,” said Naidu.
Stressing on the importance of stable policies, he warned against the negative consequences of policy instability in other countries. He also emphasised on the need for public-private collaboration in education and called for greater philanthropic contributions. He stated that Andhra Pradesh’s IT policy has been a game-changer, proving that policymakers and technocrats must work together.
He assured students and entrepreneurs that AP is ready to support innovative businesses with proof-of-concept opportunities. He reiterated his optimism about India’s future, underscoring that the right leadership and technological advancements will drive the country toward double-digit economic growth and global leadership by 2047.
Highlighting India’s digital revolution, he cited Aadhaar and UPI as examples of successful innovations. He noted that India achieved 1,673 crore UPI transactions by Dec 2024, with an annual value exceeding $2.4 trillion. He projected India’s rapid economic growth from the world’s fifth-largest economy in 2021 to potentially reaching first or second place by 2047.
IIT-Madras director, Prof V Kamakoti, introduced chief minister Naidu at the summit as “the visionary leader behind Cyberabad’s transformation”.
The four-day event is dedicated to research collaborations, industry engagement, and academic excellence.

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) India has proposed imposing retaliatory duties under WTO norms on certain goods imported from the EU, as the two sides have failed to reach a consensus on the European Union’s restrictive safeguard measures on certain steel products.

In a communication to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dated March 27, India said it “reserves the right to suspend substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations” under a provision of the Agreement on Safeguards, on the EU’s trade.

The EU’s measure has caused an annual trade loss of USD 1.472 billion (2023-2024) to India on which the duty collection (at 25 per cent duty) would be USD 368 million.

“The measure has caused a cumulative trade loss of USD 6.92 billion to India since 18 July 2018, on which duty collection would be USD 1.73 billion,” the communication said.

India and the EU held consultations on March 19, 2025, in online mode on the European Union’s move.

“India and the EU exchanged views on the measure. The EU and India could not reach an agreement on maintaining substantially equivalent concessions, or, on trade compensation,” it said.

The consultations were held regarding the EU’s safeguard measures on certain steel products.

Earlier, the EU extended safeguard duties on imports of certain steel product categories with an out-of-quota duty of 25 per cent, for another two years till 2026. This was the second extension of the safeguards that take the form of the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), first imposed in 2018. It was later extended till June 2024 and then till June 2026.

Now, they have again made it more restrictive after the imposition of an additional duty of 25 per cent by the US in steel and aluminium, a trade expert said.

India is one of the countries affected by this measure as it has a substantial interest in steel exports to the EU.

In 2023-24, India’s iron and steel and their products exports to the EU increased to USD 6.64 billion from USD 6.1 billion in 2022-23.

India has substantial interest as an exporter of the products concerned and the EU’s measure is inconsistent with global trade rules.

The WTO is a Geneva-based, 166-member global body which frames rules and norms for exports and imports and adjudicates trade disputes among member countries.

India is negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU to boost trade and investment ties.

India’s exports to the EU rose by 1.5 per cent to USD 76 billion in 2023-24, while imports dipped by about 3 per cent to USD 59.38 billion in 2023-24.

Soil liquefaction when soil loses its characteristics and behaves like thick liquid was also one of the reasons for damage, O P Mishra, the head of the National Centre for Seismology , said.

Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, which is over a thousand kilometres from the epicentre in Mandalay, Myanmar, suffered significant damage as the rupture’s direction was toward it, he said.

The NCS said that seven aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 3.5 to 7, followed the main earthquake of magnitude 7.5, which struck Mandalay around 11:50 am .

Northeast India also felt the main earthquake and its aftershocks.

The agency said the earthquake was caused by the Sagaing Fault, a major fault line located 1,200 km east of the Indo-Burma subduction zone. The energy from the earthquake spread toward Bangkok, Thailand.

Another major reason for the damage was that the earthquake’s shaking frequency matched the natural vibration of buildings, making them more vulnerable, the NCS said.

“The rupture direction is towards Bangkok, Thailand, causing severe damage to structures in the region due to liquefactions and matching of earthquake shaking frequency with the spectral frequency of the structures,” it said.

A strong aftershock of magnitude 7 occurred just 12 minutes later, about 90 km southwest of the first earthquake, the NCS said.

It said the region has experienced major earthquakes in the past, including a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in 1912 and a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in 1956.

Media reports said the earthquake killed at least three people in Bangkok and buried dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed.

Myanmar’s military-run government declared a state of emergency in six regions and states, including the capital Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay, the reports said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

In a pointed attack on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Home Minister Amit Shah has held Trinamool Congress government responsible for the influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh. In Parliament, while speaking on the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, Shah alleged that infiltrators from Bangladesh enter West Bengal, get their Aadhar card and Voter I-card made, and then go to Delhi and other cities of India. Amit Shah said, India is not a ‘dharmshala’ where anybody can enter.  “75 per cent of fencing of India-Bangladesh border is complete, but work on the remaining 25 per cent is not progressing because West Bengal government is not providing land for constructing the fence”, Shah alleged. Shah also attacked Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin on the issue of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka. Shah said, the Centre is following the same policy that was being pursued by the previous UPA government. The question is not about Tamil refugees or Bangladeshi infiltrators. Illegal immigration has now become a global issue. US President Donald Trump had made it a big issue in the presidential election and now his administration is deporting all illegal immigrants from America. In India, laws against illegal immigrants were made before Independence and they are still in force. Matters relating to foreigners and immigration are presently administered through four legislations:  Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920; the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; the Foreigners Act, 1946; and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000. All these old laws are now sought to be repealed through this Bill. If this Bill is enacted, it will be difficult for any foreigner to settle in India illegally. The new law will make it easier to deport illegal migrants and naturally, Mamata Banerjee will not be happy. The punishment proposed is severe. Illegal migrants will have to undergo imprisonment up to two years and this may extend to seven years. They may have to pay fines ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakhs.

At the same time, Amit Shah has tried to settle scores with Mamata Banerjee by telling people how illegal migrants get their Aadhar and Voter I-cards made.

Political game in the name of Waqf Bill protest

 Muslims in several cities of India wore black arm bands while offering Alvida Namaaz marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan. All India Muslim Personal Law Board had appealed to Muslims to wear black arm bands during namaaz as a mark of protest against Waqf Amendment Bill. Meanwhile, Muslims organizations boycotted iftar parties hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu. AIMPLB, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and Jamaat-e-Islami will be holding anti-Waqf Bill protest in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. In Chennai, ruling DMK-led alliance got a resolution passed in state assembly opposing the Bill. Muslim organizations and Islamic clerics have made the Waqf issue a matter of show of strength. They are unwilling to debate the pros and cons of this Bill and are trying to create fear in the minds of Muslims by saying that the government would take control of mosques and graveyards by getting this Bill passed. Those who have framed this Bill say there is no such provision in the Bill. On the political side, Muslims leaders are trying to intimidate Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. The matter has now become political and parties indulging in Muslim vote bank politics are pouring oil on fire. One point to note, Islamic clerics have so far failed to get poorer sections of Muslims to come out and protest against the  Bill.

People’s trust in judiciary must remain intact, come what may

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking registration of FIR in the matter of recovery of huge pile of cash from the official residence of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma. The apex court bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, said, the PIL was ‘premature’, and the court said, it cannot interfere at this stage. The apex court further said, “If the in-house inquiry panel finds the HC judge guilty, the Chief Justice of India will have the option of directing registration of FIR or refer matter to Parliament. Today is not the time to consider it.” Meanwhile, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Thursday assured lawyers that he would consider the demand for withdrawing the recommendation to transfer Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma to the Allahabad High Court. Representatives of six high court bar associations, including Allahabad High Court Bar Association (AHCBA) president Anil Tiwari, met the CJI and four collegium members, Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath. The CJI said, in any case, Justice Varma would not be discharging any judicial function at the Allahabad High Court as well.  On Thursday, the SC-appointed inhouse inquiry panel of three judges recorded the statement of Delhi Fire Service chief. On instructions from the inquiry panel, mobile phones of eight policemen from Tughlak Road police station, including its SHO, who were present on the day of fire incident have been seized for forensic checks. Meanwhile, Justice Varma’s legal team appeared before the inhouse inquiry panel to put forth the views of the judge. It seems the Supreme Court collegium is walking on a thin razor’s edge while handling this case. On one hand, it has to ensure that the trust of people in judiciary remains intact and for this, a free and fair probe is necessary. Secondly, there is the challenge of maintaining the independence of judiciary. That is why, the probe cannot be handed over to any other investigating agency. Thirdly, there is political pressure. It was said in Parliament on Thursday why the matter should not be handed over to the Lokpal? One Congress leader asked the Law Minister to give a statement in Parliament. There is also talk of reviving the NJAC Bill, in a new format. Another challenge is about the situation evolving in Allahabad High Court, where the Bar Association members have gone on strike. The arguments given by this Bar Association appear to be justified. The Association is asking why a judge, facing allegations, should be repatriated to his parent court? For the Supreme Court, to maintain a balance amidst all such pressures is a difficult job. I believe, come what may, people’s trust in the judiciary must remain intact. The trust in the judicial system must not end because of a single judge.

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