Stampedes, war, plane crash, and floods: India's 2025 mid-year report paints a tragic picture
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Stampedes kill scores at religious and public events
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India-Pakistan tensions
Air India flight crash
Floods and landslides
India has witnessed one of the most difficult six-month periods in recent memory. A series of deadly stampedes, an aviation disaster, military confrontation with Pakistan, and widespread flooding have left hundreds dead and many more injured or displaced. As the country steps into the second half of 2025, it carries the weight of these crises while bracing for what may come next. Kumbh Stampede : The year began with a tragedy at one of India's largest religious gatherings. On January 29, a stampede during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj killed 30 people and injured 60. The incident occurred around 2 am when large crowds were gathering at the Sangam. According to police, barricades placed at the ghats broke, causing people to step on devotees who were resting on the ground.Just weeks later, on February 15, 18 people were killed and 15 injured in a stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. The victims, mostly pilgrims heading to Prayagraj, were caught in chaos on platforms 12, 13, and 14. Delhi Police attributed the panic to delays and confusion between the Prayagraj Express and the Prayagraj Special trains amid overcrowding.On June 4, celebrations turned tragic in Bengaluru. After Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their first IPL title, massive crowds gathered near the Chinnaswamy Stadium. A stampede occurred, killing 11 people and injuring 33 as lakhs of fans crowded the streets.Less than a month later, another stampede struck during the Rath Yatra in Puri on June 29. Three people died and more than 50 were injured. The incident raised new concerns about public safety at major events, especially after the Bengaluru tragedy.On April 22, 2025, five militants from The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, opened fire in the Baisaran meadows near Pahalgam tourist spot. They targeted 26 civilians, mostly Hindu tourists, and 20 others were injured. The attackers used AK-47s and M4 carbines, reportedly questioning victims' religion before executing them. One local Muslim pony operator was also killed as he tried to interveneIn May, relations between India and Pakistan reached a critical point. A terror attack in Pahalgam prompted India to launch airstrikes on May 7. The operation targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. According to government sources, over 100 militants were killed.Pakistan responded by launching drones and missiles on Indian cities in Punjab and Rajasthan. The exchange escalated into a four-day conflict, resulting in casualties and infrastructure damage on both sides. A ceasefire was reached on May 11, but tensions continue to simmer.On March 22, Air India flight AI 171 crashed minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down in a residential area, hitting two buildings. The crash killed all 242 passengers and crew on board. It marked India's worst aviation accident in over a decade.Severe monsoon rains caused widespread flooding in northeastern India starting in late May. According to Sphere India, at least 47 people died due to floods and landslides — 17 in Assam, 12 in Arunachal Pradesh, six each in Meghalaya and Mizoram, three in Sikkim, two in Tripura, and one in Nagaland.In Assam alone, more than four lakh people across 15 districts were affected, as per the state's disaster management authority. In Manipur, flash floods displaced over 56,000 people due to overflowing rivers and breached embankments.Meanwhile, from June 22 to 29, Himachal Pradesh saw flash floods that killed 17 people and caused heavy damage to roads and bridges. Early estimates by the state's Public Works Department placed the damage at Rs 300 crore. Northern states, including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, continue to experience the impact of ongoing rains.
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Indian Express
31 minutes ago
- Indian Express
From RG Kar to law college rape case, crisis in Trinamool deepens as Opposition turns up heat
On June 25, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in Digha to oversee preparations for the first Rath Yatra at the newly built Jagannath temple in the seaside town. On the same day, a 24-year-old student was allegedly raped at a Kolkata law college – barely 10 months after the rape- murder of a junior doctor at the city's R G Kar Medical College and Hospital sparked widespread protests and cornered the Trinamool Congress-led government. The TMC has now again found itself on the back foot after the Kolkata Police arrested four men in the law college rape case, including Manojit Misra, former leader of the TMC's student wing Trinamool Chhatra Parishad. After the rape-murder at R G Kar in August 2024, major protests had broken out across Bengal, which were led by members of the medical community. Under pressure and after a series of meetings with agitating doctors, Mamata was forced to accept their demands, including the transfer of Kolkata Police and state health department officials. Now, just ahead of the anniversary of the R G Kar outrage, the law college rape case has come as another jolt for the TMC. The main accused Misra, who was also a contractual staffer at the college, is a former Trinamool Chhatra Parishad general secretary in South Kolkata. He has at least five previous cases pending against him, including for attempt to murder, sexual assault and extortion, prompting questions from the Opposition on why no police action was taken against him earlier. However, within hours of the college rape case coming to light, the TMC jumped to distance itself from the main accused as it faced attacks from the Opposition. Trinamool Chhatra Parishad state president Trinankur Bhattacharya said, 'We are not denying he was with the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad in the past. For the last few years, the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad does not have any unit in the college (where the rape occurred). He was one of the organisational secretaries. There are 80-100 people in that post across all the districts. In 2022, a new committee was formed and he was not included in the committee.' TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, 'We are not defending the incident. But the BJP and the CPI(M) have no right to speak on this issue. Their hands are full with such crimes.' The TMC, though, continues to face backlash from the R G Kar case – in which the CBI arrested only the main accused Sanjay Ray and ruled out the involvement of others including senior hospital staff. The victim's father has been upset with the CBI enquiry for 'failing' to investigate the 'larger conspiracy' behind her rape-murder. The TMC leadership however does not believe that the party would face the same level of backlash in the college rape case as in the R G Kar matter. 'In the R G Kar rape-murder case, police had not acted properly and the administration had many faults. But in this case, the police swiftly acted and arrested all the culprits. So, it is not like the R G Kar case. In this case, the main accused tarnished our party's image though. We have to overcome that,' a senior TMC leader said. But against this backdrop, the TMC has drawn more flak following controversial remarks made by veteran party MLA Madan Mitra and its Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee. In his reaction to the college rape case, Kalyan said, 'If a friend rapes a friend, how can you ensure security? Will the police be there in schools? This was done by students to another student. Who will protect (the victim)?' Mitra further stoked controversy, saying that 'This incident has sent a message to girls that if someone calls you when the college is closed, don't go, nothing good will come of it. If that girl had not gone there, this incident wouldn't have happened.' While Mitra has been issued a show-cause notice by the TMC following his comments, the party has also 'dissociated' itself from both the leaders' remarks, which it said were made in their 'personal capacities'. Late on Monday, Mitra issued an apology in his reply to the show-cause notice. After TMC MP Mahua Moitra castigated both Kalyan and Mitra, accusing them of 'misogyny', Kalyan shot back, saying Moitra is 'anti-women' and had 'broken up a family of 40 years and married a 65-year-old guy'. TMC insiders said party supremo Mamata Banerjee is 'displeased' with such statements by senior leaders, particularly at a time of crisis. 'Madan and other leaders are being warned against causing the (college rape case) crisis to deepen by making such loose comments, that too a month before the first anniversary of the R G Kar rape-murder,' a senior minister said. But after taking on the TMC over the R G Kar row, the Opposition parties have also seized on the fresh case to gun for Mamata. The BJP has constituted a four-member fact-finding team on the law college rape case. The team, formed on the directive of BJP national president J P Nadda, arrived in Kolkata Monday. It includes Rajya Sabha MP and former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb, former Union Minister Satyapal Singh, ex-Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi, and Rajya Sabha MP Manan Kumar Mishra. 'The CM (Mamata) sends delegations to Hathras and Pahalgham, but when the Opposition comes to Bengal, they are stopped. Women are not safe here, not even law students,' Deb alleged. Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Indians, Japanese come together to celebrate festival
1 2 Bhubaneswar: Rath Yatra turned into a platform of bilateral bonhomie in Japan, with Japanese playing a key role in the preparations and execution of the festival. At Kasugai in Aichi prefecture, nearly 50% of the organising committee members were Japanese, who worked along with Odias in the run-up to the festival. "They were to fill up forms in Japanese for the venue, Fukushi No Sato (Rainbow Plaza), assembling the chariot during the June 22 workshop at Daisenjicho community hall, finding the place to cook 'prasad' as well as getting insurance," said Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, vice-chairman of Kasugai Rath Yatra organising committee. Japanese people helped in bringing the chariot to the venue, decorating it, managing the guests and contributing to the festival funds. Chairman of the committee, Chisato Miura, is a native, and the chariot is stored at the house of a Kasugai councillor throughout the year. "This is a novel collaboration between people of two different cultures," added Mohanty. Japanese artists performed Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Bon Odori and Kagura music. 'Chhera Pahanra' was conducted by first secretary (political & thematic cooperation), Indian Embassy, Himanshu Sagar. Deputy mayor of Kasugai, Yamaguchi, Kasugai councillor Kajita Masanao, and member of Shri Ram Mandir Trust, Bando, Shreekant Vadlamani, attended along with 500 people. In Kawasaki, celebrations organised by NPO Odisha Community Japan at the city office saw the Indian community condemn the Pahalgam terror attack. Indian children displayed placards based on 'unity in diversity' theme and sang Japanese patriotic songs. Japanese children sang Indian patriotic songs. "We united this concept with Rath Yatra celebrations to express our solidarity with India. We also brought different communities together," said Pratima Behera, NPO-OCJ president. There was a Japanese drum (Wadaiko) performance, Odissi dance and songs to pay tributes to Pahalgam victims. Japanese troupes performed to Bollywood songs, Indian dancers performed Rajasthani folk, and children of OCJ members presented Odia folk dance. Chhera Pahanra was conducted by vice-mayor of Kawasaki, Mitamura Tomomari, and minister (consular), Indian Embassy, Dhiraj Mukhia. A souvenir was also released that contained the message of Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb. Members of Indian communities cooked 'sukhila bhoga'. "We made groups of four each to make 'sukhila bhoga' of 'khaja' and 'malpua'," said Behera. At both places, prasad was distributed for free. "A lot of Japanese participate in Rath Yatra as they find the festival very colourful and attractive," she added. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Doctor's Day 2025 , messages and quotes!
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Bengaluru stampede case: CAT quashes senior police officers' suspension
(You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday quashed the June 5 order suspending former additional police commissioner (west), Bengaluru, Vikash Kumar Vikash, and suggested that the Karnataka government similarly revoke the suspension of former police commissioner B Dayananda and deputy commissioner of police (central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar, in what appeared to be a strong rebuke to the government's action following the stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy chief minister Siddaramaiah said the government would decide on appealing against the CAT CM had on June 5 announced the suspension of police officers, holding them responsible for the stampede that occurred during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL victory celebrations on June 4 which left 11 persons dead and dozens of fans injured.A CAT bench of justice BK Shrivastava and member Santosh Mehra, while asking the government to reinstate Vikash Kumar immediately, said that the suspensions of police officers had been done "in a mechanical manner" and that there was no convincing material showing the "default or negligence" of the officers concerned.
