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Indian Express
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Mumbai blasts lawyer, man who prosecuted Ajmal Kasab, Ujjwal Nikam nominated to Rajya Sabha
Just over a year since his Lok Sabha election loss from the Mumbai North Central seat, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu. Best known as the man who prosecuted 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, the 72-year-old Nikam has been the go-to man for politicians cutting across party lines and state governments in Maharashtra for years. Recently, he was appointed the prosecutor in the politically charged Beed sarpanch murder case. 'Ujjwal Nikam's devotion to the legal field and to our Constitution is exemplary,' Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X. 'He has not only been a successful lawyer but also been at the forefront of seeking justice in important cases. During his entire legal career, he has always worked to strengthen Constitutional values and ensure common citizens are always treated with dignity. It's gladdening that the President of India has nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. My best wishes for his Parliamentary innings.' Nikam told ANI, 'I thank President Droupadi Murmu for nominating me … When I met PM Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha election campaigning, he expressed his faith in me. Yesterday, the PM called me and asked, 'Ujjwal ji, should I speak in Marathi or Hindi? I started laughing, and he also laughed. I told him, 'You know both languages well.' He then spoke to me in Marathi and told me that the President has entrusted me with new responsibilities and asked if I was ready to take them on. I immediately said yes. I thank the party leadership …,' Nikam told ANI. Nikam started as a civil lawyer in Jalgaon. His first big break came when he was appointed to represent the state in the 1993 Bombay blast trials. He went on to represent the state in the 1997 Gulshan Kumar murder case and the 2006 murder of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. Priding himself on securing 'over 30 death penalties and 'over 600 life sentences, Nikam has represented the government in other high-profile cases such as the 2006 Khairlanji massacre, in which four members of a Dalit family were murdered and two women paraded naked; the Shakti Mills gangrape cases; and the Kopardi rape and murder case. However, Nikam became a household name across the country after he tried Kasab, who was hanged in November 2021. During the trial, Nikam claimed Kasab had demanded biryani in jail. However, he later told the media that he had 'made up the statement as there was a sympathetic wave building towards Kasab'. In recent years, Nikam has taken a back seat as a prosecutor and has opted out of cases such as the 2011 Mumbai triple blast case and the 2014 Mohsin Shaikh murder case, in which the members of a Hindu outfit are accused. In May 2024, he resigned as special public prosecutor to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. During the campaign, Nikam termed himself a 'patriot' and evoked numerous terror-related cases that he had been a part of as a lawyer. However, he lost to the Congress's Varsha Gaikwad by more than 16,000 votes. Following his loss, he sought to make a return as the special public prosecutor and was appointed to the post. At present, he serves as the public prosecutor in cases such as the 26/11 attack case against Zaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal and the serial killing charges against Vijay Palande, who had challenged Nikam's reappointment claiming 'he would act to further the BJP's agenda and may go to any extent to secure false convictions'. However, Palande's plea was rejected.
New Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Balanagar custard apple inches closer to GI tag
HYDERABAD: Farmers and officials on Monday submitted an application seeking the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the world-famous Balanagar custard apple, marking the 19th GI application from Telangana. The application was filed by GI practitioner Subhajit Saha of Resolute4IP on behalf of three key farmer-based organisations — Pomal Farmer Producer Company Ltd, Balanagar Farmer Producer Company Ltd, and Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society — with support from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The Balanagar custard apple is renowned for its thick rind, high pulp content, minimal seeds, naturally sweet flavour, and extended shelf life — characteristics that set it apart from other varieties and make it ideal for both fresh consumption and industrial use. This move places the Balanagar variety as the fourth custard apple in India to seek or obtain a GI tag, alongside Beed custard apple (Maharashtra), Seoni sitaphal (Madhya Pradesh), and Kanker custard apple (Chhattisgarh). 'This GI initiative underscores how formal recognition can create value at the grassroots level while reinforcing Telangana's position as a hub for high-quality, origin-linked produce,' said Subhajit Saha, expressing gratitude for the support extended by Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University (SKLTGHU). He added that the state is preparing to file six to eight additional GI applications for products in the handicrafts and horticulture sectors in the coming days. SKLTGHU V-C Danda Raji Reddy, said the university is committed to preserving Telangana's heritage horticultural crops and that further GI applications will be filed after thorough field investigations and consultations with farmers.
Khaleej Times
23-06-2025
- General
- Khaleej Times
Illegal marriages: Indian activists seek to save child brides
When wedding season comes in India, the phone of child rights activist Tatwashil Kamble never stops ringing with appeals to stop girls from being married off due to poverty. Kamble said he has helped stop thousands of illegal marriages in India, where nuptials before the age of 18 are banned. "The elders of the village think: 'How dare we come to stop a marriage in their village!'" said Kamble, who has been campaigning for more than a decade in western Maharashtra state. Many families are motivated by poverty to marry off their daughters, so that the girls can start earning their own living. When activists have sought to stop marriages, "it has led to physical altercations", according to Kamble. Sometimes they are able to stop the nuptials from taking place, or, if they arrive too late, then the bride is taken to a shelter and supported in deciding on her own future. India accounts for one in three of the world's child brides, according to the UN children's agency, with at least 1.5 million girls getting married each year. Kamble said he is driven by the bitter memory of seeing a teenager die of blood loss during labour. "That's when I thought: so many young girls are getting married and, even after their death, it's not being called child marriage. They are saying 'the mother has died'" without acknowledging she was a girl. Wedding hotline Kamble works in the Beed district of Maharashtra, an area dominated by sprawling sugarcane fields hit hard by years of drought. Workers said they have little choice but to marry their daughters off young -- arguing they do it to protect the girl, not harm her. "It is not like we don't like the idea of education," said Manisha Barde, a sugarcane cutter who was a child bride herself. "We want her to become a doctor." Barde, however, arranged for her teenage daughter to be married only to be stopped by authorities. She did so because they were poor and, if they had "better jobs, we wouldn't have thought of her marriage". Farm labourers said that when their children are little, relatives look after them or they come to the fields. But when the girls become teenagers, their parents begin to worry -- either that they could start a relationship before marriage, or be subjected to sexual violence. "There are very few girls who stay unmarried until 18," said Ashok Tangde, district chief of the child welfare committee. "I have seen girls who have never seen a school," he said. Families worry for "the girl's safety", Tangde said, and even those opposed to child marriage can end up organising a wedding. Tangde said his team received 321 calls from across the district about child marriages that were taking place, or about to happen, in the first five months of this year. During peak wedding season, which runs from October to March, Tangde said he gets around 10 to 15 calls daily, which prompt his team and other activists to raid ceremonies. 'Do the right thing' Tangde has a dedicated network of activists and other informants who help in villages across the district, sending photographs of weddings. "There are some people who want to do the right thing," he said. Sometimes the bride calls directly. Other times, a guest rings and makes the authorities listen to the wedding music. "Disrupting a wedding... there is a lot of drama," said Tangde. "People get ready to beat up those who go to stop such marriages." Jyoti Thorat was 16 when her parents married her off to a 20-year-old man, ending her hopes of continuing school and joining the police. "My parents fixed it, and I wasn't happy," Thorat said, a decade later and a mother of two schoolboys. Her older sisters had also been married off before they turned 18, with her parents prioritising getting their only son educated. Thorat recalled with despair how work cutting cane beckoned soon after her wedding, a fate that awaits other girls. "They have to start working as sugarcane workers that same year," she said. "A machete is ready for them." ash/pjm/rsc/cwl/fox © Agence France-Presse
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Indian activists seek to save child brides
When wedding season comes in India, the phone of child rights activist Tatwashil Kamble never stops ringing with appeals to stop girls from being married off due to poverty. Kamble said he has helped stop thousands of illegal marriages in India, where nuptials before the age of 18 are banned. "The elders of the village think: 'How dare we come to stop a marriage in their village!'" said Kamble, who has been campaigning for more than a decade in western Maharashtra state. Many families are motivated by poverty to marry off their daughters, so that the girls can start earning their own living. When activists have sought to stop marriages, "it has led to physical altercations", according to Kamble. Sometimes they are able to stop the nuptials from taking place, or, if they arrive too late, then the bride is taken to a shelter and supported in deciding on her own future. India accounts for one in three of the world's child brides, according to the UN children's agency, with at least 1.5 million girls getting married each year. Kamble said he is driven by the bitter memory of seeing a teenager die of blood loss during labour. "That's when I thought: so many young girls are getting married and, even after their death, it's not being called child marriage. They are saying 'the mother has died'" without acknowledging she was a girl. - Wedding hotline - Kamble works in the Beed district of Maharashtra, an area dominated by sprawling sugarcane fields hit hard by years of drought. Workers said they have little choice but to marry their daughters off young -- arguing they do it to protect the girl, not harm her. "It is not like we don't like the idea of education," said Manisha Barde, a sugarcane cutter who was a child bride herself. "We want her to become a doctor." Barde, however, arranged for her teenage daughter to be married only to be stopped by authorities. She did so because they were poor and, if they had "better jobs, we wouldn't have thought of her marriage". Farm labourers said that when their children are little, relatives look after them or they come to the fields. But when the girls become teenagers, their parents begin to worry -- either that they could start a relationship before marriage, or be subjected to sexual violence. "There are very few girls who stay unmarried until 18," said Ashok Tangde, district chief of the child welfare committee. "I have seen girls who have never seen a school," he said. Families worry for "the girl's safety", Tangde said, and even those opposed to child marriage can end up organising a wedding. Tangde said his team received 321 calls from across the district about child marriages that were taking place, or about to happen, in the first five months of this year. During peak wedding season, which runs from October to March, Tangde said he gets around 10 to 15 calls daily, which prompt his team and other activists to raid ceremonies. - 'Do the right thing' - Tangde has a dedicated network of activists and other informants who help in villages across the district, sending photographs of weddings. "There are some people who want to do the right thing," he said. Sometimes the bride calls directly. Other times, a guest rings and makes the authorities listen to the wedding music. "Disrupting a wedding... there is a lot of drama," said Tangde. "People get ready to beat up those who go to stop such marriages." Jyoti Thorat was 16 when her parents married her off to a 20-year-old man, ending her hopes of continuing school and joining the police. "My parents fixed it, and I wasn't happy," Thorat said, a decade later and a mother of two schoolboys. Her older sisters had also been married off before they turned 18, with her parents prioritising getting their only son educated. Thorat recalled with despair how work cutting cane beckoned soon after her wedding, a fate that awaits other girls. "They have to start working as sugarcane workers that same year," she said. "A machete is ready for them." ash/pjm/rsc/cwl/fox
News.com.au
23-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Indian activists seek to save child brides
When wedding season comes in India, the phone of child rights activist Tatwashil Kamble never stops ringing with appeals to stop girls from being married off due to poverty. Kamble said he has helped stop thousands of illegal marriages in India, where nuptials before the age of 18 are banned. "The elders of the village think: 'How dare we come to stop a marriage in their village!'" said Kamble, who has been campaigning for more than a decade in western Maharashtra state. Many families are motivated by poverty to marry off their daughters, so that the girls can start earning their own living. When activists have sought to stop marriages, "it has led to physical altercations", according to Kamble. Sometimes they are able to stop the nuptials from taking place, or, if they arrive too late, then the bride is taken to a shelter and supported in deciding on her own future. India accounts for one in three of the world's child brides, according to the UN children's agency, with at least 1.5 million girls getting married each year. Kamble said he is driven by the bitter memory of seeing a teenager die of blood loss during labour. "That's when I thought: so many young girls are getting married and, even after their death, it's not being called child marriage. They are saying 'the mother has died'" without acknowledging she was a girl. - Wedding hotline - Kamble works in the Beed district of Maharashtra, an area dominated by sprawling sugarcane fields hit hard by years of drought. Workers said they have little choice but to marry their daughters off young -- arguing they do it to protect the girl, not harm her. "It is not like we don't like the idea of education," said Manisha Barde, a sugarcane cutter who was a child bride herself. "We want her to become a doctor." Barde, however, arranged for her teenage daughter to be married only to be stopped by authorities. She did so because they were poor and, if they had "better jobs, we wouldn't have thought of her marriage". Farm labourers said that when their children are little, relatives look after them or they come to the fields. But when the girls become teenagers, their parents begin to worry -- either that they could start a relationship before marriage, or be subjected to sexual violence. "There are very few girls who stay unmarried until 18," said Ashok Tangde, district chief of the child welfare committee. "I have seen girls who have never seen a school," he said. Families worry for "the girl's safety", Tangde said, and even those opposed to child marriage can end up organising a wedding. Tangde said his team received 321 calls from across the district about child marriages that were taking place, or about to happen, in the first five months of this year. During peak wedding season, which runs from October to March, Tangde said he gets around 10 to 15 calls daily, which prompt his team and other activists to raid ceremonies. - 'Do the right thing' - Tangde has a dedicated network of activists and other informants who help in villages across the district, sending photographs of weddings. "There are some people who want to do the right thing," he said. Sometimes the bride calls directly. Other times, a guest rings and makes the authorities listen to the wedding music. "Disrupting a wedding... there is a lot of drama," said Tangde. "People get ready to beat up those who go to stop such marriages." Jyoti Thorat was 16 when her parents married her off to a 20-year-old man, ending her hopes of continuing school and joining the police. "My parents fixed it, and I wasn't happy," Thorat said, a decade later and a mother of two schoolboys. Her older sisters had also been married off before they turned 18, with her parents prioritising getting their only son educated. Thorat recalled with despair how work cutting cane beckoned soon after her wedding, a fate that awaits other girls.
