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Pulling up Uttar Pradesh police over frequent conversion of civil cases into criminal cases, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna today said this is “wrong” and shows a “complete breakdown” of the rule of law. The court warned it will order damages if similar petitions are filed in the future. The court paused criminal prosecution in a case, and asked Uttar Pradesh police chief Prashant Kumar and the investigating officer to file a response within two weeks.

The Chief Justice remarked that lawyers in Uttar Pradesh have forgotten about the civil jurisdiction.

The case in question related to a cheque bounce case. The police had issued a summons and filed a chargesheet after converting the civil suit into a criminal case. The petitioner approached the court against this and alleged that the police took bribes for converting the case.

“This is wrong, what is happening in UP. Everyday civil suits are being converted to criminal cases. It’s absurd, merely not giving money cannot be turned into an offence. I will ask the Investigation Officer (IO) to come to the witness box. Let the IO stand in the witness box and make out the case of crime. We direct it, let him learn his lesson, this is not the way you file chargesheets,” the Chief Justice said, adding, It is strange, this is happening day in and day out in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

This is not the first time the Chief Justice has flagged the growing trend of conversion of civil cases into criminal cases. In December last year, he had noted that this practice was “rampant” in some states. He had said that frequently converting civil cases into criminal cases burdened the judiciary with matters that can be dealt with by civil jurisdiction.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee expressed her refusal to accept the Supreme Court verdict upholding the dismissal of over 25,000 school jobs, alleging political motives behind the decision

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she “cannot accept” the Supreme Court verdict that upheld the cancellation of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs in state-run and aided schools, reiterating her solidarity with those affected.
“We are not stone-hearted… I can even be jailed for saying this, but I don’t care,” Banerjee said, addressing a gathering of the terminated staff at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
“Please don’t think we’ve accepted the verdict,” Banerjee added, many of whom were part of the now-scrapped recruitment process overseen by the School Service Commission (SSC).
The apex court on April 3 upheld the Calcutta high court’s order cancelling the appointments, calling the process “vitiated and tainted” by large-scale fraud and manipulation.
Reaffirming her stance from last week, Banerjee said: “I respect the judiciary but can’t accept the judgment.” Drawing a parallel to the Vyapam scam in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, she asked, “How many BJP leaders were arrested in MP? Why target Bengal?”
Accusing the BJP and central agencies of attempting to “collapse Bengal’s education system,” Banerjee said she would continue to support the affected candidates on humanitarian grounds. “Catch me if you’re ready,” she said. “Our lawyers are reviewing the judgment. I’m with the candidates… if BJP wants to jail me for that, so be it,” she had said earlier.
The Trinamool Congress accused BJP and CPM of trying to politically exploit the crisis. “There are inputs that provocateurs may try to disrupt the CM’s meet. This is a conspiracy to stop her from untangling the knots,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, referring to similar disruptions during Banerjee’s Oxford University visit.
The Supreme Court ruled that only candidates proven to have gained jobs through fraudulent means must be dismissed and return their salaries, while those untainted could retain theirs. It also allowed eligible individuals to return to prior government posts, if held.
The verdict came after reviewing over 120 petitions, including one by the Bengal government. The court noted tampered OMR sheets, appointments beyond sanctioned vacancies, and other irregularities. While 23 lakh candidates applied for 24,640 posts, over 25,700 appointment letters were issued.
TMC pointed out that during the CPM regime in Tripura, when 10,323 teachers lost their jobs, the party had urged courts not to penalise all for the fault of a few. “Now they are saying the opposite in Bengal,” Ghosh said, adding, “We won’t defend the undeserving, but we’ll always stand by the 20,000-odd who were fairly recruited.”
He also questioned the BJP’s silence on OMR sheets recovered from a trader’s rooftop in Ghaziabad. “Who is he?” Ghosh asked, hinting at a larger conspiracy.

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have unleashed chaos across the globe, wiping out trillions of dollars worldwide and plunging the Indian equity markets to their 10-month low. Sensex opened nearly 4,000 points lower, sliding over 3.5% since its last trading session, while Nifty tanked over 1,000 points this morning. The crash follows a massive sell-off in Asian equities, panicked by Trump’s radical policies, and US futures pointing at significant losses when it resumes trading this evening.

The tariffs – billed as the harbinger of a “golden period” for US industries – seek to undo trade practices that President Trump believes have been unfair. The tariffs are country-specific and go as high as 50%. The rate announced for India is 26%, which has set off fears among exporters and traders, in addition to a 10% baseline duty applied to all nations.

A defiant Trump appeared unmoved by the bloodbath in global markets, equating his tariffs with a medicine that is required to “fix something” while speaking to reporters this morning.

Indian Equities Lose 3.5%

Sensex crashed 3, 939.68 points to 71,425.01 in early trade as trading resumed at 9 am after the weekend holidays. Nifty tumbled 1,160.8 points to 21,743.65 during this period. Sensex, a pack of India’s top 30 companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, was down over 2,700 points at 10 am, while Nifty, the National Stock Exchange index, is just above the 22,000 mark. Reports suggest the crash wiped out nearly Rs 19 lakh crore investor wealth within minutes.

The rupee also opened lower this morning, falling 30 paise to 85.74 against the US dollar.

Analysts suggest Trump’s tariffs were bound to cause fears in Indian markets and that the country now needs financial reforms to protect its domestic economy from the global trade war.

“India will face the heat, not due to domestic reasons, but as an interlinked chain in the global portfolio flows. India will need a fiscal, monetary, and reform package to protect the domestic economy from this global economic winter that is threatening to settle in,” Ajay Bagga, a market expert, told ANI.

Sunil Gurjar, SEBI-registered research analyst, said Nifty50 has plunged through the first support level and is nearing the second, and a further breakdown would only extend the downward trend.

Global Equities

Asian equities, the first among all markets to open, have been hit the hardest as Trump tariffs extended a massive sell-off on the bourses in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. 

In China, where the Communist government has retaliated against the US with 34% tariffs, stocks have crashed over 4% while the Hang Seng index is down by over 10% in Hong Kong. Nikkei in Japan is down at least 6.5% after crashing over 8% in early trade. Taiwan’s main index collapsed nearly 10% and Singapore’s over 8%.

The situation is grim for Wall Street too. Futures contracts were sharply down on the New York Stock Exchange, suggesting significant losses were about to come when the US markets open on Monday.

Besides sparking an equity free-fall, Trump’s trade policies have also sparked fears of global recession, and his defiance has caused concern among market experts. SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes fears a global recession may be coming soon. “The market is in free-fall mode again, punching through floors. Trump’s team isn’t blinking. The tariffs are being treated as a victory lap, not a bargaining chip.”

Asian stock markets opened in a bloodbath on Monday as US futures pointed to significant losses on Wall Street over US President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs, even as countries sought compromise with the defiant president. The carnage came as the American President defended his tariffs, saying a lot of countries are ‘dying to make a deal’ and any adjustment in the stock market would be temporary.

On Sunday, Trump denied that he was intentionally engineering a selloff and insisted he could not foresee market reactions, saying he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved. Speaking about the falling markets, he said the “medicine” can be necessary at times.

“Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said of the market pain that has seen trillions of dollars wiped off the value of US companies since the beginning of his tariff rampage.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he added that he had engaged with world leaders on the issue to seek resolution over the weekend, claiming “they’re dying to make a deal.”

Market Bloodbath Continues

In early trade on Monday, Japan’s Nikkei index plunged more than 7 per cent, as the fallout from Trump’s bombshell announcement last week continued to unnerve investors. In early trade in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was off 7.35 percent and the broader Topix was down almost eight percent, adding to a 2.75-percent drop on Friday, while in Seoul, the Kospi was off 4.8 percent.

Stocks in Hong Kong also plunged more than nine percent. The Hang Seng Index dropped 9.28 percent, or 2,119.76 points, to 20,730.05, while in mainland China the Shanghai Composite Index shed 4.21 percent, or 140.84 points, to 3,201.17. 

Shares in Singapore also plunged more than seven percent at the open on Monday. The Straits Times Index sank 7.37 percent, or 281.84 points, to 3,544.02 as markets across Asia went into freefall.

Australian blue-chip stocks, a benchmark index of the country’s largest 200 listed companies, also sank 6 per cent after trading opened on Monday minutes after opening. A circuit breaker was triggered on the Taiwan stock exchange as stocks plunged 9.8 per cent at the open.

Indian benchmark indices are also likely to open sharply lower on Monday.

This came as the US market showed no signs of revival, with futures contracts for the New York Stock Exchange’s main boards sharply down Sunday, suggesting more pain for battered Wall Street stocks when markets open Monday. Benchmark S&P 500 futures slid 4.31 per cent in volatile trade, while Nasdaq futures dived 5.45 per cent, adding to last week’s losses.

Almost $6 trillion has been wiped off the value of global stock markets following President Trump’s tariff offensive last Wednesday. Futures markets pulled Treasury yields down sharply, hampering the dollar. Gripped by anger, anxiety, frustration, and fear, investors wagered on the mounting risk of recession, which could see US interest rates cut as early as May.

The gloomier outlook for global growth kept oil prices under heavy pressure, following steep losses last week. Brent fell $2.12 to $63.46 a barrel, while U.S. crude dived $2.05 to $59.94 per barrel.

The flight to safe havens saw Treasury futures surge a full point, a very rare move for Asian trade, while Fed fund futures jumped to price in an extra quarter-point rate cut from the Federal Reserve this year.

Markets swung to imply around a 63 per cent chance the Fed could cut as soon as May, even though Chair Jerome Powell on Friday said the central bank was in no hurry on rates, according to the Reuters report.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped 10 basis points to 3.897 per cent amid the general flight from risk assets. That dovish turn saw the dollar slip another 0.9 per cent on the safe-haven Japanese yen to 145.59 yen, while the euro held firm at $1.0955. The dollar shed 1.2 per cent on the Swiss franc to 0.8501, while the trade-exposed Australian dollar dropped a further 0.7 per cent.

Even gold was swept up in the selloff, easing 0.7 per cent to $3,013 an ounce. 

Trump Administration Refuses To Back Down

Meanwhile, the Trump administration showed no sign of backing away from its sweeping tariff plans, and China declared the markets had spoken on their retaliation through levies on US goods.

Investors had thought the loss of trillions of dollars in wealth and the likely body blow to the economy would make Trump reconsider his plans.

“The size and disruptive impact of U.S. trade policies, if sustained, would be sufficient to tip a still healthy US and global expansion into recession,” said Bruce Kasman, head of economics at JPMorgan, putting the risk of a downturn at 60 per cent.

“We continue to expect a first Fed easing in June,” he added. “However, we now think the Committee cuts at every meeting through January, bringing the top of the funds rate target range down to 3.0 per cent.”

Investors were also wagering that the imminent threat of recession would outweigh the likely upward shove to inflation from tariffs.

US consumer price figures out later this week are expected to show another rise of 0.3 per cent for March, but analysts assume it is just a matter of time before tariffs push prices sharply higher, for everything from food to cars.

Rising costs will also put pressure on company profit margins, just as the earnings season gets underway with some of the big banks due on Friday. Around 87 per cent of US companies will report between April 11 and May 9.

“We expect during upcoming quarterly earnings calls fewer companies than usual will provide forward guidance for both 2Q and full-year 2025,” analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note.

“Rising tariff rates will force many companies to either raise prices or accept lower profit margins,” they warned. “We expect negative revisions to consensus profit margin estimates in coming quarters.”

“Black Monday” Fears

Sounding alarm bells after US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day global tariff plans crushed global stocks for two consecutive days, CNBC host Jim Cramer predicted global markets could witness a blood bath that could expand into a crash similar to 1987’s “Black Monday.”

Cramer said no matter what the numbers reveal, the direction of the market will depend on President Trump’s next move.

Black Monday was a global and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. Worldwide losses were estimated at US$1.71 trillion. The stock market’s disastrous one-day tumble created a domino effect that caused the disaster to continue globally.

Wouldn’t it be hard to imagine the Kansas City Chiefs without Patrick Mahomes? Well, that was almost a possibility. Long before Patrick Mahomes amazed the football world with his jaw-dropping plays and Super Bowl heroics, he was just a teenager navigating self-doubt in East Texas. Today, he’s the face of the Kansas City Chiefs, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and one of the league’s most iconic quarterbacks—but his journey almost ended before it truly began.

Before NFL glory, Patrick Mahomes nearly turned his back on football

In a candid Instagram Q&A session, Patrick Mahomes’ mother, Randi Mahomes, peeled back the curtain on a pivotal moment from her son’s high school years—when he nearly gave up on football altogether. It’s a story that even die-hard Chiefs fans may not have heard, and it adds a deeper layer of admiration for the resilience Mahomes has shown on and off the field.
“There were times when he would get a little down, even a moment in high school when he wanted to quit football. Yes, he did,” Randi revealed. “And I encouraged him that sitting out a season of sports and watching the games, it was not going to be fun for him. And so, he stuck to it, fortunately.”
Her words were more than just motherly advice—they turned out to be a turning point in sports history.
Patrick Mahomes didn’t just stick to football; he flourished. At Whitehouse High School in Texas, he put up staggering numbers as a senior—4,619 passing yards, 50 touchdown passes, plus nearly 1,000 rushing yards and 15 scores on the ground. That earned him MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year honors and opened the door to a collegiate career at Texas Tech.
Though just a three-star recruit, Mahomes lit up the college football landscape, leading the FBS in passing yards and total touchdowns as a junior. He was awarded the Sammy Baugh Trophy, a prestigious nod to his excellence as a passer. That season cemented his status as a first-round talent, prompting Kansas City to trade up in the 2017 NFL Draft to select him.
Since taking the reins from Alex Smith in 2018, Mahomes has made the Chiefs perennial contenders. Five consecutive AFC Championship appearances, three Super Bowl victories, and two league MVPs later, he’s not just an elite athlete—he’s a legend in the making.
And yet, all of it—the records, the rings, the roaring crowds—may never have happened if not for a gentle nudge from his mother at the right time.
Patrick Mahomes’ story tells us that even the most unstoppable talents face moments of uncertainty. But sometimes, all it takes is one person believing in you when you don’t believe in yourself. For Mahomes, that person was his mom.
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PM Modi and P Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Congress veteran and ex-Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday argued that “economic metric will always be higher than in the previous years,” as he responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s statement on central funds to Tamil Nadu.
“Hon’ble PM and Central ministers constantly say that they have given more money to TN in 2014-24 than was given in 2004-14. For example, Hon’ble PM said that his government has given for railway projects in TN seven times more money than before. Ask a first year student of economics. She will tell you that the ‘economic metric’ will always be higher than in the previous years,” Chidambaram, who is from Tamil Nadu and whose party is an ally of the state’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), posted on X.
“The GDP’s size is bigger now than before. The size of the central Budget is bigger every year than in the previous year. Government’s total expenditure is bigger every year than in the previous year. You are one year older than in the previous year. In terms of ‘numbers’, the number will be bigger, but is it higher in teems of proportion of GDP or in terms of proportion of total expenditure?,” he added.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance governed the country from May 2004 to May 2014. Since then, the National Democratic Alliance of PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has been the nation’s ruling coalition.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, PM Modi, without mentioning Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK boss MK Stalin, called out people who “cry without any reason.”
“Tamil Nadu has a very big role in the journey of a developed India. I believe the stronger Tamil Nadu becomes, the faster India will grow. In the last decade, the central government has allocated three times more money for the development of Tamil Nadu than in 2014,” the prime minister said while inaugurating the new Pamban Bridge in Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram.
“Despite this, some people have the habit of crying without any reason; they keep crying. Before 2014, only Rs 900 crore was received every year for the railway project. This year, Tamil Nadu’s railway budget is more than Rs 6,000 crore, and the Government of India is also modernizing 77 railway stations here,” he further stated.
Stalin has repeatedly accused the NDA government of “neglecting and betraying” the southern state by not releasing the required funds, stating that the Centre could not accept the fact that the state was growing.
BJP responds to P Chidambaram
BJP national spokesperson Amit Malviya called Chidambaram a “self-styled oracle of selective economics” and accused him of criticizing the Modi government for pointing to a “plainly evident” fact.
“His counter? A smug lecture on GDP and absolute numbers, as though that somehow absolves his party of its poor governance record. Any first-year economics student knows that the Debt-to-GDP ratio is the standard for assessing a country’s debt burden. Is this sheer hypocrisy, or simply proof that your party struggles with the fundamentals of fiscal policy? Or maybe it’s even simpler: perhaps the Congress party’s collective economic IQ mirrors that of its de facto leader—a man whose strategic “brilliance” is better known for turning everything he touches into a fiasco,” Malviya posted, possibly referring to Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and ex-Congress chief.