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Indians were the most abandoned nationality of seafarers for the second consecutive year as 1,125 cases of abandonment were logged at the end of 2025, a UK-headquartered global union of transport workers has found.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) said that abandonment worldwide hit record levels last year as it released new data showing 6,223 seafarers abandoned across 410 ships.

The ITF welcomed the Indian government’s “blacklisting” measures to protect its seafarers from ships as a result of repeat abandonments and other bad practices.

“It’s nothing short of a disgrace that, yet again, we are seeing record numbers of seafarers abandoned by unscrupulous ship owners,” said David Heindel, Chair of the ITF Seafarers’ Section.

“Every day, all around the world, seafarers face horrific violations of their human and labour rights, all so that bottom-feeding companies can make a quick buck at their expense.

“It’s very clear that this is a systemic issue in the industry – and that means we need the entire industry to come together with seafarers and their unions to say, ‘enough is enough’, and take action together to end this crisis,” he said.

Seafarer abandonment is defined by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), headquartered in London, under three criteria: failing to cover the cost of a seafarer’s repatriation; leaving a seafarer without necessary maintenance and support; unilaterally severing ties with a seafarer, including failure to pay contractual wages for a period of at least two months.

According to the ITF analysis, the worst region for abandonment was the Middle East, followed by Europe. The two countries where most ship abandons took place and the highest number of vessels on which abandonments occurred were Türkiye (61) and the United Arab Emirates (54) – both of which were found to have significantly higher abandonments than any other country.

Air India has cancelled its flights to New York and Newark for January 25-26 due to severe winter storm forecast in the US East Coast.

The airline operates daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to New York. There are daily flights from Delhi to Newark also while services between Mumbai and Newark are operated on certain days of the week.

Air India on Saturday (January 24) said a severe winter storm with heavy snow is forecast for New York, New Jersey and adjoining areas in the US East Coast from early Sunday morning to Monday, which will have a significant impact on flight operations.

“In view of the safety, well-being and convenience of our passengers and crew, all Air India flights to and from New York and Newark have been cancelled on 25 and 26 January,” the airline said in a post on X.

In a fresh incident of alleged stray dogs killing in Telangana, about 300 canines were allegedly killed in Jagtial district, taking the toll to 900, animal rights activists have claimed.

The killings are suspected to have been carried out by some elected representatives, including Sarpanchs, allegedly to fulfil promises made to villagers ahead of gram panchayat elections held in December last year, to address the stray dog menace.

The latest incident came to light after a complaint was lodged, alleging that 300 stray dogs were killed in Pegadapally village by administering poisonous injections on January 22.

Blaming the village Sarpanch and Gram Panchayat secretary for the gruesome act, the complaint alleged that the former hired a few individuals to kill the strays.

Based on the complaint, police registered an FIR against the duo under relevant sections of BNS and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, police said on Saturday (January 24).

Inspector Ch. Kiran said, during the inquest, around 70 to 80 dog carcasses were exhumed from the burial site. The burial appeared to have taken place three to four days ago.

Earlier this month, police in Hanamkonda district had booked nine persons, including two women sarpanches and their husbands, in connection with the alleged killing of around 300 stray dogs in Shayampet and Arepally villages.

In another incident, around 200 stray dogs were allegedly killed in Kamareddy district, and a case was booked against six people, including five village sarpanches, for their alleged involvement in the incident.

A total of 71 “wanted persons/fugitives wanted by India” were located abroad in 2024-25, according to the annual report of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

As many as 203 fugitives wanted by other countries were detected/located in India during the same period.

The number of such wanted fugitives located abroad is the highest in the over a decade time, officials claimed.

A total of 27 fugitives/wanted persons returned to India, from abroad in the last financial year, said the ministry’s annual report for 2024-25.

Food safety authorities on Saturday (January 24) seized and destroyed 700 kg of adulterated paneer in Jaipur during a special drive against food adulteration.

Food Safety Commissioner T Shubhamangala said the action was carried out under the ongoing “Shuddh Aahar, Milawat Par Vaar” campaign.

A team of food safety officers inspected the godown of Barsana Paneer Bhandar in the Bhatta Basti area of Shastri Nagar, where the adulterated paneer was allegedly found. The entire stock was destroyed on the spot.

A sample of the paneer was collected as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act for further testing.

According to information provided by the shop owner, identified as Mustaq, the paneer was sourced from Alwar and supplied to retail paneer sellers in Jaipur at rates ranging between Rs 200 and Rs 220 per kg. According to the commissioner, he admitted that the paneer was adulterated.

Further action will be taken based on the laboratory report, they added.

The Uttar Pradesh Police have taken a man into custody after a body was allegedly found stuck to his car and dragged for kilometres.

The driver reportedly told police that he felt his vehicle strike something 8-10 km before but when he got down to check, he could not see anything due to heavy rain.

The incident came to light only after passers-by in the city noticed the body and stopped the car. The body has been sent for post-mortem, PTI quoted officials as saying.

Circle Officer (CO)(City) Rajneesh Kumar Upadhyay said police received information around 10 pm on Friday (January 23) that a car was moving with a body stuck underneath it in the Sadar Kotwali area in Budaun.

A police team immediately got into action, stopped the vehicle, and took both the car and its driver, Parvendra Pratap Singh, a resident of Civil Lines, into custody.

The body was identified as that of Gharendra Kumar Singh, a resident of Bilsi.

More than 8,000 flights across the US set to take off over the weekend have been cancelled as a major storm expected to wreak havoc across much of the country bears down, threatening to knock out power for days and snarl major roadways.

Roughly 140 million people were under a winter storm warning from New Mexico to New England. The National Weather Service forecast warns of widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from east Texas to North Carolina.

Forecasters warned that damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.

By Friday night (January 23), the edge of the storm was sending freezing rain and sleet into parts of Texas while snow and sleet were falling in Oklahoma. After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the weather service predicted.

Governors in more than a dozen states sounded the alarm about the turbulent weather ahead, declaring emergencies or urging people to stay home.

Flight operations resumed at the airport in Srinagar on Saturday (January 24) after remaining suspended for a day due to heavy snowfall, officials said. The Airports Authority of India, in close coordination with BRO, successfully cleared the apron and taxiways on Saturday morning to make the runway functional after an improvement in the weather.

A major snowfall in Kashmir on Friday forced the cancellation of flight operations at the airport as snow accumulated on the runway.

"The flight operations have resumed at the airport as a flight has just landed at the aerodrome," officials at the Srinagar Airport here said. "A joint inspection was carried out and flight operations were resumed," they said, adding that flight operations are expected to run normally and smoothly now.

However, an Indigo flight was cancelled early morning due to unfavourable weather conditions in Srinagar, while few others were cancelled due to NOTAM (Notice to Airmen giving pilots essential information on flight safety) at Delhi, the officials said.

There was some delay in the operation of few other flights, they added.

A portion of the railway track used for freight trains near Sirhind in Punjab's Fatehgarh Sahib district was found damaged, with police investigating if it was caused by an explosion, a Government Railway Police official said on Saturday (January 24).

He said the track, located near Khanpur village, 4-5 kms away from the Sirhind station, was found wrecked on Friday night (January 23). The track was used only for goods trains, he said.

Asked whether it was damaged due to an explosion, the official said the matter was under investigation and a police team has visited the site. A case under Section 150 (maliciously wrecking or attempting to wreck a train) under the Railways Act has been registered in the matter, he added.