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India stands at 151st out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index. Media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières, which has been publishing the World Press Freedom Index since 2002, said on Friday, India’s position remains in the “very serious” category despite improving marginally since 2024.

The country was ranked 159 last year. India is listed among the countries where the “concentration of media ownership in the hands of political magnates threatens media plurality”.

The index also classified the state of global press freedom as being in a “difficult situation” for the first time. A major factor contributing to the weakening of the media was economic pressure. Read on.

Why the rise of ‘godi media’ is a disaster for Indian democracy and economic growth

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has alleged that Pranav Adani, the director of several Adani Group companies, shared price-sensitive information and violated regulations that are meant to prevent insider trading, Reuters reported.

The nephew of industrialist Gautam Adani was sent a notice by SEBI in 2024 alleging that he had, in 2021, shared information about Adani Green’s acquisition of SB Energy India with his brother-in-law before the deal was made public, Reuters reported quoting an unidentified person and a regulatory document.

The brother-in-law, Kunal Shah, and his brother Nrupal Shah traded shares of Adani Green and made “ill-gotten gains” of Rs 91 lakh, Reuters quoted the SEBI document as having alleged.

Pranav Adani denied having violated any securities law, but said that he has sought to settle the charges “to put an end to the matter, without admission or denial of the allegations”.

The Shah brother said that the transactions were not executed with the “knowledge of any unpublished price sensitive information nor with any mala fide intent”. “The information in question was already generally available in the public domain,” they said. Read on.

The Delhi High Court has declined to withdraw its July 2024 order directing Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakh to former diplomat Lakshmi Puri as damages in a defamation case.

The court had passed its directions after observing that Gokhale had made “incorrect, false and untrue” allegations about Puri, including claims that she had purchased property in Switzerland with disproportionate assets. The MP was also asked to apologise in a leading English daily and on his X handle, and directed to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages.

Gokhale had challenged the order, arguing that it was issued ex parte, or in his absence, after his counsel stopped appearing. Read on.

Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Ramdev has assured the Delhi High Court he would not make statements or social media posts targeting Hamdard’s drink Rooh Afza.

A day earlier, the court warned Ramdev of contempt proceedings for publishing a fresh video allegedly making communal remarks about the product, despite earlier orders to remove ads accusing Hamdard of funding mosques through “sharbat jihad”.

The bench, led by Justice Amit Bansal, said Ramdev “lives in his own world” and warned that he would be summoned. Ramdev’s counsel said the objectionable portions of the video would be taken down in 24 hours. Read on.

A brief history of Patanjali’s dangerous claims

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