Hindu petitioners can worship inside the previously sealed basement – the ‘Vyas ka tekhana‘ area – of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi, a city court ruled Wednesday. The judge also said arrangements, including removal of barricades, are to be completed in a week. The court further said prayers should be conducted by priests from the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

“Hindu side allowed to offer prayers… district administration will have to make arrangements in seven days. Everyone will have the right to pray there,” Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer for the four Hindu women petitioners in this case, said.

The mosque committee is expected to challenge this order in a higher court.

The mosque has four ‘tekhana‘, or cellar, in the basement. One is still in the possession of a family of priests that used to live there. The family had argued that, as hereditary priests, they be allowed to enter the structure and perform pujas.

It had earlier been claimed debris from statues of Hindu gods was found during a survey of the area. It had also been claimed parts of a pre-existing structure – ruled as a temple by the ASI report – including pillars, were used in building the mosque.

Today’s order comes a day after the four Hindu women approached the Supreme Court asking for excavation and scientific survey of a ‘shivling‘ reportedly found inside the sealed ‘wazukhana‘ area of the mosque complex.

This area had been sealed in 2022 following a Supreme Court order, but the Hindu side has now asked the court for the ASI, or Archaeological Survey of India, to carry out another survey of the ‘wazukhana‘ area without harming the ‘shivling‘.

Last month, in a crucial judgement, the Allahabad High Court had rejected all petitions by the mosque committee that had challenged civil suits seeking restoration of the temple at the site.

The overall case relates to the Gyanvapi mosque, located adjacent to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

The High Court had heard, and rejected petitions, including two from the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, challenging the maintainability of a 1991 case before a Varanasi court.

The 1991 suit – filed on behalf of the Adi Vishveswar Virajman deity – sought control of the disputed premises. Challenging this, the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee and the Waqf board argued the suit was not maintainable under a law that restricts alteration of the character of a religious places as it existed on Independence Day, i.e., August 15, 1947.

The petitioners argued that because the dispute is pre-Independence it would not be affected.

Canada ignored India’s request for sharing information about any concerns they may have, and instead made allegations in public against India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told NDTV in an interview today.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had kicked up a massive diplomatic row between the two countries over the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which Mr Trudeau said was allegedly shot dead by “Indian government agents” outside a gurdwara in Surrey city.

Mr Jaishankar faulted the condition of Canada’s politics in which extremist elements have got themselves embedded, as the major factor behind Canada’s recent behaviour towards India.

“Canada, for some years, has been giving space to extremists and terrorists in their politics. I believe this is a weakness in their politics. A lot of problems have happened there because of this. It should not have happened,” Mr Jaishankar told NDTV.

“Their Prime Minister made an allegation against us in public. Before that, both Prime Ministers met, and I was also there. Our position then was that if there is anything in your mind that’s worrying you, any information you got, please tell us. Even if you don’t want to tell us everything, at least say something, so that we can investigate from our side,” he said.

“They did not share anything, but made allegations in public. In comparison, see the example of the US. The US told us that they have some information about criminals, and they will give us some information to look into from our side, and we will compare the information, investigate the matter,” the Eternal Affairs Minister said.

“Separatism, extremism, and violence have been given space in Canada’s politics. There is no such problem in the US. Yes, they have other issues, but there is a difference between Canada and the US in their politics, their approach, and how they handle bilateral relationships,” Mr Jaishankar said, referring to the row over an alleged plot to murder US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

India had rejected Mr Trudeau’s allegation as “absurd”. Canada shared no specific information regarding its charges, India had said, flagging “politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence” in that country.

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday barred Paytm Payments Bank Ltd from accepting deposits or allowing credit transactions, or top-ups, in customer accounts or prepaid instruments – such as wallets and FASTags – linked to those accounts, after February 29.

Customers can, however, continue to utilise balances from their accounts, including savings and current “without restriction (and) up to their available” limit, the Reserve Bank order said.

In addition, the nodal accounts of Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications Ltd., and Paytm Payments Bank Ltd., or PBBL, have been terminated by the central bank.

The RBI’s order cited “persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank” that were flagged after a comprehensive audit of its systems by external parties.

It is understood this order does not affect Paytm’s Unified Payment Interface, or UPI, arm.

Neither the company nor its founder/CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, have responded so far.

All of this follows a March 2022 order in which PBBL was directed to stop taking onboard new customers “with immediate effect”.

Essentially the RBI action is against the banking operations of Paytm, meaning customers can continue to use Paytm as a digital payment option so long as their account is linked to an external bank.

In December, One97 Communication laid off hundreds of employees across verticals after it began using AI, or Artificial Intelligence, to automate certain processes in a bid to up cost-cutting.

READ | Paytm Lays Off 100s After Induction Of AI To Cut Costs

The use of AI is meant to reduce costs, improve efficiency of operations, and remove redundant tasks, the firm said.