On 8 July, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdulalh said that slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani had no links with militancy. A day after Burhan's death, on 9 July, Abdullah added that Wani had become the new 'icon' for the frustrated and disaffected community in the Valley.

Soon after reports of Burhan's death surfaced, Omar Abdullah put out a series of tweets saying he did not recall any militancy incident attributed to him while he was in office.

He also affirmed that Burhan wasn't the first to pick up arms and won't be the last.

In a major setback for Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in a money laundering case, the Patiala House Court today lifted the exemption granted to him from personal appearance in a case of evading summons in a Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) issue.

During the hearing, the Enforcement Directorate told the court that Mallya's personal appearance was crucial for the ongoing trial.

The now defunct FERA case was registered by the ED against Mallya, in which the agency had issued summons, directing him to appear in relation to the investigation, where it was alleged that Mallya had violated the FERA regulation in connection to a transaction with Flavio Briatore of Benetton Formula Ltd based in London.

After travelling to the Middle East last month, 15 young men and women from Kerala's Kasaragod and Palakkad districts are reportedly missing. Their families suspect that they may have joined the Islamic State.

State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the police to launch a probe into the matter urgently, Kasaragod MP P Karunakaran said.

The families of the youth, including a couple, have not heard from them since the last one month and fear they have been radicalised after having gone to the Middle East for religious studies.

Kasaragod District Panchayat member VPP Mustafa said that during Eid, the parents of two missing youth received Whatsapp messages saying, "We are not coming back. Here there is Divine Rule. You also should join us."

Burhan Muzaffar Wani, commander of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir on 8 July.

It is being termed as a major setback to the militancy in J&K. While paying their tributes to Burhan Muzaffar Wani, All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani and Separatist leader Asiya Andrabi have called for a complete state-wide shutdown on Saturday and appealed to people to participate in his funeral prayers in large numbers.

Following the death of the Hizbul Mujahideen Commander, the Amarnath Yatra has been suspended for a day.

Under the prevailing situation, the school board exams scheduled to be held today have been postponed. Curfew has been imposed in Srinagar and several other parts of Kashmir. Government officials have also suspended mobile internet services for a day across the valley.

Four people have reportedly been killed after a building collapsed during an anti-encroachment drive in Meerut Cantonment on 8 July.

According to media reports, the incident took place after the Cantonment board authorities reached the spot and asked people to vacate the shopping complex.

Local media reported that the shopping complex was apparently built illegally and the authorities conducted the demolition drive even before people left the building.

Another report added that the authorities directed the bulldozer towards the building much before people could vacate the complex, leaving several buried under the debris.

Following the chaos, the authorities reportedly fled the scene.

Police authorities were informed and rescue operations are still on.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed her grief over the death of Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi on 9 July.

In a tweet, Swaraj said that Edhi was a noble soul who dedicated his life to the service of mankind.

Edhi passed away in Karachi last night at the age of 92 after a prolonged battle with different ailments.

Edhi, who formed the famous Edhi village 25 years ago which was home to the homeless, destitute, street children, elderly, abandoned babies and addicts, was Chairman of the Edhi foundation which was celebrated for its humanitarian work.

A recent report by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) has shown a disturbing trend when it comes to India's spending patterns. In results symptomatic of our misplaced, if well-intentioned priorities, it was found that Indian's, across social groups are willing to spend more on religious ceremony than on sanitation.

The survey, conducted between 2014-2015, found that monthly spending on sanitation and sewage disposal was only 0.22%, while spending on religious services was 9%.