New Delhi: Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma may have submitted his resignation to the President Draupadi Murmu Friday, but he fell to the ground crying. In a letter written simultaneously to Supreme Court Justice Aravind Kumar, chairman of the Judges Commission of Inquiry, the controversial high court judge faulted the commission for its process of testing the veracity of allegations related to the huge amount of unaccounted burnt cash found at his official residence. Justice Varma questioned the committee’s decision to proceed without any solid evidence, saying such a process left him no choice but to withdraw as his further involvement would legitimize a process “that requires me to answer unanswerable questions – where does the money come from”. “In the meantime, I have written to His Excellency the President of India,” he said. Justice Varma’s failure was demonstrated when first responders – firefighters and police – recorded the fire incident at his residence in central Delhi on the night of March 14-15 last year and later uploaded it to the Supreme Court website. If their evidence before the committee was conclusive, it became even more poignant during cross-examination by Judge Varma’s lawyers as they vividly described the discovery of the cash and the behavior of those who were at the judge’s home that night. Justice Varma is considered to be very close to Justice DY Chandrachud, who will serve as CJI for a two-year term from November 2022 to November 2024. In March 2024, the SC bench headed by him quashed the CBI FIR and ECIR filed by the Enforcement Directorate against Justice Varma, a lawyer who was working as a non-executive director of Simbhaoli Sugar Ltd before being appointed as the HC judge. Suspected of bank loan fraud. One of his main complaints was that the commission shifted the burden of proving innocence to him based on evidence gathered by the then inquiry committee constituted by CJI Sanjiv Khanna. He said the investigative report cannot be used as evidence or as relevant in any future litigation. On August 7 last year, a bench of Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Datta and AG Masih dismissed his decision challenging the inquiry proceedings, inquiry report and the then CJI Khanna’s recommendation to initiate the removal motion. Justice Varma said the storeroom where the cash was allegedly found burned and the video was recorded has never been seized by the police. Furthermore, since the room was available to everyone, it was not the responsibility of the judge to keep track of who kept what in the vast premises of the official bungalow, which included the residential quarters for the domestic helpers. Justice Varma said he left it to posterity to judge “whether such a duty can be discharged or reasonably imposed on the occupants of such houses”. He said the accusations and insinuations against him lacked any basis or evidence. Judge Varma said there was no strong evidence to support the charges against him, during a period in which criminal trial laws were unknown. “The burden of proof was effectively reversed without any underlying evidence being presented.” Judge Varma said: “I am deeply disappointed that despite the serious nature of these proceedings, which could have resulted in the removal of a sitting High Court judge, the Commission did not intervene, despite the appalling manner in which the proceedings unfolded.”
What is Eric Swalwell’s net worth? California Democratic Party financial results released
Questions about the congressman also surfaced amid ongoing scrutiny of his political future. Eric Swalwellpersonal financial status. Recent disclosures and independent estimates suggest california Democrats have relatively low net worth compared to many of their colleagues in Congress.
According to February 2026 analyze Quiver Quantitative estimates Swalwell’s net worth at approximately $415,500, ranking him 408th among members of Congress.
The report further states that he has few publicly traded investments to track.
Other estimates offer a similar picture. As of 2025, taking into account his congressional income and other sources of income, his net worth is approximately $500,000, according to data compiled by Cine Net Worth.
Also read: Eric Swalwell sexual assault case: California Democrats face tough action over Snapchat allegations
Swalwell’s main income comes from his role in Congress, where members receive a standard annual salary. Like many lawmakers, he likely makes money through book deals, speeches and media appearances.
Exact numbers vary
Financial disclosures require politicians to report broad ranges of assets and liabilities rather than precise numbers, making accurate calculations difficult.
In addition, factors such as mortgages, pensions and asset value fluctuations can significantly affect the overall estimate, causing differences between reports.
Despite his years in public office, Swalwell’s estimated wealth is lower than that of many of his congressional colleagues.
Election turmoil
The spotlight on Swalwell’s finances comes as his gubernatorial campaign faces a major crisis. A Politico report detailed that his campaign was “faltering” after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct emerged, leading to staff resignations and calls from allies to withdraw from the race.
Swalwell denied the accusations, saying: “These accusations are false and occurred on the eve of the election… I will defend myself with the facts.”
The controversy led to support suspensions, internal departures and political pressure that affected the trajectory of his campaign.
Women voter turnout hits record high in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry
NEW DELHI: Women voter turnout remained high in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on Thursday, not only recording the highest ever turnout but also surpassing the male voter turnout in the two states and the Union Territory. The female voter turnout was as high as 91.4%, 86.5% and 81.2% in Puducherry, Assam and Kerala. In comparison, male voter turnout was 88.1% in Puducherry, 85.3% in Assam and 75.1% in Kerala. The gender turnout gap is largest in Kerala at nearly 6 percentage points, compared with 3.2 percentage points in Puducherry and just 1.1 percentage points in Assam. Enthusiastic participation of women voters drove up overall turnout in three states/Utahs. Most political parties target women voters in their manifesto promises. In Kerala, the LDF has promised to increase female labor force participation to 50%, while the UDF is offering free bus travel to women.
How the BBC recreated a controversial 1974 prison psychology experiment to test human compliance |
The idea of recreating one of psychology’s most controversial experiments on television should have been a nonstarter from the start. When the BBC announced in 2002 that the controlled prison simulation would be turned into a documentary series, comparisons were immediately drawn to the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, a study so widely criticized for its ethical issues that it is now viewed as much as a discovery as a warning. The program is titled experimentset out to revisit the same question of how ordinary people behave when given power over others, but under conditions designed to avoid initial failure.
what is Stanford University Experiments designed to prove what went wrong
In August 1971, psychologist Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues built a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University. Twenty-four male students, selected from a pool of volunteers who had undergone physical and mental health screenings, were randomly assigned to the role of “guard” or “prisoner.” They were paid $15 a day and told the study would last two weeks.This goal is based on broader research on obedience and authority, building on research by Stanley Milgram and others. famous obedience experiment participants obey authority by administering so-called electric shocks to others. Zimbardo wanted to test whether behavior could be determined solely by context, and whether psychologically stable individuals would adopt the behaviors expected of their assigned roles in a prison-like system.The simulation is built around an elaborate structure in which prisoners are housed in small cells, identified by numbers rather than names, and subjected to routines that simulate a loss of autonomy. Guards work in shifts and are given broad powers to maintain order, but they are instructed not to use physical violence. Video cameras and microphones recorded the entire interaction.Within days, the situation worsened. Shocking evidence suggests prison guards are becoming increasingly aggressive and dehumanizing towards prisoners. Participants showed signs of severe stress, anxiety, emotional breakdown and withdrawal, and five prisoners had to be released early. Zimbardo himself, who served as prison warden, was engrossed in the simulation and ignored the abuse by prison guards until graduate student Christina Maslach raised objections to the conditions in the simulated prison and the ethics of continuing the experiment.
The experiment was scheduled to run for 14 days but was stopped after 6 days. It went on to become one of the most cited studies in psychology, often used to support the idea that people follow roles and that situations can override individual personalities. At the same time, it has been criticized for a lack of ethical safeguards, insufficient informed consent, psychological harm to participants, and questions about whether it implicitly encouraged guards to behave violently. By modern standards it would not be approved Establishing a research ethics framework.
Why the BBC is trying again
Thirty years later, psychologists Alex Haslam and Steve Reicher worked with the BBC to design a new study that re-examines the same core question under more rigorous scientific and ethical conditions. Their aim was not just to replicate Zimbardo’s findings, but to test them. Fifteen male participants were selected and placed in a purpose-built prison environment within a television studio in Elstree. Like the original, they are randomly assigned roles as guards or prisoners. The study is scheduled to take place over eight days and will be filmed and broadcast continuously.The experiment introduced stricter safeguards to avoid initial failure, was conducted under independent ethical oversight, allowed participants to withdraw at any time, ensured ongoing psychological monitoring, and prevented researchers from assuming a direct authoritative role within the system. This goal is more specific than in 1971. Haslam and Reicher wanted to examine how inequalities are maintained or challenged, whether people accept hierarchical roles or resist them, and under what conditions authority becomes stable or breaks down.
What really happened in the BBC study
The results did not follow the trajectory of the Stanford experiment. From the beginning, the Guardsmen worked hard to form a cohesive identity. They are unwilling to assert authority and appear uncomfortable enforcing discipline. Without a shared sense of purpose or group cohesion, their status is undermined. In contrast, the prisoners began to develop a stronger collective identity. Over time, they coordinated their actions, questioning the legitimacy of the guards’ authority and resisting the imposed hierarchy. As the research progressed, this shift became more apparent.
The BBC’s prison experiment shows prisoners forming alliances, refusing instructions, escaping and then trying to set up autonomous communes.
By the sixth day, the structure had effectively collapsed, culminating in participants orchestrating a breakout that rendered the guard-prisoner regime inoperable. Instead, they attempted to create an autonomous commune based on shared decision-making, but it soon collapsed due to internal tensions, particularly between those who had led the early resistance movement. A smaller group then proposed the creation of a new regime, with themselves as guard, this time intending to impose a stricter, more authoritarian structure.At this point, the researchers stepped in and ended the study early because emerging dynamics suggested a shift toward a more extreme system that could pose risks to participants’ well-being.
What BBC research found and why it matters
The BBC study, in stark contrast to the Stanford experiment, found no evidence that individuals naturally submit to authority or a submissive role. Power does not automatically produce tyranny. Instead, behavior depends on group dynamics, specifically whether individuals identify with their role and whether a cohesive group can form around the role. This is consistent with the concept of psychology deindividuationa person’s sense of personal identity is submerged in a group, making them more susceptible to collective behavior in settings such as protests or crowd movements, with ordinary people sometimes acting in more extreme or unusual ways. The failure of the guard was not a principled rejection of authority, but a lack of shared consent. Without cohesion, their authority remains fragile. Prisoners’ ability to challenge the system stems from the opposite condition: a heightened sense of collective identity that enables them to act together. These findings led Haslam and Reichel to argue that tyranny is not an inevitable consequence of power. This depends on social conditions, in particular whether the dominant group is able to organize itself and whether those dominated by it accept or resist this structure.
The study was later published in academic journals and often Quote as a direct challenge to the conclusions drawn from the Stanford experiment. It shifts the focus from individual submission to group processes, showing that leadership, identity, and collective behavior are central to understanding how systems of power operate.
Two experiments, two conclusions
These two studies, placed side by side, describe different mechanisms. Experiments from 1971 showed that roles and situations can prompt individuals to engage in extreme behavior, even in the absence of prior tendencies. Research from 2002 argued that a role alone is not enough, that power depends on whether people believe in it, organize around it and accept its legitimacy.Both studies have important limitations and cannot fully replicate real-world institutions. A key issue in each is a lack of ecological validity: artificial environments, whether simulated prisons or controlled behavioral settings, fail to capture the complexity, stress, and unpredictability of real prison life or systems of power. Therefore, although they provide insights into behavior under structured conditions, their findings are limited by the context in which they are produced.
Family sues U.S. over child, 8, who died in custody after crossing border
The family of an 8-year-old girl with heart disease who died in U.S. custody after crossing the border in 2023 sued the federal government on Friday.
Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, who suffered from chronic heart disease, sickle cell anemia, and flu-like symptoms, died after being detained for eight days at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Donna (later Harlingen, Texas).
An internal CPB investigation found that appropriate medical care failed to be provided and that medical staff failed to review documentation provided by the mother describing the girl’s sensitive condition. While in custody, Anadis developed a fever of 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius), nausea, difficulty breathing and pain.
Despite the mother’s pleas, she was not taken to the hospital until the child went limp in her arms. Mabel Alvarez Benedix emotionally described her daughter’s death in an interview with The Associated Press later that week.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Friday’s wrongful death lawsuit follows the dismissal of tort claims filed against the government last year in October. The lawsuit seeks compensation for the family’s losses but does not ask for a specific amount.
The child’s mother said she sees a psychiatrist regularly and takes medication to help her sleep. Her father, Rossel Reyes Martinez, said his daughter’s death was the realization of a parent’s worst nightmare.
“That’s why we’re filing this lawsuit today in her honor, to make sure no other family has to endure the same pain we’ve experienced,” her father said Thursday.
After AFT relief, acquittal in Malegaon case, Army promotes Colonel Purohit to Brigadier General
New Delhi: The Indian Army has approved the promotion of Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit to Brigadier General after he was acquitted in the Malegaon blast case and requested the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) that he should not retire until his promotion request is reviewed.Sources in the armed forces confirmed to TOI that “the order for the promotion of Colonel Purohit to Brigadier General was issued on Thursday”.The decision comes weeks after the Armed Forces Tribunal put a stay on Purohit’s planned retirement on March 31, 2026, allowing his pending promotion request to be reviewed first. Invoking the jurisdiction of the court under section 14 of the Armed Forces Courts Act 2007, the complainant claimed that he was denied promotion following his arrest in 2008, when he faced a lengthy criminal trial. He argued that delays in the judicial process denied him a fair chance at promotion within the Army hierarchy.The order was passed on March 16 by a bench comprising AFT chairman Justice Rajendra Menon and executive member Rasika Chaube. The court has issued notice to the Union government and other respondents asking them to explain why directions should not be issued to consider the officer for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General and grant all consequential service benefits at par with his colleagues or subordinates. Regarding the court order, The Times of India reported that “the Army will review the judgment and then take action as per policy provisions”.On July 31, the Mumbai NIA court acquitted Purohit and six others in the Malegaon blast case, holding that the prosecution failed to bring charges beyond reasonable doubt.Colonel Purohit was arrested in 2008 and was detained until 2017, when the Supreme Court granted bail. He subsequently resumed service in the Indian Army.
‘Run again!’ Kamala Harris confirms she’s considering running for president again in 2028
Kamala Harris says she is considering running for president again in 2028.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed on Friday that she is considering running for president again in 2028. The Rev. Al Sharpton asked the former vice president at a National Action Network conference in New York City if he would run for president in 2028. “Look, I probably would,” Harris said. “I’m thinking about it.” Harris has been coy about her future political plans while writing the book, but it is seen as her strongest assertion about her political future. Chants of “Run Again” rang out in a Manhattan ballroom where Harris sat talking to Sharpton, the civil rights group’s founder.“I would also say that with four years in office, I am one step away from the presidency of the United States… I know what the job is and I know what it requires,” Harris said.“Part of the problem is the need to get rid of some of the bureaucracy in government and understand that the people … don’t want process, they want progress,” she said. “Look, the American people have a right to expect that anyone who wants to run for office and be a leader cannot be self-centered, that what they want for themselves has to be centered on the American people,” she added. “That’s what I think about it, and I think about it in the context of…..who, where and how do the best work for the American people? I’ll keep you posted. “Shortly after she lost the 2024 presidential election, speculation was rife that she would next run for governor of California. But a year and a half later, Kamala Harris has made her first confident statement that she may run for president again. “So he went into this war, a war of choice,” Harris said of the war with Iran. “Remember, that guy said he got rid of their nuclear arsenal, eliminated it. He said – you know how he likes to use those kinds of words, eliminate it, it’s not a vague word, it means you took it out – well, obviously, he didn’t do that.”
Who is Eric Swalwell’s wife? Everything We Know About Brittany Watts and Her Children Amid Sexual Assault Allegations
Eric Swalwell faces scrutiny over an alleged sexual assault by a former staffer, sparking internal campaign turmoil. The revelation has brought renewed attention to his personal life and his wife, Brittany Watts.
Watts is the director of sales at the Ritz-Carlton Resort in Half Moon Bay, California, according to the New York Times. She received her degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her parents, Dr. Kathryn L. Watts and H. William Watts III both practice dentistry and live in Columbus, Indiana.
The couple married in 2016 and have three children. Watts occasionally appeared at public events with Swalwell, but usually stayed out of the public eye.
According to Politico, Swalwell’s campaign “crumbled” amid sexual abuse allegations from a former colleague, and multiple staffers left.
Supreme Court: Staff and pensioners cannot have different DA pay hikes
New Delhi: Observing that there is no difference between inflationary pressure on active employees and pensioners and the impact is equal on both, Supreme Court Friday held that determining the differential rate of increase in these two categories of inflation-linked benefits is arbitrary and cannot be allowed. A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Prasanna B Varale disagreed with the Kerala government’s decision to increase the living allowance (DA) of state-run road transport company employees by 14 per cent, while the living allowance (DR) of retired employees of the company was increased by only 11 per cent. “…the relevant government orders have increased the DA rate by 14% and the DR rate by 11%, although the increase is with a common objective of alleviating the hardship faced by serving employees and pensioners due to inflation. There is no doubt that inflation hits both active and retired employees equally… We believe that distinguishing the two as growth rates for DA and DR has no reasonable link to the objectives sought to be achieved. ” Justice Mishra said while accepting the plea of senior advocates V Chitambaresh and Vipin Nair. The state claims that active and retired employees belong to different categories and that differential treatment of them does not violate the right to equality. Financial reasons alone justified this, it said. The judges said, “There is no doubt that financial austerity may be a guiding factor in deferring the payment of certain benefits or may be a valid reason for implementing separate welfare schemes. However, once it is decided to provide certain allowances and to increase these allowances… fixing a higher growth rate for serving persons than for retired persons would be arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.”“
Ninja streaming outage: Ninja streaming outage indefinitely, blamed on Arc Raiders hacker
Streaming star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has announced that he will retire from streaming indefinitely. The decision comes after growing dissatisfaction with cheating in Arc Raiders. Ninja, once one of the game’s most active and popular streamers, said the game’s current state makes it difficult for him to continue playing or creating content around it.The problem mainly comes from hackers and stream snipers who target players, especially well-known streamers like Ninja. Many players have also complained online about unfair gameplay, saying matches have become frustrating and difficult to enjoy. Despite multiple responses from Embark Studios, the issue has not been fully resolved and has even caused loyal players to stay away from the game.
Arc Raiders ‘simply unplayable’ due to hacker attack, Ninja forced to take hiatus
During a Twitch stream on April 8, Ninja made it clear why he quit. He said, “I’m not going to be on Arc, I’m not going to play any other game but League of Legends. So if I were to go on, it would be League of Legends, or a sports show. I’m not even kidding… I’m going to take a break.” It was clear from his words how serious his situation was.Ninja also shared how much he enjoyed the game before things got worse. “Arc supported me like crazy. It was awesome. And then the cheats and the updates… the streaming sniper cheats broke me. It made the game unplayable at all,” he added. According to him, hackers used his live streams to track his location, making fair competition impossible.Since the beginning of 2026, cheating in Arc Raiders has become a hot topic among gamers. There are several players who have pretty much the same experience, especially at higher levels. Some content creators and their followers believe Embark Studios should have implemented an anti-cheat system faster.Although the studio promised to take action on the matter and refund users who lost some game resources due to the hack, the issue still persists. Players’ confidence and enthusiasm for the game continue to decline as a result.All in all, the ninja incident can be said to be one of the many problems with the Arc Raiders game. If the cheating issue is not addressed soon, it could affect the future of the game.
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