New Delhi: Indians were the third largest number of applicants for Schengen visas globally in CY 2025, with 11.5 lakh people doing so with a rejection rate of 15.8%. According to data released by the European Commission (EC), the Chinese were the largest applicants with 18 lakh with a rejection rate of 4.1%, followed by Turkish nationals (12.5 lakh) with a rejection rate of 14.6%. “The top five applicant countries remained largely unchanged,” the EC says, adding that Russia (6.8 million) and Morocco (6.2 million) are applicants to the Court and in fifth place.Despite rising international airfares and the rupee’s steep depreciation since last year, which has made traveling abroad more expensive, 4% more Indians applied for a Schengen visa in 2025 compared to 2024. The rejection rate for Indian applicants also increased from 15% to 15.8% during this period.Rajesh Mago, Co-Founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip, said, “After the budget-friendly and close to home Middle East and South East Asia, Europe tops the list of Indian globetrotters with its diverse attractions, including Switzerland, Greece, Amsterdam, France and others. We are now seeing a growing trend of sports tourism and a large number of Indians are going there to watch matches.”Among the EU and Schengen associated consulates, Switzerland sees the maximum number of applications in India at around 2.3 lakh and the country-specific rejection rate is no more than 13.6%. This is followed by France with more than 2 lakh, Germany with 1.5 lakh, Netherlands with less than one lakh and Sen with around 91,000. Other big attractions for visa applicants included the embassies of Italy, Austria, Greece, Belgium and Sweden.“Switzerland and France (the top two embassies in India in terms of receiving Schengen visa applications) have really made the visa application here easy in terms of dates and then getting the passport stamped back. While the total turnaround time for the Schengen states is 15 working days, Switzerland and France return in 7-10 days. Availability of dates in Italy is a big issue,” said a leading travel agent on condition of anonymity. At 46.5%, the highest rejection rate for Indians was in SloveniaOverall, 3.3 crore Indians were expected to travel abroad in CY 2025 – 6% more than 2024 and 21.5% more than pre-Covid 2019. According to government data, their top five destinations were: UAE (86 lakh), Saudi Arabia (34 lakh), Thailand (22 lakh), USA (20 lakh) and Singapore (15 lakh).According to the European Commission, EU and Schengen-affiliated consulates globally received approximately 12 million applications for short-term visas in 2025 and granted more than 10 million visas. While over CY 2024, both the number of applications and visas granted were below pre-Covid levels.“More than 10 million visas were issued in 2025 – an increase of 3% from 2024 (97 million), but still down from 15 million granted in 2019. The global denial rate remained stable at 14.8%, unchanged from 2024, although some countries saw significant fluctuations. Denials declined in Russia (6.4%, down from 7.5%), Algeria (31%, down from 35%), and Ethiopia (34%, down from 36.1%), but faster increases in Cape Verde (21.4%, up from 13.4%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (40.1%, up from 29.9%), Senegal (51.9%, up from 46.8%), and Burundi (53.4%, up from 40%). Happened,” says EC.

New Delhi: After a “detailed and nuanced” analysis of the 70-year-old Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA), the Supreme Court has ruled that the main objective of the law is neither to eliminate prostitution nor to make it a criminal offence, but to prevent its commercialization.A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said, “We are convinced that the main objective of the Act is not to eliminate prostitution or to make prostitution a criminal offence. Rather, its objective is to prevent or eliminate commercialization of prostitution, that is, prostitution as an organized means of earning a living.”While dealing with the issue of rehabilitation of women rescued from brothels, the bench analyzed the 1956 Act and said that in the early 20th century, trafficking of women for prostitution was common and considered “immoral”, hence the term got attached to the law.The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) was brought in primarily to punish criminals and not to punish prostitutes,” the Supreme Court said.Writing the 298-page judgment, Justice Pardiwala said Sections 7 and 8 of the Act, which provide for punishing individual acts of prostitution in specific circumstances such as “open prostitution”, are exceptions to this general rule. Section 7 punishes any person engaged in prostitution near public places, and Section 8 criminalizes soliciting clients in public places.The bench said, “The view is that although individual acts of prostitution do not directly demand abandonment, yet public decency and social morality require that even visible initiatives for such solitary, non-commercial forms of prostitution in the vicinity of public institutions and other notified areas be prevented in order to prevent public nuisance.” Wasn’t trying to make a case for de-regulation. Business. What we are trying to convey is that while making it clear that the legislative intent is not to condemn all acts of prostitution, the definition retains some regulatory ambiguity by characterizing it solely as abusive or exploitative.On examination of the definition of the word ‘brothel’ in Section 2 of the Act, the bench said, “It must be made clear that where a single woman carries on prostitution for her livelihood, without any other prostitute, or without involving any other person in the maintenance of such premises, her residence will not be a ‘brothel’.”

New Delhi: In view of the difficult sowing season due to weak monsoon forecast and pressure on inputs like fertilizer and diesel, the Center on Monday will launch a month-long nationwide campaign to promote balanced and judicious use of inputs like fertilizer and water, timely advisory to farmers in view of weather-related challenges and delivery of benefits of various agriculture-related schemes directly to villages.The campaign – Khet Bachao Abhiyaan – also aims to motivate farmers to increase the use of green manure, organic and bio products and opt for precision irrigation for optimum use of water.Ahead of the launch of the campaign from Ramsia village in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said awareness and practical interventions have become necessary in view of the growing challenges of rising temperatures, indiscriminate and unbalanced use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, deteriorating soil health and climate crisis.“Constructive suggestions will be given on what to do and what not to do, right choice of crop in case of water shortage or risk, crop diversification and farming,” he said.The minister said, “The objective of the campaign will not be just to convey the message, but to give the right advice to the farmers at the agricultural level as per the situation.”In view of the forecast of a weak monsoon amid the growing threat of El Nino, the agriculture ministry has already asked states to take measures such as promotion of drought-tolerant crop varieties, weather-based agro-advisory services, efficient water management and location-specific adaptation strategies to reduce farm losses.Urging states to be prepared for challenging weather conditions, Chouhan, who will visit villages and interact with farmers in different parts of the country during the campaign, called on chief ministers and other stakeholders, including agricultural scientists, for their participation in the initiative.Chouhan also emphasized that the campaign should be given a multidimensional form by ensuring that the benefits of schemes like Kisan Credit Card, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Crop Insurance Scheme, Soil Health Card, Mini Seed Kit, Pulses and Oilseeds Mission and Agricultural Mechanization Program reach the farmers.