Government Routed LIC Investments to Adani, The Washington Post Alleges
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Government Routed LIC Investments to Adani, The Washington Post Alleges

An investigative report by The Washington Post alleges that the Indian government directed $3.9 billion in public funds from the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) into industrialist Gautam Adani’s companies at a time when global lenders were retreating due to fraud and bribery charges filed against him in the United States. The report presents this as an example of the convergence of crony capitalism, state-enabled financial support and elite consolidation within India’s current political economy.

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Govt Limits Who Can Issue Internet Takedown Orders, But Questions Remain
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Govt Limits Who Can Issue Internet Takedown Orders, But Questions Remain

The central government has restricted the number of officials authorised to order the removal of online content from social media platforms and websites, departing from its earlier policy that allowed thousands of officers to issue such directions. While the change appears to promote accountability, it leaves unresolved the concern that a government-run effort to combat “misinformation” could also silence legitimate reporting, commentary and political critique.

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MP Police Treat Reading Political Ideology as Evidence of Crime
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

MP Police Treat Reading Political Ideology as Evidence of Crime

Madhya Pradesh Police have cited books on fascism and communism as evidence in a chargesheet against a youth collective founder accused of hurting religious sentiments. If political literature can be treated as criminal evidence, then any citizen engaging with dissenting ideas risks being branded a threat to public order.

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Our Government Says It Loves Hindi, Then Bans a Hindi Scholar
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Our Government Says It Loves Hindi, Then Bans a Hindi Scholar

Francesca Orsini, a world-renowned scholar of Hindi and South Asian literature, was turned away at Delhi airport despite holding a valid Indian visa, without explanation. If this government is truly the patron saint of Hindi, it seems to have a curious way of showing affection, by banning one of its most devoted translators.

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Judge With Civil Rights Record Shifted to Lower Rank After Govt Request
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Judge With Civil Rights Record Shifted to Lower Rank After Govt Request

The Supreme Court collegium has reportedly altered its earlier recommendation on the transfer of Justice Atul Sreedharan, a senior High Court judge known for pro-civil rights rulings, following a request from the Union government. This suggests that the judiciary’s internal decisions remain vulnerable to executive pressure, and the collegium has willingly accommodated that pressure rather than defending its own independence.

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Delhi Needs No Balance Between Diwali and the Air It Breathes
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Delhi Needs No Balance Between Diwali and the Air It Breathes

Calling it a “balanced” decision between tradition and the environment, Delhi’s Chief Minister welcomed the Supreme Court’s move to allow firecrackers this Diwali, even as the city’s air turned visibly toxic. There is no balance in that. There is evasion, political softness and a confusion between ritual and substance.

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3 in 4 Prisoners in India are Undertrials, Mostly Poor and Marginalised
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

3 in 4 Prisoners in India are Undertrials, Mostly Poor and Marginalised

Over 500,000 people are currently locked up in Indian prisons. Nearly three-fourths of them are undertrials, people who have not been convicted of any crime, as noted by IndiaSpend. Most are poor, young and come from historically disadvantaged castes. The question is not how many, but why they are still there, and who keeps them there.

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Government Wants to Push Hindi in Tribal Schools
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Government Wants to Push Hindi in Tribal Schools

The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has directed government-run residential schools in tribal areas to promote Hindi among students. The order appears to impose language from above, brushing aside the cultural and linguistic rights of tribal communities and eroding the Constitution’s promise of plural and inclusive education.

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India’s Hunger Rate Stands Still as World Hunger Falls
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

India’s Hunger Rate Stands Still as World Hunger Falls

October 16 is World Food Day. On this day, the 2025 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World reports that global hunger has fallen, with 8.2 percent of the world’s population undernourished in 2024, down from 8.7 percent in 2022. But the report also shows that India has made no real progress. The country’s three-year average undernourishment rate for 2022 to 2024 is 12 percent, the same as it was a decade earlier.

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Report Shows Emotional Distress Rising Worldwide
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Report Shows Emotional Distress Rising Worldwide

A new report on emotional health shows that worry and stress now affect nearly four in 10 adults worldwide, with emotional distress levels rising sharply over the past decade. The trend must be taken as a warning about systemic neglect by governments and global institutions of emotional health as a pillar of public wellbeing and peace.

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National Survey Finds Indian Diets Too Heavy on Refined Carbs
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

National Survey Finds Indian Diets Too Heavy on Refined Carbs

India’s largest-ever nutrition and metabolic health survey has found that 62% of daily calories in Indian diets come from carbohydrates, most of them of poor quality. The finding suggests that the country’s food systems, policies and poverty conditions are pushing people toward diets that increase their risk of diabetes and obesity, not protect against them.

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IFS Officer Sonali Ghosh Wins Global Award for Wildlife Rehab
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

IFS Officer Sonali Ghosh Wins Global Award for Wildlife Rehab

Dr. Sonali Ghosh, field director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, has won the WCPA-Kenton Miller Award for her innovative contributions to wildlife area conservation. Her work focuses on what happens to wild animals that are rescued or bred in captivity, and how they can be returned to their natural habitats. It points to the need for a major shift in how wildlife conservation is currently practiced in India.

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Child Deaths From Cough Syrups Point to Drug Safety Failures
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Child Deaths From Cough Syrups Point to Drug Safety Failures

At least 22 children have died in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan since September after consuming Coldrif, a cough syrup found to contain fatal levels of diethylene glycol, a harmful chemical found in products like coolants and industrial cleaners. The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the failure of India’s domestic drug regulatory system to enforce proper screening and manufacturing standards for medicines sold within the country.

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Kerala High Court Questions Centre’s Bias in Disaster Relief Allocation
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Kerala High Court Questions Centre’s Bias in Disaster Relief Allocation

The Kerala High Court has criticised the Union government for refusing to waive the loans of survivors of the devastating Wayanad landslides, citing the Centre’s past disaster relief to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states as evidence of selective treatment. The criticism appears to question whether the Union government is applying its powers to distribute financial relief in a politically biased and arbitrary manner, rather than upholding the neutrality expected in a federal system.

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Suicide of Senior IPS Officer Reveals Caste Bias at the Heart of State Power
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Suicide of Senior IPS Officer Reveals Caste Bias at the Heart of State Power

A senior police officer on Haryana has died by suicide, leaving behind an eight‑page note directly accusing serving and retired senior officers of caste‑based discrimination, humiliation and harassment, naming them individually. The state, understood as the guarantor of rights and equality, appears not only unwilling but also incapable of confronting caste injustice, even within its highest institutions.

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CBI Arrests Accused in Custodial Death Case Only After Supreme Court’s Pressure
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

CBI Arrests Accused in Custodial Death Case Only After Supreme Court’s Pressure

The Supreme Court had to threaten contempt proceedings against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to get two Madhya Pradesh police officers arrested in a custodial death case. This reveals how state institutions are willing to go to shield their own when ordinary citizens’ rights are violated unless the judiciary directly intervenes and maintains pressure.

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Why Shoe Thrown at CJI Over Idol Remark is Disturbing
NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, October 2025 Vishal Arora

Why Shoe Thrown at CJI Over Idol Remark is Disturbing

A lawyer who threw a shoe at Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai inside the courtroom after his public interest petition was dismissed has said he does not regret it. His unapologetic stance suggests the act was not a sudden emotional reaction. It appears to reflect ideological absolutism, the belief that one’s views are unquestionable, which can lead individuals to defy democratic norms, justify disruption in the name of faith and assume public support for such behaviour.

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Why Has Biren Singh Been Included in Manipur BJP’s Bid to Regain Power?

Why Has Biren Singh Been Included in Manipur BJP’s Bid to Regain Power?

N. Biren Singh, the former Chief Minister of Manipur, has arrived in Delhi with a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators and former ministers to seek the revival of an elected government in the state. His inclusion deserves scrutiny, as the Supreme Court has ordered a forensic examination of audio recordings that allegedly feature his voice making remarks linked by petitioners to the ethnic violence. The visit also comes two weeks after a deadly attack on an Assam Rifles convoy that intelligence agencies suspect was politically motivated.

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