South Asian University in New Delhi expelled a Bangladeshi Ph.D. scholar, Sudeepto Das, following an incident involving food restrictions on the Mahashivratri festival. The university’s decision involves far-reaching institutional failure and indicates a shift that will harm India’s academic and civic culture.

Amid renewed Israeli military operations in Gaza City on Aug. 29, UN aid agencies repeated their warning that the territory is heading toward large-scale famine. A top UN humanitarian official said at least half a million people are already facing the worst levels of food insecurity, and 160,000 more could soon fall into the same category, as hunger and disease rise across the devastated enclave.

The opposition’s Vice Presidential nominee, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, has been accused of supporting Naxalism, or Maoism, for delivering a 2011 Supreme Court verdict that declared Chhattisgarh’s Salwa Judum militia unconstitutional. The charge has led to a public exchange between retired judges, but the real question is whether that ruling and the standards for selecting a Vice President align with constitutional principles and democratic theory.

The results of the central government’s education survey show that families continue to carry most of the financial burden of school education, with low government support despite high enrolment in public schools. The data also reveals stark differences in the quality of education and resources available to children, depending on their location, gender and type of school.

The United States is going ahead with tariffs of up to 50 percent on Indian exports after trade talks between the two countries broke down. This is expected to increase economic pressure on India due to its oil trade with Russia, and could lower export earnings, hurt export industries and slow overall economic growth.

The Supreme Court has ordered a fresh hearing on the punishment imposed on a man convicted for the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl, setting aside its 2017 judgment that upheld the death penalty. It sets a much-needed precedent where the top court will be willing to review irreversible penalties in light of evolving legal safeguards and human rights obligations.

The arrest of C.N. Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker who alleged multiple murders, rapes and secret burials over two decades in and around the Dharmasthala temple area in Karnataka, appears legally premature. It raises serious concerns about the use of criminal charges against a complainant during an incomplete investigation, and about the conduct of the police and investigative authorities in cases involving powerful religious institutions.

The Supreme Court has directed that voters excluded by the Election Commission of India (ECI) from Bihar’s draft electoral roll under a special revision exercise must be allowed to file objections using Aadhaar or any of 11 recognised documents. The order indicates that the Commission failed to design the revision process in a way that protects universal suffrage, which is central to its constitutional role.

An independent inquiry into the ethnic violence that began in Manipur in May 2023, based on survivor testimonies and first-person accounts, finds consistent failures by state institutions, security forces and political leaders. The report holds both the state and central governments responsible for failing to uphold constitutional protections and deliver justice.

Union home minister Amit Shah has tabled three bills in the Lok Sabha that empower the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and other ministers if they remain in jail for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges. The move appears to be an attempt by the government to expand executive powers over elected offices, including in Jammu and Kashmir where statehood had been expected.

Political messaging affects what people believe, how they act and what they expect from their leaders. Some of the most common tactics used by politicians are meant to make people give up on asking questions, stop demanding better and accept poor performance without protest. In the first part of this series, we looked at four of the seven psychological tactics politicians use to shift public focus away from governance failures. This piece explains the remaining three.