Poonam Pandey, a Delhi-based journalist, was prevented by police from filming a protest and subsequently detained while covering the demonstration by the opposition Congress party. The Press Club of India has requested a judicial inquiry into the incident, voicing concerns about the treatment of journalists in the country.

The proposed Broadcast Bill, if passed, will dramatically extend regulatory oversight to include social media influencers and online content creators, potentially impacting not just local digital personalities but also global creators targeting Indian audiences. The bill proposes rigorous registration requirements, stringent content scrutiny and increased governmental intervention, raising significant concerns about freedom of expression, privacy and the dynamic nature of online interactions.

The central government’s infrastructure spending, or capex, will remain at 3.4 percent of GDP, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said in an interview with ThePrint. This decision, outlined during the announcement of the Union Budget 2024, signals a significant shift in strategy. Seth said it’s now up to state governments and the private sector to step up their investments in infrastructure. Is this move good for the country’s growth and beneficial for its people?

Only 757 out of a sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges are in place across various High Courts, which is just about 68%, according to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, which also disclosed that over 50 million cases are pending across various courts in India and the Supreme Court has 50 pending Constitution Bench matters, including a longstanding case from 1994.

The decline of vulture populations in India, caused by the common use of the painkiller diclofenac in livestock, has resulted in an average death rate increase of 4.7% and economic losses estimated at $69.4 billion each year, according to a report published by the American Economic Association journal.

India’s 2024 budget introduces significant fiscal changes, which are likely to reshape the economic landscape for various sectors of society, particularly impacting poorer segments and average taxpayers. The nuances of these expected changes reveal a contrast between immediate relief measures and the broader, potentially more burdensome, tax implications that accompany them.

The 2024 budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, allocated significant funds specifically to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. These financial commitments to the two states appear to be part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s strategy to support the ruling parties of these states, which are crucial in maintaining the central government's majority in Parliament. This apparent quid pro quo arrangement undermines the principle of equitable development across all states, regardless of their political affiliations.

The Supreme Court of India has issued an interim order, halting the enforcement of directives in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that mandated eateries along the Kanwar yatra route to display the names of their owners. The court decided that these establishments need only to show the type of food they serve, stressing the irrelevance of the owner’s name or religion in serving the Kanwariya pilgrims.

By 2050, the elderly population in India is projected to double, reaching 346 million, according to Andrea Wojnar, the India chief of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), who stressed the urgent need for expanded investments in healthcare, housing and pensions to accommodate this demographic shift, particularly focusing on older women who face a higher risk of living alone and enduring poverty.

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has written to Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, urging him to raise the issue of press freedom and right to information in the Parliament. In a letter, the EGI expressed deep concerns over several recent legislative measures which threaten the fundamental freedoms that underpin journalistic practice in the country.

The global disruption of vital digital services by a software bug that took place on July 19 shows that our world, highly reliant on technology, is also incredibly vulnerable to its failings. An update introduced on July 19 by CrowdStrike, which provides antivirus software to Microsoft for its Windows devices among other clients, contained a critical bug, resulting in significant disruptions across a wide range of systems that rely on CrowdStrike’s security software.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) and other tribal groups have accused the Assam police of the extrajudicial killings of three Kuki-Zo youths in Cachar district, describing the incident as “cold-blooded murder.” Reportedly, the youngsters, one of them from Manipur, were killed after being detained by the police on July 16. The police’s explanation of the circumstances and reasons for shooting doesn’t appear to be consistent, say families of the deceased.

The catastrophic collision between the Kanchenjunga Express and a freight train in West Bengal in June, resulting in 10 fatalities and numerous injuries, has been declared an “accident-in-waiting” in a report by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), which has pinpointed multiple administrative and operational errors.

In the ongoing ethnic violence that has gripped the northeastern state of Manipur for over a year, another death of a tribal man has been reported. A 45-year-old resident of a village on the border of Imphal West and Kangpokpi Districts, died after being kidnapped and tortured, according to reports, which say he succumbed to his injuries while being transported to the hospital on July 15.

In response to mercenary spyware threat notifications—likely from Pegasus spyware, with the government as a probable suspect—received by opposition politicians, activists and journalists from Apple, the government reportedly plans to require the victims to prove any breaches themselves and through a government agency.

An investigative report by Boomlive’s Decode reveals a widespread sharing of child sex abuse videos in India. The report, which included undercover interactions with admins of Telegram channels that distribute such disturbing content, shows how easy it is for them to spread child sex abuse material (CSAM).

In Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district, Palitana city has implemented a ban on non-vegetarian food, including the sale, consumption and slaughter of meat. This policy, which enforces the dietary laws of the Jain community across its entire population, clearly constitutes government overreach. It not only imposes a specific dietary preference but also extends government powers into areas of personal choice and freedom, areas typically considered sacrosanct under democratic principles.

The global AI market, projected to grow from $200 billion in 2023 to nearly $2 trillion by 2030, is drawing millions of workers into its rapidly expanding sector. This surge in artificial intelligence affects industries like logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare but masks a harsh reality: the widespread exploitation of labour that powers these advanced systems, according to the authors of an upcoming book.

Nearly 34% of India’s population lives on less than 100 rupees ($1.2) a day, according to the latest household consumption expenditure survey. Further, 47.3% of Indians manage with less than 200 rupees ($2.4) daily. Combined, these figures account for 81.1% of the population living under this threshold.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on July 10 revoked the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of the parent entity of the non-profit Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), a group known for its rigorous analysis of financial institutions’ impacts on development, human rights and the environment. The cancellation was ostensibly due to improper financial filings from 2018 and 2019, but Joe Athialy, CFA’s Executive Director, suspects the timing and rationale are politically motivated, aimed at stifling criticism of government policies.