NEWS BRIEFINGS: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIA

“Educate Girls” has become the first Indian non-profit to win the Ramon Magsaysay Award, often called Asia’s Nobel Prize. The group was honored for helping girls from remote villages across India get back into classrooms and stay there. It aims to reach 10 million learners across India by 2035.

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.

India is moving closer to Russia and China, stepping away from its partnerships with Western democracies. This new direction weakens its position in global trade, technology and democratic cooperation, pulling India toward authoritarian governments and brings economic punishment and fewer reliable international ties.

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.

Politicians rarely admit failure. They redirect attention, reduce criticism and protect their image instead. The methods they use draw on psychology, exploiting universal and predictable patterns in human thinking.

Politicians in India, as in many other countries, often rely on universal psychological tactics to divert public attention from their failures in governance, or from issues that could damage them politically or reduce their popularity. These tactics draw their strength from four mental levers deeply rooted in how the human mind responds to fear, identity, repetition and emotion.

The Supreme Court’s order directing the Election Commission of India (EC) to publish detailed lists of 6.5 million (65 lakh) deleted voters in Bihar shows that the EC resisted transparency until compelled by the Court. A body constitutionally mandated to conduct free and fair elections should not need judicial intervention to carry out tasks that fall squarely within its mandate, including the protection of the integrity of the franchise.

We mark every August 15 with flag hoisting ceremonies, parades and speeches to remember the day India ceased to be under British colonial rule in 1947. These rituals have value, but the greater focus should be on the intended culmination of independence, which is a system of government that safeguards the dignity and autonomy of those it serves. It must be understood that democracy is inseparable from independence.

When the Supreme Court of India is considering whether all stray dogs should be removed from Delhi-NCR because some believe they are dangerous for children, there is a country where the picture is very different. In Armenia’s capital Yerevan, street dogs are known for their calm temperaments and easy rapport with people, as a result of a deliberate management policy and a social environment that treats dogs as part of the public space rather than a threat to be eliminated.

The Supreme Court has ordered that the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which owns The Wire, and its founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan must be protected from any police action that could involve arrest, detention, or other measures intended to compel compliance in connection with an FIR filed by the Assam Police. The order puts the law’s constitutional validity before the court and concerns press freedom and the state’s power to act against journalists.

Thousands of people already registered as voters in Uttar Pradesh have appeared on the Election Commission of India’s draft electoral roll for a single Bihar Assembly constituency, according to an investigation by The Reporters’ Collective. The entries include individuals with two separate voter identity numbers, raising concerns about illegal double registrations before Bihar’s upcoming polls.

The Supreme Court of India has discovered that manual sewer cleaning, a banned and hazardous practice, is being carried out at its own Gate F. This points to a deeper and troubling reality, that in many areas of public life in India, even those bound by law display no hesitation in flouting it, because the culture of impunity has taken root.

The Supreme Court has called out a troubling pattern in how electricity is being managed in the country. The Electricity Regulatory Commissions (ERCs), which are supposed to keep power tariffs fair and free from political games, are allowing power companies to pile up “regulatory assets,” a term for unpaid bills from earlier electricity costs, which are pushed into the future for recovery. These postponed costs have gone far beyond what the law allows, with long-term consequences for ordinary citizens.

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has called on the Election Commission to release digital copies of voter lists from constituencies across India and CCTV footage from polling stations. The appeal follows his claim, supported by alleged evidence, that fake voters were included in the rolls for the Bangalore Central constituency, an allegation of a very serious nature for any country that presents itself as a democracy and one that must be addressed.

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has released a dossier that he said was compiled from electoral rolls in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura assembly constituency, alleging that more than 100,000 votes were manipulated through five distinct forms of tampering, a claim made amid questions over the conduct of the Election Commission (EC).

The United States government, under President Donald Trump, has issued an executive order that imposes a further 25 percent tariff on India for its purchases of oil from Russia. This brings the total tariff rate applied by the U.S. on India to 50 percent. This move places significant pressure on India's trade and energy strategies, especially as the country seeks to manage its dependence on energy imports while deepening ties with both the U.S. and Russia.

The Supreme Court of India has barred a sitting judge of the Allahabad High Court from hearing criminal cases for the remainder of his tenure after he permitted criminal prosecution in a matter the apex court said was purely a civil dispute. The development signals a problem of legal misapplication that could affect how justice is delivered to ordinary citizens.

The Supreme Court has asked the Union government why it has not yet submitted the forensic report authenticating the audio tapes purportedly featuring former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, despite being directed to do so three months ago. The delay raises concerns about whether the government is treating with due seriousness the evidence that could implicate a public official in a major episode of ethnic violence involving loss of life, destruction of homes and the displacement of thousands.

Severe monsoon rains in Himachal Pradesh have killed nearly 179 people, disrupted hundreds of roads, power transformers and water schemes, and caused huge infrastructural and agricultural losses. This scale of destruction is not solely natural, it reveals governance failures in land use planning, environmental regulation, infrastructure design, early warning and relief systems.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged citizens to buy locally made goods in an apparent response to the United States imposing a 25 percent tariff on several Indian exports. While the appeal may sound patriotic and self-reliant, it does not align with the economic realities of the moment, especially during a period of global uncertainty.

A new Microsoft Research study has identified 40 occupations where AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot can already perform many core tasks, including writing, some aspects of journalism, customer support and data analysis. This makes it essential for students and professionals at all levels to prepare for a future where such roles, especially in office-based sectors, may be restructured, reduced or phased out as automation becomes more deeply embedded in workplace systems.