Polity

52 items tagged Polity.

• 2026-10-02

  Supreme Court orders curbs on licence renewal and vehicle registration for unpaid traffic fines

  The Supreme Court, in a 28 September 2026 order made public on 1 October, directed States and Union Territories to block registration renewal, fitness and pollution certificates, ownership transfer and driving licence renewal for vehicles with unpaid traffic e-challans. The Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan was told that e-challans worth about Rs 49,194 crore remained outstanding nationally, against Rs 26,175 crore recovered so far. The directions, issued in a road safety case the court has monitored since 2012, also require States to implement the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' October 2025 standard operating procedure for electronic enforcement through CCTV and speed cameras, backed by a public compliance dashboard.

• 2026-10-02

  Supreme Court: a confession to police alone cannot justify preventive detention

  The Supreme Court on 29 September 2026 set aside a preventive detention order passed under the National Security Act, 1980, holding that a confession made before a police officer cannot, on its own and without independent supporting material, form the basis of the detaining authority's subjective satisfaction. A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu held that since the confessional statement was the sole basis for the detention order, it was unsustainable in law. The ruling, made public on 1 October, reinforces that preventive detention, though it bypasses ordinary criminal trial safeguards, still requires the detaining authority to rely on material beyond an uncorroborated police confession.

• 2026-10-02

  The Union Public Service Commission completes 100 years

  The Union Public Service Commission completed one hundred years on 1 October 2026, tracing its origin to the Public Service Commission constituted on 1 October 1926 under the Government of India Act, 1919, an advisory body whose Chairman and Members were then appointed by the Secretary of State in London. It was renamed the Federal Public Service Commission in 1937 and became the Union Public Service Commission on 26 January 1950, with its functions now drawn from Articles 315 to 323 in Part XIV of the Constitution. A PIB backgrounder marking the centenary noted that in 2023-24 the Commission processed the promotion records of 24,581 officers and inducted 532 officers into the All India Services, alongside its continuing role, since 2012-13, of empanelling senior IPS officers for appointment as state Directors General of Police under the Supreme Court's 2006 ruling in Prakash Singh vs Union of India.

• 2026-10-01

  Centre extends AFSPA for six months in Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh

  The Ministry of Home Affairs on 25 September 2026 extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 for six months from 1 October 2026 in Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. In Manipur, the entire state remains a disturbed area except the jurisdiction of 13 police stations in five valley districts, continuing a declaration that has applied in some form since 1981. In Nagaland the Act covers nine districts and 21 police stations in five other districts, while in Arunachal Pradesh it continues in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts and parts of Namsai district bordering Assam.

• 2026-10-01

  Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 2026 comes into force, replacing the 1891 law

  The Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 2026, which received presidential assent in August 2026, came into force from 1 October 2026 under a Finance Ministry notification dated 10 September, replacing the Bankers' Books Evidence Act of 1891. The new law takes a technology neutral approach, recognising banking records kept in physical, electronic, digital, virtual and cloud based forms, including backup and disaster recovery sites, and introduces a two track certification framework for physical and electronic records. It also requires courts to record a special cause in writing before summoning bank officials in cases where the bank is not a party, and allows the Centre to extend the framework to other financial sector entities.

• 2026-09-30

  Supreme Court asks Centre to frame rules on minors' social media accounts

  The Supreme Court on 28 September 2026 told the Centre that social media intermediaries allowing minors to open accounts must conform to Indian law, asking how platforms could permit twelve or thirteen year olds to hold accounts when a minor's consent to a contract is void under the Indian Contract Act. The bench, hearing a public interest litigation filed by the non-profit Just Rights for Children Alliance, asked the government to consider framing directions under the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, so that platforms enforce a minimum membership age of eighteen years, failing which the court said it would be compelled to issue its own directions. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 already provided some safeguards but that a fuller statutory response would need more time.

• 2026-09-29

  Supreme Court Collegium proposes second woman judge of 2026, Gujarat High Court's Sunita Agarwal

  The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, on 28 September 2026 recommended Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal for appointment as a Supreme Court judge, along with Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Telangana High Court Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh. This is the second time in 2026 that a woman has been proposed for the Supreme Court Bench, after senior advocate V. Mohana's direct elevation from the Bar in May 2026. The Supreme Court's sanctioned strength stands at 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India, and the court currently has four vacancies.

• 2026-09-29

  Election Commission notifies Rajya Sabha polls for 12 seats across three states

  The Election Commission issued its notification on 29 September 2026 for elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats, ten from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Uttarakhand and West Bengal, with nominations open until 6 October and polling and counting scheduled for 16 October. Eleven of the seats are biennial vacancies arising as sitting members' terms end on 25 November, while the West Bengal seat is a by-election following the resignation of Trinamool Congress member Rukmini Mallick after her party lost power in the state's assembly polls earlier this year. In Uttar Pradesh, based on the current strength of parties in the Assembly, the BJP led alliance is expected to retain eight of the ten seats while the Samajwadi Party is likely to gain the other two.

• 2026-09-28

  Election Commission extends Delhi SIR claims and objections deadline to 30 October

  The Election Commission of India revised the schedule for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision in Delhi, with the Chief Electoral Officer announcing that the last date to file claims and objections will now be 30 October 2026. The notice and disposal phase for claims and objections will continue until 30 November, with the final electoral roll to be published on 4 December. The Delhi CEO said more than 2.98 lakh hearings had been conducted so far for notices issued over unmapped entries and logical discrepancies, and that fresh camps for enrolling young electors through Form 6 would be held at colleges and universities on 29 and 30 September.

• 2026-09-27

  Election Commission announces advance agendas and home visits by BLOs after SIR dissent row

  The full Election Commission met on 26 September 2026 at Nirvachan Sadan and reiterated that all decisions on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls had been taken unanimously, days after reports that two Election Commissioners had formally objected to decisions issued in the Commission's name. The Commission announced that persons issued SIR notices for being unmapped or for logical discrepancies will generally no longer be called for a personal hearing, with Booth Level Officers instead visiting their homes to collect documents. Going forward, agendas for Commission meetings will be circulated in advance and minutes issued after each meeting, and officers' foreign trips will require the Commission's prior approval.

• 2026-09-26

  Indian Express investigation finds two Election Commissioners raised on-record objections 14 times over SIR functioning

  An investigation published by The Indian Express on 25 September 2026 found that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months, four of them on a single day, to decisions taken during the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including changes to the new voter registration form, the deletion and restoration of names in West Bengal, and access to the ECINet electoral roll database. Both Commissioners separately complained that key communications had been issued in the Commission's name without the approval of all three members, and Sandhu called one such change, involving the new voter registration form, unauthorised and illegal. The newspaper said the Commission did not respond to a questionnaire it sent seeking answers on the issues raised.

• 2026-09-25

  Supreme Court Collegium recommends 12 additional judges as permanent judges in four High Courts

  The Supreme Court Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath and B V Nagarathna, met on 23 September 2026 and approved the appointment of 12 additional judges as permanent judges across four High Courts. Five judges were approved for the Andhra Pradesh High Court and five for the Kerala High Court, while one additional judge each was approved as a permanent judge for the Uttarakhand and Gauhati High Courts.

• 2026-09-25

  Government dissolves the 37-year-old Digital Communications Commission

  The government notified the dissolution of the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) through a resolution dated 19 September 2026, ending the run of the Department of Telecommunications' apex inter-departmental decision making body after nearly 37 years. Formed in 1989 as the Telecom Commission and renamed in 2018, the DCC brought together senior officials from NITI Aayog, the Finance Ministry and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade to clear telecom policy matters, spectrum pricing and TRAI recommendations before sending them to the Cabinet. Its last meeting, held on 3 September 2026, firmed up the DCC's decision on satellite communication spectrum, which now goes to the Cabinet for final approval.

• 2026-09-24

  Supreme Court dismisses PIL challenging key provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act

  The Supreme Court on 22 September 2026 dismissed a PIL filed by 19 people led by Brijbhushan Saini challenging the constitutional validity of key provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, holding that safeguards laid down in its own 2020 Prathviraj Chauhan judgment were sufficient to prevent misuse. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said the 2018 amendment inserting Section 18A, which dispensed with a preliminary inquiry before an FIR and prior approval for arrest while barring anticipatory bail, had already been upheld in 2020, and that instances of misuse could be addressed separately without doubting the Act's constitutional validity. The petitioners had argued that Section 18A was being widely misused and conflicted with the credible information test under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

• 2026-09-24

  Delhi Cabinet approves DURGA scheme for 1,300 pink e-autos for women and transgender drivers

  The Delhi Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, approved the 'DURGA' e-auto scheme on 23 September 2026 to allocate electric autos exclusively to women and transgender persons for self-employment. In the first phase, 1,300 pink electric autos will be registered, 1,170 for women and 130 for transgender beneficiaries, with a maximum of 90 women allotted and 10 transgender allotted autos permitted per revenue district. Eligible women must be aged 20 to 40, hold a valid Delhi voter identity card, an LMV licence and a Public Service Vehicle badge, and belong to a family whose combined 2025-26 income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, while the e-autos will carry mandatory DURGA branding and a three year lock in period during which they cannot be sold or transferred.

• 2026-09-23

  Supreme Court orders fresh SIT probe into 2012 Dharmasthala rape and murder case

  The Supreme Court on 21 September 2026 ordered a fresh investigation by a Special Investigation Team into the 2012 rape and murder of a 17 year old near Dharmasthala in Karnataka, saying the manner in which the earlier investigation was conducted shocks the conscience of the court. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva set aside a Karnataka High Court judgment that had dismissed the victim's family's plea for reinvestigation, and directed that no officer who was part of the earlier Belthangady Police, state CID or CBI investigating teams be included in the new SIT. The lone accused in the case had been acquitted by a trial court in June 2023, which held the original investigation had not been properly conducted in the golden hour after the crime. The fresh investigation must be completed within three months, after which a police report is to be filed before the trial court.

• 2026-09-23

  Election Commission announces bye-elections to four Karnataka Legislative Council seats

  The Election Commission announced on 22 September 2026 that bye-elections to four Karnataka Legislative Council seats falling vacant in November will be held on 23 October, with results declared on 27 October. The seats going to the polls are the Karnataka South East Graduates', Karnataka West Graduates', Karnataka North East Teachers' and Bangalore Teachers' constituencies, three of which are currently held by the BJP and one by the Congress. The Model Code of Conduct has come into effect immediately in the four concerned constituencies.

• 2026-09-23

  India observes 11th Ayurveda Day on 23 September under the theme 'Ayurveda for a Healthier Tomorrow'

  India observes the 11th Ayurveda Day on 23 September 2026, with the main celebrations held in Nagpur, Maharashtra, under the theme Ayurveda for a Healthier Tomorrow. Ayurveda Day was earlier marked on Dhanteras each year, a date that varied with the lunar calendar, until a March 2025 gazette notification fixed it permanently on 23 September from 2025 onward. This year's campaign is built around three themes, integrative healthcare, evidence and research driven innovation, and community wellbeing and sustainable living, alongside the National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Awards 2026 for practitioners who have significantly contributed to the field.

• 2026-09-21

  Advani, Jaishankar and Dhankhar among 33.13 lakh voters served Delhi SIR discrepancy notices

  The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office said on 19 September 2026 that of the 97,53,577 electors on Delhi's Special Intensive Revision draft roll, 33,12,919 have been issued notices flagging discrepancies, including 13,79,785 classified as No Mapping with the last SIR conducted in 2002 and 19,33,134 under Logical Discrepancies. Those served notices include former deputy prime minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, former vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar and Election Commissioner S S Sandhu, most for names that could not be matched to their 2002 electoral roll entries. Officials clarified that a discrepancy notice does not by itself mean deletion from the rolls, and affected voters can respond with supporting documents before the final roll is published.

• 2026-09-20

  Sonam Wangchuk to lead symbolic 20 km Padyatra in Leh, presses Sixth Schedule and statehood demand

  Climate activist and Leh Apex Body member Sonam Wangchuk announced that he will lead a symbolic 20 kilometre Padyatra in Leh on 23 September 2026, scaling down an earlier four day march plan because of worsening cold weather, to press Ladakh's long standing demand for statehood and inclusion under the Constitution's Sixth Schedule. The march will be followed on 24 September by a Martyrs' Day event marking the first anniversary of protests in Leh in which four people died. The demands follow a 9 September meeting between Ladakh's Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance and a Ministry of Home Affairs sub-committee that Wangchuk described as unproductive.

• 2026-09-19

  Election Commission freezes Trinamool Congress name and symbol, allots new identities to rival factions

  The Election Commission of India, in an interim order, barred both rival factions of the Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee, from using the party's name and its twin flowers and grass symbol for the 6 October bypolls in West Bengal's Nandigram and Rejinagar and Assam's Nagaon constituencies. Invoking Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, the Commission held that with an election imminent, it could not immediately determine which group represented the genuine party, and allotted the Mamata Banerjee faction the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress with a football player symbol, and the Ritabrata Banerjee faction the name Democratic Trinamool Congress with an envelope symbol. The Mamata Banerjee faction has since moved the Supreme Court against the freeze, while the split traces back to a rebellion after the party's defeat in the West Bengal Assembly election earlier this year.

• 2026-09-17

  Centre reconstitutes CBFC with 18 member panel after more than six years

  The Central Board of Film Certification was reconstituted on 16 September 2026 with an eighteen member panel, more than six years after the three year term of its previous board lapsed in 2020. The new board, headed by CBFC chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati, includes actors Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Suniel Shetty, Pallavi Joshi and Prosenjit Chatterjee, filmmaker Priyadarshan and three time Grammy winning musician Ricky Kej, among others, and has been constituted for three years or until further orders. Only two members of the outgoing board, theatre director Waman Kendre and writer Ramesh Patange, have been retained.

• 2026-09-16

  Meta to report child sexual abuse material cases directly to India's cybercrime portal

  Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, announced on 15 September 2026 that it will report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) cases directly to India's Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) portal, which functions under the Union Home Ministry. Previously, such reports reached Indian agencies only indirectly, through the US based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which shared India specific cases with the National Crime Records Bureau under a 2019 arrangement. The announcement follows weeks of scrutiny of Meta by the Centre and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights over CSAM appearing in paid advertisements on Instagram.

• 2026-09-13

  High Powered Task Force on public examination reforms invites public suggestions ahead of deadline

  India's High Powered Task Force on reforms in public examinations, chaired by former UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani and constituted after the widely criticised leak of the NEET UG 2026 undergraduate medical entrance exam paper, invited suggestions from students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders ahead of a deadline of 13 September 2026. The task force's terms of reference cover the conduct and security of public examinations, examination design and assessment methodology, governance and institutional accountability, and the prevention, detection and redressal of examination malpractice. Its constitution follows the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in Parliament's Monsoon Session to strengthen the parent 2024 Act.

• 2026-09-09

  Union minister launches 9th Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2026 in Varanasi

  Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi launched the ninth Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2026 at the Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre in Varanasi on 9 September 2026, in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The month long campaign, observed every September under the Poshan Abhiyaan framework, carries the theme Hamari Anganwadi, Hamari Jimmedari and calls on citizens to take shared ownership of anganwadi centres as the first point of nutrition, health and early childhood care. This year's edition also marks ten years of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and focuses on dietary diversity, fresh hot cooked meals at anganwadi centres, and community accountability for child nutrition outcomes.

• 2026-09-08

  28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council held in Panaji

  Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Panaji on 7 September 2026, attended by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Praful K Patel, who together make up the Council's membership. He said 25 meetings of the Zonal Councils and their standing committees were held between 2004 and 2014 against 71 since 2014, and that of 1,893 issues taken up in them, 1,445 have been resolved, with the Inter State Council Secretariat playing an active role. Shah said the Councils have become an instrument for monitoring the implementation of public welfare schemes rather than for dispute resolution. The agenda included Fast Track Special Courts, the Emergency Response Support System, food safety standards, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, rural banking access, railway projects and environmental clearances.

• 2026-09-08

  Election Commission announces bye-elections to five Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat

  The Election Commission of India announced on 7 September 2026 the schedule for bye-elections to five Assembly constituencies and one parliamentary constituency, with polling on 6 October and counting on 9 October 2026. The seats are Madurantakam and Dharapuram, both reserved for Scheduled Castes, in Tamil Nadu, Thattanchavady in Puducherry, Rejinagar and Nandigram in West Bengal, and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam, and every vacancy has arisen from a resignation. The gazette notification is to be issued on 9 September, with nominations closing on 16 September and withdrawal on 19 September, and the Model Code of Conduct comes into force immediately in the districts concerned. The Commission noted that the amendment of Section 14 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 provides four qualifying dates a year for enrolment as a voter, and that electronic voting machines with VVPATs will be used at all polling stations.

• 2026-09-06

  Centre advances Census 2027 population count in four poll-bound states

  The Union Home Ministry on 5 September 2026 advanced the population enumeration phase of Census 2027 in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, ahead of the nationwide schedule planned for February 2027. In these four states, a self-enumeration option will run from 16 to 30 November 2026, followed by house-to-house enumeration from 1 December 2026 to 4 January 2027 and a revisional round from 5 to 9 January 2027, with the reference date set at 00:00 hours on 5 January 2027. The government deferred the exercise in Manipur amid protests and a demand from sections there for the National Register of Citizens exercise to be completed before the census, even as it moved up the schedule in the four states holding assembly elections in early 2027.

• 2026-09-06

  Supreme Court pushes states to raise district judiciary retirement age to 62

  With 5.18 crore cases pending in district courts across the country, the Supreme Court has pressed states to raise the retirement age of judicial officers in the subordinate judiciary from 60 to 62 years, calling it the crying need of the hour to stem the loss of experienced judicial talent. A three judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has so far seen only seven states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, respond positively and agree to amend their service rules. The court has given the remaining states and union territories a further window to decide, warning that unfilled posts and an ageing out of trained officers would otherwise keep access to justice a distant goal.

• 2026-09-04

  CBI raids 89 locations across 20 states in digital arrest crackdown, Operation Chakra VI

  The Central Bureau of Investigation carried out coordinated searches at 89 locations across 20 states on 4 September 2026 under Operation Chakra VI, its sixth nationwide crackdown against digital arrest syndicates, arresting three people accused of laundering the proceeds of the fraud. The searches related to three cases with a combined alleged loss of about Rs 42.36 crore, including one from Karnataka in which a victim was kept under digital arrest for a month and defrauded of Rs 15.45 crore. In a digital arrest scam, fraudsters posing as police officers or other law enforcement officials keep a victim under sustained psychological coercion over a video call, often forbidding contact with family, while extracting money described as bail, verification deposits or asset audits.

• 2026-09-03

  SC/ST quota medical seats in Karnataka decline after reservation matrix reset

  Karnataka has reverted to its earlier reservation quantum of 15 percent for Scheduled Castes and 3 percent for Scheduled Tribes from the 2026-27 academic year, after the state's 2022 hike to 17 percent and 7 percent, based on the H N Nagamohan Das Commission's population based recommendations, came under challenge in the Karnataka High Court over related recruitment cases. As a result, SC reserved medical seats have fallen from 953 to 906 and ST reserved seats from 392 to 182, out of a total of 6,045 government medical seats for 2026-27, up from 5,609 the previous year. State minister T Raghumurthy said the government is awaiting the High Court's ruling and has asked the Centre to place the enhanced reservation under the Ninth Schedule for constitutional protection. The 2022 hike had taken Karnataka's overall reservation to 56 percent, breaching the Supreme Court's 50 percent cap.

• 2026-09-02

  Supreme Court invokes Article 142 to quash FIRs against NEET UG protesters

  A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana invoked Article 142 of the Constitution on 1 September 2026 to quash FIRs registered against protesters who took part in nationwide agitations over the NEET UG 2026 paper leak between 20 and 25 July. The bench excluded 2,873 individuals with prior criminal antecedents from this relief, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the court that no fresh FIRs would be registered over the same protests. The Centre also told the court that a policy for compensating families of students who died by suicide linked to the NEET 2026 controversy was being finalised within three months. Following the order, the Cockroach Janata Party called off a protest march it had planned for 5 September.

• 2026-09-02

  Delhi's SIR draft electoral roll excludes 47.7 lakh of 1.45 crore registered voters

  The Election Commission published Delhi's draft electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision on 31 August 2026, excluding around 47.7 lakh of the capital's roughly 1.45 crore registered voters. The excluded electors were classified under categories such as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and others after a door to door enumeration exercise conducted between 30 June and 17 August, in which forms were digitised for about two thirds of the electorate. Around 34 percent of the enumeration forms received are flagged for further scrutiny over anomalies such as mismatches with the 2002 intensive revision roll or inconsistencies in age or family details. Affected voters can file claims for inclusion until 30 September, with the final electoral roll due for publication on 4 November 2026.

• 2026-09-01

  Bureau of Immigration ends boarding pass stamping for international flyers from September 1

  From 1 September 2026, the Bureau of Immigration under the Ministry of Home Affairs stopped stamping boarding passes at immigration counters for passengers departing India on international flights, across all international airports in the country. Passengers can now show an electronic boarding pass on their phone for immigration clearance, and those still carrying a paper boarding pass will no longer have it stamped. The Bureau said the change was meant to reduce passenger inconvenience caused by incorrect or illegible stamping, and it does not affect visa or e-Arrival Card requirements for entering India.

• 2026-08-31

  Jharkhand allows selected prisoners to work outside jail under new reform

  The Jharkhand government will allow selected prisoners with a record of good conduct to step outside jail during the day to work and earn a livelihood, returning to prison by evening. The arrangement will be introduced through open and semi open barracks at four central jails, the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, the Jai Prakash Narayan Central Jail in Hazaribag, the Ghaghidih Central Jail in East Singhbhum, and the Dumka Central Jail. IG (Prisons) Sudarshan Mandal said prisoners would have reasonable opportunities to earn a living since these jails are in urban centres. The state cabinet approved the initiative through a government resolution that draws on the Jharkhand Prison and Correctional Service Act, 2025, which provides for the establishment of open correctional institutions.

• 2026-08-31

  Tamil Nadu to set up safe houses in every district for inter-caste couples

  The Tamil Nadu government has decided to set up a safe house in every district to provide security to individuals and families vulnerable to, or affected by, honour killings, caste killings and related violence. Announcing the decision in the Assembly, Minister for Social Justice Vanni Arasu said it was in line with the Supreme Court's judgment in Shakti Vahini versus Union of India and followed representations from survivors of honour killings and activists. The government also indicated it would enact separate legislation against caste killings.

• 2026-08-31

  FSSAI proposes red hexagonal warning labels for unhealthy packaged foods

  The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, in a compliance affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on 28 August 2026, proposed a red hexagonal front of pack warning label for packaged foods high in added saturated fat, sugar or salt, based on thresholds set out in the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, issued by ICMR's National Institute of Nutrition. The rollout is proposed in two phases, with the first covering products high in two or more of the specified nutrients and the second extending the warning to products high in even one. Single ingredient foods and products inherently rich in these nutrients, such as ghee, edible oil, salt, sugar, jaggery and honey, are proposed to be exempted. The affidavit came in response to a Supreme Court bench hearing a public interest litigation filed by the NGO 3S and Our Health Society.

• 2026-08-31

  PM Modi renews drug-free India call in 137th Mann Ki Baat

  In the 137th episode of his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat, broadcast on 30 August 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi renewed his appeal around the Drug Free Youth for a Developed India campaign, urging citizens, especially young people, to help build a drug free India. He also renewed his Vocal for Local appeal, urging citizens to buy India made products.

• 2026-08-31

  NBEMS announces NEET-PG re-exam for Jaipur candidates hit by power outage

  The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences announced a re examination for candidates affected at two test centres, numbers 41682 and 41683, at the iON Digital Zone in Jaipur's Sitapura during NEET PG 2026, after internal power supply issues disrupted the exam there. The re examination will be held on 5 September 2026 at 3 pm in Jaipur. About 2,445 candidates were affected at the Jaipur centres, out of 2,65,980 who appeared nationally for NEET PG 2026.

• 2026-08-26

  PM Modi chairs 53rd PRAGATI meeting, reviews infrastructure projects and cyber fraud

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 53rd meeting of PRAGATI, the ICT enabled, multi modal platform for Pro Active Governance and Timely Implementation, on 25 August 2026. The meeting reviewed six infrastructure projects in the railway, road and power sectors spanning nine states, together worth more than Rs 30,000 crore, with an emphasis on adherence to timelines, inter agency coordination and resolution of pending issues. The Prime Minister said infrastructure projects should be viewed as an integrated whole rather than as individual stretches, and called for exploring common utility corridors while planning major transport projects. During a separate review of cyber fraud cases, including incidents of digital arrest, he called for sustained public awareness campaigns, particularly for senior citizens and youth, and regular capacity building of personnel to identify emerging fraud techniques.

• 2026-08-24

  Karnataka's SIR draft electoral rolls exclude over 1.07 crore voters

  The office of Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer published the draft electoral rolls on 24 August 2026 following the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), removing 19.48 per cent of the state's electors, or more than 1.07 crore voters, categorised as Absent, Shifted, Duplicate, Dead or Others (ASDDO). Bengaluru's rolls will shrink sharply, from an electorate of over 1.03 crore to just 56.11 lakh voters in the draft list. A further 20.35 lakh voters have been flagged for logical discrepancies and 23.45 lakh could not be mapped to the 2002 electoral roll; these voters will receive notices and hearings before the final rolls are published on 27 October 2026.

• 2026-08-23

  Government removes 12-minute-per-hour cap on TV advertisements

  The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notified the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2026 in the Gazette on 21 August 2026, omitting sub-rule (11) of rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, which had capped television advertisements at 12 minutes per clock hour since 2006. The Ministry said the cap, introduced when only 62 TV channels existed, no longer suited a fully digitised broadcasting sector of more than 900 channels facing competition from digital media, which carries no comparable advertising ceiling. The government said removing the cap would give broadcasters greater commercial flexibility, promote fair competition with digital platforms, and improve ease of doing business.

• 2026-08-23

  Government restricts cold-medicine combinations for children below four years

  The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notified on 22 August 2026 restrictions on the manufacture, sale and distribution of all fixed dose combinations containing Chlorpheniramine Maleate and Phenylephrine Hydrochloride, mandating a label warning that they must not be used in children below four years of age. The notification, issued under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, extends an earlier April 2025 restriction on select formulations to all such combinations, following recommendations of an Expert Committee and the Drugs Technical Advisory Board that flagged risks to young children and the availability of safer alternatives.

• 2026-08-22

  Union Cabinet approves a High Court Bench for Ladakh

  The Union Cabinet approved setting up a bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in Ladakh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on 20 August 2026. Shah said the bench would significantly enhance access to justice for citizens in remote areas of Ladakh by reducing the time needed to avail themselves of the legal services they are entitled to, and reiterated the government's commitment to the all round development of Ladakh and to ensuring constitutional safeguards. Ladakh has functioned as a Union Territory without its own legislature since 2019.

• 2026-08-21

  Amit Shah chairs the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council

  Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council at Kovalam near Chennai on 20 August 2026. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay hosted the meeting, with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan and Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar also taking part in deliberations on key inter-state and national issues concerning the southern states.

• 2026-08-21

  PM Modi chairs third high-level meeting with Secretaries

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the third high-level meeting with Secretaries to the Government of India at his residence on 20 August 2026, covering the future agenda for Infrastructure and Connectivity, Security and External Affairs, and Governance. He described data as a national asset whose value is often lost to departmental silos, and called for greater interoperability, while urging Secretaries to think with a long-term perspective rather than immediate statistics alone. He also called for wider engagement between government departments, universities and young people to bring fresh ideas into policymaking, and for the effective use of Artificial Intelligence alongside human judgement. The meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary and senior officials from key Ministries.

• 2026-08-20

  Supreme Court directs Centre to file affidavit on NTA exam reforms in three weeks

  The Supreme Court directed the Centre to file an affidavit within three weeks detailing the steps taken to implement examination reform recommendations made by the Radhakrishnan committee and reviewed by the Nandan Nilekani committee. The bench questioned whether the National Testing Agency has the dedicated manpower, cybersecurity capacity and infrastructure for institutional permanence, rather than relying on temporary procedural safeguards for each examination. The Centre told the court its current security protocols for the NEET UG examination, including GPS tracked transport of sealed question papers and videographed opening in the presence of student witnesses, made the system difficult to breach.

• 2026-08-20

  Jharkhand cancels 44 recruitment examinations over alleged irregularities

  The Hemant Soren led Jharkhand government cancelled 44 recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission and the outsourced agency TSR Data Processing since 2014, following a 25 day student agitation over alleged irregularities. The cancelled tests cover posts including drug inspectors, assistant professors, civil judges, deputy collectors and forest range officers, and the JSSC Combined Graduate Level examination was cancelled as well, along with results published through the outsourced agency. The government has set up a committee under senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal to recommend reforms to the JPSC and JSSC examination systems within two months, even as around 2,000 candidates already appointed through the cancelled JSSC CGL exam protested the decision, fearing job loss.

• 2026-08-19

  President Murmu gives assent to bill renaming Kerala as Keralam

  President Droupadi Murmu has given assent to the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, after the Lok Sabha passed it on 11 August and the Rajya Sabha on 12 August. The Act amends the Constitution, including the First Schedule, to substitute Kerala with Keralam, but the change takes legal effect only once the Central Government issues a notification appointing the date, as with other Article 3 name changes. The bill followed a 2024 resolution of the Kerala Legislative Assembly seeking a name that better reflects the state's Malayalam linguistic identity.

• 2026-08-19

  NTA removes 600 exam experts and adds CISF security in system overhaul

  After lapses in the UGC-NET 2026 papers forced the cancellation of three subject papers, the Education Ministry directed the National Testing Agency to overhaul its examination processes on a war footing. The NTA has removed around 600 experts from its examination team, is onboarding new domain specialists in cybersecurity, psychometrics and question paper design, and will introduce a four-tier system for checking question papers before they are used. Its offices are being shifted from Okhla to Minto Road in Delhi with CISF security cover, after student groups protested outside its Delhi office over the UGC-NET lapses.

• 2026-08-19

  Nation takes pledge against drug abuse on NMBA's sixth anniversary

  The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment held a National Mass Pledge Against Drug Abuse on 18 August to mark the sixth anniversary of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, launched on 15 August 2020 to tackle drug demand across the country. The ministry aimed to mobilise 10 to 12 crore citizens through both physical and online participation in the pledge. Officials said the campaign has so far reached over 29.26 crore individuals, including more than 11.17 crore youth and 7.90 crore women, with 28.30 lakh persons treated and rehabilitated and outreach carried out in 21.34 lakh educational institutions.

• 2026-08-17

  Parliament passes bill to rename Kerala as Keralam

  Both Houses of Parliament have passed the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, which amends the First Schedule of the Constitution to replace Kerala with Keralam. The Lok Sabha cleared the bill on 11 August and the Rajya Sabha followed a day later, but the change takes legal effect only after presidential assent and a subsequent notification. The bill responds to a resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2024 seeking a name that more closely reflects the state's Malayalam linguistic identity.