Leaders and workers of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were allegedly attacked while travelling to inspect a government primary school in Rampura Kanwarpura village, in Jaipur’s Bagru assembly area of Rajasthan, on Friday. CJP blamed local ruling BJP leaders and workers, while BJP denied the allegation and said local residents had objected to the party entering the village.

A team led by CJP co-founder Ashutosh Ranka was stopped at the village entrance before an argument reportedly escalated into violence. Videos circulated on social media showed an agitated crowd chasing CJP workers and beating several people. The party said attackers used labels including “urban Naxal,” “anti-national” and “Pakistani,” forcing its members to leave without visiting the school.

Ranka alleged that the school has long operated from a cowshed and that residents had invited the team. He said vehicles and phones were damaged, a woman member was assaulted, his shirt was torn and another member suffered a broken hand. BJP MLA Swami Balmukundacharya said villagers opposed CJP activity, while Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara blamed BJP for the incident.

Veteran Bollywood actor Sharmila Tagore said the first two verses of India’s national song, “Vande Mataram,” are sufficient when considering people of all religions in the country. In an interview with news agency IANS on Thursday, she said some portions of the song may be difficult and uncomfortable for people who believe in one creator, and may not align with everyone’s religious beliefs.

Tagore said India is home to people of different faiths, including many who believe in one God. She noted that later verses of the song mention several Hindu deities. For such believers, she said, phrases including “Bande Kali” or “Bande Durga” can be uncomfortable to recite. She argued that using the first two verses would be better and more acceptable if all religious communities are to be included.

Her comments have added a new dimension to an ongoing political debate over “Vande Mataram.” The Congress party supports singing the song’s first two verses at party events, while BJP leaders have criticised Congress over the issue. Debate over the song’s performance and historical interpretation intensified after India’s Independence Day celebrations.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in at Parliament Marg police station in Delhi on Friday, accompanied by student Sahil Lochab, who was allegedly injured by pellet shots during a July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar. Gandhi demanded that police register an FIR and investigate allegations that pellet guns were used against protesters. He said he would not leave the station until a case was filed.

Priyanka Gandhi, a Congress member of parliament, joined Gandhi at the police station. They visited the office of the deputy commissioner of police to ask about progress in an inquiry into the alleged use of pellet guns. Congress said an earlier complaint filed on behalf of the injured student had not resulted in an FIR.

Speaking to journalists, Gandhi said Lochab was injured while protesting peacefully. He showed reporters injury marks on the student’s body by lifting his T-shirt. Gandhi alleged that Lochab had more than 200 pellets in his body and three pellets in his eye.

Abhijit Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), demanded the resignation of Maharashtra School Education Minister Dada Bhuse, alleging that government school students lack basic facilities. Speaking after visiting a school under the party’s “Fix Schools” campaign, which began last week, Dipke said many schools lack adequate classrooms, benches, toilets and safe access roads.

Dipke said students were being denied essential services and claimed that ministers’ dogs received better facilities. He urged political leaders to address school problems before seeking votes and called on people to prioritise their children’s education over political, caste and community identities. He also criticised politics centred on religion, saying children’s education and future require greater attention.

He said ministers and legislators should send their own children to government schools to understand their actual condition. Dipke alleged that students still study under leaking tin roofs and without enough benches, while some walk several kilometres to school without safe transport. He also cited alleged snake-bite deaths and waste behind a visited school as signs of unsafe conditions. Dipke claimed some authorities began work after CJP visits and warned of wider village-level protests if conditions do not improve.

India’s central government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that several Bengali-speaking people previously sent from West Bengal to Bangladesh had been brought back to India. Following the submission, the court disposed of the related cases, saying there was no immediate need to continue them because the individuals had returned. The court, however, left unresolved broader legal questions concerning citizenship and deportation.

The Calcutta High Court had earlier ruled illegal the central government’s decision to label several people, including Sunali Khatun and Switi Bibi from Birbhum district, as “illegal immigrants” and send them to Bangladesh. It ordered their return within one month. Families alleged that Sunali, her husband and child were detained and sent to Bangladesh, while similar allegations concerned Switi and her children. Some were reportedly detained by local police after arriving in Bangladesh.

On May 22, the government said it would verify the returned individuals’ claims to Indian citizenship under special circumstances and said the move would not set a precedent. Their lawyer said all had returned following the solicitor general’s intervention. The Supreme Court said it could address the legal issues later.

Indian authorities have removed security barricades and bollards positioned outside the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, according to the report published on August 20, 2026. The structures, including queue liners near the mission’s visa section, had reportedly been placed on a road beyond the designated boundary.

The removal came a day after Pakistan lodged an objection with the United States over comments by a US envoy concerning Kashmir. Video footage released by PTI showed broken barricades, security personnel and a damaged wall outside the Pakistan High Commission.

India’s government had not issued an official statement on whether the action was connected to Pakistan’s diplomatic objection. Authorities also had not publicly explained the specific reason for removing the barriers and bollards.

India has approved construction of a fourth railway line through the strategically important “Chicken’s Neck,” or Siliguri Corridor, according to Northeast Frontier Railway General Manager Chetan Kumar Srivastava. The announcement was made at a press conference reported on August 20, 2026. The Malda–New Jalpaiguri route was described as a crucial rail corridor linking India’s northeast with the rest of the country.

Srivastava said approval for the fourth line follows an earlier proposal for a third line, reflecting the corridor’s strategic importance. He also highlighted a proposed double-line underground railway project of about 29 kilometres from Tinmai Ghat to Bagdogra as an important infrastructure initiative.

The Chicken’s Neck is described as a 20–22 kilometre-wide and 60-kilometre-long stretch in northern West Bengal on which transport to the entire northeast depends. Track doubling is under way in the Barsoi section, while rail infrastructure is being expanded across the Katihar division to handle rising passenger and freight demand. Plans also include local trains from Jogbani, Radhikapur and Balurghat, and Vande Bharat services to Tinsukia and Agartala. NFR said its network is fully electrified.

Authorities in Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, demolished more than half of the 59-year-old Arabia Zia-ul-Uloom Madrasa in Pipra Ramlal village on Tuesday. Seven rooms, a shop and half of a hall at the roughly 14,000-square-foot institution were razed. The administration said part of the madrasa had been built on encroached government land and that the operation followed a court order.

Five village residents filed a 2022 petition seeking removal of alleged encroachment. A tehsildar court ordered eviction in 2023, and madrasa caretaker Abdul Salam challenged that ruling before the district magistrate. On August 14, 2026, the district magistrate upheld the earlier order and dismissed the madrasa’s petition. Officials said a notice was issued and demolition proceeded after the alleged encroachment was not removed within the stipulated time.

The operation began around 7 a.m. under senior local officials, with about 100 police personnel from five police stations deployed. Samajwadi Party lawmaker Syeda Khatun and other party workers protested, while Aam Aadmi Party and Congress figures criticized the action. Officials said about 400 children studied at the madrasa.

Police in Kolkata have identified two more people killed in a major fire at a residential hotel in the New Market area, bringing the reported death toll to nine. The newly identified victims were Indian nationals: 19-year-old Sandeep Paswan from Bihar and 68-year-old Yog Narayan Agarwal from Siliguri. The report was published on August 19, 2026.

Kolkata police had earlier identified five Bangladeshi nationals among those killed. They were Md Akram Ali, 74, from Kushtia; Debashis Dutta, 39; Afsana Sharmin, 27; Sharnashish Dutta, 3; and Babu Ahmed Babu, 37, a resident of Aminbazar in Savar, Dhaka.

The identity of one victim remains unconfirmed. Following the fire, observations at the five-storey building pointed to alleged irregularities and poor management, including cramped rooms, narrow passageways and an apparent lack of adequate fire-safety measures. Local residents alleged that several hotels operated on different floors, with small accommodation rooms and multiple air-conditioning units on each floor.

Journalist Debashish Dutta of Kushtia and three family members were killed in a fire in Kolkata, India, according to a report published on August 19, 2026. The other victims were his wife Afsana Sharmin, 25; their two-year-old child Sharnashish Dutta; and Dutta’s father-in-law Md Akram Ali, 64.

Akram Ali’s home was in Thanapara, Kushtia, while Debashish Dutta was the son of Dilip Dutta of Aroya Para in Kushtia town. Family members said Dutta had travelled to Narayana Hospital in Bengaluru on August 4 for his wife’s treatment, leaving behind their six-year-old daughter, Mahima Dutta.

After the treatment, the family had returned to Kolkata the previous day, relatives said. Debashish Dutta had worked with the national daily Ajker Patrika, private television channel Channel Nine, local Kushtia daily Ajker Alo as acting editor, and had formerly served as Kushtia district correspondent for Nagorik Television.

Kolkata police have identified five Bangladeshi nationals among those killed in a hotel fire on Mirza Ghalib Street in Kolkata. The report was published on August 19, 2026. Police said the identified victims include Shornoshish Dutta, Afsana Shimmin, Debashish Dutta and Md Akram Ali, all residents of Kushtia district in Bangladesh.

A fifth identified victim, Ahmed Babu, was listed as being from Aminbazar in Savar. According to police information, three-year-old Shornoshish Dutta and his father Debashish Dutta were residents of the Aruapara, Mohini Mill area of Kushtia.

Kolkata police said efforts were continuing to establish the identities of the remaining victims. Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata Muhammad Khaled said on Wednesday afternoon that police and the FRRO had informed the deputy high commission after identifying at least five Bangladeshi citizens among the dead. The FRRO is a Home Ministry division that keeps records of data and movements of foreign nationals entering India.

Shehzad Poonawalla has resigned as a national spokesperson of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and relinquished his primary membership of the party. He submitted his resignation letter to BJP president Nitin Nabin on Monday, according to the report published on August 19, 2026. Poonawalla said he was leaving politics because of urgent financial and personal circumstances and planned to return to private-sector employment.

He said he had been considering a return to professional life since 2024. The BJP spokesperson role was unpaid and voluntary, he said, making it necessary for him to resume work to meet financial needs. Poonawalla added that he had devoted nearly every day of the year to politics for a long period, but ultimately had to choose between a job and political activity.

Poonawalla had previously expressed an intention to resign on July 30, but the party asked him to reconsider. His departure has drawn discussion amid a major reshuffle among BJP national office-bearers, although he did not cite any political disagreement. He began politics through Congress’s student wing NSUI, left Congress in 2017 alleging irregularities and nepotism, and later joined the BJP.

India’s ultra-wealthy are increasingly seeking permanent residence and citizenship abroad, shifting from earlier motives such as business expansion or children’s higher education toward long-term wealth management and security planning. The trend was reported on August 19, 2026, citing data from investment-migration advisory firm MyRCBI.com.

According to the firm, global geopolitical uncertainty, changing tax policies in different countries and the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted affluent Indian families to value international mobility as an important asset. Founder and CEO Dhananjay Singh Chudasama said investment-based migration is increasingly viewed as a strategic decision offering freedom of movement, international opportunities for future generations and a practical “Plan B” if circumstances change suddenly.

Applicants mainly include entrepreneurs with businesses valued above 100 crore rupees, managing directors and CEOs of financial institutions, and corporate executives earning salaries above one crore rupees. Popular destinations include the United States, Portugal, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and several Caribbean countries. MyRCBI.com expects demand in India to rise significantly over the next two to three years, with Gujarat emerging after Maharashtra as a key market.

India’s rapid expansion of private higher education has widened access for young people but also increased student debt, unemployment and uncertainty about future earnings. In Greater Noida’s planned Knowledge Park, near New Delhi, about 100,000 students attend universities, colleges, management institutes and technology and research centres. Many families use savings or bank loans to enrol children in private colleges.

The number of private colleges in India has nearly tripled over the past decade. Higher-education enrolment reached 45 million in 2024, up 41 percent in a decade, with more than two-thirds of students studying at private institutions. Yet well-paid jobs have not grown at the same pace. Research by Azim Premji University found that nearly 40 percent of graduates under 25 are unemployed, while only about 250,000 new jobs paying more than $500 annually are created each year.

Education entrepreneur Akshay Saxena said students were sold the mistaken belief that a degree guarantees employment. He estimated that about 400,000 students annually spend more than $20,000 on private engineering colleges, while graduates’ median annual salary is about $3,000. Students are increasingly focused on earning enough to repay loans and reduce family pressure.

The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which is protesting Narendra Modi’s government in India, has made conditions in government schools a new focus of its campaign. The group urged supporters to inspect local schools’ infrastructure, educational quality and facilities under a four-point initiative called “Fix the Schools.” On 13 August, 26-year-old Abdul Hafiz visited a primary school in Karisunda village, Bankura district, West Bengal, where he had previously studied.

Hafiz alleged that local BJP workers later went to his home and assaulted him and his father, Mohammad Mofik. Mofik, who was seriously injured, died two days later. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari described the attackers as criminals with no connection to his party and promised action. After his father’s burial, Hafiz said his family would continue seeking justice and demanding better education and facilities in government schools.

CJP’s demands include safe drinking water, usable toilets, electricity, adequate classrooms, boundary walls, security, quality midday meals and teacher attendance. In Rajasthan, authorities restricted outsiders’ entry and unauthorized photography or video recording at government schools. Education expert Samina Bano said structural reforms and stronger institutions are needed for lasting change.