Context

The Delhi High Court asked the Centre and Delhi Police to respond to a batch of PILs alleging excessive force against students during the CJP's July 20 Parliament march, observing that the allegations could not be brushed aside as "isolated incidents". The same day, the Supreme Court declined to take suo motu cognisance of the alleged police violence.

Background & Key Facts

• HC Bench & order: Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia ordered preservation of all relevant material — CCTV footage and videography — in accordance with Delhi Police standard operating procedures. Next hearing: September 11.
• Petitioners' allegations: Senior advocate N. Hariharan alleged "brutality to the largest extent", citing videos of people in civil clothes carrying lathis fitted with nails, electric batons and pellet guns; over 90 injured. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said personnel were deployed without nameplates and used unauthorised batons — warning that without judicial intervention it would amount to giving police "a licence to get away with anything".
• Ramlila Maidan gap: Despite the Supreme Court's directions in the Ramlila Maidan case (2012) to frame standing orders governing police action during protests, no such SOP had been implemented.
• Government stand: ASG S.V. Raju said the agitation turned violent with stone-throwing and injured personnel, and that prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita had been promulgated and publicised.
• NHRC route exhausted: The Bench recorded that petitioners had already approached the National Human Rights Commission but received no response.
• Supreme Court: A Bench headed by CJI Surya Kant declined urgent hearing, telling the lawyer "Don't waste our time" and saying the court was "not interested in videos".

Context

At least one of the 80 protesters injured in police action during the July 20 march to Parliament sustained pellet gun injuries, and a video of a woman being stunned by a "shock baton" also emerged — apparently the first use of pellet guns and shock batons against civilian protesters in Delhi.

Background & Key Facts

• What they are: Pellet guns (technically "pump action guns") are a non-lethal crowd-control method used by police and military worldwide, alongside tear gas, water cannon, pepper spray and taser guns. They are effective over short ranges up to 500 yards but can be lethal at close quarters, especially when sensitive parts like the eyes are hit; pellets penetrate soft tissue.
• Specifications: A cartridge contains a few hundred lead pellets that disperse over a few hundred metres; pellets may be ball-bearing shaped or irregular. They are manufactured at the Ordnance Factory, Ishapore. Standing instructions require minimal fire and, if necessary, "below the waist".
• Who carries them: Pellet guns and shock batons are part of the gear of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), the anti-riot unit under the CRPF, deployed alongside Delhi Police on July 20.
• First use: First deployed in Jammu & Kashmir after the 2010 summer unrest, in which 112 protesters died in police firing; the then Congress-led government introduced them as a "non-lethal" measure to avoid fatalities.
• 2016 Kashmir: After Burhan Wani's killing, pellet use blinded several people; 13 were killed in 2016 and over 250 injured. Also, 1,022 CRPF personnel were injured in stone-pelting, 956 of them in the Valley between July 8 and 16.
• Plastic bullets (2017): Less-lethal "plastic bullets", tested at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh, were dispatched to the Valley — fireable from existing weapons, with a plastic instead of metal head.
• Later use: Last definitively known use during the 2024 farmers' protest at Khanauri and Shambhu (police denied use; farm leaders alleged injuries); also used in ethnic-strife-hit Manipur in 2023.
• Shock batons: In 2021 the MHA, through the BSF, prescribed Qualitative Requirements — max 1 kg weight, 450–700 mm length, high-impact resistant material, functional from −20°C to +50°C, minimum five-year service life, rechargeable battery, at least 1,000 quarter-second shock bursts per full charge.

Context

Mobile internet services were shut down in parts of Central Delhi during the CJP's 'Chalo Sansad' protest on the opening day of the Monsoon Session, drawing condemnation from the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) and the Software Freedom Law Centre, India (SFLC).

Background & Key Facts

• Definition: Access Now defines an internet shutdown as an intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or unusable for a specific population or location, often to control the flow of information.
• New legal regime: Shutdowns were earlier governed by Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services Rules, 2017. These have been replaced by Section 20 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024.
• Grounds: Under Section 20(2)(b), suspension is permitted only on a public emergency or in the interest of public safety, for specified purposes such as maintaining public order, with reasons recorded in writing. Apar Gupta (IFF) notes a protest by itself is not a lawful ground; orders must be reasoned, published, limited in area and duration, and issued by the competent authority — with less restrictive measures considered first.
• Outdated invocations: A Digital Defenders Network review found several State orders since late 2024 still invoke the 1885 Act and 2017 Rules — e.g., a UP Home Department order for Bareilly on October 2, 2025 under Section 7 of the Telegraph Act read with Rule 2(1) of the 2017 Rules — bypassing the 2024 Rules' safeguards.
• The current order: Accessed by The Hindu, the MHA order was imposed across 150 cell sites under Clause (b) of Sub-section (2) of Section 20 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 read with the 2024 Rules.
• India's record: Access Now's 2025 report recorded 65 shutdowns across 12 States and UTs. Per the SFLC tracker, J&K has the most (about 449 since 2012), followed by Rajasthan (115) and Manipur (62). India has recorded about 24 shutdowns in 2026 (as of July 22).
• Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020): Access to the internet is closely connected to Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g). Any shutdown must be backed by law, pursue a legitimate objective, be necessary and proportionate, be the least restrictive measure, limited in scope and duration, reasoned, published and reviewed by a competent committee. Complete broad suspension must be considered "only if necessary and unavoidable".
• Challenge & duration: Orders may be challenged under Article 226 (High Court) or Article 32 (Supreme Court). Indefinite suspensions are unlawful; under the 2024 Rules an order cannot remain in force for over 15 days.

Context

Writing in the paper, DMK president and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin argues that the unprecedented student protests following the NEET paper leak reflect not merely one compromised examination but a deeper crisis of confidence in a system projected as the ultimate guardian of merit.

Background & Key Facts

• Three original promises: NEET was introduced to (i) reduce the burden of multiple entrance exams, (ii) eliminate capitation fees and commercialisation, and (iii) improve standards by admitting only the most meritorious. The author argues it has failed on all three counts.
• Shift to coaching: Merit is now measured by coaching-centric test-taking technique rather than sustained academic performance, disadvantaging rural students, government-school students, first-generation learners and those in State Boards and regional languages.
• The merit paradox: For PG and super-speciality admissions, qualifying percentiles have repeatedly been cut to zero percentile and, in some cases, even negative marks to fill expensive private seats — while poor students compete at the highest level for limited government seats.
• Global comparison: The U.S., Canada, Australia and Germany admit students through school performance, standardisation methods and holistic evaluation; entrance tests, where used, are one component among several, not the sole determinant.
• Tamil Nadu's position: The State constituted the Justice A.K. Rajan Committee, which concluded NEET neither improved medical education nor ensured social justice; the Assembly unanimously passed a Bill seeking exemption, but the Governor withheld assent.
• All India Quota critique: The judicially created AIQ diverts State-funded medical seats to a central pool, weakening federalism and social justice, and disproportionately burdens women unlikely to relocate for postgraduation.
• Proposed alternative: Strengthen school education, restore confidence in Board assessments, allow States to formulate admission policies, and use statistical harmonisation to fairly compare marks across Boards.

Context

A technical paper written by NHPC's own engineers in 2024 shows that flammable gas had been encountered repeatedly, and had caught fire more than once, inside the head-race tunnels of the Teesta Stage-VI hydroelectric project — years before the suspected methane explosion that killed workers on July 20.

Background & Key Facts

• The paper: Authored by five NHPC engineers and presented at EUROENGEO 2024 (4th European Regional Conference of the International Association for Engineering Geology) at Dubrovnik, Croatia, titled 'Planning and Methodology Adopted to Deal with Adverse Geological Problems Encountered During HRTS Excavation of Teesta VI Hydroelectric Project (500MW), Sikkim, India'.
• Prior gas incidents: Flammable gas was first detected in November 2009 during excavation by the original developer, where it "burst into flame". After NHPC resumed work, gas seeped from the tunnel roof at a separate face, with detectors recording up to 30% of the minimum combustible concentration.
• Same access route: Both tunnel faces named (4A and 4B) were reached through Adit-3 — the same access tunnel in which the July 20 blast occurred.
• Geology: The 500 MW project's two head-race tunnels, each about 13.7 km long, pass through young, fractured Himalayan rock in Seismic Zone IV, including carbon-rich phyllite associated with trapped gas; gas was detected at the contact between hard quartzite and softer phyllite.
• Instability record: When NHPC restarted excavation in 2021 after roughly nine idle years, many stretches built by the previous developer had collapsed, with cave-ins reaching the surface and access adits flooded.
• The disaster: The blast occurred about 1.5 km inside the tunnel at Samardung, Namchi district; about 25 workers were inside when a landslide sealed the tunnel. NHPC announced a detailed investigation and an ex-gratia payment of ₹5 lakh to the next of kin of each person killed; 13 bodies had been recovered as of the report.
• Project history: Teesta-VI was absorbed by NHPC after its private developers went into insolvency, unable to afford escalating costs.

Context

The Assam government said the ongoing wave of floods in some eastern districts has been the worst in 60 years, affecting more than 6.5 lakh people and claiming 41 lives in less than a month, with 10 more deaths recorded in a single 24-hour period.

Background & Key Facts

• Scale (ASDMA bulletin): Floods have affected 6,53,164 people across 939 villages and crops on 24,897.27 hectares. District authorities set up 106 relief camps sheltering 24,418 people. Flood-affected districts reduced from 16 to 11 during the period.
• Unusual districts hit: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika said the disaster in Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat — districts that "rarely experience floods of this magnitude" — was unprecedented.
• Trigger: Authorities were caught off-guard after a cloudburst in adjoining Nagaland triggered a massive flow of water. The cloudburst in Nagaland's Mon district caused multiple landslides, killing at least nine people on July 19.
• Inter-State dimension: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said areas that normally experience high floods annually were not much affected this time, and that the State must "get to the bottom of the problem and discuss with Nagaland how to deal with it".

Context

On the heels of the Strait of Hormuz crisis comes a new Bab el-Mandeb threat: on July 16, Reuters reported Iran had instructed the Houthis to close the Strait (between Yemen and the Horn of Africa) if the U.S. attacked Iran's power plants — a risk to one-third of India's entire trade.

Background & Key Facts

• 2023–24 precedent: After the Gaza war began (October 2023), the Ansarallah group (Houthis) targeted at least 40 vessels in the Red Sea from November 2023 to March 2024, claiming links to Israel.
• International response then: The U.S., with allies including Singapore and Sri Lanka, launched Operation Prosperity Guardian (December 2023); UN Security Council Resolution 2722 was adopted in January 2024. The Indian Navy rescued the crew of a British tanker set on fire (January 26–27, 2024). A U.S.-declared ceasefire came in May 2025.
• Insurance chokehold: Over 90% of the world's shipping is insured by just 12 protection and indemnity (P&I) clubs, leaving shipowners little room to negotiate. Between November 2023 and March 2024, at least 2,000 ships avoided the Suez Canal and sailed around the Cape of Good Hope — reverting global routes to what prevailed 170 years ago. Egypt lost a quarter of Suez Canal revenue; Israel's Red Sea port of Eilat filed for bankruptcy by July 2024.
• Why now is harder: U.S. forces are focused on Iran; the UNSC is more divided; China is likely to again pursue unilateral quid pro quos with the Houthis. India has already barred Indian mariners from ships bound to or from the Strait of Hormuz — extending this to Bab el-Mandeb would be difficult and would hurt seafarer welfare.
• Recent escalation: On July 20, the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" on Saudi ships, seen as a threat to their transit through Bab el-Mandeb.
• Proposed response: A theatre-specific "Trade Protection Task Force" of navies (not a strategic alliance) with France and Japan — both maintain bases in Djibouti and have conducted joint drills with the Indian Navy. India's Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region could provide maritime domain awareness, aligned with SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).

Context

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Manila that stable India-China relations will help foster a "multi-polar Asia" and a "multi-polar world", stressing that peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the prerequisite for normal ties.

Background & Key Facts

• The framing: Jaishankar said a stable and cooperative relationship is best developed on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.
• Normalisation steps: Renewed engagement includes resumption of direct flights, updates to the visa regime, restart of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, and resumption of border trade. He recalled the Modi–Xi meeting in Kazan (October 2024) where both agreed "differences should not become disputes".
• Concerns raised: Predictability of supply chains and "fair market access" were flagged as needing to be addressed.
• Quad on the sidelines: Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. met on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila, reaffirming commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and support for ASEAN unity and centrality as ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partners.
• Russia track: In a separate meeting with Sergey Lavrov — days after four Indian seafarers were killed in a Russian projectile strike in the Black Sea — Jaishankar expressed "strong concern" over the safety of Indian seafarers, and discussed trade and investment, energy and connectivity, science and technology, and mobility.

Context

In mid-July, a group of Nobel laureates, AI scientists, religious leaders and other luminaries signed the 'Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace', calling for an international treaty to ban autonomous systems from accessing nuclear launches.

Background & Key Facts

• Rand Corporation study: Identified four capabilities AI would need to pose an existential threat — integration with key cyber-physical systems; ability to survive without human maintainers; the objective to cause human extinction; and the ability to persuade or deceive humans to avoid detection.
• Inspiration: Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, a "clarion call" to protect human dignity against technological overreach.
• Six principles: Disarming the next arms race; responsible development; responsible use of AI; responsible governance; responsible leadership; and nuclear disarmament.
• Five operational principles: (i) Mandatory meaningful human control — absolutely prohibiting any automated/algorithmic/AI-driven system from making the final decision on nuclear weapons use; (ii) the "digital commons" model; (iii) responsible development — publishing ethical frameworks and forbidding fully autonomous, self-improving systems that cannot be monitored, audited or halted; (iv) internal arsenal vulnerability audits against AI-driven cyber-tampering; (v) time-bound, verifiable disarmament.
• Historical anchor: During the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and the 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm involving Stanislav Petrov, disaster was averted precisely because humans exercised caution, intuition, scepticism and moral choice.
• Arms-control erosion: The INF Treaty, Open Skies Treaty and New START are described as teetering, amid an uncontrolled multipolar arms race.
• Endorsement: Nobel Physics laureate David Gross said the text's ultimate success lies in generating public awareness that drives grassroots pressure.

Context

U.S. President Donald Trump has given generic pharmaceutical companies a two-year window to establish manufacturing facilities in the United States, warning that products imported after August 2028 could face tariffs of up to 200% — a move with significant implications for India.

Background & Key Facts

• The tariff schedule: From August 1, 2026, generic drugs entering the U.S. face zero tariff for two years; thereafter 100% for one year, and 200% after that.
• India's exposure: India exported pharmaceutical products worth $25.8 billion in 2025, of which $9.7 billion (37.7%) went to the U.S. — its largest overseas market. Indian firms account for nearly 47% of all generic prescriptions dispensed in the U.S.
• Value vs volume: Despite this dominance, low generic pricing means India's share of the value of U.S. generic imports is estimated at only about 30%. The U.S. imported pharmaceutical products worth $213 billion in 2025, including $94.1 billion of finished medicines sold in retail packs.
• Market reaction: The Nifty Pharma index fell 1.31%, with 18 of its 20 constituents closing lower.
• Industry response: Dr. Reddy's CEO Erez Israeli said moving operations overnight is impractical and tariffs would force price increases. GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said Indian generics could remain competitive as they are significantly cheaper than branded alternatives, but large-scale relocation would be challenging given reliance on global supply chains and imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Pharmexcil Chairman Namit Joshi called the zero-tariff window a "meaningful runway".
• Context: Dr. Reddy's Q1 net profit slumped 69% YoY to ₹435.6 crore amid lower lenalidomide sales and a ~₹240-crore provision over semaglutide quality issues.

Context

The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2025-26 report shows that the number of Children With Special Needs (CWSN) enrolled in schools has remained stagnant over the past eight years despite initiatives to enrol more of them.

Background & Key Facts

• Stagnation: There were 21.66 lakh CWSN in schools in 2025-26 — a figure that has stayed fairly constant over the years.
• Census baseline: The 2011 Census recorded 32.5 lakh disabled children under the age of nine; including persons with disability in the 10–19 age group, the number rises to 78.7 lakh. CWSN in schools in 2025-26 were not even 30% of the 2011 Census figure.
• The Hindu's estimate: Using NFHS-5 disability data and the Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections, the number of CWSN in India could have grown from 92.3 lakh to 98.8 lakh between 2018-19 and 2025-26 — implying only about 22% are enrolled (a conservative estimate, as population estimates covered only the 5–14 age group).
• Steep drop-off by stage: Nearly 75% of CWSN enrolled in primary continue to upper primary; this falls to 48% between upper primary and secondary, and 46% between secondary and higher secondary — sharper attrition than for students overall.
• Gender: Only about 43 of every 100 CWSN enrolled are girls; however, girls with special needs appear to drop out less — girls in upper primary are about 80% of those in primary.
• Under-reporting: Shashank Pandey, lawyer and founder of the Politics and Disability Forum, said schools supplying UDISE data are often not updated with the 21 categories of disability recognised by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and still categorise students under the eight categories used in the 2011 Census.

Context

Amid concerns raised by minority institutions, particularly Christian bodies, the Press Information Bureau clarified that the "designated authority" under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 would retain the religious character of places of worship.

Background & Key Facts

• The provision: The Bill — introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25 but not passed amid Opposition uproar — provides for a 'designated authority' to take over, manage or dispose of assets created from foreign funds when an NGO's FCRA registration is suspended, cancelled or not renewed. This authority will have the powers of a civil court and can order transfer or sale of NGO assets to the government or another body.
• PIB clarifications: The authority manages only assets created from foreign contributions, and only once registration has lawfully ceased; vesting is initially provisional with full restoration if registration is renewed; places of worship retain their religious character by law in all cases; orders are subject to revision and appeal before the District Judge's court.
• Cancellation myth: The PIB said many cancellations and non-renewals are administrative — arising from non-filing of annual returns, non-renewal before expiry, or failure to maintain designated accounts — and courts remain fully empowered to review any cancellation.
• Scale: In 2024-25, approximately 16,200 associations were actively registered and received around ₹22,963 crore in foreign contribution — "hardly the footprint of a prohibition".
• Global comparison: The PIB argued comparable global laws cover lobbyists, PR firms, think tanks, universities and companies — anyone acting at a foreign principal's direction, regardless of sector.
• Assurance: On July 10, Home Minister Amit Shah assured the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) that the Bill is not against Christian NGOs, which receive a little under 15% of total foreign donations.
• Status: The Bill is listed for passage in the ongoing Monsoon Session.

Context

Forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon fell to a historic low in 2025 after peaking the previous year, according to a report by the environmental monitoring network MapBiomas.

Background & Key Facts

• The numbers: Satellite images showed 3.1 million hectares burned — the smallest area since records began in 1985. Burned areas nationwide were also at their smallest since 2018.
• Reversal from 2024: Flames engulfed the world's largest tropical rainforest in 2024 when an unprecedented drought triggered the spread of fires, the majority of which were man-made.
• Causes of decline: A delayed rainy season between 2024 and 2025 blocked the "ideal window for burning" in areas where fire is used to clear agricultural land. Deforestation also eased, reducing available fuel. The report highlighted a "psychological factor" — communities fearing a repeat of 2024 helped control outbreaks.
• Exception: Central Brazil's vast Cerrado savanna "kept burning" at similar rates.
• Warning ahead: Report coordinator Ane Alencar flagged the potential arrival of a "super El Niño" this year, bringing an extended dry season and greater fire risk.
• Policy context: Official data show deforestation in Q1 2026 at its lowest rate this decade; President Lula has pledged to eradicate the practice by 2030, though his endorsement of a major offshore oil exploration project off the Amazon coast has drawn activist criticism.

Context

Net foreign direct investment inflows turned negative once again in May, with outflows exceeding inflows by $74 million, according to the latest Reserve Bank of India data — snapping a three-month streak of positive net inflows.

Background & Key Facts

• Gross inflows: Total direct investment entering India stood at about $6.07 billion in May 2026 — 60% lower than April and nearly 23% lower than May 2025. Even though outflows fell, inflows fell by a larger amount.
• Source and sector mix (April–May 2026): Japan, Singapore and Mauritius accounted for about 74% of total equity inflows; financial services received the highest share, followed by manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and computer services — together about 80% of total inflows.
• Outflows: Total outflows were $6.14 billion in May 2026. Outward investment by Indian firms was $2.4 billion (49% lower than April, 9.6% lower than May 2025). Of outward FDI, around 74% went to the U.S., Cayman Islands and the Netherlands, with financial/insurance/business services and manufacturing over 85% of outward flows.
• Repatriation: Repatriation and disinvestment by foreign companies operating in India stood at $3.7 billion in May 2026 — 5.1% lower than April and 13.3% lower than May 2025.
• Macro backdrop (RBI July Bulletin): India remains among the fastest-growing major economies with resilient industrial and services indicators, though the farm sector faces an "uneven" southwest monsoon — with impact on food inflation possibly mitigated by comfortable foodgrain stocks. The rupee fell 28 paise to close at 96.53 against the U.S. dollar amid surging crude and geopolitical uncertainty.

Context

The Centre is considering removing restrictions on cross-ownership between airport operators and airlines — a move that could allow airport companies to own airlines and airline groups to acquire stakes in airports.

Background & Key Facts

• Process: The Ministry of Civil Aviation is preparing a concept note for consultations with NITI Aayog and other ministries; any proposal would need final Union Cabinet approval.
• Existing caps: Concession agreements for the Noida International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport bar any scheduled airline, cargo airline or their associates from holding more than 26% of the concessionaire's paid-up equity. For Delhi and Mumbai, the original privatisation framework capped aggregate Indian scheduled airline equity at 10%, with foreign airlines barred entirely.
• Reverse effect: These restrictions also effectively prevent airport operators from owning or controlling airlines. The Adani Group, which operates eight airports, has maintained it has no interest in entering the airline business.
• Air India angle: The proposal comes amid reported Air India interest in the airport business (denied by senior Air India sources). Air India is jointly owned by Tata Sons (74.9%) and Singapore Airlines (25.1%).
• 2019 precedent: The Tata Group, with Singapore's GIC, proposed acquiring a 55.2% stake in GMR Airports, but the deal did not materialise due to a conflict-of-interest issue involving Tata stakes in Vistara and AirAsia India. Vistara has since merged into Air India and AirAsia India into Air India Express.
• Parallel move: The Ministry has submitted a proposal to the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) for the third round of airport privatisation covering 11 airports, which will also go to the Cabinet.

Context

Three significant Supreme Court developments on Wednesday touched judicial service conditions, the anti-defection merger controversy, and compliance with interim orders in a contested religious site dispute.

Background & Key Facts

• Retirement age: A Bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohan directed all States and Union Territories to consider raising the retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 61 years, pending its final decision on whether superannuation should be uniformly enhanced to 62 years nationwide — in a petition filed by the All India Judges Association.
• Sena (UBT) merger: A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe refused an interim stay on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's decision recognising the "merger" of six of nine Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the rival Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, but agreed to hear the challenge after two weeks. Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentary party leader Arvind Sawant challenged the July 18 circular of the Lok Sabha Secretariat as "ex facie unconstitutional, illegal and perverse".
• Bhojshala: The Court directed the Union and Madhya Pradesh governments to comply "in letter and spirit" with its July 14 order requiring identification of a separate open space near the disputed Bhojshala–Kamal Maula Mosque complex for Friday namaz between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. as an interim arrangement, after being told the identified site was nearly two kilometres away (Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta said about 900 m).
• Recusals context: Separately, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar recused from hearing activist Surendra Gadling's bail plea in the 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case — the third such recusal in a year without reasons assigned.

Context

An analysis examines how the CJP-led youth protest alters India's political landscape — with Opposition parties divided over whether to join, amplify or keep distance from an apolitical mobilisation that could either consolidate or scatter anti-incumbency.

Background & Key Facts

• Origin of the name: The outfit took its name from a remark by a Supreme Court judge who likened India's disgruntled youth to cockroaches.
• Opposition split: The Samajwadi Party and the Left believe joining could expand Opposition space; within the Congress, opinion is divided over playing second fiddle; some Left voices favour caution. On July 21 the Congress staged a dharna outside the PM's residence.
• Historical parallels: The Kejriwal–Anna anti-corruption movement (2011) consolidated anger against the Congress-led UPA and favoured the BJP; the Nirbhaya protests (2012); the anti-CAA protests (2019-20) and the farmers' protests (2020-21) both occurred in Modi's second term.
• Why earlier protests were contained: The farmers' protests were driven largely by relatively prosperous farmers in a narrow belt around Delhi; the anti-CAA protests came to be framed largely as a Muslim issue — both were sectional and could be isolated. The farmers forced withdrawal of the farm laws; the CAA protests fizzled out; neither had major national electoral impact.
• What is different now: CJP protesters represent a horizontal segment concentrated in Hindi-heartland BJP strongholds, socially diverse but largely within the young, Hindu-Hindi spectrum — pre-empting communal polarisation and making them hard to label as a sectional interest.
• Electoral arithmetic: At its 2019 peak the BJP secured about 37% of the national vote; more than 60% of Indians do not vote BJP at any given point. The party seeks to improve its vote-to-seat ratio through fresh delimitation ahead of 2029.
• Generational shift: The 20-year-old protester of today was eight when Modi became PM in 2014; the author frames it as the "Instagram generation" challenging what the "WhatsApp generation" built.

Context

Three Karnataka developments of exam relevance: over 47 lakh voters flagged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, the Cauvery Water Management Authority directing States to maintain status quo amid basin distress, and a BDA circular barring building plan modifications after Occupancy Certificate and full FAR utilisation.

Background & Key Facts

• SIR in Karnataka: More than 47 lakh voters have been flagged under various categories that could result in possible deletion of their names from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, according to data released.
• Cauvery: The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) told States to maintain status quo amid distress in the Cauvery basin.
• BDA circular: The Bangalore Development Authority clarified that no modified building plan can be sanctioned once the permissible Floor Area Ratio (FAR) has been fully utilised and an Occupancy Certificate has been issued for the entire project. Once the final OC is granted, builders permanently lose the right to seek modifications — aimed at ending developers illegally using increased FAR to construct additional buildings for extra profits.
• Footpath enforcement: Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has written to Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh urging an increase in the penalty for riding motor vehicles on footpaths — following the SC's recognition of walkability as a fundamental right.
• Cabinet expansion: The State Cabinet expansion has been postponed for a second time in less than two weeks, as the party leadership remained preoccupied with the NEET protests.