Santosh Mitra Square, whose Operation Sindoor pandal drew crowds last year and was inaugurated by Amit Shah, has chosen Vande Mataram as its 2026 Durga Puja theme, marking the song's 150th anniversary. Committee president and BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh said the pandal will trace its role in the freedom movement through lighting, sound and installations.
The Reserve Bank has invited global expressions of interest for polymer substrate sheets, signalling a pilot for Rs 10 and Rs 20 notes, the denominations that circulate hardest and wear out fastest. Polymer lasts two to four times longer than cotton paper and allows transparent windows that resist forgery. Earlier trials in 2013 and 2015 never reached nationwide circulation.
With blood banks struggling to find willing donors, Chennai families are proving a quiet answer. Shaikh Shamsudeen, 29, of George Town first gave blood in 2016 after an urgent call for AB Negative reached his New College classroom, following his father Shaikh Sadaqathullah. He now donates through the Madras Voluntary Blood Bureau, which marked its golden jubilee in April.
Gitanjali Angmo said the petition was wrongly interpreted after the Delhi High Court on Sunday declined to interfere with Sonam Wangchuk's treatment at Safdarjung Hospital. She questioned why the government could not have intervened democratically, with the family's trust. Wangchuk was taken there forcibly by Delhi Police on the 21st day of his hunger strike, and a fresh petition is due on July 20.
A Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held at Srinagar's historic Vichar Nag temple on Sunday, drawing scores of Kashmiri Pandits back to an area whose Pandit families fled during the militancy of the 1990s. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inspected the renovation and called the site's revival a bridge between past and present. Devotees performed yajna and havan after a long hiatus.
Protesters kept streaming into the Cockroach Janta Party's designated site at Jantar Mantar through the day, settling in for a night vigil ahead of Monday's planned march to Parliament. Organisers pressed on with preparations as the crowd swelled, turning the demonstration into an overnight occupation on the eve of the Monsoon Session's opening day in Delhi.
An organised supply chain is moving undocumented Bangladeshi migrants into India, with touts arranging their entry and transport to worksites nationwide. Employers tap the network for cheap unskilled labour in textiles and construction, while forged documents let migrants work and even enrol as voters. Assam is now seeking legal accountability for the Indian employers involved.
Police have stepped up security across Delhi before the start of the Parliament session and the Cockroach Janta Party's planned rally, with prohibitory orders in force until August 22. Officers noted the CJP had not sought permission for its march to Parliament, setting up a potential confrontation as protesters gather in the capital.
Andy Burnham has dropped a digital ID scheme to prioritise cost-of-living measures, allies say. The Greater Manchester mayor, nicknamed the 'King of the North' for his work in northwestern England, is set to replace Keir Starmer as Prime Minister on July 20, when he has said he will also unveil his cabinet.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to seek parliamentary approval for extra expenditure, driven by higher outgo on fertiliser subsidies and electronics manufacturing schemes. GST and direct tax collections remain on track, and DIPAM is pushing for further disinvestment receipts. Completing the IDBI Bank transaction could provide meaningful fiscal comfort.
The Cockroach Janta Party's protest site at Jantar Mantar overflowed as crowds swelled to unprecedented levels following activist Sonam Wangchuk's forced hospitalisation. The turnout came ahead of the party's planned march to Parliament, with Wangchuk's removal from his hunger strike galvanising demonstrators and sharpening the confrontation with authorities.
The government will move a bill in the Rajya Sabha to make insulting Vande Mataram a criminal offence, amending legislation dating to 1971. In parallel, the Lok Sabha is due to take up a separate bill increasing the number of Supreme Court judges, as the Monsoon Session opens with a heavy legislative agenda.
Kerala's forest department has flagged 23 Google Maps listings located inside reserve forests in Kozhikode as misleading. Officials say unauthorised map pins and user-uploaded photographs are encouraging people to enter protected areas illegally. The divisional forest officer has sought removal of the listings, citing trespassing, public safety risks and human-wildlife conflict.
Bihar's Chief Minister inaugurated a Rs 130.88-crore link that will divert floodwaters and improve farm productivity. Part of a wider river-interlinking project, it is expected to reduce flood intensity across northern Bihar, Choudhary said. He also inaugurated 551 schools and outlined further measures to strengthen education infrastructure in the state.
At least eight people died and 15 were injured after landslides triggered by incessant rain and a cloudburst caused widespread destruction in and around Mon town in Nagaland. The state announced ex-gratia payments of Rs 4 lakh for each victim's family and Rs 74,000 for those injured as rescue work continued.
Kerala Minister Bindu Krishna called on students to form a united front against narcotics while presiding over the 'Focus Kollam' Minister's Excellence Award-2026 ceremony. The event recognised high-achieving students from the Kollam constituency, with the minister linking academic achievement to resisting substance abuse among young people.
Residents near Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai are opposing a proposed stone quarry and crusher unit, warning it could contaminate groundwater and nearby waterbodies. They say the operation would also disrupt agricultural activity in the area, and have pressed authorities to reconsider clearances for the project.
Locomotive pilots have demanded that disciplinary action against a motorman be dropped, arguing he averted a potential disaster caused by a signal failure. They contend he cannot reasonably be held blameworthy for an incident rooted in equipment malfunction rather than operator error.
Two complaints alleging illegal diversion of forest land and an irregular timber auction in the Chalakudy forest division, along with the Plantation Corporation of Kerala's continued use of reserved forest land, will come before the Central Empowered Committee in New Delhi on July 20.
The PMK has organised a signature campaign urging the Tamil Nadu government to formally notify the extent of the Pallikaranai marshland. Speaking at the campaign, the party president criticised former DMK minister P.K. Sekarbabu, who headed the CMDA, for failing to act as a watchdog over real estate development in the state.