Liberty vs Order on Delhi’s Streets: Mass Detentions, the Supreme Court, and the End of Jantar Mantar as a Protest Venue (POLITY AND GOVERNANCE) (TH) (TH) Protests in New Delhi against the Chief Election Commissioner led to large-scale detentions of students, activists, lawyers and journalists. The Supreme Court stepped in with directions to protect peaceful…
Judges at Arm’s Length: Why the ONOE Panel’s Supreme Court Meeting Was Called Off (POLITY AND GOVERNANCE) (TH) A proposed interaction between the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) Bills and sitting judges of the Supreme Court has been dropped. Opposition members objected that judges who may later hear challenges…
From Suppliers to Stakeholders: A Decade of the National SC-ST Hub (SOCIAL JUSTICE) (PIB) A government backgrounder released on 8 October 2026 reviews the National SC-ST Hub (NSSH), which connects Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs with finance, skills and government buyers. Public procurement from SC/ST-owned micro and small enterprises (MSEs) has risen nearly 39-fold…
Section 163 BNSS: The New Name for the Old Prohibitory Order (POLITY AND GOVERNANCE) (IE) Delhi Police denied permission for a planned demonstration demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 across the New Delhi district. The episode revives the…
Youth on the Frontline Against TB: JOSH Teams Join the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (SOCIAL JUSTICE) (PIB) On 8 October 2026, the Union Health Minister launched JOSH (Joint Squad for Health) Teams under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The squads pair young volunteers with local officials to carry the fight…
Panels That Keep Ministries on Their Toes: Standing Committees Reconstituted for 2026–27 (POLITY AND GOVERNANCE) (TH) On 3 October 2026, the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Lok Sabha Speaker reconstituted Parliament’s Department-Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) for 2026–27. Most chairpersons were retained, but the panels on Commerce and on Chemicals and Fertilisers got new heads —…
Living Longer, Ageing Well: India’s Silver Transition (SOCIETY) (STV) India is greying faster than it is growing. The elderly (60+) population is rising at roughly 3% a year, against overall population growth of under 1%. A recent national discussion asked how the country can turn this shift into a healthy ‘silver economy’ instead of a…
Shield or Sword? Supreme Court Leaves the Privileges–Free Speech Question Open (POLITY AND GOVERNANCE) (IE) A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has closed the long-pending reference in N. Ravi v. Speaker, Legislative Assembly, Chennai as infructuous. The Court consciously kept the core question open — whether legislative privileges can override a citizen’s right…
A Visa Is a Permission, Not a Promise: Delhi HC on Foreigners’ Entry (POLITY AND GOVERNANCE) (TH) The Delhi High Court has held that a valid Indian visa does not give a foreign national an absolute or legally enforceable right to enter India. The case involved a Turkmenistan citizen holding a business visa who was…
Building Upwards, Not Outwards: The Case for Vertical Industrial Parks (ECONOMICS) (DD) West Bengal’s Finance Minister has pitched vertical industrial parks as an answer to the State’s acute shortage of industrial land, proposing multi-storey hubs for the gems and jewellery sector to revive it and stem the exodus of skilled artisans. A vertical industrial park…
