Cloudburst Triggers Flash Floods in Uttarakhand's Chamoli; Two Missing, Roads Blocked 2
A devastating cloudburst in Tharali, Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, caused severe flooding and massive damage late Friday night, leaving two people missing and triggering widespread panic. Heavy rainfall led to the collapse of a rain drain, depositing large amounts of debris at the Tharali tehsil office and nearby houses.
According to the Chamoli district administration, a 20-year-old woman is feared buried under debris in Sagwara village, while another person went missing in the Chepdon market area. A flood-like situation persists in Tunri Gadhera, with debris reaching structures near the Pindar River.
The torrential rain also forced the closure of key roads, including the Karnaprayag-Gwaldam National Highway near Ming Gadhera, the Tharali-Sagwara road, and Dungri road. Schools in three development blocks have been ordered shut as a precautionary measure.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed the incident on X, stating that SDRF, police, and district officials are on-site conducting rescue and relief operations. “I am in constant touch with the local administration and monitoring the situation closely. I pray for everyone’s safety,” he said.
SC Grants Protection to The Wire Journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar in Assam FIR Case 4
The Supreme Court on Friday granted protection from arrest to The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and consulting editor Karan Thapar in connection with an FIR filed by Assam Police over a news article.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi issued the order on a plea by the Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ), which owns The Wire along with Varadarajan.
Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, representing the journalists, alleged that Assam Police was attempting to bypass previous court directions. Despite interim protection granted in an FIR registered by Morigaon Police, new summons were issued by the Guwahati Crime Branch in another case, she argued.
She further informed the bench that the journalists had been summoned on Friday regarding an older FIR filed in May and expressed fear of arrest. When she raised concerns about possible additional FIRs and threats of arrest, the bench assured her, saying, “We are watching.”
The court directed the journalists to cooperate with the investigation and submit a status report before the next hearing while reiterating that everyone is expected to follow the law.
Earlier, on August 12, the top court had restrained Assam Police from taking coercive action against Varadarajan in connection with an FIR related to an article on Operation Sindoor.
The first FIR, lodged on May 9 by the Guwahati Crime Branch, invoked Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (acts endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) and cited 14 interviews and articles. No significant action was taken on this case until August.
Subsequently, on July 11, Morigaon Police filed another FIR against Varadarajan and The Wire for a June 28 report regarding an Indian defence attaché’s statement on the loss of Indian aircraft in Sindoor. The court had already granted protection in that case.
The latest summons related to the May FIR prompted the journalists to seek relief again, resulting in the Supreme Court extending protection to them and the news portal.
Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe Arrested Over State Fund Misuse 6
Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday over allegations of misusing state funds, according to police sources. The 76-year-old leader is accused of using public money to fund a trip to England in September 2023, where he reportedly attended a convocation ceremony of his wife, Maithree.
Authorities stated that prior to his arrest, Wickremesinghe’s staff had been questioned regarding the travel expenses linked to the trip. The case has triggered widespread attention, marking a significant moment in Sri Lanka’s political landscape, as questions over accountability and misuse of power dominate public discourse.
SC Allows Excluded Bihar Voters to Submit Aadhaar-Linked Claims Online and Offline 8
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allow excluded voters in Bihar to submit their claims both online and offline during the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in the poll-bound state.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi ruled that claim forms can be submitted along with Aadhaar numbers and any one of the 11 acceptable documents under the SIR exercise.
Expressing surprise at the lack of objections from political parties over the exclusion of 65 lakh voters, the apex court ordered the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar to make all political parties part of the proceedings.
“All political parties must submit a status report on the claim forms they helped excluded voters file,” the bench said, posting the matter for September 8.
The court also directed election officials to issue acknowledgement receipts to booth-level agents of political parties who physically submit claim forms for excluded voters.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the poll panel, urged the court to allow the ECI 15 more days to demonstrate that voter exclusion was not as widespread as alleged. He assured the court that the ECI would show there were no major discrepancies.
The ECI informed the bench that about 85,000 excluded voters had already filed claims and over two lakh new voters had registered under the SIR process.
On August 14, the Supreme Court ordered the poll panel to publish details of the 65 lakh excluded voters by August 19 to ensure transparency and to allow Aadhaar as an acceptable identity document.
The revision of Bihar’s voters’ list—the first since 2003—has sparked a major political controversy after the total number of registered voters dropped from 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore following the SIR exercise.
Mumbai's GSB Seva Mandal Secures Record Rs 474 Crore Insurance for Ganeshotsav 10
Mumbai’s GSB Seva Mandal, one of the city’s most prominent Ganesh mandals, has taken a staggering insurance cover of ₹474.46 crore for its five-day Ganpati celebrations this year, an official confirmed on Friday.
Last year, the insurance cover stood at ₹400.58 crore. The celebrations, held at King’s Circle in Sion, will commence on August 27 with Ganesh Chaturthi and continue for five days.
“The Ganesh idol is adorned with over 69 kg of gold ornaments, more than 336 kg of silver, and other precious offerings from devotees,” said Amit Pai, Chairman of GSB Seva Mandal, in a statement. This year marks the 71st Ganeshotsav celebration of the mandal, which is widely regarded as the richest in the country.
Out of the total cover, ₹67.03 crore is allocated for gold, silver, and other ornaments. Around ₹375 crore covers personal accident insurance for volunteers, priests, cooks, valets, security guards, and footwear stall workers. Additionally, ₹30 crore is reserved for public liability, covering pandals, stadiums, and devotees.
The policy also includes a standard fire and special perils cover for furniture, fixtures, digital assets, and other materials at the venue.
“Beyond the celebrations, GSB Seva Mandal supports education for underprivileged sections of society, ensuring equal opportunities and societal progress,” Pai added.
Vivek Agnihotri is not making films—he is manufacturing venom. The Bengal Files is not art; it is political propaganda, carefully packaged to inflame, distort, and divide. By dragging the name of Gopal Chandra Mukhopadhyay—popularly known as Gopal Patha—into this cesspool, Agnihotri has crossed the line between artistic license and malicious slander.
Gopal Patha was no “butcher.” He was a wrestler, a freedom fighter, and, above all, a protector. In the chaos of 1946, when Calcutta burned under the horrors of Direct Action Day—engineered by the Muslim League and abetted by the then chief minister H.S. Suhrawardy—it was Gopal who mobilized Hindus not for indiscriminate slaughter, but for defense. His orders were crystal clear: women, children, and innocents must not be harmed. He stood as a bulwark against the barbarity unleashed on Hindus—massacres, rapes, kidnappings, and arson—and in doing so prevented Calcutta from collapsing entirely to Suhrawardy’s Pakistan-backed plans.
Yet Agnihotri, intoxicated by his own false bravado, chooses to depict this man as a “Muslim-hating butcher.” A grotesque lie, one his own grandson has condemned as “belittling, dehumanising and demonising.” The family has filed legal action, and rightly so. To smear a man who fought to keep Calcutta from drowning in blood is not only dishonest—it is vile.
And let’s not pretend the timing is innocent. With Bengal elections around the corner, the film slots neatly into a political narrative. Agnihotri plays martyr when his trailer launch is disrupted, whining about “freedom of expression,” all while peddling half-truths and communal venom. Expression is not license to falsify history or profit from hate.
History is brutal, yes—but it is also sacred. Direct Action Day is one of the darkest chapters of Partition: a pre-planned pogrom against Hindus, encouraged by Jinnah’s chilling declaration, “India divided or India burned.” Hindu neighborhoods were torched, men slaughtered, women raped, and young girls paraded as trophies of fanaticism. Suhrawardy gave rioters free rein, and mobs led by criminals like Munna Chaudhary and Meena Punjabi terrorized Calcutta with unspeakable crimes. Police records tell of hacked and naked bodies of Hindu girls hanging in slaughterhouses.
Against this carnage rose Gopal Patha and his Bharat Jatiya Bahini, uniting Hindus across castes and regions, arming themselves with whatever they could find—knives, spears, pistols, acid bombs. Their resistance was targeted: they fought back the very mobs that had butchered innocents, and they never touched Muslim women or children. By August 20, Suhrawardy’s dream of tearing Calcutta into Pakistan’s fold had collapsed.
This is history—ugly, raw, undeniable. And yet, Agnihotri’s so-called film trashes it. Instead of portraying Gopal as the man who saved countless Hindus and defended his city, he twists him into a caricature—a hate-spewing villain—for cheap applause and electoral mileage.
Let’s call it what it is: The Bengal Files is a disgrace. It reduces suffering into a circus, exploits grief for profit, and poisons public discourse. Art is meant to confront, to illuminate, to humanise. This is the opposite: cowardly, manipulative, toxic storytelling that tears apart the very fabric of society.
India does not need more of this garbage. It needs truth, courage, and integrity—values Gopal Patha lived and died for. Agnihotri, on the other hand, has chosen distortion, division, and disgrace. Shame on those who dignify this poison by calling it cinema.
West Bengal Suspends 4 Officials Over Voter Roll Irregularities, FIRs Still Pending 14
The West Bengal government has suspended four officials and launched departmental proceedings over alleged irregularities in revising electoral rolls, but no FIRs have been filed so far, partially meeting the Election Commission’s directives.
The action comes a week after Chief Secretary Manoj Pant appeared before the Election Commission (EC) in New Delhi, where he was reportedly given an August 21 deadline to suspend the officers and initiate criminal proceedings.
An official at the state secretariat confirmed that the suspended officials include two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) from South 24 Parganas and Purba Midnapore districts.
The suspensions follow allegations of irregularities in the voter rolls of the Baruipur East and Moyna assembly constituencies. EC sources identified the officials as Debottam Dutta Chowdhury (ERO) and Tathagata Mandal (AERO) from Baruipur East, and Biplab Sarkar (ERO) and Sudipta Das (AERO) from Moyna.
They are accused of serious procedural violations, including sharing login credentials and breaching data security protocols during the electoral roll revision process. The commission has termed these lapses a direct threat to the integrity of the electoral system and is closely monitoring the state government’s response.
Satish Golcha Appointed as Delhi’s 26th Police Commissioner, Succeeds SBK Singh 16
Senior IPS officer Satish Golcha officially assumed charge as the 26th Commissioner of Delhi Police on Friday, replacing SBK Singh, who served for just 21 days. Golcha, a 1992-batch officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, took over the post at Delhi Police Headquarters.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued the appointment order on Thursday, a day after Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was attacked during a public hearing at her Civil Lines office. Officials clarified that the change in leadership was not connected to the incident.
Golcha, who will serve until April 2027, is widely regarded for his no-nonsense approach and earned recognition for his crucial role as Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
His predecessor, SBK Singh, a 1988-batch officer, reportedly had the shortest tenure as Delhi Police chief, taking charge on August 1 after the retirement of Sanjay Arora.
Supreme Court Stays Order on Stray Dog Relocation, Allows Return After Sterilisation 18
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed its earlier directive to permanently relocate stray dogs to shelters in Delhi-NCR, allowing their return after sterilisation and vaccination. However, dogs infected with rabies or exhibiting aggressive behaviour will not be released back on the streets.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria issued the interim order amid growing debate on stray dog management across India. The Court also introduced several corrective measures to ensure better implementation of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been directed to designate feeding zones in every municipal ward. Feeding stray dogs outside these areas will invite legal action. The Court also asked MCD to set up a helpline for reporting violations and clarified that obstructing public servants on duty will attract liability.
Animal lovers and NGOs violating these directions will face a fine of ₹25,000. Those wishing to adopt stray dogs must apply to the MCD.
The Court extended the scope of its order nationwide, issuing notices to Animal Husbandry Departments and Secretaries of all States and Union Territories to ensure compliance with ABC Rules. It also directed the Registry to gather details of similar cases pending in High Courts, which will now be transferred to the Supreme Court.
The case originated from an August 11 directive by a different bench that took suo motu cognisance of a news report titled “City hounded by strays and kids pay price,” ordering relocation of stray dogs to shelters with a capacity of 5,000 animals.
Bhiwani Teacher Cremated, Internet Ban Extended Amid CBI Probe Demand 20
The last rites of 19-year-old teacher Manisha, whose death will now be probed by the CBI, were performed in Bhiwani on Thursday, drawing large crowds to her native village Dhani Laxman. Her father Sanjay was inconsolable as the funeral pyre was lit, following days of protests and public outrage.
Manisha had gone missing on August 11 after leaving school to inquire about admission at a nursing college. Her body was discovered in a field on August 13. A third autopsy was conducted at AIIMS, Delhi on Wednesday after her family demanded a CBI probe and a fresh post-mortem, rejecting earlier findings at Bhiwani Civil Hospital and PGIMS Rohtak.
In the wake of her death and the massive protests that followed, the Haryana government on Thursday extended the suspension of mobile internet, bulk SMS (excluding banking and recharge), and dongle services in Bhiwani district for another 24 hours, effective from 11 am. The suspension was earlier enforced in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts for 48 hours starting Tuesday.
According to the official order, the extension was necessary to prevent any disturbance to peace and public order. Protests had seen residents block roads and stage sit-ins, demanding justice and accusing authorities of mishandling the case.
While police initially claimed the teenager had died by suicide after ingesting poison and cited the emergence of a suicide note, her father dismissed the claim outright, insisting she could never take her own life. Political leaders, including Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda, accused the BJP-led state government of negligence and alleged attempts to pass off the case as suicide.
The protests were called off late Wednesday after the government accepted the demand for a CBI probe and a post-mortem at AIIMS.
