Jharkhand scraps tainted exam, SC restores AAP accounts: Top stories today
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday announced the cancellation of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination, 24 days after students began protesting alleged irregularities in recruitment exams in the State. The decision comes amid sustained demonstrations by aspirants who have alleged paper leaks and other malpractices. However, Ravindra Paswan, leader of the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch, which has been leading the protest, said the agitation would continue as their key demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the irregularities had not been met.
In a separate matter, the Bihar Police told the Supreme Court in an affidavit on Monday that a police constable "trapped" in a crowd during the Bihar students' NEET-UG paper leak protests and ensuing violence fired four rounds from his AK-47 rifle in the air. The affidavit said no one was injured from the bullets. The protests were part of a wider outcry over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment on Monday, observed that ridding the electoral process of the influence of black money is a responsibility of the Election Commission of India. "Black money in the electoral process is one such aspect that compromises democracy, rule of law and the electoral process itself," the judgment authored by Justice Sanjay Karol noted. The court said the problem of tainted money influencing voters has been recognised repeatedly but remains unresolved.
The Congress on Monday accused the Modi government of deliberately excluding the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category from the census questionnaire, alleging that the omission was part of a "deep conspiracy" to keep the community's actual population out of official data. At a press conference at the Congress office, party's OBC department national chairman Anil Jaihind said the OBC category was missing from the 10th question in the questionnaire issued on August 14.
Left parties on Monday renewed their demand to scrap the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, after the NTA announced a retest for three papers of the UGC-NET June 2026 examination following complaints of errors in the question papers. The CPI(M), CPI and CPI(ML) said the retest announcement exposes deep flaws in the examination system and demanded an overhaul of the education policy and testing mechanism.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the restoration of the Instagram and Facebook accounts of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP's) Gujarat unit. A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe passed the order on an interim application filed by the party. The top court allowed the application subject to the removal of objectionable posts, if any, and listed the main case for hearing after two weeks.
The Union Government gave an assurance in the Supreme Court on Monday that transgender identity cards issued prior to the enactment of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026, will continue to remain valid. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta gave the assurance before a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, saying the validity of these cards would not be affected by the new law.
In another development, Indian sailors aboard a ship in the Persian Gulf have sent out an SOS video alleging that their employer is asking them to risk their lives by crossing the Strait of Hormuz. The sailors claim the company is pressuring them to navigate a route that poses serious safety risks. Further details are awaited.
