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Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

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People Are Talking About Junk Food Near Schools

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Freebies Must Go

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-04-05 03:33:06

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

It is regrettable that something that should be clearly visible to top politicians has to be spelt out for them by bureaucrats. It was left to top central bureaucrats to flag the rising cost of populist schemes and how they could lead the states to economic disaster in the interaction with Prime Minister Modi. But the secretaries of various departments reportedly flagged the schemes in Punjab, Delhi, Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, showing that they were not comfortable with raising the issue of BJP-ruled states indulging in such profligacy. It is no secret that the BJP is cultivating a 'labarthi' vote bank in UP that will override caste calculations. It pushed back anti-incumbency in the state by riding on the back of its welfarist policies and further promised to give free electricity to farmers, two free LGP cylinders and free scooters to college-going girls. The opposition is not far behind and AAP promised free power and direct cash transfer to women in Punjab while TMC promised double of what it is giving in Bengal to women and students to lure the Goa voters.

All political parties have veered around to the view that instant gratification in the form of freebies that write-off charges, provide things for free or put money in hand is the best way to get votes. But they do not calculate the costs that these schemes entail. The funds for these populist schemes are always at the expense of other, more urgently needed projects. When people get freebies now, they deprive themselves of better health, better education for their children and better life. States keep borrowing to fund these political excesses and the service cost of these loans falls on the people. Punjab is already a financial basket case and the promises made by APP, if kept, will lead it to disaster unless income rises miraculously. . Calling it a "serious issue", the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Election Commission and the Centre when a PIL was filed against such freebies ahead of the elections in five states recently.It has to be understood that having more and better colleges is more important than giving scooters to girls. The country benefits if the first is done while only the party benefits from the second. 

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