"Bharat ne yeh tay kar liya hai ki khoon aur paani ek saath nahi bahega..."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Rajghat in Delhi and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi as the country marked its 79th Independence Day.

This year's #IndependenceDay theme is 'Naya Bharat,' reflecting the government's vision of achieving 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047.

"India has now decided, blood and water will not flow together. The people have come to realize that the Indus Waters Treaty is unjust. Water from the Indus River system has been irrigating the lands of the enemy, while our own farmers have suffered," said PM Modi in his #IndependenceDay2025 address.

🔗 https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/15/op-sindoor-punished-enemies-beyond-imagination-india-wont-tolerate-pakistans-nuclear-blackmail-pm-modi

#OPINION | India@79: A centralised state or narrow provincialism weren’t among India’s founding visions. Time to reconsider the case for a ‘federal’ union that Constituent Assembly member K T Shah made.

✍️Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of History, Harvard University
🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2025/Aug/13/add-a-word-to-the-preamble-dont-subtract-two

TNIE Web-only Column | Fifty years since #Rajini sir first faced the camera, how do I, a Bollywood-fed kid denied his Southern movies, define him? You had to be there in the 1980s and '90s: breathing the dust, trading those jokes, feeling the absurdity of an era where only the impossible felt real, to truly understand what it really meant for us.
✍️Satyen K Bordoloi writes.
🔗https://buff.ly/HNlb5YN

A former sanitation worker, who has emerged as a key whistleblower in the #DharmasthalaMassBurial case, has alleged to India Today that he and a small team buried scores of unidentified bodies in forested areas and riverbanks over nearly two decades, under instructions from the temple administration.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2025/Aug/14/dharmasthala-mass-burials-report-says-whistleblower-alleges-orders-came-from-temple

#MovieReview | Oscillating between a full-blown action entertainer and a sentiment-driven story, #Coolie misses the mark more often than not. But when it gets things right, the film is wonderfully entertaining.

🔗https://buff.ly/5LHd24a
#Rajinikanth𓃵 #CoolieReview

#MovieReview | #War2 is an unnecessary addition to an already bloated YRF Spy Universe. You take a good-looking Bollywood star, add a South Indian superstar to make things ‘Pan-Indian’, mix it with multiple foreign locations and action sequences in a car, atop a train and even a plane and finally garnish it with a glamorous actress and voila! Blockbuster is ready.

🔗https://buff.ly/M997QVc

A massive #cloudburst in the Chashoti area of #Kishtwar district, #JammuAndKashmir, triggered devastating flash floods on Thursday, claiming at least 38 lives, with the death toll feared to rise to between 30 and 40.

The disaster struck along the route of the ongoing Machail Mata Yatra, where a heavy rush of pilgrims and incessant rains worsened the situation.
🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/12-bodies-recovered-over-25-feared-dead-as-massive-cloudburst-hits-jammus-kishtwar-district

India’s wholesale price index (WPI), a key measure of factory-gate #inflation, fell to –0.58 per cent in July 2025, marking the second consecutive month of deflation and the lowest level in two years, according to the data.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2025/Aug/14/indias-wholesale-inflation-drops-sharply-to-058-in-july

Hours after the Supreme Court cancelled his bail in the #RenukaswamyMurderCase, popular Kannada actor #Darshan was arrested by #Bengaluru police on Wednesday evening from his wife Vijayalakshmi's residence in Prestige South Ridge Apartment in Hosakerehalli.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2025/Aug/14/actor-darshan-arrested-after-supreme-court-cancels-bail-in-renukaswamy-murder-case

India issued a stern warning to Pakistan over a series of provocative remarks by its top leadership, cautioning that any “misadventure” would be met with “painful consequences.”
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/india-warns-pakistan-any-misadventure-over-water-or-security-will-have-painful-consequences

SP has expelled MLA #PoojaPal for anti-party activities and indiscipline, days after she praised Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath for justice in husband's murder case.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/akhilesh-yadav-sacks-sp-mla-pooja-pal-after-she-praised-yogi-adityanath-for-justice-in-husbands-murder-case

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India to disclose the identity of 65 lakh voters whose names were deleted from the electoral roll by August 19.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/sc-asks-eci-to-disclose-identity-of-65-lakh-deleted-voters-from-electoral-roll-by-aug-19

12 bodies were recovered after a massive cloudburst struck along the pilgrimage route of the annual Machail Mata Yatra in Chashoti village in Jammu and Kashmir’s #Kishtwar.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/12-bodies-recovered-as-massive-cloudburst-hits-jammus-kishtwar

IT services major Cognizant will roll out salary hikes for about 80% of its eligible employees effective November 1, 2025.

The move aligns with its second-quarter guidance to award merit-based increases to the vast majority of staff in the second half of the year.

The hikes will apply to employees up to the Senior Associate level, with the amount varying by country and individual performance.

In India, consistent top performers will receive increases in the “high single digits.”

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2025/Aug/14/cognizant-hikes-salary-for-80-of-eligible-staff-follows-tcs-move-amid-industry-headwinds

The court of the additional district and sessions judge-cum-special POCSO Court handed a 54-year-old man life imprisonment for the rape of a minor blind girl in Odisha's Jharsuguda. It was one of the quickest conviction which was achieved within 99 days of the occurrence of the crime.

The survivor, a blind minor girl, had gone to the accused’s house to watch television but the latter raped her.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2025/Aug/14/rape-accused-convicted-within-99-days-of-crime-in-odisha

Karnataka Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar blamed social media for increasing number of teenage pregnancies in Karnataka.

In all, 405 cases were reported in 2022-23, 709 in 2023-24 and 685 in 2024-25. The increase is because of children’s excessive use of social media and their tendency to fall in love at a tender age. Changing family dynamics and child marriages too are to be blamed, she said.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2025/Aug/14/minister-laxmi-hebbalkar-social-media-a-reason-for-rising-teen-pregnancies-in-karnataka

Supreme Court has cancelled the bail granted to actor Darshan and Pavithra Gowda in the Renukaswamy murder case.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/sc-cancels-bail-granted-to-actor-darshan-in-renukaswamy-murder-case

Thirteen days after their protest against the privatisation of solid waste management operations in zones 5 and 6 of the Greater Chennai Corporation began, at least 500 sanitation workers were evicted from the Ripon Building entrance and detained by city police in a midnight operation.

🔗 https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2025/Aug/13/chennai-corporation-sanitation-workers-protesting-against-privatisation-forcefully-evicted-by-police

WATCH: https://youtu.be/qMw5imMBngU

The Delhi government told the Supreme Court that children are dying due to dog bites causing rabies, and the issue of stray dogs needs to be resolved and not to be contested.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi government, told a three-judge bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath that there were over 37 lakh reported dog bites in an year in the country.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2025/Aug/14/stray-dogs-case-children-are-dying-issue-needs-to-be-resolved-delhi-govt-tells-sc-2

#BREAKING | The Supreme Court has reserved order on prayer seeking interim stay on the August 11 order, where the two-judge bench ordered shifting Delhi-NCR stray dogs to the shelter homes.

The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria remarked that the case placed “human suffering on one hand and animal lovers on the other,” and directed all intervenors to file affidavits with supporting evidence.

This Kerala village residents are making headlines for honouring a stray — by giving him a statue. His name was Eldho.

Sanakan K V, an autorickshaw driver at the local stand, recalls the day Eldho padded into their lives 14 years ago. “He wasn’t well. There was a burn scar on his left flank. We found out later he’d been picked up elsewhere under the ABC programme, sterilised, and released here,” he says. From day one, the dog’s liquid brown eyes and gentle manners won over the neighbourhood.
🔗 https://buff.ly/FIm2L9c

The Army rescued four people, including one injured, after flash floods hit parts of Himachal Pradesh.

#HimachalPradeshFlashFloods

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/himachal-pradesh-flash-floods-army-rescues-four-stranded-civilians-in-kinnaur-2

Congress leader #RahulGandhi is all set to embark on ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ from Bihar’s Rohtas district on August 17 to register a protest against how the ongoing SIR of the electoral rolls was being conducted in the state.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/rahul-gandhi-to-launch-india-blocs-vote-adhikar-yatra-against-bihar-sir-on-aug-17

Congress leader #RahulGandhi met a group of seven people from Bihar, who were declared as “dead voters,” by the Election Commission in the recently published draft voter rolls in the state.

The group had travelled from Bihar to Delhi as the Supreme Court was hearing the petitions against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar.

Sharing a video on X, in which he is seen interacting with the group, Gandhi said, “There have been many interesting experiences in life, but never got the chance to have tea with ‘dead people’. Thank you, Election Commission, for this unique experience!”


https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/14/got-a-chance-to-have-tea-with-dead-voters-rahul-gandhi-takes-shot-at-ec-over-bihar-sir

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) found no human remains at the 13th site identified by the complainant-witness in connection with the Dharmasthala mass burial case. Karnataka witnessed protests over the alleged defamation of the sacred town.

https://youtu.be/dGUaL2XYmS0

#TamilNadu | CB-CID sleuths reportedly arrested S Surjith’s cousin Jayapal in connection with the suspected honour killing of Dalit IT worker #Kavin Selvaganesh.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2025/Aug/13/kavin-honor-killing-case-cb-cid-makes-third-arrest

Eight more Palestinians including three children were starved to death by #Israel in #Gaza on Wednesday as the Israeli military said it had approved the "framework" for the expansion of its operations in the enclave.

This has brought the total number of Palestinians starved to death by Israel in Gaza to 235, including 106 children, according to the territory's Health Ministry.

🔗https://buff.ly/vjj100r

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday alluded to private companies promoting patriotism on one side while profiting off the India-Pakistan cricket matches, as Army's Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Air Force's Wing Commander Vyomika Singh are set to appear on an episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC).

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/13/row-erupts-over-kbc-invite-for-operation-sindoor-spokespersons-col-sofiya-qureshi-wg-cdr-vyomika-singh

A 21-year-old Muslim youth Suleman Khan was allegedly abducted, assaulted and brutally murdered by a mob in Maharashtra’s Jamner taluka.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/13/21-year-old-muslim-youth-beaten-to-death-by-mob-in-maharashtras-jamner-mother-sister-also-assaulted

Jean Joseph, a PhD student, refused to receive the degree from Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, saying that the Governor had not done anything for Tamil.

From K Balachander’s Apoorva Raagangal to #LokeshKanakaraj's #Coolie, #SuperstarRajinikanth is set to celebrate a monumental milestone this Independence Day, marking 50 illustrious years since his cinematic debut in Tamil cinema.

Over the past five decades, #Rajinikanth has featured in over 165 films across Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and other languages, rising to become Tamil cinema’s biggest superstar.

From his long-time friend Kamal Haasan, composer Anirudh Ravichander to Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, celebrities took to social media to wish 'Thalaivar' a glorious 50 years in Tamil Cinema.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2025/Aug/13/rajinikanth-marks-50-years-in-cinema-with-coolie

#Rajinikanth50

Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to take appropriate action as per law against the sanitation workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation who are on a strike for the 13th day.

Observing that the workers are indulging in the strike without any permission from the concerned government authorities, the Bench directed the state government to take appropriate action to remove the striking workers by observing restraint.

🔗https://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2025/Aug/13/madras-hc-orders-tn-government-to-take-appropriate-action-against-gcc-conservancy-workers-on-protest

A day after the Supreme Court ordered Delhi and NCR authorities to remove stray dogs off the streets and permanently detain them in shelters, Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru said that the SC order will be implemented in the state as well, once the government receives the copy of the order.

Terming the directive “excellent”, Nehru, after inaugurating the Thayumanavar scheme said, “Stray dogs have become a major problem, and the SC’s verdict on removing the canines is a good opportunity for us (to do the same). Once we receive a copy of the order, we will implement it throughout Tamil Nadu,” he said.

The comments, however, have drawn flak from activists.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2025/Aug/13/minister-kn-nehru-says-tamil-nadu-government-will-remove-stray-dogs-activists-push-back

"I will look into it," Chief Justice of India BR Gavai assured when a plea relating to stray dogs was mentioned for urgent hearing in the Supreme Court.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2025/Aug/13/plea-on-stray-dogs-mentioned-in-sc-cji-says-he-will-look-into-it-2

Minta Devi, a resident of Bihar’s Siwan district, was thrilled to receive her Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) last month, allowing her to vote for the first time. However, her excitement turned to dismay when she noticed her voter ID listed her birth year as 1900—making her 125 years old—instead of the correct 1990 as per her Aadhaar card.

The discrepancy came to light after Opposition leaders, including Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, highlighted the case during protests against Bihar’s electoral roll revision. Some even wore T-shirts featuring Minta’s photo with the slogan “At 124 and not out.”

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/13/125-yr-old-bihar-voter-sparks-row

America's relationship with both India and Pakistan is "good", the US State Department has said, asserting that the diplomats are "committed to both nations."

Speaking at a briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the US working with both nations is good news for the region and the world, and will promote a beneficial future.


https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Aug/13/our-relationship-with-both-india-and-pakistan-is-good-us-state-department

From the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha to Bollywood’s leading men, the tribe of ‘big brothers’ for stray dogs is growing. The backlash came from all quarters in both bark and bite.

Dog parents and animal lovers have not been at rest since the Supreme Court’s directive on Monday to remove all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR and place them in shelters within eight weeks.

For animal lovers, there is no north-south divide. From actor Varun Dhawan to popular playback singer in the south, Chinmayi Sripaada, to Indian comic actors such as Vir Das, all have also come out strongly against the relocation order, using their social media accounts to call it a “death sentence for all dogs."



https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/13/from-netas-to-abhinetas-growl-grows-louder-against-dog-fiat

As India is facing a growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular illnesses, which is primarily driven by unhealthy diets. 29 public health organisations have given a call to implement front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPL) warning labels (WLs) on food products found high in fats or sugar or salt (HFSS).

🔗 https://buff.ly/JDwEghR

TNIE Web-only Column | Recently, at a laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, a machine rewrote medical history. A pair of robotic arms, guided not by a surgeon’s steady hand but its own artificial intelligence, removed a gallbladder entirely on its own.

As fully autonomous AI robots rewrite the future of surgery, Dr. Rajiv Santosham, one of India’s best robotic surgeons, gives his take.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/web-only/2025/Aug/11/the-scalpels-new-partner-when-ai-surgeons-step-into-the-operating-room

Months after its India release was stalled following the Pahalgam terror attack, romantic drama movie 'Abir Gulaal', starring Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and Vaani Kapoor, is now set to hit overseas screens on August 29.

A source close to the film said 'Abir Gulaal' will hit theatres in over 75 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, on August 29 worldwide except India.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/2025/Aug/11/fawad-khan-vaani-kapoors-abir-gulaal-to-release-worldwide-except-india-on-august-29

A man, vexed with her 18-year-old sister's affair with a man, allegedly killed her after celebrating Raksha Bandhan in UP's Jhansi, police on Sunday said.

The body of Kumari Sahodar alias Putti was found on Sunday with a shaved head near Dada Maharaj platform in a deserted area of Chandrapura village.

🔗https://buff.ly/VEVOGxI

Fatehpur district in #UttarPradesh came to the brink of communal conflagration on Monday when members of some Hindu organisations vandalised a tomb in Abu Nagar, claiming that the structure was built on a temple bringing both the communities face-to-face.

However, the district administration rushed with the deployment of heavy police and PAC contingents across the area, erecting barricades around the disputed site to prevent further flare-ups.
🔗https://buff.ly/fhE6uUW

In a "final message" posted on his X handle on Aug 11, amid the death threats, 29-year-old Al Jazeera journalist #AnasalSharif called on the world to speak up for his land and its people.

He was one of the channel's prominent faces in #Gaza, relentlessly reporting #Israel's genocidal war.

🔗https://buff.ly/uy4PlVr

"Women MPs are being pushed, shoved, and draggedby hair," #TMC MP #SagarikaGhose on Opposition MPs detained after protest.

The Opposition leaders were detained by Delhi Police at Transport Bhawan on Parliament Street while marching to the Election Commission office to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar and allegations of vote theft.

Amid continued opposition protest, the #LokSabha passed two important legislations pertaining to taxation -- Income-Tax (No 2) Bill and Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/11/lok-sabha-passes-two-tax-bills-amid-din-without-debate-2

A Noida daycare attendant was arrested for assaulting a 15-month-old girl. Disturbing CCTV shows the attendant intentionally hitting and dropping the baby. The incident occurred at a daycare in Noida’s Paras Tierea complex, Sector 137.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Tp_E0RfCk

Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan's "stock-in-trade", New Delhi said, in a strong response to Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir's nuclear threat directed at India from the US soil.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/11/pak-army-chiefs-nuclear-outburst-in-us-proves-islamabads-irresponsibility-centre

"Give us our work"

For over a week, Chennai's sanitation workers have been protesting before the Greater Chennai Corporation. Their demands are simple. they want their jobs back & they don't want privatisation.

Here's what is at stake if their demands aren't met.

https://youtu.be/gec3xg49-Cc?si=RlQXe7v2sqxE0Hrx

For Manish Bisi, a young man from Madagaon village in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband, the simple act of buying a SIM card from a local mobile phone shop let loose a whirlwind of disbelief, celebrity, and a bizarre series of events that felt more like a movie script than reality.

The SIM card once belonged to rising cricket star Rajat Patidar, and soon an awestruck Bisi was fielding calls from legends like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/11/khulja-sim-sim-chhattisgarh-villager-gets-calls-from-legends-like-kohli-de-villiers

Terming the stray dog menace in the city as "extremely grim", the Supreme Court directed the Delhi government and civic bodies to start picking up strays from all localities at the earliest and keep them at dog shelters.

While passing a slew of directions to tackle the menace of dog bite incidents, the court warned that if any person or organisation comes in the way of picking up of stray dogs by the authorities, strict action will be taken against them.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2025/Aug/11/pick-up-stray-dogs-keep-them-in-shelters-sc-directs-delhi-authorities

13-year-old girl attempted self-immolation at Phiringimal under Gaesilat police limits in Odisha'a Bargarh.

She was rushed to a private hospital in critical condition after sustaining partial burns.

She reportedly went to a field near the house and set herself on fire after pouring petrol on her body.

A few villagers, who spotted the flames, rushed to her rescue and managed to douse the fire, but not before she suffered serious burn injuries.

🔗https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2025/Aug/11/13-year-old-girl-self-immolates-in-odishas-bargarh-in-critical-condition

Opposition MPs, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar, took out a march from Parliament House to the Election Commission office in Delhi to protest against the voter roll revision in Bihar.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Aug/11/opposition-mps-begin-protest-march-from-parliament-to-ec-office-against-voter-roll-revision-in-bihar

#MonsoonSession | Both the Houses adjourned till 2 pm amid Opposition ruckus.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/live/2025/Aug/11/parliament-monsoon-session-live-congress-mps-file-adjournment-motion-in-ls-to-discuss-vote-chori-allegations

Kashmir is the "jugular vein" of Pakistan, Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has said, repeating his anti-India rhetoric.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Aug/11/pak-army-chief-munir-repeats-anti-india-rhetoric-in-us-2