Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk during a hunger strike by CJP demanding action over alleged irregularities in examinations and seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. (Source: PTI/ Express Archives)Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday extended support to activist Sonam Wangchuk and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke over their ongoing protest against the alleged NEET paper leak, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The agitation entered its 16th day, with the CJP claiming Wangchuk’s health had deteriorated during his fast. Dipke said the protest seeks accountability over the alleged exam paper leak and student suicides linked to the controversy, adding that Wangchuk has lost 7.8 kg and his blood pressure was recorded at 104/66 mm Hg. The CJP also announced a peaceful march to Parliament on July 20.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions filed by around 360 teaching and non-teaching staff of madrassas in West Bengal, refusing their plea for regularisation of service and payment under the state government’s grant-in-aid scheme. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih examined 13 representative cases and held that none of the petitioners had made a case for relief. The court said, “Therefore, we have not only rejected the claims of all 13 petitioners whose cases were scrutinised, but have also rejected the claims of all the remaining petitioners. All the writ petitions are devoid of merit and are accordingly dismissed.”
At least five people were killed and more than 40 others injured after an Omni bus collided with a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus near Melur, around 30 km northeast of Madurai city on Monday. Police and rescue teams reached the spot after the crash and are carrying out relief operations. Further details are awaited.
Four minors are feared to have drowned after they were swept away by the current of the Yamuna while bathing near Hiranki village in outer north Delhi’s Alipur area on Sunday evening. Police said five minors had entered the river, but one managed to raise an alarm after the others were caught in the current and went missing. A joint search operation involving the NDRF, DDMA, Delhi Fire Services and local police continued for the second day on Monday. No bodies had been recovered till the latest reports, officials said.
A fire tore through a pub in Bangkok, killing at least 27 people and injuring dozens more, in one of Thailand’s deadliest venue fires in recent years. The blaze has raised immediate questions about fire safety standards and emergency exits at crowded entertainment venues in the city.
An RTI investigation by The Indian Express found that between January 2022 and May 2026, at least 1.27 crore bedroll items, including bedsheets, blankets, pillows, pillow covers and towels, were stolen from Indian Railways AC coaches. Based on replies from 54 of 69 railway divisions across 16 railway zones, the data show a 56% increase in thefts from 2022 to 2025. While the losses account for only about one bedroll item per 1000 AC passengers, they have caused an estimated Rs 104.51 crore loss to bedroll contractors, with coach attendants alleging that much of the cost is deducted from their salaries.
A state-wide verification of Maharashtra’s Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana has led to the removal of more than 92 lakh beneficiaries, nearly four in every 10 women enrolled under the flagship welfare scheme, according to government records reviewed by The Indian Express. The largest share of deletions, around 62 lakh, was due to beneficiaries failing to complete mandatory eKYC verification, while others were found ineligible for reasons such as exceeding the income limit, being government employees, receiving benefits under other welfare schemes, or crossing the age limit. The exercise has reduced the scheme’s beneficiary count from about 2.43 crore to over 1.5 crore, with officials estimating that those removed had collectively received around Rs 14,000 crore before payments were stopped.
Sirens have sounded in Bahrain as Iran retaliated to a fresh wave of US airstrikes, pulling Gulf states deeper into a conflict that has rapidly escalated beyond the Strait of Hormuz. The exchange marks one of the most dangerous phases of the US-Iran confrontation since the ceasefire collapsed.
Delhi's Karkardooma court convicted Tahir Hussain in Intelligence Bureau Officer Ankit Sharma murder case and other offences rioting etc. Criminal Conspiracy charges have been dropped against him.
Ankit Sharma was murdered during the North East Delhi riots of 2020.
(ANI)
A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change took place in New Delhi, chaired by Dr Medha Kulkarni.
The discussions focused on government work in atomic energy. Dr Kulkarni also outlined the steps and targets for generating 100 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear energy.
VIDEO | Medha Kulkarni, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology says, "Today's agenda for the Standing Committee meeting was to discuss the work being undertaken by the government in the field of atomic energy. The department gave a detailed… pic.twitter.com/C7xKRcTw6A
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 13, 2026
AAP Leader and MLA Atishi Marlena and former Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi visited Jantar Mantar to show their support for the ongoing hunger strike by the Cockroach Janta Party.
This protest is ongoing, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Cockroach Janta Party Leader Abhijeet Deepke expressed thanks in an X post.
I would like to thank @AtishiAAP ma’am for standing with the students and extending support to CJP’s protest https://t.co/llmaX58Agv
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) July 13, 2026
A Congress delegation led by MP Imran Masood and party UP in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam had to return after waiting over an hour at the Kashi toll plaza on Monday.
They were stopped en route to meet the family of a Dalit woman whose body was discovered two days after her disappearance in Meerut in May.
The party has announced a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 27 and plans to raise the issue in Parliament.
(PTI)
News agency PTI reports that retail inflation has risen to 4.38 % in June from 3.93 % in May, according to data provided by the government.
Janata Dal (Secular) leaders and farmers held a protest demanding the release of canal water in Mandya, Karnataka.
The Farmers have raised concerns over water availability and irrigation issues.
#watch | Mandya, Karnataka: JD(S) leaders and farmers hold a protest demanding the release of canal water; farmers raise concerns over water availability and irrigation issues. pic.twitter.com/TKPFRVq8KqSupreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the Karnataka government's plea challenging the Karnataka High Court order that nullified the charge of outraging a woman's modesty under Section 354 of the IPC against JD(S) leader and MLA H D Revanna in a sexual harassment case filed by his former domestic help. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran issued notice to Revanna and sought his response, while questioning the state over the delay in challenging the high court's November 2025 order. The high court had retained the lesser charge of sexual harassment under Section 354A IPC but held that the complaint appeared to be barred by limitation, leading to Revanna's discharge by a trial court in December 2025.
The Indian Express's Vallabh Ozarkar reports that Uddhav Thackeray, former chief minister of Maharashtra, extended his support to Sonam Wangchuk, who is on a hunger strike, and Abhijit Dipke, the founder of Cockroach Janta Party, who are protesting over NEET, and demanding Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation.
He made the remarks in a press conference held today.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Madras High Court order that had directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that no cows or calves are slaughtered anywhere in the state. The Tamil Nadu government argued that the High Court had imposed a blanket ban beyond the scope of the original petition, which only questioned cow sacrifice at places other than designated slaughterhouses during Bakri Eid. The High Court had relied on Article 48 of the Constitution, past Supreme Court rulings and a 1976 state government order to direct authorities to prevent the slaughter of cows and calves on Bakri Eid as well as on any other day.
A swarm of black flies has caused panic in several villages near Kotagiri, a hill town about 30 km from Ooty in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district, with residents fearing a possible disease outbreak after the insects invaded homes, shops and eateries over the past week. While officials clarified that black flies do not transmit diseases, their bites can cause itching and swelling. Following complaints from locals, civic authorities launched fumigation in affected areas on Monday, PTI reported. Residents and environmental activists have also sought a medical team and an expert investigation into the sudden surge. However, officials said such swarms of black flies are a seasonal phenomenon linked to the region's fast-flowing streams.
IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings and their head coach Stephen Fleming mutually part ways, ending a nearly two-decade-old association.
(PTI)
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions filed by around 360 teaching and non-teaching staff of madrassas in West Bengal, refusing their plea for regularisation of service and payment under the state government's grant-in-aid scheme. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih examined 13 representative cases and held that none of the petitioners had made a case for relief. Based on those findings, the court rejected the claims of all remaining petitioners as well, declaring the petitions "devoid of merit", as per PTI reports. The dispute stems from appointments made under the West Bengal Madrasah Service Commission Act, 2008, with the employees challenging a committee report that had declared appointments made between the Calcutta High Court's 2015 verdict and the Supreme Court's 2020 ruling upholding the Act as invalid.
A medical board has been constituted to investigate the death of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy who allegedly fell unconscious after being administered anaesthesia for a minor lip injury procedure at a private hospital in Kerala's Payyannur. The panel, headed by the Superintendent of Government Medical College Hospital, Pariyaram, will examine the postmortem report, treatment records, anaesthesia dosage and the child's medical history to determine if there was any medical negligence. Police have already registered a case against the anaesthetist and are questioning other doctors involved. The child, who sustained a lip injury while playing on July 5, died five days after being shifted to another hospital, according to PTI reports. The private hospital has denied negligence, stating the toddler suffered a cardiac arrest after receiving anaesthesia.
Veteran New Zealand actor Sam Neill, best known for his roles in Jurassic Park and The Piano, died suddenly in Sydney on Monday at the age of 78, his family announced. Neill had revealed in 2023 that he was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, though his family said he had remained cancer-free and did not disclose the cause of death, the Associated Press reported.
At least 18 people, most of them Amarnath pilgrims, were injured after two buses and a car collided near the Chanderkote Langar point on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Ramban district on Monday morning. The accident occurred around 7.20 am when one of the buses reportedly suffered a brake failure, triggering a chain collision involving another bus and a car that were part of the Kashmir-bound pilgrim convoy. The injured were rushed to the District Hospital in Ramban, officials said.
The Supreme Court on Monday set aside 27 Gauhati High Court judgments that had upheld Foreigners Tribunal orders declaring the appellants as foreigners, observing that decisions on citizenship must be made through a fair, lawful and reasonable process. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta remanded all 27 cases to the respective Foreigners Tribunals for fresh adjudication, emphasising that questions relating to citizenship carry significant constitutional importance. The matter is expected to be heard afresh by the tribunals. More details are awaited.
Three members of a family, including two children, were killed and nine others were seriously injured after an SUV rammed into a stationary truck on a national highway near Ruma in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district early Monday. Police said the family was travelling from Sirsa in Haryana to Bihar when the driver allegedly lost control while trying to overtake another vehicle, causing the SUV to crash into the parked truck around 5 am. The impact left the vehicle mangled, prompting rescue teams to use gas cutters to free the trapped passengers. The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment, while the truck driver, who allegedly fled the scene, was later detained by police. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed condolences to the bereaved families, directed officials to ensure the best possible treatment for the injured, and instructed the administration to extend all necessary assistance to the affected family.
Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, has requested the government to acknowledge their demands, and take accountability for the numerous test leaks and student suicides which followed over the past few months, as Sonam Wangchuk's health continues to deteriorate on the 16th day of his hunger strike.
Wangchuk, along with several others, has been on hunger strike in solidarity with the protestors at Jantar Mantar for the past two weeks.
Delhi recorded a warmer-than-normal morning on Monday, with the minimum temperature settling at 29.1 degrees Celsius—1.8 degrees above the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). No rainfall was recorded at any of the city's five major weather stations during the 24 hours ending 8.30 am. On Sunday, the maximum temperature touched 36.8 degrees Celsius, 1.3 degrees above normal. Meanwhile, the city's air quality remained in the 'poor' category for the second consecutive day, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 294, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, held a 'Janata Darshan' in Lucknow, where he listened to the public and addressed their grievances.
VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath holds 'Janata Darshan' in Lucknow; addresses grievances of the public.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 13, 2026
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/kvkt4iWh3y
(PTI)
Pramod Nautiyal, the accused in the alleged donation theft case at Badrinath Temple, Uttarakhand, was arrested late last night by the Chamoli Police from his house in Dehradun.
He has been taken to Badrinath for questioning, and will be produced before the court later today, the police told news agency PTI.
A search operation was launched by security agencies at the Rajasthan High Court after a bomb threat email was received.
Security presence has been heightened in the area as details are awaited.
VIDEO | Jaipur: Security agencies launch a search operation at the Rajasthan High Court after a bomb threat email was received. More details are awaited.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 13, 2026
Visuals from outside the court show a heightened security presence in the area. pic.twitter.com/Tsv5HFfFSZ
(PTI)
India observed a one-day national mourning following the demise of former Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. As a mark of respect, the Qatari national flag was flown at half-mast at the Qatar Embassy in New Delhi, in line with the government's mourning protocol honouring the late leader.
Three people were killed and five others injured after a high-speed Scorpio SUV collided with a dumper truck in Rajasthan's Balotra district during the intervening night of July 12 and 13. The injured were rushed to the district hospital for treatment.
https://platform.x.com/widgets.js#watch | Balotra, Rajasthan | Three dead and five injured after a high-speed Scorpio vehicle collided with a dumper truck on the intervening night of 12th and 13th July.
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) July 13, 2026
Visuals from outside the district hospital. pic.twitter.com/CCerLc0Smf
A father and daughter were found dead while the mother and son remain in critical condition in a suspected suicide pact at Pazhanji near Kunnamkulam in Kerala's Thrissur district on Monday. Police identified the deceased as Sibi (50) and his 18-year-old daughter. Sibi's wife Beena (45) and their 17-year-old son were found unconscious after the teenager reportedly alerted police, PTI reported. Preliminary investigations suggest the family may have consumed poison, with Sibi later found dead in a well and his daughter inside the house. Police suspect financial distress, reportedly after Sibi lost his job in the Gulf and returned home, may have driven the family to take the extreme step. The bodies have been sent for postmortem, and an investigation is underway.
At least 27 people were killed and 63 others injured after a massive fire ripped through the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub in Bangkok shortly after midnight on Monday. Officials said the blaze is believed to have been caused by an electrical short circuit in a ceiling-mounted air conditioner. The fire spread rapidly from the stage area, filling the venue with thick smoke and trapping patrons as obstructed emergency exits slowed evacuation, Reuters reported. Many victims were found near the pub's toilets after attempting to escape through the rear of the building. Authorities have launched a forensic investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.
