Gurgaon's rain chaos, Bihar student stir, SC's OBC question: The day's top stories
A round-up of major national stories, including Gurgaon's waterlogging crisis, Bihar student protests, Supreme Court observations on OBC reservation, and more.
The day's news was marked by a series of crises and debates spanning urban infrastructure, education policy, and judicial scrutiny.
In Gurgaon, a torrential downpour exposed the city's fragile infrastructure, leaving streets waterlogged and citizens struggling to navigate. One father's ordeal to bring his daughter home through the flooded streets has become a stark symbol of the city's collapse under heavy rain, prompting many to question the quality of life in the millennium city.
Meanwhile, in Bihar, students took to the streets in Patna to protest over the TRE-4 examination and the BPSC recruitment process. The demonstrations highlight deep-seated anger and frustration over examination and recruitment issues that have plagued the state's education system.
The Supreme Court was at the centre of a significant political and social debate regarding the creamy layer question within OBC reservation. The discussion, which has a potential Supreme Court candidate at its core, focuses on the rules governing who qualifies for the benefits of reservation, a matter with far-reaching policy implications.
In other news, the Maharashtra food safety department, led by Tukaram Mundhe, has widened its crackdown to target the sale of loose edible oil, following a series of actions against restaurants. The state's new anti-conversion law is also facing its first real-world tests as it begins to affect prayer meetings in Mumbai.
Elsewhere, a distress beacon was found off the coast of Odisha, but the search for missing sailors continues, raising fresh questions about the incident. The Enforcement Directorate's investigation into a massive digital-arrest case in Goa has uncovered a wider cyber fraud network, with 330 victims and a staggering Rs 400 crore involved.
On the sports front, a young fast bowler named D Deepesh is turning heads in the Tamil Nadu Premier League with his 146 kmph pace, while a profile of the man who strung racquets for elite players like Lakshya Sen and Lin Dan offers a glimpse into the specialist craft behind badminton.