Good morning! Here’s your quick rundown of the top stories to start the day.
After 33 years, cops bar all protests at Jantar Mantar; 3 new venues designated amid anti-CEC stirs
For 33 years, an 18th-century astronomical observatory in the heart of Delhi functioned as a lighthouse for causes big and small – former soldiers demanding parity in pensions, a woman on hunger strike spotlighting army excesses, sexual violence victims hoping for justice, queer people dreaming of dignity, and a generation imagining a future free of corruption. In the aftermath of the sprawling NEET agitation this summer that forced the education minister’s resignation and the ongoing stir against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, police have denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site, ending its standing as the country’s most iconic site for dissent, all within a stone’s throw of the corridors of power in Lutyens Delhi. Read more here.
Supreme Court flags 14 'defects' in Rahul Gandhi's petition against CEC Gyanesh Kumar
A petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 10 other INDIA bloc leaders against alleged electoral irregularities and the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) will not be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday after the registry flagged 14 defects, including a ₹220 shortfall in court fees, an illegible photocopy of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s identity card and missing vakalatnamas for nine of the 11 petitioners. Click here to know more.
‘No economic settlement’: Mallika Srinivasan disputes Venu’s claim of TVS family settlement
{{/usCountry}}A petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 10 other INDIA bloc leaders against alleged electoral irregularities and the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) will not be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday after the registry flagged 14 defects, including a ₹220 shortfall in court fees, an illegible photocopy of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s identity card and missing vakalatnamas for nine of the 11 petitioners. Click here to know more.
‘No economic settlement’: Mallika Srinivasan disputes Venu’s claim of TVS family settlement
{{/usCountry}}Deep Dive
Why was Jantar Mantar denotified as a protest site?
Which protest venues replaced Jantar Mantar in Delhi?
What has the Supreme Court said about designated protest sites?
Mallika Srinivasan has challenged her husband Venu Srinivasan’s assertion that all family matters have been settled, saying no economic settlement has been reached within the family and that their daughter, Lakshmi Venu, has the same rights as her brother, Sudarshan Venu. “No economic settlement has taken place within the Venu Srinivasan family,” said Mallika, chairperson and managing director of Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd, on the ownership dispute within the family behind TVS Motor Co., one of India’s largest two-wheeler makers. “I do believe that the legitimate economic interests of both children must be recognised fairly and equitably,” she said. Read more here.
2 American professors get Nobel recognition for groundbreaking work on stabilising economies
The 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, popularly known as the Economics Nobel Prize, has been awarded to Robert Hall and Michael Woodford. According to the press release, the award has been conferred for “microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”. Woodford and Hall ask questions that are extremely important for public welfare. John Maynard Keynes had likened a broken economy to a car having a defective magneto. Just as a seemingly unimportant mechanical defect can stall a car, similarly small technical problems can ground the entire economy to a halt. Click here to read more.
Tom Cruise's 'Digger' tanks, leaving studio with $250 mn hole
The Tom Cruise eco-satire "Digger," a movie that was supposed to herald the action hero's return to serious acting, has bombed at the box office, with industry insiders predicting it could lose a quarter of a billion dollars. The Alejandro Inarritu comedy, featuring Cruise as an eccentric oil baron who must fix the problem he has helped create, was panned by critics and has left audiences cold, leaving studio Warner Bros. with a big balance sheet hole just as a merger with Paramount Skydance closes. Read more here.