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Below, you can review the biggest headlines from India on Thursday, August 6:
 Protesters are demanding action over irregularities in competitive exams Cockroach Janta Party has expressed support for students protesting in Jharkhand
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Modi’s foreign trips so far this year cost more than €6.8 million
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trips so far this year have cost 750,000,000 Indian Rupees (about €7 million, $7.8 million), the Ministry of External Affairs informed the parliament.
The ministry submitted the data in response to a query by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh and Communist Party of India (CPI) MP V Sivadasan.
Modi has visited 13 countries so far this year.
Singh and Sivadasan had sought details of the foreign visits undertaken by the prime minister since 2021 and total expenditure incurred on such visits. They requested the total costs be broken down by both year and visit. The response was provided by Pabitra Margherita, the minister of state for the Ministry of External Affairs.
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CJP to launch new nationwide campaign over Indian unemployment
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) willlaunch a countrywide ‘kya bolti public’ campaign next month that will focus on learning and understanding people’s issues in the country, founder Abhijeet Dipke said.
The announcement came after the CJP’s core team met in his hometown of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in the western state of Maharashtra.
Dipke said the campaign would primarily focus on education, arguing that rising school, college and coaching fees have made a quality education unaffordable for many families.
“Education reform will be our first issue that we are going to take up. We believe education has become unaffordable in the country. Annual fees are in the range of ₹1 lakh (€910) to ₹2 lakh for Class 1, over and above the donation money,” he said.
He also said unemployment is a major problem facing the country and said the party would take it up as a nationwide issue.
Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal sentenced to 10 years in prison for rape
Tarun Tejpal, who founded Tehelka, a magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 10 lakh rupees (€9,100) for the rape of a woman journalist in 2013.
The Bombay High Court convicted Tejpal, overturning the acquittal granted by a Goa sessions court in 2021.
Before the sentence was pronounced, Tejpal sought leniency, citing his age and family.
The court has given Tejpal two weeks to surrender, according to a report by the Indian Express newspaper.
A woman journalist had accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her in a hotel elevator on November 7 and November 8, 2013.
The high-profile case sparked a nationwide debate about the harassment of women in the workplace, and the underreporting of such incidents due to fears of job loss and victimization.
Bangladesh objects to Hasina’s address from India
Bangladesh reacted sharply after ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed a press conference in New Delhi, her first public address since being forced from power in 2024.
Hasina’s presser came on the very day the country marked the second anniversary of the uprising that led to her exile.
Speaking at the press conference on Wednesday, Hasina said she plans to return to Bangladesh from exile in India in December.
In a strongly worded statement, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Dhaka had conveyed its concerns to New Delhi before the event, warning of its potential impact on bilateral relations.
“Dhaka deeply regrets that in spite of concerns conveyed a priori to the Government of India about the likely ramifications of this event on the reset of our bilateral relations, this public event was permitted to be held,” it said.
The foreign ministry reiterated Bangladesh’s demand for Hasina’s extradition.
“Allowing her the opportunity to openly interact with the media under any pretext is deeply hurtful to our people’s sentiment and detrimental to the development of harmonious bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India,” the statement said.
Arvind Kejriwal says Meta ‘restricted’ his Instagram account
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that Meta has “restricted” his Instagram account.
In a post on X, Kejriwal said that his Instagram account is unavailable in India. However, at the time of publishing this article, DW found that users in India can view his account and can interact with his posts.
In his social media post, Kejriwal said that he had reached out to the Meta team but had not received any response explaining why the account was restricted or how those restrictions could be removed.
Tagging Meta in his post, Kejriwal wrote, “Why have you restricted my account? Verbal enquiries at your India office revealed that my account has been restricted in India and is unavailable in India. Why?”
Kejriwal also hinted that the restriction on his Instagram account had been imposed by Meta under pressure from the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He wrote, “Don’t bow down to our Prime Minister so much. Else he will allow u to run only his own account in India.
Nearly two hours after his first post on X alleging that Meta had restricted his Instagram account, Kejriwal posted a video of himself on his Instagram account.
More join hunger strike in Jharkhand
In Jharkhand, the student protest against alleged irregularities in government recruitment exams has intensified, as five more protesters have joined the hunger strike.
The sit-in protests in Jharkhand began on July 25. Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto has been on an indefinite hunger strike in the state capital, Ranchi, since August 2.
He has been demanding action over alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC), Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC CGL) and other competitive examinations required to qualify for government jobs.
Five more protesters joined Mahto on the hunger strike on Tuesday.
“We are surrounding the Assembly because our core demands and issues centre on cancelling the JPSC and CGL examinations,” protester Radhe Kumar told ANI news agency.
“Furthermore, we demand the complete cancellation of every exam conducted under the present government by the agency TDPL. Following these cancellations, we demand a CBI and ED investigation, followed by comprehensive structural reforms in the JSSC, JPSC and CGL examination systems,” Kumar said.
Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) Abhijeet Dipke has backed the students’ protest in Jharkhand.
“Spoke to the students who are protesting in Jharkhand over irregularities in JPSC and JSSC recruitment exams. The CJP stands with all the students in Jharkhand and supports their demands,” Dipke said in a social media post.
The protesting students have also announced a march to the Jharkhand Assembly on August 10. The monsoon session of the Assembly began today.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren has assured the protesting students that his government would “soon take action” over alleged exam irregularities in state recruitment exams and has invited them for talks, according to the Times of India newspaper.
Welcome to our coverage
Hello! This is Midhat from the New Delhi bureau, bringing you the biggest and latest news from across India.
The capital woke up to heavy rain, with weather agencies then issuing an orange alert.
Weather agencies have forecast moderate to heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms, throughout the day.
Since the mass protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party, demonstrations have continued in other parts of the country, with students in the eastern state of Jharkhand now embarking on a hunger strike over alleged examination irregularities.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that Meta has “restricted” his Instagram account, claiming that it was unavailable in India.
Stay tuned.
