BrahMos after Op Sindoor: Why India needs a dedicated drone and missile force

A high-stakes discussion on the Election Commission of India focuses on recent course corrections and controversies surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa highlighted that rolling back decisions on Form 6, ECI net review, and Form 7 amounts to an admission of mistakes, stressing that accountability must be fixed. Lavasa noted, 'The principal issue now would not only be that so many crores of people were disenfranchised quite unfairly, but to fix the accountability on who took these decisions and why were these decisions taken.' Former Chief Election Commissioner Dr S.Y. Quraishi contended that unilateral decisions without multi-member consensus were illegal, arguing that the election process had been vitiated. In response, senior BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao defended the SIR exercise, stating that voter list revisions were long overdue and aligned with standard democratic electoral cleanups globally.

Sugar prices have surged to 58 to 60 rupees per kilogram ahead of Diwali, threatening to make festive sweets more expensive for consumers. The price hike is compounded by concerns over Maharashtra's sugar production, which is estimated to decline by approximately 10 lakh metric tons, dropping from 99 lakh metric tons last year to 89 lakh metric tons this year due to drought in several districts. Local buyers and traders note that retail prices have fluctuated sharply, impacting household festive budgets.

An India Today Spot Check investigation uncovers severe food safety and hygiene violations across eateries in Delhi's Paharganj and areas surrounding the New Delhi Railway Station.

The Election Commission of India has eased procedural norms under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) following pushback from opposition parties and internal objections raised by election commissioners. Key relaxations include dropping the requirement in Form 6 to map ancestry with the 2002 electoral roll for non-SIR states, restricting bulk Form 7 deletion requests, and deploying booth-level officers in Delhi for door-to-door verification of voters flagged for logical discrepancies. In Delhi, where over 47 lakh names were deleted and 33 lakh notices issued, officials confirmed that receiving discrepancy notices does not mean automatic deletion, framing the exercise as a corrective database update to assist eligible voters in re-enrolling.