Morning Digest: Jharkhand CM scraps exams held by tainted firm; Bihar Police tells Supreme Court ‘trapped’ constable fired AK-47 during NEET protest, and more

Jharkhand government cancels JSSC-CGL exam, all exams conducted by tainted firm

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren unveiled the cancellation of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination late on Monday (August 18, 2026), 24 days after students began the protest over alleged irregularities in recruitment exams in the State. However, Ravindra Paswan, leader of the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch. It has been leading the protest, stated the agitation would continue as their key demand of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged examination irregularities had not been met.

‘Trapped’ constable fired AK-47 during NEET protest: Bihar Police to Supreme Court

The Bihar Police told the Supreme Court in an affidavit on Monday (August 18, 2026) that a police constable “trapped” in the crowd during the Bihar students’ NEET-UG paper leak protests and ensuing violence fired four rounds from his AK-47 rifle in the air. “No one was injured from the bullets of the AK-47,” the affidavit said.

Ridding elections of black capital is ECI’s responsibility: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court observed in a judgment on Monday (August 17, 2026) that ridding the electoral process of the influence of black money is a responsibility of the Election Commission of India (ECI). “Black money in the electoral process is one such aspect that compromises democracy, rule of law and the electoral process itself,” a judgment authored by Justice Sanjay Karol noted. The court said the bane of tainted capital circulating and influencing voters’ choices was an age-old problem. It has been recognised time and again, but not yet resolved.

OBC column missing from census questionnaire, says Congress

The Congress on Monday (August 17, 2026) accused the Modi administration of deliberately excluding the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category from the census questionnaire, alleging that the omission was part of a “deep conspiracy” to keep the community’s actual population out of official data. After the NTA unveiled a retest for three papers of the UGC-NET June 2026 examination following complaints of errors in the question papers, addressing a press conference at the Congress office, party’s OBC department national chairman Anil Jaihind said the OBC category was missing from the 10th question in the questionnaire issued on August 14.

Left parties renew call to scrap NTA, NEP after UGC-NET paper errors

The Left parties on Monday (August 17, 2026) renewed their demand for scrapping the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. CPI(M), CPI and CPI(ML) say the retest announcement exposes deep flaws in the examination system; demand an overhaul of the education policy and testing mechanism.

Supreme Court orders restoration of AAP Gujarat’s Facebook, Instagram accounts

The Supreme Court on Monday (August 17, 2026) directed the restoration of the Instagram and Facebook accounts of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) Gujarat unit. A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe passed the order on an interim application filed by the party. The top court, which allowed the application subject to the removal of objectionable posts, if any, posted the main case for hearing after two weeks.

Centre says 2026 law does not invalidate identity cards already issued to transgenders

The Union Administration gave an assurance in the Supreme Court on Monday (August 17, 2026) that transgender identity cards issued prior to the enactment of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026, will continue to remain valid. Appearing before a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the validity of these cards would not be affected by the new law.

Indian sailors’ SOS: ‘Business asking us to risk lives, cross Strait of Hormuz’

Indian sailors aboard a ship in the Persian Gulf have sent out an SOS video alleging that their employer is telling them to transit the Strait of Hormuz despite the security risks and put their lives in danger. In a video posted on X by the Forward Seamen’s Union of India (FSUI), the master of AM Pioneer, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, Anil Raj said that the ship went to Ras Al Khaimah Port in the UAE last month for a survey.

Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it gets in way of Iran agreement

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a U.S. deal with Tehran on the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for Gulf exports, and called on Iran to surrender. According to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, a 60-day deadline for negotiations included in June’s memorandum of understanding was “irrelevant” as the U.S. had violated the deal early on.

Iran states it will escalate if U.S. does not honour deal within weeks

Iran will escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz ​and beyond and launch an attack if the ‌U.S. fails to implement an interim peace agreement fully ​in a matter of weeks, a senior ⁠Iranian official told Reuters on Monday (August 17, 2026). If the U.S. does not meet that deadline and diplomacy fails, Tehran ‌would conduct a “timely and precise” military attack to break the U.S. naval blockade on ‌the Islamic Republic, the official added.

Trump’s envoy states Hamas disarmament could begin within 30 days

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner said on Monday (August 17, 2026) that progress towards disarming Hamas and moving forward with a Gaza peace plan could commence within a month after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The comments came as Mr. Kushner and Mr. As the premier insisted there would be no Israeli pullout from Gaza until then.

, netanyahu agreed that an American general would verify Hamas’s disarmament, an Israeli official said.