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The Tamil Nadu government has replaced the rupee symbol (₹) in the logo for the 2025-’26 state Budget with the Tamil letters for “ru” – from “rupai” (rupees in Tamil), drawing criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party. The new logo, which reads “Ellorkkum Ellaam” (Everything for Everyone), was released by Chief Minister MK Stalin’s office ahead of Friday’s Budget presentation.

Tamil Nadu Planning Commission Executive Vice Chairman J Jeyaranjan told ANI: “We don't want to use the Devanagri. That's all.” DMK’s Saravanan Annadurai said: “We just wanted to give importance to Tamil this year.”

BJP leaders said this was an insult to the rupee symbol designed by Tamilian Udhay Kumar. K Annamalai wrote: “How stupid can you become, Thiru MK Stalin?” The Hindutva party’s Amit Malviya and Tamilisai Soundararajan also attacked the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, describing the move as “ridiculous” and an indication of the Dravidian party’s “anti-national mindset”. Read on.

The Congress has alleged that the partnerships announced by Airtel and Jio with Elon Musk’s Starlink, to provide satellite internet services in India, were orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to buy goodwill” with United States President Donald Trump. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the companies had “seemingly overcome all their objections to [Starlink’s] entry into India”, adding that it was “ abundantly clear that these partnerships have been orchestrated by none other than the PM himself”.

Starlink’s application for a licence to operate in India is pending. Ramesh raised national security concerns, asking who would control internet connectivity via Starlink in emergencies.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale pointed to a deleted tweet by Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw welcoming Starlink to India and claimed: “The ‘govt approval’ is clearly guaranteed.”

Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed accused the government of bypassing auctions. “They are bending over for Elon Musk and Trump, risking national security and creating a monopoly in India,” she said. Read on.

The Bangladeshi government has dismissed media reports by some Indian outlets claiming that there is instability in the country’s Army as “baseless” and “deeply irresponsible”. In recent days, India Today, The Economic Times and others have alleged that Lieutenant General Faizur Rahman, a quartermaster general, attempted a coup to replace General Waqar-uz-Zaman as Bangladesh’s Army chief, and had been placed under surveillance.

“The recent spate of unfounded stories... is not only baseless but also deeply irresponsible,” said Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh’s interim government. “Such disinformation campaigns undermine the principles of interference and severely diminish respect while also eroding the credibility of the media outlets involved.”

Yunus, a Nobel laureate economist, took charge of the country’s government on August 8 after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India following student-led protests against her Awami League government. Dhaka has requested her extradition but says no official response has come yet from New Delhi. Read on.

Bangladesh reels from ripple effects of misinformation out of India

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