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The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition challenging a Karnataka High Court order that upheld the state government’s decision to invite writer and activist Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara celebrations. Mushtaq was the winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize.

The bench pointed out that the preamble to the Constitution speaks about secularism and that the Mysuru Dasara was a state event.

A row had erupted in Karnataka in August after Mushtaq was invited to inaugurate the celebrations, with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders claiming that the Congress government in the state had chosen a woman from a community that did not believe in Hinduism, referring to the author being a Muslim. Read more.

Opposition MPs have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the arrest of several African refugees in Delhi. In a letter, Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, stated that the detained persons were not undocumented migrants but recognised refugees holding identity cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Delhi Police has arrested nearly 30 African refugees and sent them to a detention facility in the past week, claiming that they were “illegally overstaying their visas and passports”.

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation MP Raja Ram Singh told the prime minister in a letter that treating refugees as “illegal foreigners not only undermines international humanitarian norms but also exposes them to harassment”. Read on.

As India cracks down on refugees, it is betraying its long commitment to international solidarity

The Maharashtra government has made e-KYC, or the Electronic Know Your Customer verification process, mandatory for beneficiaries of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme. Launched in June 2024, the scheme provides a monthly transfer of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 whose families earn less than Rs 2.5 lakh a year.

The government has asked the beneficiaries to complete their verification and authentication within two months. If Aadhaar authentication is not done, the benefits under the scheme will be withheld, a government resolution said, adding that beneficiaries would have to carry out the e-KYC process compulsorily every year. Read more.

‘Election stunt’: Anger, confusion among Maharashtra women as Ladki Bahin payments falter

The Delhi High Court has warned yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved to either withdraw its petition challenging a single-judge order from July, or face a fine. The order on July 3 restrained the conglomerate from running allegedly disparaging advertisements about a product manufactured by consumer goods company Dabur.

Patanjali Ayurved asked the court for time to take instructions on the next course of action and the matter was listed for September 23.

Dabur had alleged that Patanjali Ayurved was disparaging its Chyawanprash product by claiming that no other manufacturer had the knowledge to prepare it. Read on.

A brief history of Patanjali’s dangerous claims

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