National Medical Commission proposes single licence for doctors to practise across India

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has proposed a registration system under which a medical practitioner, once registered with a State Medical Council and allotted a Unique Identification (UID) number in the National Medical Register, would be eligible to practise across India without obtaining fresh registration or a licence in another State.The proposal is part of the draft Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, notified by the NMC on August 11, 2026.

Satyendar Jain and five others sent to two weeks’ judicial custody in tender case

A Delhi court on Wednesday remanded former Water Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain, former Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO Udit Prakash Rai and three others in 14-day judicial custody in connection with an alleged corruption case linked to the award of tenders for sewage treatment plant (STP) projects. Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh granted the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) two days’ police custody of Ankit Srivastava, a former contractual consultant with the DJB. The court also sought the ACB’s response to a bail application filed by Mr. Jain through his counsel during the day.

RSS-linked academics in NCERT textbook panel

The NCERT has reconstituted the textbook development team for classes 11 and 12 political science with a mandate to integrate cultural rootedness, Indian knowledge systems and inclusion, with at least four of the members having direct or indirect links with the RSS. The team has been asked to develop the class 11 textbook by November and the class 12 book by July next year.

Congress backs two-stanza Vande Mataram; launches campaign against Ram temple funds row

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) decided to expand its student outreach programme, Chhatron Ki Goonj, to around 800 cities and towns, while announcing a nationwide campaign over the alleged theft of donations, which it calls “chanda chori”, at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. It reaffirmed that Congress functions would feature only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, in line with the 1937 AICC resolution.

Supreme Court turns to Gen Z, Gen Alpha to educate elders on solid waste management

A concerned Supreme Court has turned to Gen Z and Gen Alpha to “educate” their elders against the careless and excessive generation of everyday garbage, saying a miniscule number of sanitary workers across the country cannot be expected to deal with solid waste produced by a population of 1.4 billion. A Bench headed by Justice S.V.N. Bhatti said the “general feeling” across society was regrettably that ‘I am entitled to generate but not to cooperate and control the impact of solid waste management at the threshold’.

What is ‘industry’? Nine-judge Supreme Court Bench to pronounce verdict on term’s ambit

A nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant is scheduled on Thursday (August 20, 2026) to pronounce its judgment on a reference about the exact ambit of the term ‘industry’ under Section 2(j) of the now-repealed Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The reference is centred around an expansive definition given to ‘industry’ in a 1978 judgment by a seven-judge Constitution Bench, authored by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, in the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa case. The verdict had provided workers employed in a wide range of sectors with a legal recourse, including collective bargaining, against unfair labour practices by employers.

Ecuador intel chief, five Americans killed in Kenya helicopter crash

Ecuador’s intelligence chief and five U.S. citizens died when a tourist helicopter crashed in central Kenya on Wednesday, killing all seven people on board, officials said. The aircraft had departed from the Loisaba wildlife reserve. Ecuador’s Transport Minister Roberto Luque said the Latin American nation’s intelligence chief Michele Sensi-Contugi and his wife were among those killed.

Bangladesh to hold presidential election on August 20

Bangladesh will hold its presidential election on Thursday (August 20, 2026), with lawmakers set to choose between the ruling BNP stalwart Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 11-party Opposition alliance candidate Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed. The voting will take place for the first time in a presidential election after a gap of 35 years.

Israeli military launches criminal probes into killings of Hind Rajab and Palestinian paramedics

Israel’s military said Wednesday (August 19, 2026) it would launch criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinians during the war in Gaza, including the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family and of 15 Palestinian paramedics. It released a statement announcing that it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct in Gaza and had made decisions on five cases.

Israeli strikes hit an airbase hours after a Turkish delegation visit, say Syrian officials

A Turkish delegation had visited an air base in northern Syria the day before it was hit by Israeli airstrikes, Syrian officials said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Israel had attacked the base because Syria was “on the verge of breaching” an agreed-upon “status quo in security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there.

U.S. national debt now stands at $40 trillion

The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday (August 19, 2026), a staggering milestone as defence costs, social programmes like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending. The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October.

China successfully recovers the rocket stage on land for first time

China has successfully recaptured the first stage of a rocket on land for the first time, state media reported Wednesday (August 19, 2026). Although this marks China's first successful recovery on land, it is the second time the country has recovered a rocket stage, following a successful recovery on a sea platform in July.

Published - August 20, 2026 06:54 am IST