Now Reading: Today in India: 26 August 2026
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Today in India: 26 August 2026
NITI Aayog warns 8.7 crore youth are NEET, denting the demographic dividend. Doval and Wang agree to seek political settlement of the border after talks in Beijing. Toxic advance sales cross Rs 70 crore ahead of its August 26 release.
Ex-CDS says Kirana Hills struck accidentally
Former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said Tuesday that India did not deliberately target Pakistan's Kirana Hills nuclear facility during Operation Sindoor last year. Speaking in New Delhi, he said loitering munitions sent towards Sargodha, about 10 km south of Kirana Hills, were targeting radars. The munitions have a two-hour operational life, he explained, and strike somewhere if they find no target. "It must have come and hit one of those hills," he told ANI.
4 sources, 4 neutral
8.7 crore Indian youth NEET, NITI Aayog warns
NITI Aayog's 'Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047' report estimates that 8.7 crore Indians aged 15-29 are not in education, employment or training, nearly a quarter of the youth in that age group. The Hindu reports the latest PLFS data shows a 14.8% unemployment rate among 18-29 year-olds, rising to 29.4% for the tertiary educated. Deccan Herald notes the report warns the demographic dividend risks turning into a liability without urgent skilling interventions.
3 sources, 2 government-critical, 1 neutral
India, China agree to political settlement of border issue
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the 25th round of Special Representatives' talks in Beijing on Tuesday, agreeing to seek a political settlement of the border issue. Doval said normalcy resulted from both sides maintaining peace along the LAC and noted the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and border trade. Wang said the bilateral relationship has global significance and urged enhanced mutual trust. Doval also met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before the talks.
3 sources, 3 neutral
India, China agree to political settlement of border issue
India and China agreed to continue working towards a political settlement of the boundary question after the 25th round of Special Representatives talks in Beijing on August 25. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held candid, in-depth discussions on the border issue, bilateral ties and regional matters. The Indian side stressed maintaining peace along the LAC for the overall relationship. Both sides dropped the early harvest formulation that had featured in last year's talks, according to The Hindu.
3 sources, 1 government-critical, 2 neutral
More from today
Toxic advance bookings cross Rs 70 crore in India
Yash's upcoming film Toxic, directed by Geetu Mohandas, has collected over Rs 70 crore in advance ticket sales across India ahead of its August 26 release. The film has sold more than 2.5 million tickets on BookMyShow and District apps, with over 100,000 tickets sold in the last hour before release. The Telugu version alone contributed Rs 15 crore in advances, with Hyderabad leading at Rs 5 crore. The Telangana government granted a Rs 50 hike on single-screen tickets and Rs 100 on multiplexes.
3 sources, 1 neutral, 2 sensationalist
India pitches for regulatory harmonisation with Japan
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal, leading a 200-strong business delegation to Tokyo, asked Japanese companies to deepen localisation, set up R&D centres and use India as an export base. Goyal told Japanese financial institutions that India grew 7.7% last year and aims to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047. FICCI president Anant Goenka said the earlier $5 billion investment target for 2022-26 has been met two years early, and discussions now focus on the next phase covering steel and data centres.
5 sources, 5 neutral
Gadkari's office says remark on workload taken out of context
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's office on Tuesday clarified that his recent remarks about handing over responsibility to the younger generation were not political and had been quoted without context. The clarification came after Gadkari said at a Nagpur event on Sunday that he "could no longer take on as much work as before," sparking speculation about his political future. Gadkari's office said the statement referred specifically to the Laxmanrao Mankar Trust, which he founded and runs Ekal Vidyalayas in tribal areas.
3 sources, 3 neutral
Supreme Court seeks ECI data on West Bengal voter roll appeals backlog
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission of India for segregated data on pending appeals from the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The court stressed the need to streamline the process before the next Lok Sabha elections. Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee told the bench that in several constituencies, the number of unresolved voter deletions exceeded the victory margin. He cited a case where a candidate won or lost by 862 votes while over 5,432 deleted names remained unresolved.
2 sources, 2 neutral
Haiwaan trailer pits Akshay as psychopath against blind Saif
The trailer for Haiwaan, a Hindi remake of Priyadarshan's 2016 Malayalam thriller Oppam, released on Thursday. Akshay Kumar plays a psychopathic killer hunting a blind lift operator, played by Saif Ali Khan. The film marks the actors' first collaboration in 18 years since Tashan. Saif's character uses heightened senses of smell, hearing and touch to track the killer after witnessing a murder. Boman Irani, Saiyami Kher, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Rajpal Yadav feature in supporting roles. Mohanlal reportedly makes a special appearance.
3 sources, 3 neutral
Jaishankar flags $50 bn trade deficit with Russia, seeks balance
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called for urgent steps to address India's widening trade deficit with Russia, which has grown from $6.6 billion to over $50 billion in five years. Speaking at the 27th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission in Moscow, he said progress on market access, removal of tariff barriers and stronger payment mechanisms are critical. Bilateral goods trade has quadrupled to nearly $60 billion in FY26, but India's exports were only $4.5 billion against imports of $55.3 billion, dominated by oil.
2 sources, 2 neutral
Useful today
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Mill gate sugar prices drop, retail rates at new high of Rs 63.97
Mill gate sugar prices fell further on Tuesday, with S-grade at Rs 5,200-5,260 a quintal and M-grade at Rs 5,400-5,600. However, the all-India average retail price rose to a new high of Rs 63.97 a kg from Rs 63.05 on Monday. Industry sources told The Hindu BusinessLine that retail prices should reflect mill gate rates in a couple of days and drop below Rs 60 a kg.
2 sources, 2 neutral
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Hyderabad airport cuts departure fee but adds arrival charge from Sep 2026
AERA has reduced the UDF for domestic departing passengers from Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport from Rs 750 to Rs 515, effective September 1, 2026. For the first time, domestic arriving passengers will pay Rs 220 as UDF. International departing passengers will pay Rs 1,030, down from Rs 1,500, while arriving international passengers will be charged Rs 440. AERA stated the fee on arriving passengers reflects that both embarking and disembarking passengers use airport infrastructure.
2 sources, 2 neutral
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Govt to sell onions at Rs 35/kg in Delhi via Kanda Express
The government will sell onions at Rs 35 per kg in Delhi from Wednesday, using 800 tonnes arriving via the first Kanda Express railway rake, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said. The all-India average retail onion price has risen 28% in a month to Rs 44.72 per kg, up 56% from a year ago. The buffer stock from Nashik will also be sent to Chennai, Ernakulam, Madurai and Guwahati.
2 sources, 1 government-critical, 1 neutral
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ICSI declares CS executive June 2026 results
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India has declared the June 2026 results for its Executive and Professional programmes. Candidates can check their scores on the official website icsi.edu. The top rank in the Executive Programme went to Vidhi Suthar, followed by Ishani Pramod Ahire and Piya Bankim Merchant. The Times of India reports that 12 students from Ahmedabad made the All-India Top 25, with Priya Merchant securing Rank 3 in the Executive Programme with 428 marks.
2 sources, 2 neutral
The closing thought
Tuesday's news carried a distinct undertow of numbers that do not square neatly. The NITI Aayog report's 8.7 crore NEET figure sits uncomfortably next to the government's $30-trillion aspiration for 2047. On the border, Doval and Wang agreed to seek a political settlement, but the absence of the early harvest formulation from last year suggests patience is thinning. Toxic's Rs 70 crore in advance sales is a reminder that consumer spending on entertainment is not yet hurting. Wednesday brings the Kanda Express onion sale in Delhi, a practical test of whether buffer stocks can cool retail prices quickly.
This digest is refreshed through the day at indianopinion.org/today.
This digest was compiled and written by AI from the day’s Indian Opinion coverage.
