1. A Dalit woman was allegedly gangraped in Bihar by 7 men after they throttled her 5-year-old son.

Reports suggest that the incident happened when the 28-year-old woman went to the bank with her son. When she did not return, her father went searching for them and found their dead bodies near a pond.

2. Indian Railways is planning to replace non-AC sleeper coaches with AC coaches in trains running at 130 kmph and above.

Reports suggest that this will be implemented in the near future as a part of Railways’ plan to upgrade the network.

3. 4,00,000 tea workers held a massive strike in Assam to protest low wages and poor work conditions.

As per reports, the state government had promised to hike tea workers’ minimum wage from ₹167 to ₹350, two years ago. A committee was also formed for this purpose but the fruits of this agreement have not manifested. The recent strike halted operations in around 250 tea estates.

4. NCRB 2019 data shows a 165% rise in the number of sedition cases and 33% increase in UAPA cases under Modi government.

According to reports, 93 cases of sedition were filed in 2019 as compared to 35 in 2016 and 1,226 UAPA cases were filed, a 33% increase from 2016.

5. A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a college student inside the campus while UP Civil services exam was underway.

The girl alleged in her complaint that around a dozen students of the college forcibly took her inside the campus where one of them raped her while others made a video and robbed her of Rs 2,000. She further alleged that they even thrashed the boy she had gone to meet.

6. Earlier this week, Delhi’s AQI slipped into ‘very poor’ category increasing the pollution levels.

However, latest reports suggest that the AQI improved marginally today, slipping into the ‘poor’ category.

7. A 17-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by 2 men for 22 days in Odisha.

As per reports, the girl had run away from her home after a fight with her parents last month. While she was waiting to board a bus at the OMP Square in Cuttack to return home, a man offered to drop her home on his motorcycle and took her to a farm, where she was raped.

The girl was later rescued after the farm was raided when some locals tipped-off the police, suspecting illegal activities at the farm. One arrest has been made so far.

8. As per a HRW study, India’s sexual harassment law has failed 94% of working women.

9. Several Hindu activists protested against serving beef to tigers and other big cats in the Guwahati zoo.

The activists apparently stopped vehicles carrying meat items meant for the big cats housed in the zoo and blocked the roads leading to the zoo for several hours.

10. The Supreme Court ruled that women fighting domestic violence cases can reside in the ‘shared household’ owned by in-laws even if the husband has not legal rights to the house.

11. The government has banned import of air conditioners with refrigerants in order to promote domestic manufacturing and cut the import of non-essential items.

12. Three young Dalit sisters in Uttar Pradesh were attacked with acid while they were asleep at home.

The police have reportedly arrested the main accused, identified as Ashish Kumar, after an encounter. 

13. A woman panchayat leader belonging to the Scheduled Caste was made to sit on floor for meeting in Tamil Nadu.

The woman in the picture is the President of the Therku Thittai village panchayat and belongs to the Adi Dravida community, a Scheduled Caste. Speaking to the media about the incident, she said:

Because of my caste the Vice President does not let me preside over meeting. He did not even let me hoist the flag. He made his father do it. Although I was cooperating with the upper castes all these months, it is going overboard now.

14. A 46-year-old man was allegedly shot dead in UP by a BJP worker said to be a close aide of party MLA Surendra Singh.

The victim was allegedly shot at a meeting in Durjanpur village after an official cancelled a meeting on allotment of ration shops due to a dispute between the members who had gathered there.

15. At least 83 people were killed in the last few days as heavy rain battered Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.

16. Over the last three years, state-owned banks in India have recovered just ₹10,107 crore from wilful defaulters.

This is worrisome given the top 50 wilful defaulters in India had together robbed banks in the country of around ₹68,000 crore until September 2019.

17. The Thailand government issued emergency decree banning gatherings and arrested pro-democracy protestors who have been protesting for 3 months now.

The demonstrators have called for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s resignation and the reform of the monarchical system. 

18. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia has lost more than half of its coral population in the past three decades, according to a new study.

19. Researchers have determined the Atlantic Ocean has reached its hottest temperature in 2,900 years following ‘unparalleled’ warming.

20. CCTV footage from the hospital where the Hathras rap victim was first taken went missing and it is alleged that it has been been deleted.

The CBI team investigating the case found that the CCTV video from the hospital, a crucial piece of evidence, was missing.

Now you know what you’ve missed hearing about.