India won’t be safe till its borders are secure: Union Home Minister Amit ShahAsserting that neither West Bengal nor India will be safe until its frontiers are secured, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday (August 21, 2026) lamented that despite repeated requests, previous Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not provide land required for fencing the India-Bangladesh border in the State.Stating that no previous CMs of the State ever attended programmes of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) or the BSF, Mr. Shah congratulated Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari for breaking the glass ceiling.Rahul Gandhi sits on dharna at police station in New Delhi, demands FIR over pellet gun use during July 20 protestLeader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday (August 21, 2026) staged a dharna (sit-in) outside the Parliament Street Police Station in New Delhi, seeking the registration of an FIR over pellet injuries suffered by a youth during the July 20 Cockroach Janata Party-led protest over the NEET paper leak issue.Mr. Gandhi is accompanied by Sahil Lochab, a 19-year-old protester who was hit by a pellet gun during police action. He suffered pellet injuries to the eyes and abdomen, and later underwent surgery at the AIIMS Trauma Centre.Two vessels with 22 Indians on board hijacked by pirates in Yemen and SomaliaTwo commercial vessels carrying a total of 22 Indian nationals have been hijacked by pirates in separate incidents off Yemen and Somalia, a senior Shipping Ministry official said on Friday (August 21, 2026).An Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker, M T Sibu 1, with 20 crew members including 16 Indians, was hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen on August 20, the official told PTI. Another Cameroon-flagged cargo ship with six Indians among its 10 crew members was hijacked by pirates off Somalia’s Puntland coast on August 17, he said.Tamil Nadu Assembly: All 59 DMK MLAs say no to government carsLeader of the Opposition and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin told the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Friday (August 21, 2026) that all the 59 DMK MLAs have decided not to avail themselves of the cars to be provided by the State government.Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay had announced in the Assembly on August 19 that the State government would provide a car to every MLA, along with ₹75,000 a month towards its maintenance and fuel costs and ₹25,000 a month towards appointing an assistant to each MLA.Grace marks to Class 12 students facing CBSE OSM glitches may not be possible: Centre tells SCThe Union government on Friday (August 21, 2026) told the Supreme Court that it cannot consider giving grace marks to students who raised discrepancies in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) of Class 12 answer sheets in 2026.A one-week window was opened for re-evaluation and 1.68 lakh students had applied for change in their marks, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.Centre denies permission for Telangana CM Revanth Reddy’s U.S. visitThe Centre has denied permission to Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to visit the United States as part of his TelanganaRising delegation, prompting him to cut short his London tour and return to Hyderabad on August 23 instead of proceeding to Boston.The Ministry of External Affairs, which had been approached by the State government for clearance for the Chief Minister’s official visit to the U.K. and the U.S., approved only the U.K. leg of the tour. The State government was informed of the denial of permission for the U.S. visit after the official delegation had already reached the U.K. The MEA cited denial of clearance from the “political angle.”Jadavpur University files police complaints over campus violenceJadavpur University on Friday (August 21, 2026) lodged police complaints over the violence that broke out on its campus, officials said.One of the complaints was lodged over a crowd’s entry to the campus at midnight, the attempt to damage the main gate, setting on fire festoons and locking some students inside one of the buildings, they said. “The complaint sought an investigation, and asked the police to prevent recurrence of such incidents on the campus,” an official of the State-run varsity said.Approval granted for conferring President’s Medal for Gallantry on former cop: Centre to Supreme CourtThe Centre on Friday (August 21, 2026) told the Supreme Court that approval has been granted for conferring the prestigious President’s Medal for Gallantry on a former police officer who shot dead two dacoits during an operation in 2003.The Apex Court had in July expressed its displeasure over the Centre’s non-compliance with a Madhya Pradesh High Court direction to confer the award on former police officer Vivek Singh Chouhan.Veteran actor ‘Sowcar’ Janaki passes away at 94Veteran actor Sankaramanchi Janaki, aka ‘Sowcar’ Janaki, known for countless performances in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films, passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on Friday (August 21). She was 94. Janaki, whose filmography spans seven decades and more than 400 films, made her debut in the 1950 Telugu film Shavukaru, directed by veteran director LV Prasad.The actor then went on to act in several notable films, like Panam Paduthum Padu (1954), Puthiya Paravai (1964), Neerkumizhi (1965), Edhir Neechal (1968), Iru Kodugal (1969), Uyarndha Manithan (1968), Kaviya Thalaivi (1970), Thillu Mullu (1981), and Vettri Vizhaa (1989) in Tamil; and Rojulu Marayi (1955), Kanyasulkam (1955), Panduranga Mahatyam (1957), Doctor Chakravarty (1964), Akka Chellelu (1970), and Badi Panthulu (1972) among other films in Telugu.Jharkhand High Court stays notifications cancelling appointments of CDPOs, recruitment through JSSC-CGL examThe Jharkhand High Court on Friday (August 21, 2026) stayed the notifications cancelling the appointments of Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) and those recruited through the JSSC-CGL examination.The court had on Wednesday (August 19) stayed the notifications cancelling the 11th and 13th Jharkhand PSC exams.