Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Former Bangladesh leader and fugitive Sheikh Hasina is set to make a speech in Delhi on August 5
- Dhaka has asked New Delhi to clarify its stance on Hasina’s speech
- Death toll from floods in Assam rise, relief work ongoing
Here’s a roundup of the biggest headlines from India on Tuesday, August 4:
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Skip next section Arvind Kejriwal urges Indians to join protest against E20 fuel08/04/2026August 4, 2026
Arvind Kejriwal urges Indians to join protest against E20 fuel
Arvind Kejriwal, former Chief Minister of Delhi and a political rival of Prime Minister Modi, called on Indians to join his party’s campaign against the Ethanol 20 fuel rollout.
“If the public wants relief from E20, then they have to convene on the streets and on a very large scale,” Kejriwal said in a press conference, after attempting to march on the Prime Minister’s residence “with over 2,30,000 petitions against E20.”
Kejriwal accused Modi of buying large quantities of ethanol from the US “under pressure” from US president Donald Trump. “They are doing this in servitude to Trump, and the common man’s vehicles are getting damaged as a result,” he said in a post on X.
E20 petrol, a fuel containing 20% ethanol, has come under scrutiny after viral social media posts claimed it reduces mileage, harms engines and raises maintenance costs in vehicles designed for lower ethanol blends.
The government has previously said it introduced E20 fuel only after rigorous testing. Despite protests from opposition leaders and public concerns, it is pushing ahead with its E20 biofuel strategy, aimed at reducing its dependence on imported oil and lowering emissions.
On Monday, the government firmly ruled out any plans to rollback E20 fuel or move to the E10 fuel blend.
India is not the first or the only country to be using ethanol in fuel. Countries including the US, Thailand, Brazil, Canada and France use various ethanol blends.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5IFFUSkip next section IN DEPTH: Can PM Modi reconnect with India’s Gen Z?08/04/2026August 4, 2026
IN DEPTH: Can PM Modi reconnect with India’s Gen Z?
As students filled India’s streets to demand accountability from the government, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed to have realized that he needed to connect more effectively with the country’s youth. Five Gen Z-style reels later, that gap seems as wide as ever.
“We ain’t friends,” one comment under the first reel read. It echoed thousands of others reacting to a midnight video drop from the PM on July 23. In one of Modi’s lesser-produced videos, he addressed the youth as “friends” before finally speaking about the exam at the center of the protests.
It was the prime minister’s response to the biggest political crisis he has faced in his third term so far, over a cancelled high-stakes medical entrance exam which affected millions of aspirants.
Since the first video, he’s improved camera angles and lighting, tried varied backgrounds, and even started and ended the videos himself like a one-man content creator. The response remains tepid.
Read the full report about the political gap between India’s Modi and the new youth.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IEkJSkip next section Indian-origin man faces revocation of US Citizenship under ‘largest denaturalization effort’08/04/2026August 4, 2026
Indian-origin man faces revocation of US Citizenship under ‘largest denaturalization effort’
An Indian-origin man is listed among 25 people whose US citizenship is being revoked for alleged crimes, according to a statement by the US Department of Justice.
“Today marks the largest denaturalization surge in recorded history,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
Shumate said those on the list had committed crimes “incompatible with US citizenship.”
“We are moving at record speed to denaturalize those who sought to deceive the federal government and abuse the naturalization process,” he said.
The Indian-origin man in question is accused of using two identities to gain entrance into the US, the statement said. He became a US citizen in 2008.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IEgXSkip next section BJP accuses opposition of disrupting Indian parliament08/04/2026August 4, 2026
BJP accuses opposition of disrupting Indian parliament
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday accused India’s leading opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), and its allied parties of disrupting parliamentary sessions and wasting taxpayer money.
“Due to the Congress party’s continuous uproar and disruption of the house proceedings, two important bills related to public welfare had to be passed without discussion,” BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said in a press conference from the party’s headquarters.
He was talking about the Registration of Births & Deaths (Amendment) Bill and the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill.
“Both these bills are directly linked to the interests of the public,” he said adding that detailed discussions did not take places for either due to the disruption. The bills, however, were passed in the lower house of the parliament.
“Hardly any bill is being discussed. The reason behind this is the conduct of the Congress party and some of its INDIA alliance partners. I am genuinely surprised by their double standards,” he told reporters, referring to a broad multiparty alliance led by the iNC, the National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
The BJP’s press conference comes amid growing attacks from the opposition regarding the government’s response to student protests in July and an alleged theft of donation money from a grand temple in Ayodhya in northern Uttar Pradesh.
Over the last two weeks, parliamentary sessions have regularly been adjourned due to protests from the opposition bloc or sloganeering in house.
The BJP spokesperson called for INC President Mallikarjun Kharge said India’s Home Minister Amit Shah to come to parliament on Monday to explain the reported police brutality on students in last month’s protests.
He also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to answer how donation money from the temple was stolen when the temple’s trust was “under the PM’s oversight.”
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https://p.dw.com/p/5IER4Skip next section Assam death toll from floods rises to 8708/04/2026August 4, 2026
Assam death toll from floods rises to 87
Officials in the northeastern state of Assam reported two more deaths on Tuesday, taking the total death toll from the recent flooding to 87.
“Relief efforts continue while rehabilitation gathers pace across the affected districts. We are fully committed to helping every family recover,” Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a post on X.
As per official figures, some 2,281 villages have been affected by the floods and over 73,000 people are currently sheltered in relief camps. Over 16,700 houses have been partially or fully damaged.
Nearly 130,000 people remain affected, even as flood waters are receding from most of the areas, local media reported.
Meanwhile, India’s national weather agency has predicted thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in Assam’s neighboring states of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalya over the next few days, warning that it could impact some districts in Assam as well.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IEFQSkip next section Dhaka seeks New Delhi’s stance ahead of Sheikh Hasina’s ‘homecoming’ speech08/04/2026August 4, 2026
Dhaka seeks New Delhi’s stance ahead of Sheikh Hasina’s ‘homecoming’ speech
India needs to be clear about its stance on an upcoming speech by ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said, adding that Dhaka did not want the event to adversely impact the improving ties between the neighboring nations.
“We do not want India-Bangladesh relations to be harmed by statements from fugitive accused individuals,” she said, adding that India had previously indicated it did not expect fugitives to engage in political activities from its territory.
Hasina is set to make a live but virtual speech on August 5, at an event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia, titled “Sheikh Hasina’s Homecoming.”
A flyer for the event, posted on X, said that Hasina would thank journalists at the club in Delhi, ahead of her “homecoming.” It will mark the second anniversary of the student-led uprising which toppled her government.
The event is not organised by the Indian government. It is also not Hasina’s first public address from India, where she has been living in exile since being ousted from power in Bangladesh in 2024.
Ties between India and Bangladesh grew strained since Hasina fled to the neighboring nation, where she has lived since. While both countries have made attempts at improving ties, Dhaka continues to formally seek Hasina’s extradition, which India says is under consideration.
Meanwhile, Hasina recently told several global news organisations that she planned to return to Bangladesh by December 2026, despite several legal cases and a death sentence.
India’s foreign ministry has not publicly responded to Islam’s comments yet.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IE90Skip next section Welcome to our coverage08/04/2026August 4, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Hello! and welcome to DW’s India blog.
This is Mahima Kapoor reported from New Delhi, and I will be your guide through the noise of fast news coming out of the world’s most populous nation.
The weather may be calm in Delhi but not much else is.
Still reeling from the impact of the recent Cockroach movement, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is now fielding calls from the opposition, demanding Home Minister Amit Shah explain the reported use of pellet guns on students.
The BJP has, in turn, accused the opposition of disrupting parliamentary proceedings and wasting millions in taxpayer money.
Ties between India and Bangladesh may be under threat again ahead of a planned speech by ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina. While this won’t be Hasina’s first public address since moving to India in exile, Dhaka has repeatedly objected to her doing so from Indian soil.
In other news, the death toll from the recent flooding int he eastern state of Assam has risen once again, even as flood waters are receding. Meanwhile, the southern state of Kerala has also reported several deaths due to heavy rainfall.
Stay tuned for all of this and more!
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