India news Live Updates, 4 September 2026: Heavy rain in Delhi, flight ops affected at Indira Gandhi Airport

The Delhi Police has assured representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that Swatantra Bharadwaj, accused of assaulting the father of student activist Nishu Azad during a Jantar Mantar protest, will be arrested within 72 hours, the party said on Friday.

CJP representatives, along with MPs Chandrashekhar Azad and Pappu Yadav, met officials at Parliament Street police station and sought action against Bharadwaj. The delegation also demanded the addition of attempt-to-murder, SC/ST Act and criminal intimidation provisions to the FIR.

The development came after a video of Bharadwaj’s interview circulated online in which he allegedly claimed to have “cracked the skull” of Nishu’s father, Sanjay Kumar, during the protest. Delhi Police had earlier said Kumar suffered a simple head injury and that Bharadwaj and another accused were detained at the spot and served notices.

The Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee will hold a demonstration and march from Parade Ground to the Chief Minister’s residence in Dehradun on September 7, following a call by the AICC, ANI reported.

The party will seek action over the ‘purification’ of Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s rally there. It will also demand the withdrawal of the FIR against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Haldwani. Senior Congress leaders from Delhi are expected to join the protest.

The Dalai Lama returned to his official residence in Dharamshala on Friday morning after spending more than two months in Ladakh. He arrived at Kangra’s Gaggal airport, where senior Central Tibetan Administration officials, monks and devotees gathered to welcome him.

Thousands of Tibetans, devotees and well-wishers lined the route from the airport to McLeod Ganj. Traditional dancers performed at the airport, while people greeted the Tibetan spiritual leader with flowers, incense and white scarves.

The Dalai Lama had left for Ladakh on June 28, where he attended religious and public programmes, including celebrations of his 91st birthday and the concluding session of the Yarchos Chenmo, or Great Summer Debate, at Matho. His return comes after his recovery from left knee replacement surgery in New Delhi earlier this year.

Two Indian nationals were killed and two others injured after a Bihar-registered car plunged into Phewa Lake in Nepal’s Pokhara early Friday, police said. The accident occurred around 4:50 am near the Gaurichautara bend after the driver reportedly lost control while travelling towards the lakeside.

The injured passengers were rescued from the vehicle and taken to Gandaki Medical College, where their condition was reported to be stable. One of the deceased was identified as 26-year-old Navadeep Kumar Yadav from Raxaul in Bihar’s East Champaran district, while the identity of the other victim was yet to be established.

Police mobilised around two dozen security personnel for the rescue operation. The car was later pulled out of the lake with the help of a crane, and an investigation into the accident has been launched.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday offered prayers at the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple in Mathura as devotees gathered to celebrate Janmashtami.

Addressing the celebrations, Adityanath said Lord Krishna’s teachings remain relevant even after thousands of years and warned forces seeking to create discord or harm India’s unity, integrity and faith that they would face consequences.

The Chief Minister also spoke about India’s cultural heritage, saying several invasions and attempts to impose other faiths had failed to erase Sanatan Dharma. “There were numerous invasions, and many attempted to impose their own faiths upon India, yet no one could erase the Sanatan Dharma,” he said.

He said the memory of Lord Krishna and Radha Rani continues to inspire people across Braj and the country. Mathura was decorated with colourful lights and temples witnessed special prayers and religious ceremonies as devotees marked Janmashtami.

Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa has described the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as an unfair procedure being imposed on millions of citizens, questioning whether an exercise that is legally valid is necessarily fair.

“Of course it is legal. But is it fair? That is the question. Because that is what justice is all about,” Lavasa said while delivering the Jagdeep Singh Chhokar Memorial Lecture organised by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in New Delhi on Thursday.

Lavasa said statutory institutions, constitutional bodies and governments increasingly appeared to be functioning on the principle that whatever they do is right simply because it is legally permissible. He said institutions entrusted with enforcing the law must also uphold its spirit.

Describing the SIR exercise as “definitely not fair”, Lavasa questioned the rationale behind the deletion of 13 crore names from electoral rolls and whether adequate efforts were being made to ensure that the exercise did not alienate voters.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has said the pilot in command of the Air India Phuket-Delhi flight that was involved in an incident on August 4 tested “non-negative” for a psychoactive substance.

The AAIB has termed the confirmation a “serious concern” and asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take appropriate action. It said a detailed investigation into the technical and other aspects of the incident is still underway.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das, co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka and other members on Friday proceeded to the Parliament Street Police Station from Patel Chowk over a case concerning injuries sustained by one of their supporters during the Jantar Mantar protests.

Das alleged that members of a “criminal gang” entered their peaceful protest and resorted to violence. He said the group had sought the addition of an attempt-to-murder charge and the invocation of the SC/ST Act, alleging a caste angle as the injured supporter belongs to a Dalit family. Das said police had instead asked them to approach the court for an order.

An IndiGo flight operating from Navi Mumbai to Srinagar came into contact with a Visual Docking Guidance System (VDGS) pole while parking at Srinagar Airport at around 9:02 am on Thursday, airport authorities said, according to ANI.

All passengers and crew members on board flight 6E 225 (VT-NOG) are safe, and no injuries have been reported. Airport operations remain normal.

More than 17,500 people have been evacuated to safer locations as floods affect 26 districts in Uttar Pradesh, the state government said on Friday. Around 3.53 lakh people have been affected so far, with 4,847 staying in relief shelters. No loss of life or livestock has been reported.

The state has set up 1,312 flood shelters and deployed 1,697 boats and motorboats, 1,634 flood outposts and 1,068 medical teams. Relief agencies have distributed nearly 73,000 food packets and over 3.67 lakh lunch packets, besides chlorine tablets and ORS packets.

More than 45,000 animals have been affected, with over 5,000 quintals of fodder supplied for livestock, the government said.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) plans to march to Parliament Street Police Station in Delhi on Friday at 10 am, seeking action against self-styled Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj over an alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, father of CJP activist Nishu Azad.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said party members would accompany Kumar to the police station, while co-convener Ashutosh Ranka urged people to join the protest.

Delhi Police has rejected Bhardwaj’s claim that Kumar suffered a fractured or “cracked” skull, calling it “misinformation” and “completely baseless”. Police said Kumar sustained a simple head injury during a scuffle and that legal action has been initiated.