12 contested national stories, each read across outlets and scored for ideology and stance toward the government. Editions come out at 07:00 and 19:00 IST; stories keep updating in between.
New since the last edition: 9 stories have updates, marked “New”.
LivePolitics & Elections· Updated 18 Oct, 00:13 ISTBefore the courtsRunning story
The Supreme Court has issued notice to Congress, Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders on a petition by four lawyers seeking regulation of processions and protests near the court, a day-after-march development reported by one outlet citing Bar and Bench. This follows the opposition's "March for Democracy" toward the court over the voter-roll revision, after Chief Justice Surya Kant declined to meet them citing pending cases, and Delhi Police's earlier de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a protest site.
Latest: Supreme Court issues notice to Rahul Gandhi, INDIA bloc leaders on lawyers' plea to regulate protests
Nineteen people died and about 25 were injured in a crowd surge at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saptami amid rain. Seven people, including committee office-bearers, were arrested in a culpable homicide case and remanded to 10-day police custody, the Girish Park police station chief was removed, a judge-led SIT was proposed subject to the Chief Justice's approval, Rs 25 lakh and a job per victim's family were announced, and a pandal-safety panel is inspecting pandals. Preliminary autopsies point to traumatic asphyxia as the main cause of death, with final reports awaited, while police examine video of a mic warning of a collapse and the TMC and Congress allege poor policing and BJP links to the committee, which the BJP state president denies for the CM's nephew; all of this remains under investigation.
Latest: Preliminary autopsies cite traumatic asphyxia; TMC questions 'Best of the Best' award to Chorbagan pandal
Anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead on 13 October inside a Mansa medical store, allegedly by its owner Ashwani Kumar, who was arrested in Rajasthan; the Mansa SHO was suspended. His family has refused post-mortem and last rites for six days, a joint action committee demands a CBI probe and the resignations of CM Bhagwant Mann and the DGP, and singer Diljit Dosanjh has called for justice. The Home Ministry has sought reports from Punjab on three drug-linked cases, Amit Shah and Mann have traded charges, and Shah will visit the families in Mansa, Sangrur and Gurdaspur on 20 October.
Latest: Shah to meet three activists' families on 20 October; Diljit Dosanjh backs Jhota family's demand for justice
Kerala's Assembly passed a resolution moved by Chief Minister V D Satheesan seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's removal, with UDF and LDF support and three BJP MLAs opposed. On 17 October the DMK, at a Chennai meeting chaired by MK Stalin, also demanded his removal and an inquiry, and called for the Special Intensive Revision to be scrapped and the pre-revision rolls used.
Latest: DMK demands Kumar's removal, scrapping of SIR and use of pre-revision rolls
Delhi Police detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and AISA president Neha Bora on 16 October on their way to the 'Lehra Do Tiranga' march at Connaught Place, citing Section 163 BNSS orders. Bora was released early Saturday, and Dipke, arrested under BNSS Sections 126 and 170 for an alleged breach of an earlier peace bond, was freed on a one-year peace bond, with at least three FIRs reported. On Sunday 18 October the bail hearing of co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka could not be completed after the magistrate reported a threat and police registered a case against unidentified persons; CJP alleged deliberate delay and four rejected sureties, while police denied delay, called the sureties faulty and alleged another protest was being planned, which CJP denied. On 19 October police sought more custody, saying release could disturb public order, and two outlets reported that the court extended their judicial custody by two days, though one report said the order was reserved. A Supreme Court plea on Section 163 orders is listed for 19 November, and the political row has widened with Congress leaders Chidambaram and Sibal rejecting Rajnath Singh's 'regime change' charge.
Latest: Das and Ranka's judicial custody extended by two days, two outlets report; police cite threat to magistrate
What's missing: No outlet reports an independent check of the allegations about lawyer access, custody locations, or what happened at the Das and Ranka hearing.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Samarkand on October 19, said Washington is 'very close' to finalising a trade deal with India, ahead of talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai on October 20 and a visit to Jamnagar. Trump waived key Russia-related sanctions and tariffs under the Graham Act for a 60-day review, which spares India and other big buyers of Russian energy tariffs of up to 100% for now, though the measures are only deferred; Rubio called India an important ally and said geography makes quick energy switches hard. The MEA says the Mumbai agenda covers energy, trade, investment, defence and critical technologies, while Congress leaders alleged Jaishankar was 'summoned' and the MEA said hosting dignitaries outside Delhi has been practice for about a decade.
Latest: Rubio says India-US trade deal 'very close' in Samarkand; Mumbai talks Tuesday, then Jamnagar
What's missing: No article gives terms or a timeline for the trade deal Rubio calls close, or says if the sanctions waiver will be formally discussed in Mumbai.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to PM Modi on October 16, his fourth request, seeking an all-party meeting before any new delimitation proposal goes to Parliament, and flagged that the Monsoon Session had not been prorogued 64 days after adjournment. On October 19, Union minister Kiren Rijiju replied that no period is prescribed for prorogation, that the government wrote to Congress on March 16, March 26 and April 12 without getting dates for talks, and that it then consulted the DMK, SP, YSRCP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), AIMIM and BJD; one report says the Centre may call a special session this month.
Latest: Rijiju's letter: Congress gave no dates for talks; government consulted DMK, SP, YSRCP, NCP and others
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 16 October waiving sanctions and tariffs of up to 100% under the Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a day before they were due to take effect, certifying to Congress that this serves US national interest. He later defended the step on Truth Social, saying he did not want to undermine talks to end the Ukraine war, and on 19 October said Zelenskyy was prolonging the war after a large Ukrainian drone strike on Russia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 18 October that the pause gives the administration up to 60 days to study the economic impact and that India has diversified its energy sources but cannot pivot overnight; Treasury Secretary Bessent said the order lifted no existing sanctions, with only the diesel restriction eased, and that European allies declined to impose secondary sanctions on India and China. The order suspends rather than repeals the measures, so tariffs can be restored, and existing sanctions remain. Rubio left for Uzbekistan and India, with a Jaishankar meeting reported for 20 October. Republican senators Tillis, Cornyn and Cruz and Democrats Warren, Schumer, Bera and Subramanyam criticised the waiver, Zelensky objected and Russia's envoy called it historic. Indian business bodies and experts saw relief with limits, Kanwal Sibal said it is not India-specific, and an industry leader said lower oil costs could help inflation and exporters.
Latest: Business lobby says waiver could ease inflation, help exporters; Rubio's 60-day review and US criticism continue
Three suspects were taken off the Pune–Jaipur Express at Kota on Monday after Mumbai Police shared inputs; Kota police say they planned to flee to Nepal via Delhi, that one was in touch with gangster Anil Pandit and that no weapon was recovered. Mumbai Police say none of the three is a minor, that two fired five to six rounds and that the motive is not established, while Kota police and several reports still mention a minor. The Sunday evening firing at Tiger Shroff's car in Juhu, which hurt his driver and an autorickshaw driver, is an attempt-to-murder case with the Mumbai Crime Branch; police have not verified the Bishnoi gang's claim, Fadnavis says handlers operate outside the state or abroad and that a request for Lawrence Bishnoi's custody has gone to the Union Home Ministry, and the opposition faults the state on law and order.
Latest: Fadnavis says Bishnoi custody request sent to Centre; police repeat no suspect is a minor
The Election Commission has directed 17 states and Union Territories to carry out a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls with 1 January 2027 as the qualifying date, and will give recognised parties readable versions of the rolls at draft and final stages. Congress's Jairam Ramesh has demanded the CEC's removal and an end to the SIR, citing a Delhi civil society audit that found at least 100 voters wrongly marked in two Okhla booths. The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Union government, the EC and CEC Gyanesh Kumar, while the EC says deletions targeted only duplicate, dead or migrated voters and that differing views among commissioners are part of deliberations. Other SIR problems continue to surface, including a Maharashtra request to amend Form 6, Goa allegations of wrongful additions and transfers, 5.25 lakh Telangana electors marked for inclusion without hearings, and Uttar Pradesh's summary drive that began on 17 October.
Latest: Congress demands SIR be stopped and deleted voters restored; EC says its orders have full legal sanction
Actor Imran Khan, a US citizen and OCI cardholder, challenged in the Bombay High Court an FRRO notice dated October 14 directing him to leave India by October 28, after he attended an October 10 protest at August Kranti Maidan seeking the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation. At the October 19 hearing, the court set the plea for October 26 after Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh sought time and directed Khan to add the Maharashtra government as a respondent. The FRRO has separately asked why his OCI card should not be cancelled, with 15 days to reply; Khan's petition says the notice gave no reasons or hearing, while Union Minister Chirag Paswan has backed the action.
Latest: Bombay HC to hear Khan's plea October 26; Centre seeks time; Maharashtra to be added as respondent
Police and officials said one man was killed and four injured when suspected militants attacked Chassad village in Kamjong district on Saturday, and 15 Kuki houses were later set on fire. Separately, three Tangkhul Naga civilians were reported injured in firing, while rival groups traded allegations that remain unverified.
Secular-pluralist framing, minority protection, caste justice and voter access, civil liberties, an active state.
Centre (−2 to +2)
Several positions represented fairly, neutral language, reporting kept apart from opinion.
Right-leaning (+3 to +10)
Cultural nationalism, national strength and security, scepticism of group-based policy, voter-roll integrity, market-led growth.
Stance toward the government
Critical, Neutral or Supportive, scored separately. It refers to the Union government unless the story is about a state. On the spectrum strip, each dot is an article: its position is the ideology score and its colour is the stance.
The swap test
If an article would score differently with the parties' roles reversed, that signal is partisanship. It goes into the stance tag, not the ideology score.
Confidence
High, Medium or Low, based on how much of the article was read, how many clear signals it has, and whether they agree.
Limited coverage and blindspots
Stories with fewer than five articles are marked. A blindspot is a contested story where we found coverage from only one side.
Not ideological
Articles that touch none of the three dimensions, such as a car launch or a match report, carry no ideology score.
How often the feed refreshes
This prototype is refreshed by hand (last on 17 Oct, 03:00 IST). At launch:
Wires and the top 20 outlets
checked every 5 minutes
All other outlets
checked every 15 minutes
New story
goes up at 3 articles from 2 or more outlets, marked Limited coverage
Live stories
new articles added every 15 minutes; summary rewritten at most hourly
Home page order
every 15 minutes
Updates are added, never rewritten
New facts go into a dated update log at the top of the story. New articles carry an “Added” tag. If a note or list changes, the earlier version stays viewable.
Live, winding down, archived
A story is Live while coverage arrives, Winding down after about 2 days without new coverage, and Archived after about 7. Nothing is deleted: links never change, archived scores are frozen, and stories stay on their issue pages and in search.
Large outlets missing
NDTV, India Today, Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Indian Express, News18, ABP, Times Now and Mint block the reader used for this prototype, so their articles are missing. Each story shows how many of India’s 15 largest outlets we read. The launch pipeline will read outlets’ public feeds, TV transcripts and Hindi articles.
Who is accountable
Editor and grievance officer
Editor-in-charge: [name to be added before launch]. Grievance officer under the IT Rules, 2021: [name and contact to be added before launch]. Complaints are acknowledged within 24 hours and resolved within 15 days.
Funding and ownership
[Who owns and funds Nazariya, to be published before launch]. Nazariya will list every funder and will not accept money from any political party.
Appeals
Anyone, including the outlet that published an article, can appeal a score: tap any score on a story page, then "Appeal this score" to write to the editor. Outlets can also dispute a summary. The editor reviews every appeal, and any change is recorded below. Appeals: [appeals email to be added before launch].
Rules we follow
No detail that could identify a child or a survivor of sexual violence (Juvenile Justice Act, POCSO, BNS section 72). Court cases are reported as what was said and alleged. No analysis of a poll in the 48 hours before voting there (Representation of the People Act, section 126). Press Council and NBDSA norms on communal incidents.
Corrections log
16 Oct · Goregaon toddler death: removed the building's name and an unverified claim about the 10-year-old's health, to protect the child's identity.
16 Oct · India–US trade deal: merged two duplicate story pages into one.
16 Oct · INS Mangrol: one report names the commissioning officer differently from three others; flagged in the story, not resolved.