AUGUST 13, 2026, was a day when Cleo, muse of history, wept. For one of her greatest devotees, Professor Sumit Sarkar, foremost of the eminent historians of modern India, breathed his last. Eighty-seven years old, Prof. Sarkar lost his long battle with illness on that day. He is survived by his wife, eminent historian Tanika Sarkar, and his son, Aditya Sarkar. The loss of Prof. Sarkar is not merely the loss of a person. It is as if an institution whose constant presence we had taken for granted for so long a time suddenly crumbled.

Thousands of mid-day meal workers in Haryana went on a successful strike independently for the first time. On the same day, thousands of workers reached Kurukshetra to participate in the mass protest, expressing their deep anger and resentment. The strike and mass protest were called by the Mid-Day Meal Workers Union Haryana (CITU). It is noteworthy that Kurukshetra is the home district of the Chief Minister of Haryana and houses his camp office.

SCHOOLS CLOSURE UNDER NEP AND CHIRAG SCHEME

Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) issued the following press statement on August 14, 2026:

Sahmat condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the manner in which the Delhi police and the “security establishment” has begun to operate as agents of various outfits of the Hindutva brigade. The latest evidence of this surrender to the Sangh Parivar was on display this morning (14th August 2026) in Delhi at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, run by the Gujarat Education Society and named after the first Home Minister of India.

IT was a bizarre situation. On the penultimate day of the monsoon session of Parliament, the all-powerful Home Minister, Amit Shah sounded despondent while talking to media channels. In a tone of soliloquy, he posed ‘what is the point in going inside the Lok Sabha’! For context, almost the entire monsoon session could not transact any substantial business as Shah was refusing to explain the role of the Delhi Police on the July 20, in tackling the peaceful student protest at Jantar Mantar.

Junior doctors across Andhra Pradesh have launched a strike, demanding the immediate release of stipend arrears, implementation of the mandatory stipend hike, and strict adherence to the National Medical Commission regulations on regularisation of monthly payments.