India news: PM Modi in Uzbekistan on way to SCO summit

Here are the biggest headlines from India on Saturday, August 29, and Sunday, August 30.

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IN DEPTH: India's citizen-led school audits test limits of activism

The Indian activist movement dubbing itself the "Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)" shot to national prominence in May by leading weeks-long protests over a scandal involving highly competitive entrance exams.

The student-led campaign put the government under intense political pressure and ended with the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in July.

Now, the CJP is taking aim at India's government schools, organizing volunteer visits to classrooms, documenting conditions and demanding accountability for problems.

Launched on August 15, Independence Day in India, the campaign asks parents, students and volunteers to inspect schools and record basic facilities including toilets, drinking water, electricity, classroom furniture and school buildings. The CJP has said the findings will be used to pressure authorities to make improvements.

Delhi hotel rates spike ahead of BRICS Summit

Delhi's luxury hotel market is currently under sharp pressure with low room availability and a steep surge in tariffs ahead of the BRICS Summit.

The 18th BRICS Summit is scheduled to take place in Delhi on September 12-13. Hotel booking platforms currently show no availability of rooms at premium properties like Taj Mahal, Taj Palace, The Oberoi and Leela Palace.

Hotels like ITC Maurya, Shangri-La Eros did have rooms but at six-figure rates for a night.

The phenomenon is not unprecedented. In February 2026, when New Delhi hosted the India AI Impact Summit, hotel rates saw a similar sharp rise.

In Pictures — Modi in Uzbekistan

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his second day of a two-day state visit to Uzbekistan in Central Asia where he is due to hold a bilateral meeting with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The two are expected to discuss deepening cooperation in trade, investments, digital connectivity, defense and energy. But that's not all that the Indian Prime Minister has been up to.

WATCH: Nepal flood survivors still searching for some 3,000 missing

Rescue teams are still combing through mud and debris for the missing following the Nepal floods. DW correspondent Adil Bhat sent this report from Trishuli Bazaar, one of the worst-hit areas.

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Over 270 Indians still missing in Nepal floods

Some 275 Indian nationals remain missing from this week's devastating flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border, according to the latest figures published by India's Foreign Ministry.

About 49 of them went missing in Tibet, as per Chinese state media's update on Sunday, meaning the remaining 226 likely went missing in Nepal.

Indian authorities and local villagers have recovered several bodies downstream of the Himalayan rivers after the floods. As per local media reports, the deceased are still being identified.

RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat speaks in New York amid criticism

Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — a right-wing Hindu nationalist group in India — gave an address at New York City's Madison Square Garden on Saturday as part of an event which was earlier denounced by the US city's mayor Zohran Mamdani and triggered a call for sanctions against RSS members by a US panel on religious freedom.

Bhagwat talked about pluralism and diversity in his address at the "Universal Oneness Celebration" organized by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue.

"When discussing the United States of America, one word that frequently comes up in conversation is 'pluralism.' On the other hand, when referring to Bharat (India), the phrase most often discussed is 'unity in diversity,'" he said, adding that unity and diversity was "embedded in the DNA of the people of India."

The controversial RSS has been organizing foreign visits in an attempt to counter perceptions that it is a paramilitary outfit involved in attacks on ‌minorities.

At a conference of interfaith leaders earlier on Saturday, Bhagwat alluded to a question some Muslim individuals posed to him asking whether RSS would drive Muslims out of India considering the group's vision of a "Hindu Rashtra (nation)."

"I told them, 'No, that is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat (India), he ceases to be a Hindu," Bhagwat said.

Critics have accused the group of promoting the political ideology of Hindutva, which means "the essence of being Hindu," and seeks to define Indian national identity and culture in terms of Hindu values.

At Madison Square Garden, Bhagwat told Indian expats to be loyal to the US, which he described as their "karma bhumi" (place of duty).

"What is our duty? You are in America. You live in America. You earn in America. So you are America, and you should behave true to America," the RSS chief said, adding that "the diaspora has a duty to their karma bhumi. They must fulfil that."

He told the expats that if they had the "urge" to do something for their "janma bhumi" (place of birth), which was India, they could do it after fulfilling their duty to the US.

"It is not prohibited," Bhagwat said.

It's a partly cloudy Sunday morning in New Delhi and we are back with our rolling coverage of all the biggest developments making headlines in India.

We're pausing our India news coverage for Saturday.

Stay tuned for more on Sunday in this blog with DW!

Modi lands in Uzbekistan en route to Russia-Asia summit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted pictures of himself and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to social media on Saturday, thanking his political counterpart for the warm welcome and writing on X: "Landed in Tashkent to a warm welcome by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Grateful to him for the special gesture."

Modi went on to emphasize, "This is my fourth visit to Uzbekistan, reflecting the depth and growing momentum of our bilateral relations."

Modi is scheduled to attend dinner with Mirziyoyev on Saturday.

The two will hold bilateral meetings on Sunday before departing for the Kyrgyz Republic and the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.

Modi is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Kyrgyz summit.

Kolkata Police file First Information Report against former West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee

Kolkata Police on Saturday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly violating a Calcutta High Court order on a students' wing rally held on Friday.

A FIR is written document informing police of a crime and gives the authorities necessary information to launch an investigation.

Several Indian media outlets reported on the FIR. A Hindustan Times report said that the city's high court had permitted Banerjee to celebrate the foundation day of her party's youth wing on Cathedral Road in central Kolkata but had directed that one side of the road be kept operational.

Local police said that the flank was not left open and the court-specified time-limit was exceeded.

The FIR was filed against Banerjee and organizers of the rally, officers quoted by news agency Press Trust of India said.

"The FIR has been registered for the alleged violation of the court's order. The role of all those involved in the violation will be examined during the course of the investigation," the officer said.

The police also claimed the student wing supporters "breached barricades and jostled with police personnel deployed for maintaining law and order," PTI reported.

Banerjee is the leader of the Trinamool Congress Party, a major regional party in the eastern state of West Bengal. She is the former chief minister of the state and was unseated earlier this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party — after 15 years in power.

Incidentally, at the rally, Banerjee had claimed that the police had turned into a "monstrous entity" under BJP rule and pledged to stop "police atrocities" on her supporters.

WATCH — Basmati rice: India, Pakistan and the EU dispute

The fight over basmati rice has become one of the most complex disputes in the global food trade.

Both India and Pakistan claim the premium, aromatic rice as part of their agriculture and cultural heritage, and both are seeking European Union recognition for its geographical origin.

But years after the first application was filed in 2018, the EU has yet to decide how the name should be protected and by whom.

Basmati is among the world's most valuable rice varieties, generating significant export revenues and carrying strong historical ties to the Punjab region, which spans both countries.

Meanwhile, experts warn that widespread misuse of the name on international markets could undermine future protection altogether. As Brussels weighs its options, the outcome could have far-reaching consequences.

Congress slams Penguin India for backing out of Sonia Gandhi's memoir

Leaders of India's largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), alleged that publishing house Penguin India was pressured to back out of publishing veteran politician Sonia Gandhi's memoir due to portions related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist group, and China's alleged occupation of Indian territory under Modi's rule.

Sonia Gandhi has been a leading figure in Indian politics for decades. She was the president of the INC from 1998 to 2017 and is the party's longest-serving chief.

Earlier this month, Alfred A. Knopf announced that Gandhi's "Belonging: A Journey of Love" will be published on November 10. Knopf is a publishing imprint under Penguin Random House.

"Suppressing the book of Sonia Gandhi, a person of such stature, a senior leader of the nation, and former Leader of the Opposition, under pressure is tantamount to the murder of freedom of Expression," senior INC leader Ashok gehlot said in a post on X.

"The real issue is that pressure was put on Penguin India to remove the portions related to Modi, the RSS, and the occupation of Indian territory by China during Modi's rule. This is the murder of democracy," he said.

In another post, Gehlot said "there's some kind of pressure. It could be from the PMO [Prime Minister's Office] or someone else — that time will tell."

This comes a day after Penguin India released a statement of clarification: "Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish 'Belonging' because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances."

The statement was referring to a report by The Indian Express which said the publishing house would not publish the book in India because "editorial changes and deletions" were turned down by the author.

"As a publisher, it is both our prerogative and our responsibility to fact check and provide authors with recommendations that are in best interests of their books," Penguin India said in its statement, adding that it "remained willing and keen to publish the book."

India monitors glaciers after Nepal disaster

Days after deadly flash floods triggered by a glacial collapse swept through the Tibet-Nepal border, India stepped up monitoring of the glaciers in its Himalayan region bordering Nepal and China.

Although the exact cause of the collapse remains unclear, global warming has increased the likelihood of such disasters.

"Since we share a border with Nepal, as a neighbor, and also have a similar geographic situation... we have asked our department to monitor all the glaciers and known glacial lakes in the region," said Madan Kaushik, state disaster management minister in India's Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

"We have asked our teams to be vigilant and monitor if a similar situation is emerging anywhere in the state," he added.

Kaushik's state is one of India's most ecologically sensitive regions with over 1,266 glacial lakes.

Indian Hindu nationalist group's chief set to address thousands in NYC

Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of a controversial right-wing Hindu nationalist group in India closely associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is set to address about 5,000 members of Indian American groups in New York City on Saturday.

The event titled "Universal Oneness Celebration" is being held at the Infosys Theater in Madison Square Garden and is organized by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue.

It is being met with protests, a denunciation from the city's mayor Zohran Mamdani and a call for sanctions by a US panel on religious freedom.

Bhagwat is the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS. Also referred to as the Sangh, it is Hindi for "National Volunteer Organization."

The group describes itself as a "Hindu-centric civilizational, cultural movement" focused on uniting Hindus. It disputes accusations that it promotes intolerance.

The RSS is the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the prime minister has had a longstanding association with the organization.

In recent years, the organization has launched a global campaign to counter perceptions that it is a paramilitary group involved in violence against minority communities.

However, several interfaith and civil rights groups — including Hindus for Human Rights, the Indian American Muslim Council and the Interfaith Center of New York — have criticized the event over Bhagwat's involvement and the RSS's history.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a government advisory body, has called the RSS an "umbrella organization whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities, including Christians and Muslims."

Recently, it called for the US government to impose targeted sanctions on RSS members, including Bhagwat, and Indian officials who support the group.

The Ministry of External Affairs in India quickly rejected the commission’s remarks, calling the body biased and lacking in credibility.

United Nations bodies and human rights groups have also pointed to a rise in abuses against India's religious minorities in recent years, citing hate speech, a religion-based citizenship law, demolitions of Muslim-owned properties, the revocation of autonomy for Muslim-majority Kashmir, and more.

100 years of the Hindu nationalist RSS movement

WATCH: Nepal village buried in mud

DW correspondent Adil Bhat reports from a village in Nepal's Nuwakot district that was buried in mud after severe flooding.