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Marco Rubio met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the Taj Mahal Palace on October 20, 2026. (Photo: X/@SecRubio)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday (October 20, 2026), met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the Taj Mahal palace and discussed energy security and defence cooperation. Mr. Rubio is on a two-day visit to India, where he is slated to meet government and business leaders.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) moved the Delhi High Court for an urgent hearing over the extension of the judicial custody of its leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das. “We have moved the Delhi High Court and requested an urgent night hearing. Saurav and Ashutosh should not spend a single minute behind bars. Their liberty must not be curtailed because of political games,” Ratna Singh, CJP’s legal head, said in a post on X.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) has ended its 17-day hunger strike after the university administration agreed to revoke the rustication of student office-bearers and withdraw FIRs against students, according to minutes of a meeting held on October 19. The minutes, signed by Dean of the School of Social Sciences (SSS) Vivek Kumar and student representatives, listed a series of decisions on the students’ demands, including a review of the Chief Proctor’s Office (CPO) manual, withdrawal of proctorial inquiries and the constitution of committees to examine various issues.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) cautioned against politically motivated agitations and social divisions. He also warned that domestic unrest could be exploited by international forces seeking to weaken India, adding that “it’s a wrong perception that problems get solved only through agitation.”

Parents of Sahil Wakode, an IIT Bombay student who died by suicide, have written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking intervention in the case. Several students began a sit-in after the police removed a protest site in front of the institution, even as the family’s lawyer raised questions over the timing of a professor’s statement and the release of material linked to the case.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Punjab on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) as part of his day-long visit to Gurdaspur, Sangrur and Mansa to meet the family members of those who died in incidents linked to the opposition to the drug menace in the State. Amid his visit, Mr. Shah targeted the AAP government over the growing drug menace in Punjab, alleging that the rising audacity of drug traffickers has raised serious questions about the functioning of the Bhagwant Mann government.

Months after Yusuf Pathan broke away from the Trinamool Congress, the Gujarat government has proposed to hand over a long-disputed municipal plot in Vadodara to the former cricketer, gifting 500 square metres of the land and offering the rest at a concessional rate. The proposal, submitted by the Vadodara municipal commissioner, will be presented for final approval before the BJP-ruled civic body’s standing committee on October 23, as per the agenda shared on Monday (October 19, 2026).

Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) thanked the organisers of a Ramlila event in Delhi for what he called “free publicity” after they announced plans to burn a 30-foot cockroach effigy alongside those of Ravan, Meghnad and Kumbhkaran. “Thank you for the free publicity,” Mr. Dipke said in reaction to the development.

The Congress on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) said the Modi government’s replacement of MGNREGA is nothing less than a “surgical strike” on the social safety net that protected rural India and alleged that the “vote chori sarkaar” has also perfected “gramin mazdoori chori.” Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh cited a media report that claimed that while thousands were working under the VB-G RAM G scheme on paper in drought-hit Maharashtra, no workers were found on the ground at five sites in Beed.

A special Bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear two pleas on Wednesday (October 21, 2026): one filed by former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, related to an alleged CMRL bribery case, and another by the YSRCP, alleging that violence in Andhra Pradesh prevented its candidates from filing nominations for the civic body polls.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) said encroachment on more than 638 hectares of land in three districts has been cleared in eviction drives in the past few days. He asserted that the government will be working to secure the interests of the state.

Rising fuel costs, discontent with the state of schools, declining public services, and a housing crisis have created perfectly stormy weather for an autumn of protests in Europe. Crowds have taken to the streets for weeks in major cities, resulting in arrests, looting, injuries, and violence across France, Italy and Albania. In Spain and Portugal, tent camps have sprung up in protests against unattainable rents and housing costs.

Walking out on the Portugal camp earned Cristiano Ronaldo a 30-day suspension and a 255-euro ($285) fine from the national federation. The Portuguese Football Federation had provisionally suspended Ronaldo and on Monday (October 19, 2026) called the punishment “adequate and sufficient.” The fine was the maximum allowable by the federation after mitigating circumstances were taken into account.

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