The Hindu Editorial Analysis : 5th October 2026

The Hindu Editorial Analysis

We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.

Protests Continue as Rahul Calls for United ‘Resistance’

• Opposition leaders, social activists and youth organisations continued their protests on Saturday. They demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. At the same time, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a digital platform called ‘Satyagraha’ to bring together and map different protest movements taking place across the country.
• In a video shared on his social media account, Rahul Gandhi said that the truth was being suppressed. He said that as the Leader of the Opposition, it was his duty to help people resist such actions.
• On Saturday, the Delhi Police detained around 150 protesters who were marching towards Jantar Mantar to demand the removal of the CEC. Those detained included All India Students’ Association (AISA) leader Neha Bora, activists Yogendra Yadav and Anjali Bharadwaj, and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan.
• Independent Rajya Sabha MP and senior Supreme Court lawyer Kapil Sibal also joined the march. However, he was not detained by the police.
• While announcing the ‘Satyagraha’ initiative on X, Rahul Gandhi said that people across the country were fighting for their rights but were often fighting alone. He mentioned Gen Z, students, farmers, Adivasis, Dalits and women as groups involved in different struggles.
• Rahul Gandhi said that ‘Satyagraha’ is an effort to bring all these voices together on one platform and one map. He appealed to people who are fighting against what they see as injustice to register their movements on the platform.
• Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh linked the launch of the ‘Satyagraha’ platform with the protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Referring to the police action during Friday’s demonstrations, he alleged that the “Home Minister’s police” had shown “barbarity” towards people who were peacefully protesting while following the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Taking the confrontation with the Narendra Modi government a step further over the fairness and credibility of the electoral process, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the dissolution of both the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. He claimed that “all the elections were illegal”.
• Kharge also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and all Chief Ministers holding office in different States were “illegal” occupants of their positions.
• The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), which is the student wing of the Congress, held a protest at India Gate over alleged irregularities in the SIR process and demanded the arrest of the Chief Election Commissioner.
• Rahul Gandhi said that the ‘Satyagraha’ platform would give people an opportunity to share their stories and also help them find others who were fighting similar battles.
• He also promised that he would raise their issues “in Parliament, on the streets, through letters, wherever I am needed”.
• In the video released along with the launch, Rahul Gandhi said that protests related to land issues, women’s rights, Dalit and OBC rights, education and examinations were taking place in different parts of the country.
• He said, “We want to help organise these protests, bring them together on one map, and work with you to see whether we can help you achieve what you are fighting for.”
• Rahul Gandhi further said, “As the Leader of the Opposition, it is important for me to help people resist wherever truth is being crushed.”
• He added, “Truth is important. It is important at the highest levels, but it is equally important that we fight for it in every corner of the country.”
• Later in the evening, Rahul Gandhi said that the ‘Satyagraha’ platform had received more than 10,000 responses within just nine hours of being launched.
• Referring to the large number of responses, he said, “This shows how many struggles people in India are already fighting quietly, believing that no one is listening. We are listening. Every submission will be read.”
• Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government had come to power through “stolen votes”. He said that the detention of citizens, students and Congress workers would not stop the ongoing protests.
• He said, “The protests are continuing today as well, and people will keep raising their voices.”
• Ramesh said that Rahul Gandhi’s initiative aims “to unite all those voices, no matter who is resisting or where they are”. He added that “our unity is our greatest strength”.
• Speaking in Kalaburagi in Karnataka, Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Opposition would continue its agitation against the Special Intensive Revision process.
• He alleged that the SIR exercise was negatively affecting poor people, workers, less educated people and minorities.
• Kharge demanded that fresh elections should be conducted using ballot papers.
• He said, “Today, the entire country is being run on illegal elections. Modi is an illegal Prime Minister, Shah is an illegal Minister, and all the Chief Ministers elected anywhere in the country are illegal.”
• Kharge demanded that the Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies should be dissolved.
• He also criticised the 2023 law that gives legal protection to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners for actions taken while carrying out their official duties.
• Referring to reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to some parts of the SIR process, Mr. Kharge said that their concerns had not led to any change in the exercise.

UGC Scheme Renewal Delay Affects 24 Universities

• Seven months have passed in the current financial year, but 24 central universities are still waiting for the renewal of the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) main scheme that supports teaching and research on marginalised communities.
• The Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion in Universities (CSSIU) was started in 2007-08 under the Five-Year Plan.
• Now, CSSIU works as a UGC scheme that is renewed every year for the period from April to March.
• In a written reply to The Hindu, the Ministry of Education (MoE) said that the proposal to continue the CSSIU Scheme for the financial year 2026-27 is still being processed.
• Since the scheme has to be renewed every year from April to March, delays in official approvals have created problems in the salary payment system of universities.
• For the financial year 2026-27, the order for continuing the scheme is still stuck in official procedures.
• Because of this delay, teaching and non-teaching employees working in these centres are either getting their salaries late or have not received them at all.
• A professor, who did not want to reveal his identity, said that his university paid the salaries for August 2026 after a delay of around 20 days.
• The professor also said that the salaries for September have been completely stopped for now.
• According to the professor, university authorities have informed them that salary payments will be made only after the Centre approves the extension of the scheme.
• The Ministry of Education said that financial support given to universities under the CSSIU scheme works on a reimbursement basis.
• The Ministry stated that ₹26.05 crore was released to 18 centres on a reimbursement basis for the 2024-25 period.
• The Ministry also released a provisional grant for 2025-26 in advance. This amount was calculated as 60% of the funding given in the previous year and was up to ₹7.59 crore.
• With this advance grant included, the total amount released for the 2025-26 period reached ₹33.64 crore.
• The Ministry further said that the settlement of accounts for the financial year 2025-26 is still under process.
• According to the Ministry, this process will be completed only after the required documents are received from the concerned centres and properly verified.

Kumkum Creates History with Remarkable Triumph

• A 17-year-old archer, Kumkum Mohod, broke the long-standing dominance of Korean archers and created a new milestone for Indian recurve archery on Saturday.
• With this achievement, Kumkum won India’s first-ever individual gold medal in recurve archery at the Asian Games.
• In the quarterfinals, she faced South Korea’s Kang Chaeyoung, who is the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and the current World Champion.
• Kumkum made a strong start by winning the first set 29-28.
• She then lost the second set 27-28.
• In the third set, the result went the other way and Kumkum came back to take the lead again.
• Both archers scored 29 points each in the fourth set, which allowed Kumkum to stay ahead 5-3 before the deciding set.
• In the final set against Kang, Kumkum needed a score of 10 with her last arrow to earn one point from a tied set and make sure the match did not go into a shoot-off.
• She handled the pressure perfectly and shot a 10 with her final arrow, winning the match 6-4.
• Her next opponent was China’s Zhu Jingyi, who had won the silver medal at the World Championships.
• Kumkum was completely in control during the semifinal match.
• She defeated Zhu Jingyi 6-2 and comfortably secured a place in the final.
• But her work was still not finished.
• One more challenge was waiting for her in the final — another Korean archer, 20-year-old Oh Yejin.
• In the gold-medal match, Kumkum scored her first eight on the third arrow, giving her a total of 27 points and causing her to lose the opening set.
• She bounced back with a score of 29 in the second set, which ended in a tie.
• A perfect score of 30 in the third set helped her win that set and level the match at 3-3.
• Another score of eight, this time on her 11th arrow, left her trailing 5-3 after the fourth set.
• Because of this, the fifth and final set became a must-win situation for her.
• Under pressure, Kumkum sent all three arrows straight into the centre of the target.
• The pressure then moved to Oh Yejin, who had to match those scores.
• Oh managed to score two nines and one 10, which took the contest into a single-arrow shoot-off.
• In the shoot-off, Oh made a mistake and scored an eight.
• Kumkum then hit a perfect 10, finding the centre of the target once again.
• She only gave a shy smile after the victory, but that small reaction showed the size of an achievement that had written a historic chapter for Indian recurve archery.

Important Questions

1. What is Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Satyagraha’ platform, and how does it aim to unite protest movements across India?
2. Why are Opposition leaders demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls?
3. What is the Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion in Universities (CSSIU) scheme, and why are 24 central universities awaiting its renewal for 2026-27?
4. How has the delay in renewing the UGC’s CSSIU scheme affected the salaries of teaching and non-teaching employees in central universities?
5. How did Kumkum Mohod win India’s first-ever individual gold medal in recurve archery at the Asian Games?
6. Which Korean archers did Kumkum Mohod defeat on her way to creating a historic milestone for Indian recurve archery at the Asian Games?

Important Vocabulary

1. Resistance — Opposition or refusal against something.
2. Detained — Officially held or kept in custody.
3. Confrontation — A direct conflict or challenge.
4. Dissolution — The formal ending or termination of something.
5. Marginalised — Treated as less important in society.
6. Renewal — The process of continuing something for another period.
7. Reimbursement — Repayment of money already spent.
8. Provisional — Temporary until a final decision is made.
9. Dominance — A position of power or control.
10. Milestone — An important achievement or event.
11. Deciding — Determining the final result.
12. Shoot-off — A tie-breaking contest in archery.