New Delhi: “Education is like water,” 28-year-old protester Yash Mishra tells The Economist from his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar. It’s a basic necessity, he says, and should be available to everyone.
In a piece titled ‘India’s Gen-Z protesters demand a proper education’, The Economist writes that this demand for a “proper education” has fuelled one of Delhi’s biggest protests in years. Young Indians are angry about exam paper leaks, poor teaching and the shortage of jobs awaiting them after graduation. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responded on 21 July with a promise of “answers, reforms and accountability”, but not his resignation, says the report. Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has demanded that both Pradhan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi step down.
At Jantar Mantar, students held copies of the Constitution, waved the national flag and shouted patriotic slogans. By Monday afternoon, tear gas had filled the air, notes the report, adding that at least 60 young protesters were beaten by the riot police.
The internet blackout imposed in central Delhi “seemed designed to counter a mob, not the peaceful crowd that had gathered,” it says.
Tracing the protest led by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the report says CJP began as a satirical online meme in May after India’s Chief Justice appeared to compare unemployed young people to cockroaches. It later turned into a movement seeking Pradhan’s removal.
The protests gathered pace after activist Sonam Wangchuk joined the sit-in and began a hunger strike. When the police moved him to hospital as his health deteriorated, The Economist notes, the movement had found its figurehead.
But the anger is not limited to the latest medical entrance examination leak. Almost 25 percent of young Indians are not in college, employment or training, says the report. Those who are studying often face rote learning and outdated textbooks, it adds.
“India has set itself a target of spending 6 percent of GDP on public education; the current figure is closer to 4 percent,” it notes.
“To many cockroaches, the biggest scam is university entrance exams. The aspirations of middle-class India feed a competitive and pricey coaching culture, geared towards cracking entry into good colleges. That, in turn, has inspired an industry of exam-paper leaks,” it says. “Though there have been close to 100 known leaks in the past decade, only two culprits have been convicted.”
The New York Times looks at what this youth anger could mean for a government that has ruled India firmly for more than a decade. “Young people in India have been taught that they are inheriting a country that is shining brightly, thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership,” says the report titled ‘What Now for India’s Young Protesters?’
“Their disillusionment, with a lack of jobs and a troubled education system, now poses one of the biggest challenges to his popularity in 12 years in power,” it adds.
The protests began after the medical entrance examination (NEET) was cancelled following a question-paper leak. But they have since become about something larger: whether the government can be held accountable, it adds. Thousands remained camped in Delhi Wednesday, with the government yet to make any concessions, the report notes.
That carries political risk for Modi because India’s largest single demographic is under 25. Unlike the Gen-Z uprisings in Bangladesh and Nepal, the protesters in India have made a deliberate effort to remain peaceful, according to NYT.
It describes India’s education system as a “pressure-cooker”. Students spend years preparing for competitive examinations, but face too few college seats and, later, too few jobs that match their qualifications.
Nearly 40 percent of graduates aged 15 to 25 are unemployed, according to a 2026 workforce study cited by the NYT. It also cites National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showing that more than 14,400 students died by suicide in 2024.
“The government has lost the first round,” political scientist Ashutosh Varshney tells NYT. Rahul Gandhi’s detention has given the opposition an unexpected boost, he says, but the duration of the protests will decide whether Modi can “overcome this moment”.
Financial Times, meanwhile, reports that Russia is set to receive a shipment of petrol from India after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged its refineries and cut domestic refining capacity by about 40 percent.
A tanker carrying 42,000 tonnes of petrol from the Vadinar refinery in Gujarat is due to reach Beloye More, an oil terminal in northern Russia, says the report, adding that it “appears to be the largest single batch of imported petrol since the fuel crisis erupted, but it is not the only source of foreign fuel Russia is now using”.
Vadinar is owned by Nayara Energy, in which Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft holds a 49 percent stake. More than 90 percent of the crude processed there in 2026 came from Russia, according to Kpler data, FT notes.
That adds to “the irony of refined Russian crude flowing back from the country that has become its main seaborne importer since 2022”, it says.
Nayara said it “has neither sold nor has any plans to sell fuel to Russian companies” and remains committed to supplying the Indian market.
The report terms the shortage as Russia’s worst fuel crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It says petrol sales have been restricted in some regions, while people elsewhere have queued for hours or days. Around 50 million Russians have been affected, according to its estimate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged the shortage, the report notes, but described the difficulties as “temporary” and said they would not alter Russia’s “overall economic dynamics”.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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