Visakhapatnam school death: 6-year-old allegedly beaten by teacher | Top news of August 20, 2026

Our top focus on NDTV right now, now for a very disturbing story that we're starting from and this is from Vishakapatnam. It's the death of a six-year-old UKG student, his name Pranay. It has shocked India. The toddler's family alleges that he was beaten by his teacher for not completing his homework. The family says the boy was healthy when he left home and that he later collapsed inside the classroom after allegedly being hit with a stick. They claimed CCTV footage from the school shows the teacher hitting and frightening the child before he collapsed. The family also alleges that other children had been subjected to physical punishment as well. Police have now registered a case and launched an investigation while the exact cause of death will be established through postmortem. Meanwhile, a video of tourists confronting security personnel at a checkpoint in Kargil has gone viral. The woman was left waiting near the Minimarg checkpost in Dras after local police stopped travel on the Minimarg-Zojila-Sonmarg road. The hold-up was due to travel restrictions in place on that stretch and in the video She can be heard arguing with army personnel saying that we are Gen Z and that we will not tolerate this nonsense Telling them your salary comes from our taxes. The video has now received massive backlash online Are you going to sit or not? I won't sit. Come on, let's go. How will we stop? It's been five hours. Get out of the car and let's go. Kashmir airport is not open. We won't go. They won't let us go. Do we come here for money or to tolerate all They have locked us up. They do it with Kashmiris. Now they are doing it with foreign tourists. They locked me up here, didn't even tell me my name and left. Look, there's no one here to answer to. No one will move from here. You can do whatever you want. I raised my hand. You raised your hand and told me to leave. Okay, I raised my hand. We are men. We won't leave anyone. Everyone gets their salary from our taxes. That's why we pay taxes. Are they above us now? Well, this lady in this video has now spoken to NDTV's Managing Editor Shib Aroor, take a look. What happened because this video is viral, you are seen on camera, you know, shouting at security personnel saying things like we are Gen Z, you know, how dare you do this, my taxes, pay your salaries. There is a lot of anger that has come out, madam, over that video. I want your side of the story. What happened? Tell us. Hello. The video that people have put up of what happened that day is not the correct video. I am in that video. And I am shouting and screaming there. Even I am frustrated and I have said a lot of things in that video, which I know. And the first thing is that this video is a month old, which is being defamed by making it viral today. I respect the Indian Army so much that I can never imagine that the Indian Army of my country felt so bad because of me that I said all these things. That day, we were coming back from Ladakh to Delhi. We didn't know that the VIP movement was going to happen or something was going to happen. When we were sitting there, we were waiting for 3-4 hours since morning. Then we asked a soldier, how much more time will it take? He said, ma'am, it will take one more hour. Then we waited for one more hour. By the way, it's been 6 hours since we started By then, we started hearing voices that a fight is going on ahead. The soldier and the police at the border were with them. We also went. We were far behind. We went ahead and we saw that there was already a fight going on with the security persons and the public. In the midst of that fight, I also went. I said that I am a patient, I am having a lot of problems. It's been six hours, we are not able to go to the washroom, we are not able to do anything because of your VIP movement. We are getting very frustrated. We pay you tax, we do everything, so why are all these things happening to us? But that thing was shown in such a negative way that I went into so much depression that I can't believe that I am not a public figure today, sir. I have never been a social media figure. Yes, absolutely. Madam, but your face, your words, your video, you have seen that it is viral across platforms. This is your words, we all get frustrated, we all get frustrated for waiting, madam. But this is Ladakh, this is a forward area, this is a militarized zone. With that, you are saying that we are Gen Z, this will go to parliament, my salaries pay your taxes. And in this video, we can clearly see that you are talking to an army officer. That's why people are very angry. I agree with you that this is a video from a month ago and you are saying that someone has made it viral to defame you. Leave all that. These are your words, madam. You have said this. Yes, I have said all these things because I am in that video. Because whatever I said in frustration was not right at It was very wrong, because I have also made a video, you can see it in the video, my phone is also open. But when all those things were over, then I thought that I will not put the video, because it is our fault. If it was a VIP movement, we did not know, came to the press station and said the opposite. I also said sorry to that sir, whose video no one has picked up. I also said sorry to the police there. I would like to apologize to the people of the country, to the Indian Army, to the J&K police, to the Ladakh police, and especially to Umar Abdullah Sir. He tweeted that he apologizes to everyone. I am very ashamed that so many people were hurt because of me. I had no motive to hurt the people of the country or anyone else because I am not a YouTuber or a public figure. that I will do such things with someone to become I am a normal girl, a 25-year-old girl. I had no idea that this thing would increase so That's why I apologize to everyone from the bottom of Kindly get me forgiven through you. And I join hands with the Indian Army and apologize a hundred times, a thousand times. Kindly stop this thing. And I want to give you this reassurance, madam, that there is no anger against you in the army. There is no anger at all. They understand everything because they don't enjoy closing roads, delaying, doing all this in forward areas. There is no fun in doing all this. VIP movements, security movements, this is an inconvenience for everyone. And ultimately, for whom is the army working, madam? For the public, sir, for us. But our frustration, I am also a citizen, you are also a citizen, we all face inconveniences. Army understands this, ma'am, absolutely understands this. My last question to you, ma'am, your family, your family, your parents, are they okay? After all this went viral, what is their mental state? What are they telling you? Sir, all those people, they called me and told me so much, so much, that they started saying, I was told that I never do anything like this online, I never get frustrated, what happened to you that day, you don't even talk so fast, you don't even fight with anyone, I always support the cats and dogs that people leave on the street, I always help them. They said that I was helping nature, so how could I speak so much that day? I told them that I was provoked that day, that there was already a fight going on. I was also told from behind that these people were doing this and that with us. In that frustration, I said so much. So I am very sorry for that. My family is very mentally disturbed at this time. Because it has been harassed. All the relatives, neighbors, everyone is saying a lot for this reason. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm not mad at them because people have highlighted it so much and I'm getting so many abuses. People are saying a lot of things to me, even though they don't know anything about me, but they're still saying a lot of nonsense. But I'm not angry with them. They're using me for views or something. No problem. I just wanted to apologize to the people of my country and to my young brothers through you. Now that I've apologized, I'm a little relieved that I did this. Madam, thank you very much for talking to us. I just want to tell you again that this is a matter of one or two days. People get angry when people see such pictures and hear such words. They get triggered, you know that too. So, you have asked for forgiveness from your heart, clarified and explained what happened in that incident. I admire you for that and you will be talked about on NDTV. Thank you for speaking to us. Moving on, shifting our focus to other news now. Maharashtra has now started a statewide drive to check whether auto, rickshaw and taxi drivers have a working knowledge of Marathi. RTO flying squads are carrying out checks asking drivers basic questions in Marathi to assess their language skills. The drive follows the new motor vehicle rules requiring public transport drivers to have a working knowledge of Marathi. Drivers who fail the oral Marathi check are now being issued notices and given one month to learn the language. This is our syllabus, to check the working knowledge of the Marathi exam. In this, a passenger and a driver are designed according to their conversation. In this, I ask them, I want to go to this place. They should say, come, sit. In Marathi, I say, should I put the meter? This meter is on. Where is the next stand? It is near, in front. We ask questions in the 15-question syllabus, and if they give us a satisfactory answer, we pass it. may re-evaluate its travel advisory. Congress has now welcomed Gaur's remarks saying that J&K is an integral part of India and that nobody needs to remind the country of this. Pakistan has reacted sharply, summoning the top US diplomat and lodging a formal demarche over Gaur's comments. This is the first visit by a top US diplomat to J&K after Operation Sindoor and the abrogation Article 370. Everybody here knows I'm the U.S. Ambassador to India, and this is an important part of India, and so I'm here visiting for the first time. It is an incredibly beautiful place, and so I'm thrilled to be here, thrilled to see this place. We just had a very good meeting, and we have some follow-ups that we hope to take back to Washington, back to Delhi, but very warm, very cordial, and we look forward to building this relationship forward. last thing i'll share with you is the united states puts out travel warnings and every so often we re-evaluate those travel warnings i cannot make any big announcements here today but it is something we're going to look at uh you delhi the chief minister here the government here we believe have made some incredible steps to keep in this area safer Kashmir is an integral part of India and they must revalidate their, you know, travel advisory part of India, so US should realize. Look, Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. It is a part of India. So we don't need to remind anyone else about it. We believe that it is an integral part of India. Well, I mean, the visit is significant because this is the first time that we've had a U.S. ambassador travel there since Operation Sindor. There have been previous U.S. ambassadors that have visited the region, but there has been some time, and I think particularly in light of the fact that the Trump administration has taken a bit of an unconventional approach to the issue in terms of President Trump repeatedly claiming that he mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan last year, and also given President Trump's comment last year that he would like to help the two sides, quote, find a solution to Kashmir. You know, these are things that are very unusual for U.S. policy. So against that backdrop of an unconventional administration, I think it's notable that we have the U.S. ambassador traveling to Kashmir against that backdrop. Meanwhile, the political row over Vande Mataram has intensified with the Congress asserting its stand on the national song. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has now launched a scathing attack on Congress and said that Congress opposed Mataram in 1937 for appeasement politics and now they're doing it again. He also urged people to unite against Congress's move. And this of course comes after at the CWC meeting, sources say, a resolution was passed on this very issue, with a consensus to sing the first two stanzas of Vande Matram. The party is also likely to issue a fresh statement referring to the 1937 CWC resolution. Congress said that the party would abide by the decision taken by its leadership in 1937 that there was no confusion over its position as well. the principles of the two nations were strengthened and finally the country was divided and Pakistan was born. Today, when the historical mistake was corrected by Narendra Modi government in the 150th year of Vande Mataram, I have sung Bankim Babu's Amar Kruti's complete song and tried to reform national unity once again. And in all government functions, the decision to sing it in its full form has also been legalized. Congress has decided not to allow this tomorrow. Congress's decision only and only promotes their harsh policy of exploitation. For the exploitation of the World Bank, they have not only insulted Swargiya Bankim Babu for this immoral act, He has also insulted lakhs of martyrs who, while chanting the slogan of Vande Matram, hanged themselves for the freedom of the country, who spent many years in jail. Today, the Congress Party is accepting the resolution of its party in 1937 and rejecting the Parliament Act. I am very surprised that under the leadership of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Party is once again vigorously advancing the policy of trusting in this Sir, in the Congress Working Committee meeting, it was reiterated that the 1937 resolution of the first two sections of the song will be followed by the Congress. Now all the leaders of the BJP are saying that Congress is not a Muslim League. Who is the leader of this country? Is the BJP the leader of this country? The leaders of this country are Sardar Patel, C. Rajagopalachari, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, all of them. We will go against them. Go whoever wants to go against them. Even then they used to go against them, they used to flatter the British. They are doing it even today. These are the enemies of the real country. We know how to fight them. We fought them before and we will fight them again. You are following your tradition but they are saying that this is not their tradition. This is the culture of this country, this is the culture of this country to take everyone along. BJP leader Nitin Avi said that a new Muslim League has been formed. Leave this, Sanghi people, enemies of the country, traitors, will they give us certificates? It is now necessary to remove them from this country. Slipping into a very short break, I am right back, lots more lined up. Welcome back and shifting our focus to a viral story of a young girl from Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh which has now gone viral after she spoke out against being called Chinese because of her appearance. Her emotional response firmly asserting that she is Indian has once again highlighted the racial stereotypes faced by people from the Northeast. Take a listen. Four-year-old Tinkle from Arunachal Pradesh has gone super viral. She's got the entire country in tears, cooing with affection over her video, where she, with a very, very serious face, says, don't call me Chinese, I am Indian. She has won hearts everywhere in the country, And I am so honored, so happy to be joined today by little Tinkle, or Tinkle's mother, Ayum, is also with us. Ayumji, greetings. Tinkle's video has gone so viral, so my first question is to Tinkle. Tinkle, have you seen your video has gone so viral in India? Have you seen it? In that video, what were you saying, Tinkle? What did I say? Tell me. What did I say? I said... Brother... I said... You said something like this, didn't you? I said that I can't speak Chinese. Who's speaking Chinese to you? You're an Indian. Who's speaking Chinese to you? I said that. No, no. You're absolutely an Indian, Tinkle. You are an Indian like us. I am an Indian. Ayumji, where did this idea come from? How did Tinkle make this video? Why did he make this video? What was in his mind? Even I didn't have that much idea. So, there was a video of Tinkle in which he was eating ice-cream. So, in that ice-cream video, Tinkle spoke in Hindi. He is a Chinese kid, why is he speaking in So Tinkle got sad, so Tinkle made a video Tinkle, did you feel bad after reading this comment on Instagram? You were called a Chinese kid, so you must have felt bad I didn't feel bad No, even I would have felt bad if someone had commented like this And Tinkle, we have seen a lot of your videos, in which you sing the national anthem, you salute, you salute the Tiranga, so you are quite patriotic? Yes, I love India. You love India a lot, Tinkle? Yes. And Tinkle, your father is in the police, right? Thank you, Jai Hind. Thank you, thank you. Bye-bye. On that note, we slip into a very short break. Come right back. Lots more lined up for you here on NDTV.