Morning Digest: Death toll climbs to 579 in Nepal; Penguin India succumbed to ‘pressure’ to demand changes in Sonia memoir, alleges Congress; and more

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A view of a home damaged by flash flooding in the Devighat area of the Nuwakot district in Nepal on August 28, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP

The death toll in the Nepal flash floods touched 579 on Friday (August 28, 2026), even as the search for nearly 2,000 missing people continued for the third day after the disaster struck. The Nepal Police said more than 4,500 people had been rescued. Of the 183 Indian tourists reported missing, 85 had been rescued while 98 remained unaccounted for, the Nepal Tourism Board said.

Congress leaders on Friday (August 28, 2026) accused Penguin Random House India of giving in to pressure over the publication of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, with senior party leader Ashok Gehlot alleging that the publisher sought to remove portions critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS, and the alleged “occupation” of Indian territory by China.

North India’s largest city-gas distributor Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) informed late on Friday (August 28, 2026) that it would be increasing the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) across all its retail stations by ₹3.89 per kg as international prices of the input gas, that is, LNG, continues to remain elevated amid the re-escalation of the conflict in West Asia, effective Saturday (August 29, 2026).

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has inked a pact with a non-government organisation to enhance the counter-drone capabilities of its personnel in securing vital installations under its security cover, especially in the aviation, nuclear and space domain.

President Donald Trump on Friday (August 28, 2026) said the U.S. has entered into an agreement with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of the South American country’s oil reserves. Mr. Trump, in a social media post, announced the agreement he said was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

India could have carried out economic reforms 10 years before 1991, but “certainly not” during the time of Swatantra Party’s founder C. Rajagopalachari, the first and only Indian governor-general of independent India, former Union Minister P. Chidambaram told The Hindu 360 , the Tamil YouTube channel of The Hindu.

A high-powered task force constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recommend reforms in public examinations has invited suggestions from stakeholders , including students, parents, teachers and academic institutions as part of a public consultation exercise.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Friday (August 28, 2026) submitted to the Supreme Court a proposal to provide information relating to added sugar, fat and salt in pictorial form on the front-of-pack (FOP) of food products, in line with international regulations.

Two more glacial lakes have formed in Nepal, near the apparent source of the ice-rock avalanche that triggered flooding in Nepal’s Bhote Koshi-Trishuli river system on Wednesday (August 26, 2026).