News18 Daybreak | India Reports 2nd Biggest Spike of 1,133 Deaths in 24 Hours; Centre Issues SOPs for Reopening Schools; Centre Issues SOPs for Reopening Schools and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For

Rhea Chakraborty’s Bail Plea Rejected in Sushant Singh Rajput’s Death Case, Sent to Judicial Custody Till Sept 22

The Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Rhea Chakraborty after questioning her for three days in connection with drugs-related allegations in her boyfriend and actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case.  Chakraborty has been booked under various sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Rhea’s bail plea was rejected by the court and she will now have to approach the sessions court in Mumbai.

Explained: The NDPS Act came into existence in 1985 and was introduced because till that time India did not have a law that dealt exclusively with drug-related crimes. And it is meant to deter drug trafficking, forbid and criminalise cultivation, production, sale, purchase, possession, use, consumption, import and export of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

In Other News

Covid count: India's Covid-19 caseload rose to 42,80,422 with 75,809 instances of the viral infection recorded in the last 24 hours, while a record 1,133 fatalities took the death toll to 72,775, the Union health ministry data showed. During the same period, the number of recoveries surged to 33,23,950 pushing the recovery rate to 77.65 per cent. Meanwhile, in Delhi the COVID-19 testing would also be done without prescription. 

Guidelines: Disallowing sharing of notebooks, pens/pencils among students, prohibiting assemblies and sports, encouraging online learning, entry of asymptomatic persons are some of the guidelines from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the partial reopening of schools for students of Class 9-12 from September 21 on a voluntary basis.

Border row: Chinese troops carried rods, spears, clubs and pole weapons called 'Guandao' in aggressively trying to close in on an Indian position in Mukhpari area of Rezang-La ridgeline in eastern Ladakh, government sources said. As tension escalated at the LAC, the sources said 50-60 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army approached the Indian post but the Army personnel strongly confronted them.

Civilians missing: Union minister Kiren Rijiju said that China's PLA has confirmed that the missing youths from Arunachal Pradesh have been found by their side and added that the modalities on the handover process are being worked out. The development came after Rijiju said that the Indian Army had sent a hotline message to the establishment of PLA at the border point.

Cow slaughter ban? Sri Lanka may soon ban cow slaughter. The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), which won a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary elections last month, has decided to ban slaughtering of cows across the island nation. However, the import of beef is allowed.

On Our Specials

Down to business: For the past three weeks, every morning, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal sets aside other work at hand to get into a conference call with a trusted team of colleagues in Lucknow, including Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and member of Delhi assembly Dilip Pandey. The agenda of discussion is Uttar Pradesh and the party’s work in the run-up to the assembly elections in 2022. Pranshu Mishra writes.

Interview: Vaccine expert Professor Gagandeep Kang spoke to News18 at length on issues ranging from India’s current infection trajectory and sero-surveys to vaccine development and what research we ought to do to detect the next emerging pandemic. Nikhil Ghanekar writes.