India cannot meet China half way in the disengagement process as the country has to maintain troops for the protection of territory, an official source said, as the sixth round of Corps Commander-level talks began on Monday, aimed at ending the five-month-long standoff along the disputed boundary in Ladakh.
Farm Bills | New reforms are road to 21st century India, says Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that the new farm reform Bills passed in Parliament were “historic” and the road to 21st century India. He also said that earlier agriculture laws had chained farmers of the country and middlemen were taking advantage of those archaic laws but now, through the reforms, new freedom was given to the farmers of the country who “will have more options to sell their produce anywhere in the country”.
The Opposition parties on Monday met before the session was convened and decided to petition the President under Article 111 of Constitution, urging him not to give assent to the two farm Bills passed in the Rajya Sabha. The Opposition parties on Monday met before the session was convened and decided to petition the President under Article 111 of Constitution, urging him not to give assent to the two farm Bills passed in the Rajya Sabha.
Parliamentary proceedings | Tablighi Jamaat chief not arrested, says MHA
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday that investigation against Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Mohammad Saad was under way and he had not been arrested. Follow live updates here.
Delhi riots | Delhi court dismisses Umar Khalid’s plea seeking to meet family
A Delhi court has dismissed an application by former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, arrested under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, seeking permission to meet his family during his police custody. Mr Khalid is in police custody for 10 days, till September 24, in a case related to the large conspiracy in the communal violence in north east Delhi in February.
CDC acknowledges aerosols as ‘main way’ of coronavirus spread
In a major development, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its guidelines to acknowledge that the “main way” the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) spreads is through droplets and aerosol. The updated guidance on September 18 says that the virus most commonly spreads through “respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes”.
Rajya Sabha suspends 8 opposition MPs
Rajya Sabha on Monday suspended eight Opposition members till the remaining Monsoon session, for their unparliamentary behaviour in the House the previous day. The members include Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, AAP's Sanjay Singh, Congress MPs Rajeev Satav, Syed Naseer Hussain and Ripun Bora, and CPI(M) members K.K. Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem.
In a first, two women officers to operate helicopters from warships
Sub Lt. Kumudini Tyagi and Sub Lt. Riti Singh would be the first women airborne tacticians in India who will operate from the deck of warships. They passed out of Indian Navy’s Observer Course, at Southern Naval Command, Kochi on Monday. They will operate helicopters onboard the ships, an area where male officers reigned. Both are engineering graduates in computer science and were commissioned into the Navy in 2018.
Google’s open source data to study impact of COVID-19
Google has developed an open source data repository for researchers to study the impact of COVID-19. Economic indicators and population statistics of over 50 countries are included in the datasets, Google said in a statement. The data can be accessed using Data Commons, BigQuery datasets, and other regional dataset aggregators.
IPL | Ashwin hopeful about playing next game, says Delhi Capitals skipper
Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer said senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is hopeful of recovering from his shoulder injury before their next IPL game but a final call on his availability will rest with the team physio. Ashwin endured dream and nightmare in a space of six deliveries as he scalped two KXIP batsmen and then suffered a suspected shoulder dislocation on Sunday.