Here are the top 5 news updates of August 20, 2021:
China's national legislature today formally endorsed the three-child policy mooted by the ruling Communist Party, in a major policy shift aimed to prevent a steep decline in birth rates in the world's most populous country. The revised Population and Family Planning Law, which allows Chinese couples to have three children, was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC). In an apparent attempt to address the reluctance of the Chinese couples to have more children due to mounting costs, the amended law has also passed more social and economic support measures to address the concerns.
The Taliban have searched the closed Indian Consulates in Kandahar and Herat two days ago and they reportedly took some documents from the two missions, sources in the security set-up said. According to the sources, the insurgents broke into the Consulate buildings and also took parked vehicles. India has four Indian consulates located in Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad which were closed after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15. Amidst the critical situation in Afghanistan, the Indian Embassy personnel were evacuated by an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft on Tuesday, bringing back 120 Indians, including ITBP personnel from the Kabul airport.
US pharma giant Johnson & Johnson has moved an application before the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) in India, seeking permission to conduct clinical trials of its single-dose Janssen vaccine against COVID-19 on adolescents (children of age group 12-17 years). Earlier in August, Johnson & Johnson's was given emergency use approval in India for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. A statement by Johnson & Johnson read, "On August 17, 2021, we submitted an application to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to conduct a study of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in India in adolescents aged 12 - 17 years."
Railway Protection Force (RPF) rescued 477 runaway children from railway platforms at stations on Central Railway across Maharashtra over the past seven months and reunited them with their parents. As per information shared by Central Railways, those rescued include 310 boys and 167 girls and were reunited with their guardians with the help of non-governmental organisations like Childline. These children were rescued over the period of January to July 2021 from Mumbai, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Pune and Solapur divisions of Central Railways.
Equity benchmark Sensex slumped 300 points today, tracking losses in index majors Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and Kotak Bank amid a heavy sell-off in global equities. The 30-share index ended 300.17 points or 0.54 per cent lower at 55,329.32, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 118.35 points or 0.71 per cent to 16,450.50. Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, plunging over 8 per cent, followed by SBI, Dr Reddy's, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto and L&T. On the other hand, HUL, Asian Paints, Nestle India and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.
