Here are the top 5 news updates of July 22, 2021:
Amid the ongoing tiff over the Pegasus issue between the Centre and Opposition, TMC MP Santanu Sen today snatched the statement from Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rajya Sabha and tore it into pieces. Following this, there was a verbal feud between BJP and TMC MPs. Marshals intervened to bring the situation under control. Following this, there was a verbal feud between BJP and TMC MPs. Marshals intervened to bring the situation under control. Heated words were exchanged between Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and the TMC MP Santanu Sen. Meanwhile, Vaishnaw has reiterated that the media report about the use of Pegasus spyware is a carefully-timed attempt to malign the Indian democracy.
As the Income Tax Department carried out multi-city raids against Dainik Bhaskar and Uttar Pradesh-based Hindi news channel Bharat Samachar, Union minister Anurag Thakur said the agencies are doing their work and there is no interference in it. The minister was responding to a question on the opposition Congress' allegation that the raids were intended to throttle the voice of democracy. "Agencies are doing their own work and there is no interference in them," he said. He also said that "one should take complete information and sometimes many issues come up that are far from truth..."
Refuting media reports that alleged India's COVID-19 death toll was "vastly undercounted", the government today said the reports assume that all excess mortality figures are Covid deaths, which is not based on facts and totally fallacious. Given the robust and statute-based death registration system in India, while some cases could go undetected as per the principles of infectious disease and its management, missing out on the deaths is unlikely, the Union Health Ministry said. There have been some recent media reports alleging that India's toll of excess deaths during the pandemic could be in millions, terming the official COVID-19 death toll "vastly undercounted", the ministry said in a statement.
Mumbai police have registered an FIR against senior IPS officer Param Bir Singh, five other police personnel and two more persons for allegedly demanding Rs 15 crore from a builder to withdraw cases against him, an official said on today. Based on the builder's complaint, the case was registered at the Marine Drive police station in south Mumbai, he said. The five other cops accused in the case are - DCP (crime branch) Akbar Pathan, inspector Shrikant Shinde, Asha Korke, Nandkumar Gopale and Sanjay Patil, the official said. Two of the builder's partners, Sunil Jain and Sanjay Punamia, have been arrested in the case, he said.
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 639 points today, propelled by index majors Infosys, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries amid a positive trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE index ended 638.70 points or 1.22 per cent higher at 52,837.21, while the broader NSE Nifty surged 191.95 points or 1.23 per cent to 15,824.05. Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, Tata Steel and Infosys. On the other hand, HUL, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and M&M were the laggards.
