Here are the top 5 news updates of May 31, 2021:
Describing the Central Vista project as "vital and essential", the Delhi High Court today allowed construction work on the project to continue and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioners for their "motivated" plea. The court said the legality of the project was already upheld by the Supreme Court. It added that even the Delhi Disaster Management Authority allowed it to continue, workers were already present at the site and, therefore, "we see no reason to stop the work". A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh dismissed the plea seeking to halt the project during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the petition was "motivated" and "not a genuine PIL". It imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioners.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to withdraw the Centre's order recalling Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, and said her government "is not releasing" the top bureaucrat. In a five-page letter, Banerjee urged the PM to reconsider the Centre's decision to recall the chief secretary after giving him a three-month extension. Banerjee said she was shocked by the Centre's decision and termed the order as "unilateral", which was issued "without any prior consultation" with the state government.
In a major shift, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) today announced that it will allow all couples to have three children, ending a two-child policy that has failed to boost the country's declining birthrate and ageing population. China's once-a-decade census, released this month, showed that 12 million babies were born in the last year, the lowest since 1961, during the Great Famine. This comes after the census 2020 showed an alarming fall in the country's fertility rate. According to the seventh nationwide census of 2020, China's population has grown by merely 5.38 per cent over the last 10 years. China's birthrate has been on the decline since 2017, despite easing of the 'one-child policy' in order to avert an incoming demographic crisis.
Amid the ongoing Maratha reservation controversy, the Maharashtra government today announced that Maratha students and candidates in the state will now be able to avail 10 per cent Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation. Besides, the candidates can also avail 10 per cent reservation in direct service recruitment including admission in educational institutions. The state government is trying to provide relief to the Maratha community after the Supreme Court cancelled the Maratha reservation. The government had decided that the Maratha community could not take advantage of the 10 per cent EWS reservation when the Maratha reservation was in force in the state. But now that the Maratha reservation has been cancelled, the government has decided to give EWS reservation benefit to the Maratha community.
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied around 515 points today while the NSE Nifty closed at a fresh peak, led by gains in RIL, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank amid a mixed trend in global markets. A steady decline in daily COVID-19 caseload also strengthened investor sentiment, brokers said. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 514.56 points or 1.00 per cent higher at 51,937.44, and the broader NSE Nifty surged 147.15 points or 0.95 per cent to its fresh closing record of 15,582.80.