Here are the top 5 news updates of November 22, 2021:
Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who downed an enemy jet during an aerial combat with Pakistan in 2019 and was held captive for three days in that country, was today honoured with the Vir Chakra award by President Ram Nath Kovind. The fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force has been decorated with India's third-highest wartime gallantry medal for displaying an "exceptional sense of duty" during the dogfight, the award citation said. The award ceremony, held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and several other dignitaries. Several other military officers were also honoured at the event.
The Supreme Court granted protection from arrest to former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in criminal cases lodged against him in Maharashtra and sought responses from the state government, its DGP and the CBI on his plea. Singh, who had accused the then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, has alleged frame up in criminal cases. Besides seeking protection from coercive steps, Singh has sought CBI probe into the entire issue involving him. A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh issued notices to the Maharashtra government, its DGP Sanjay Pande and the CBI on Singh's plea. "Issue notice. Returnable on December 6. In the meantime, the petitioner shall join the investigation and shall not be arrested," the bench ordered.
The Delhi government has lifted the ban on construction and demolition activities in view of an improvement in the air quality, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said today. Rai also said the government will take a call on the reopening of schools, work from home for government staff on November 24. We will also discuss if CNG-operated trucks carrying non-essential items can be allowed to enter Delhi, he said. The air quality in the national capital continues to remain in the 'very poor' category for the ninth consecutive day today, as per the System of Air Quality & Weather Forecasting & Research (SAFAR). The overall Air Quality Index has dipped again from 347 on Sunday to 352 today. The concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 stood at 188 in the 'very poor' and 301 in the 'poor' category respectively.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya virtually conducted a meeting today to review the status of COVID-19 vaccination in Puducherry, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur. "We are in the last lap of COVID19 vaccination. Let us launch an aggressive campaign to ensure full COVID-19 vaccination by increasing the pace of vaccination and expanding the coverage," stated Mandaviya. The meeting was attended by the health secretaries and senior officials of the Health Department from Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry. "Let us ensure collectively that no eligible citizen is left without the 'Suraksha Kawachh' of COVID-19 vaccine in the country, and to address issues of hesitancy, misinformation, superstition etc," he said.
Equity benchmark Sensex plummeted 1,170 points today, dragged by losses in Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Bank. The 30-share BSE index ended 1,170.12 points or 1.96 per cent lower at 58,465.89. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 348.25 points or 1.96 per cent to 17,416.55. Among top losers, Reliance Industries (RIL) sank over 4 per cent, after the company shelved a proposed deal to sell a 20 per cent stake in its oil refinery and petrochemical business to Saudi Aramco for an asking of USD 15 billion. Other laggards included Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, SBI and Titan. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, PowerGrid and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.
