Here are the top 5 news updates of October 19, 2021:
In Karnataka political parties are locked in an unusual battle of words over the educational qualifications of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. The Karnataka wing of both the BJP and the Congress have been engaged in a furious tweet war since Monday night.
It began with a now deleted tweet from the Karnataka Congress handle that dubbed the Prime Minister "angootha-chhaap" or illiterate. "Congress built schools but Modi never went to study. Congress even set up schemes for adults to learn, Modi didn't learn there too," the party's official handle tweeted in Kannada. The country, they added was now suffering, and the citizens were being pushed towards beggary.
Hours later, the post was deleted, with party leaders insisting that the "uncivil" post had been shared by a "novice social media manager" through the official handle. "I've always believed that civil and parliamentary language is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for political discourse. An uncivil tweet by a novice social media manager via Karnataka Congress official Twitter handle is regretted and stands withdrawn," remarked Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar.
2. Jammu and Kashmir civilian killings: NIA to take over probe in four cases
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will take over the probe into targeted killing of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, as per an NDTV report. According to the report, the NIA is initially expected to take over four cases from the J&K police. So far, 11 civilians have been killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir this month, sparking fear in the valley.
Terrorists shot dead two non-local labourers and injured another on Sunday in Kulgam district of south Kashmir, prompting the police to direct that all non-resident labourers in the Valley be brought to nearest security camps "immediately" for safety.
Meanwhile, a street vendor from Bihar and a carpenter from Uttar Pradesh were shot dead by the ultras on Saturday evening. This is the latest in a series of shootings targeting civilians in recent weeks. So far this month, 11 people have lost their lives in shootings targeting civilians.
3. Uttar Pradesh tops in 'ease of committing crime': Akhilesh Yadav slams BJP-led government
Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav said that Uttar Pradesh has topped the "ease of committing crime" graph.
Referring to the Shahjahanpur incident in which a lawyer was shot dead in a court on Monday, the SP chief attacked the ruling BJP and said the murder has exposed the "encounter" government's tall claims of zero tolerance towards crime and criminals.
"Under the BJP government, Uttar Pradesh has made it to the number one position in ease of committing crime," Akhilesh said.
4. Maharashtra colleges to re-open on October 20; is 75% attendance compulsory this year?
In March 2020, physical classes in Maharashtra colleges were stopped following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Regular academic year exams were cancelled, while final-year exams were conducted online.
Now that the government of Maharashtra has permitted colleges to resume physical classes from October 20, students are worried about meeting the condition of minimum attendance of 75 per cent. Because only those colleges which are not in containment zones will be allowed to reopen. Additionally, students and staff staying within containment zones should not be allowed entry.
In February 2021, when Government had decided to open colleges for a brief period before the second wave, Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant had informed that rule of a minimum of 75% attendance to be waived off for that academic session. However, so far, the government has not announced anything on the attendance criteria for this year.
5. Sensex gyrates 650 points intra-day before snapping gains in late bout of select profit-taking
Indian Benchmark indices witnessed selling after hitting fresh high. Strong selling was seen in Metal, Realty and FMCG stocks while buying is witnessed in IT stocks.
The benchmark indices closed lower on Tuesday (October 19). The Sensex was down 49.54 points or 0.08 percent at 61,716.05. The broader Nifty was down 58.20 points or 0.31 percent at 18418.80. About 959 shares have advanced, 2321 shares declined, and 122 shares are unchanged.
Gaurav Udani, CEO & Founder, ThincRedBlu Securities, said, "After making a new life time high of 18,604 , the Nifty saw some profit booking and closed at 18422 , negative by 55 points since yesterdays close. On daily charts Nifty has made a bearish pattern and charts are suggesting that the correction in Nifty may continue in the next few trading sessions. Nifty has support at 18350 and 18,225 levels. Nifty will face resistance in 18480 to 18,530 range. Traders are suggested book profits and keep strict stoploss in the current markets."
