Here are the top 5 news updates of October 20, 2021:
A special court today refused to grant bail to Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and two others in connection with the case of seizure of banned drugs on board a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. Special Judge V V Patil, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha. They will now have to approach the Bombay High Court for bail. When the matter was called out for order in the afternoon, special judge Patil said, "Rejected." The trio was arrested on October 3 by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for alleged conspiracy, possession, consumption, purchase and trafficking of drugs.
The Supreme Court today came down hard on the Uttar Pradesh government for its ongoing probe into the sensational Lakhimpur Kheri case, saying it thought police are "dragging feet" and they are required to "dispel" that impression and ensure recording of statements of witnesses before magistrates and their protection. "We think you are dragging your feet, please dispel that impression," observed the top court, adding that the probe should not be an "unending story" and red-flagged the issue of non-recording of statements of nearly 40 prosecution witnesses, of the total 44, before judicial magistrates under section 164 of the CrPC. "Please ask them to immediately take steps to record section 164 statements. That is the most important thing...protection to the victims as well as the witnesses," said the bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.
In a dig at the Samajwadi Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said it has moved away from the ideology of Ram Manohar Lohia with its leaders practising 'Pariwarvad' instead of 'Samajwad'. The PM made the jibe while addressing a rally after inaugurating Uttar Pradesh's fourth international airport at Kushinagar near the site of Gautam Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, besides laying foundation stones of several projects. UP is not limited to giving maximum number of PMs but being the birth place of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna and many other legendary figures, it has a pristine history, the PM remarked in his address. Highlighting benefits of 'double engine' government in UP, he said over Rs 80,000 crore has been transferred in bank accounts of farmers in the state so far. Modi also praised the Yogi Adityanath government for dealing sternly with criminals and land grabbers and also facilitating vaccination of more than 12 crore people so far.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was on her way to Agra to meet the family members of a man who died in police custody, was detained after she was stopped at the Lucknow-Agra expressway today. Her visit comes a day after a man accused of stealing Rs 25 lakh from the Jagdishpura police station died in police custody after his health deteriorated during interrogation. The police said Gandhi was stopped as the Agra district magistrate had requested not to allow any political personality to go there following the man's death. "Arun Valmiki died in police custody. His family is seeking justice. I want to visit that family. What is the UP government afraid of? Why am I being stopped? Today is Lord Valmiki Jayanti... PM Modi spoke big on Buddha but this is attacking his message," she tweeted in Hindi.
The BSE Sensex slumped 456 points today, tracking losses in index majors Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank as market participants continued to book profits at high levels. The 30-share index ended 456.09 points or 0.74 per cent lower at 61,259.96. Similarly, the NSE Nifty dropped 152.15 points or 0.83 per cent to 18,266.60. Titan was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by HUL, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, L&T and PowerGrid. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank were among the gainers.
