Here are the top 5 news updates of October 8, 2021:
The Supreme Court today said it is "not satisfied" with the action taken by the Uttar Pradesh government in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people were killed and also asked the state why accused Ashish Mishra has not been arrested yet. The son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra had allegedly mowed down farmers with his car. The bench of Chief Justice Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said the UP government is not proceeding in the manner in which it should proceed against the accused while adding that the killing of eight people in Lakhimpur Kheri is a "brutal murder" and law must take its course against all accused.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has issued a legal notice to BJP state chief Chandrakant Patil for defamatory comments against him and his wife. He posted photos of the legal notice and wrote, "I have issued a legal notice to Chandrakantdada Patil for his defamatory, baseless and bogus comments against me and my wife. If Chandrakant dada doesn’t give an unconditional apology..I will be taking further legal action and move the honourable court (sic)." Earlier, Raut had objected to Patil’s charges against him in connection with the PMC Bank scam. "I don’t agree with what Patil said about the PMC Bank scam. We don't do such silly business. If I had committed such scams, I would not have been in politics for so many years. I will send a legal notice in the next four days and later file a defamation suit against Patil,” he had said.
The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia. The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited their fight for freedom of expression, stressing that it is vital in promoting peace. "Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the committee. "Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better world order to succeed in our time," she said.
Tata Sons has acquired national carrier Air India with bid of Rs 18,000 crore, said Tuhin Kant Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management). "Talace Pvt Ltd of Tata Sons is the winning bidder at Rs 18,000 crores. The transaction is expected to close by the end of December 2021," he added. Apart from 100 per cent stake in Air India and its low-cost arm, Air India Express, the winning bid also includes a 50 per cent stake in ground-handling company Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited (AISATS). Last month, reports said Tata Sons had won the bid. However, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that nothing had been finalised.
Equity benchmark Sensex surged 381 points today to close above the 60,000-level as investors remained optimistic after the Reserve Bank maintained its accommodative stance and kept key interest rates unchanged in its bi-monthly monetary policy review. The 30-share BSE index jumped 381.23 points or 0.64 per cent to close at 60,059.06. Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose 104.85 points or 0.59 per cent to its fresh closing peak of 17,895.20. Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying nearly 4 per cent, followed by Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, TCS and L&T.
