Here are the top 5 news updates of September 28, 2021:
Navjot Singh Sidhu today resigned as the chief of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu, however, said he will continue to serve the party. Sidhu had taken over as the state party chief in July this year. "The collapse of a man's character stems from the compromise corner, I can never compromise on Punjab's future and the agenda for the welfare of Punjab," he wrote in the letter. "Therefore, I hereby resign as the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Will continue to serve the Congress," he further wrote. Soon after the resignation of Navjot Singh Sidhu, former chief minister Amarinder Singh dubbed the cricketer-turned-politician as a man who is "not stable" and "not fit" for the border state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched 35 crop varieties with special traits -- developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) -- to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition. The new crop varieties were dedicated to the nation through a video conference organised at all ICAR institutes, state and central agricultural universities and Krishi Vighyan Kendra. According to the PMO, 35 crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient-content have been developed in 2021. These include a drought tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea, early maturing variety of soybean, disease resistant varieties of rice and biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat and winged bean.
Ahead of the crucial bypoll in Bhabanipur, from where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting, a BJP delegation met the Election Commission and sought a series of measures to ensure free and fair elections as it accused the Trinamool Congress of using violence against its supporters. The BJP urged the EC to impose Section 144, a prohibitory order against gathering of five or more persons, on September 30, the polling date, and deployment of central forces for its compliance. Union ministers Bhupender Yadav, Anurag Thakur and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were among the members of the delegation that met the EC.
One person died and three others were missing after a state transport bus got swept away while crossing an inundated bridge in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district today morning, officials said. The incident took place around 8 am at Dahagaon bridge in Umarkhed tehsil when the semi-luxury bus of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) was going from Nagpur to Nanded. The bus got swept away for about 50 metres while passing through the bridge, which was flooded following heavy rains in the area, and then overturned, an official said. There were four passengers in the bus, besides its driver and conductor, Umarkhed tehsildar Anand Deolgaonkar said.
Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled by 410 points today, tracking losses in Infosys, ICICI Bank and HDFC twins amid a weak trend in global markets. After plunging over 1,032.35 during the session, the 30-share Sensex pared some losses to end 410.28 points or 0.68 per cent lower at 59,667.60. Similarly, the Nifty declined 106.50 points or 0.60 per cent to 17,748.60. Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding nearly 4 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech and Infosys. On the other hand, PowerGrid, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Titan, Kotak Bank and Dr Reddy's were among the gainers.
