Here are the top 5 news updates of September 29, 2021:
A day after resigning as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu today stated that he cannot compromise with his ethics, moral authority and pointed out that he didn't want a "repeat of a system of tainted leaders and officers in the state". Sharing a video on Twitter, Sidhu said, "I have no personal rivalry with anyone. 17 years of my political career has been for a purpose, to make a difference, to take a stand and to make people's lives better. This is my only religion." "I cannot compromise with my ethics, moral authority. What I witness is a compromise with issues, agenda in Punjab. I cannot misguide high command nor can I let them be misguided," he added.
On directions of the Election Commission, Kolkata Police imposed restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC in the 200-metre radius of polling stations in Bhabanipur Assembly constituency from Tuesday evening. The restrictions will be imposed till the conclusion of voting for the bypolls on September 30. This came after a delegation of the BJP comprising Union Ministers Bhupender Yadav, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Anurag Thakur and BJP leader Om Pathak met the Election commission of India (ECI) over violence and issues related to West Bengal bypolls on Tuesday. After meeting the officials of ECI, Yadav told the mediapersons that the delegation demanded action against the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government.
The Taliban has recently requested India's aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to resume commercial flight operations to Kabul, which were closed after August 15. "The Civil Aviation of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan extends its compliments to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India. As you are informed that recently the Kabul airport was damaged and these functional by American troops before their withdrawal. By technical assistance of our Qatar brother the airport became operational once again and a NOTAM in this regard was issued on September 06, 2021," a letter from Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority to DGCA Arun Kumar stated. Meanwhile, a top government source told ANI, "At present, the decision to resume commercial flights to Kabul is being reviewed by the DGCA, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) along with the competent authority."
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which is reeling under a revenue shortfall because of the pandemic and the economic slowdown in its wake, will have to spend close to Rs 700 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to pay ex gratia of Rs 50,000 to the families of Covid-deceased in Maharashtra. However, the state government has expressed its inability to bear this outgo. As on date, the progressive deaths due to Covid-19 are 1,38,962 and this number may increase after data reconciliation. The government has cited that if the number of deaths surge, it will have to shell out more money. A senior finance department official told The Free Press Journal, “The state government will soon send a communication to the Centre with details of its finances and its inability to shell out Rs 700 crore.
Equity benchmark Sensex dropped 254 points today following losses in index majors HDFC twins, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. The 30-share BSE benchmark closed 254.33 points or 0.43 per cent lower at 59,413.27. Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined 37.30 points or 0.21 per cent to 17,711.30. HDFC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding nearly 2 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, HUL and Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, NTPC, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, SBI and Titan were among the gainers.
