1. Can’t Force Meat Ban Down Someone’s Throat, Says SC
Refusing to uphold the temporary ban on the sale of meat in Mumbai in deference to the Jain festival of ‘Paryushana’ the Supreme Court has asserted that “a ban cannot be forced down somebody’s throat”, reports The Indian Express.
There has to be spirit of tolerance and accommodation. Some sensibilities are called for. It cannot be in the spirit of conflict. The spirit of tolerance is very important and it has to be inculcated in a very subtle manner…in a very sensible manner. There has to be an understanding of a different level…of a mature level.
— Bench of Justices TS Thakur and Kurian Joseph
Read the full report here.
2. Dengue Death Toll Reaches 18, Hospitals Face Space Crunch
After the death toll from dengue mounted to 18, and over 2,000 people have been admitted with the disease, hospitals in Delhi are facing a serious space crunch reports Hindustan Times.
Patients have been struggling to secure beds even as several hospitals have started emptying wards belonging to other departments in order to accommodate patients suffering from dengue.
We have done a complete reshuffling of beds from all our departments. Fever clinics have been opened in the isolation ward near the emergency. We have emptied eye and ortho wards to accommodate dengue patients.
— Savita Babbar, Medical Superintendent, Deen Dayal Hospital
Read the full report here.
3. Lalit Modi-Preity Zinta Email Talks of ‘Deal,’ Secrecy, Timelines and an Escrow Account
An attached draft trust deed referring to Lalit Modi’s “beneficial interest” in three IPL teams was sent sent via email to the former IPL commissioner and his brother Samir Modi by an Australia-based attorney.
The Indian Express reports that while that email failed to identify the teams, another trail of emails has emerged that connects Modi, Preity Zinta, the co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, other stakeholders in the team and Sanjivan Sahani, who works for Modi.
The email below is self explanatory and next week, we will get the other paperwork and final timelines to move ahead with this deal.
— Preity Zinta via email
Read more here.
4. US Federal Funds Rate Remains Unchanged, Defers to Global Economic Volatility
In a nod to concerns about a weak world economy, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but left open the possibility of a modest policy tightening later this year, reports The Indian Express.
Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near term.
— US Federal Reserve
Read The Quint’s full report here.
5. 71% in Survey Say Swachh Bharat a Flop in Cities
In a wake-up call for the Centre to fix weaknesses in the Swachh Bharat initiative, nearly 71% respondents in an online poll conducted by a social media group want a greater municipal-citizen connect and feel the need for cleanliness in their cities and towns. Most respondents have said that not much has improved in the past one year, reports The Times of India.
Efforts are being made to sensitise the municipal authorities and we have been monitoring the progress. It’s a time-taking programme. We are providing technical and financial assistance to urban local bodies to implement the scheme.
— Central Govt Official
Read the full report here.
6. RAW to Fold its Covert Air Wing
The Aviation Research Centre (ARC), India’s premier imaging-intelligence organisation, may be facing plans to shut it down, highly-placed government sources have told The Indian Express.
Backed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the plans envisage that the ARC’s aircraft and electronics assets will be divided between the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and the Indian Air Force.
The way things stand RAW is able to seamlessly have its needs met by the ARC. I’m not sure the NTRO, which is not directly accountable to the consumers of its intelligence, will be quite as responsive.
— Amitabh Mathur, former ARC chief
Read the full report here.
7. After Lalu, Nitish Pulls out of Rahul’s Poll Rally
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s place will be filled by the JDU’s Rajya Sabha member KC Tyagi at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s first election rally at West Champaran in Bihar, reports The Hindu.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad had pulled out earlier and said that he would be unavailable for the rally. Both absences hint at the fact that there may be underlying tensions in the Mahagathbandhan, or “grand alliance”, between the Congress, JDU and RJD with less than a month to go for the Bihar Assembly polls.
This is not a negative thing as I shall be representing the party, and Tejaswi (Mr. Prasad’s son) would be attending as well. We want the whole focus to be on Mr. Rahul Gandhi as this is his rally.
— KC Tyagi, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Read the full report here.
8. Netaji’s Secret Files to be Thrown Open to Public Today
The West Bengal government will throw open the secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to the public at 9.30 am today giving common people direct access to the long-awaited revelation, reports the Hindustan Times.
The files will be declassified in front of members of the Bose family as well as the media by the Kolkata Police who will later notify when common people can access the contents.
Only nine of the 64 files belonged to the state intelligence branch, the rest 55 were of Kolkata Police.
— Rajeev Mishra, Joint Commissioner, Kolkata Police
Read the full report here.
9. $4-trillion CEO Club, Michelin-Starred Chef Await PM Modi in NY
CEOs of top global companies with collective worth of nearly $4 trillion — twice the size of India’s GDP — will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York on September 24 to discuss ideas to turn India into an investment hotspot and a manufacturing hub, reports the Hindustan Times.
Leaders of several Fortune 500 companies will be at the dinner meeting with Modi in New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, chief among them are Lockheed Martin chairman Marillyn A Hewson, Ford Motor president Mark Fields, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Abbott Laboratories CEO Miles D White, Johnson & Johnson chairman Jorge Mesquita and Starwood Hotels and Resorts CEO Adam M Aron, sources said.
Read the full report here.
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