1. Indian Govt Proposed Reliance as Rafale Offset Partner, We Didn’t Have a Choice: Hollande
Francois Hollande, who was President of France when the deal for 36 Rafale fighter aircraft was announced and signed with India, has said Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence was chosen as the offset partner by Dassault because the Indian government had “proposed” its name.
“We didn’t have a say in that. It was the Indian government that proposed this service group (Reliance), and Dassault who negotiated with Ambani. We didn’t have a choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us,” Hollande was quoted by French news website Mediapart.fr about the offset contract to the private Indian defence manufacturing firm.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. India Calls off New York Meeting With Pakistan
India blamed ‘Pakistan-based entities’ for Friday’s killing of three special police officers in Kashmir and called off the planned meeting of foreign ministers in New York.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said talks in the current circumstances would be futile and also cited stamps issued by Pakistan in July in memory of Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani as a reasons for the cancellation.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Propaganda, Says Centre on Resignation Videos After 3 Kashmir Cops Killed
Shortly after the bodies of three policemen killed by militants were found in south Kashmir’s Shopian today, several videos messages emerged on social media that purportedly show special police officers announcing their decision to resign.
A senior Kashmir police officer said they are yet to authenticate the claims being made in the video messages. At least six such messages have emerged and are being circulated widely.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Kerala Police Arrest Bishop Accused of Raping Nun
After three days of interrogation, Bishop Franco Mulakkal (54), who has been accused of repeatedly raping a nun, was arrested on Friday evening. Mulakkal, who holds a doctorate in moral theology, is the first Indian Catholic bishop to be arrested in a rape case. He will be produced before a court in Kottayam district on Saturday.
“With reasonable suspicion, the investigating officer has been convinced about the charges framed against the bishop. The probe has revealed that the bishop has committed the crime and the allegations raised against him by the nun are reasonably true,’’ said Kottayam SP Hari Sankar.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Market Crash Wiped out Rs 5.6 Lakh Crore From Investor Wealth in 4 Days
As the equity market plunged for the fourth day in a row, where the BSE benchmark index plummeted over 1,100 points in afternoon trade on Friday, 21 September investor wealth witnessed an erosion of a whopping Rs 5.6 lakh crore in four days.
The 30-share index cracked 1,127.58 points, or 3 percent, to hit an intra-day low of 35,993.64 Friday. It, however recovered most of the losses within minutes of the fall.
There were wild swings in the market, with the BSE Sensex finally settling at 36,841.60, down 279.62 points or 0.75 percent.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Deaf and Mute Woman Raped in Madhya Pradesh Hostel; Foetus Aborted, Burnt
A 24-year old deaf and mute woman was raped and her foetus was aborted and burnt at a hostel for differently-abled persons in Gwalior, following which six persons including the hostel director have been arrested, police said on Friday.
This is the third such incident within two months in which differently-abled persons staying in hostels set up especially for them have been raped.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. CBI: Central Bureau of Infighting Between Its Number 1 and 2
The gathering war within the CBI, between Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana, came to a head on Friday after the agency said that it was probing Asthana in as many as six cases of alleged corruption. And that Asthana was maligning the Director’s image and trying to “intimidate” officials by sending a “frivolous” complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission against Verma.
The six instances against Asthana were placed on record in June as part of the appraisal process and communicated to the Directorate of Personnel and Training (DoPT) which comes under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Reacting to this, Asthana wrote to the government with a complaint against Verma, saying that the Director had sought to impede his functioning, interfere in investigations and malign his reputation.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Opposition Struggles on Seats in Uttar Pradesh, BJP in Poll Mode
For the opposition parties working out a mega seat distribution deal in Uttar Pradesh, the prickly issue forestalling the final agreement is which election to pick as the benchmark — the 2009 or the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress wants 2009 to be the reference point, when the party had posted its best performance in the state. But others are looking at the 2014 elections — or an average of past three elections, with the formula being the number of seats won, the runner up, and the second runner up.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Will it be a Drought Year? Cyclone Daye Holds the Key
Much rides on cyclone Daye, which hit the Odisha coast early Friday morning and lay over Chhattisgarh in the evening as it weakened into a deep depression that’s expected to bring widespread rain to central and north India over the next three-four days.
(Source: The Times of India)
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