News18 Daybreak | Harsimrat Kaur Resigns from Cabinet in Protest Against Farm Bills and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For

Today’s Big Stories

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, lone SAD member in Modi govt, resigns from cabinet in protest against farm bills

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal’s lone minister in the Narendra Modi government, on Thursday resigned to protest the three agriculture bills that were later passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha. She has submitted her resignation to the PMO, said Harcharan Bains, principal advisor to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that his party is ready to make any sacrifice for farmers and their welfare. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday called the resignation of Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal over the farm bills introduced by the Centre in Parliament as nothing more than a gimmick.

‘Elusive affair’: Top court asks HCs to review all cases where trials against MPs, MLAs were stayed

Underlining that expeditious trials of tainted politicians is still an elusive affair, the Supreme Court has requested high courts to review within two months all such cases where trials have been stayed. The apex court has also said that chief justices of high courts shall designate a special bench, comprising themselves and their designate, to monitor the progress of the trials against sitting and former MPs. By a judgment in 2014, the Supreme Court had set a deadline of one year for completion of trials against legislators in serious crimes and corruption cases

In Other News

Coronavirus in India: The health ministry has said that 60% of India’s case active coronavirus cases are concentrated across five worst-hit states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh — while 13 states and Union Territories have less than 5,000 active cases.

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Delhi sero survey: A serological survey conducted between August and September has found that nearly 33% of residents in Delhi have developed Covid-19 antibodies. The figure was released after the preliminary analysis of the third survey of 17,000 samples. The final figures are yet to be released officially.

Another accusation: A former model has accused Donald Trump of groping and forcibly kissing her in 1997 — the latest allegation made against the Republican incumbent just weeks before he seeks reelection. Amy Dorris said Trump sexually assaulted her in his VIP suite at the US Open tennis tournament.

Fuel sales: India’s petrol sales rose for the first time in the first half of September since the country’s lockdown in late March, signalling demand may have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. Petrol sales between September 1 and 15 rose 2.2 per cent year-on-year and were up 7 per cent over the previous month.

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Lifeline strained: On Monday, India’s cumulative tally of Covid-19 cases crossed the 50 lakh-mark as the surge in daily cases continued unabated with an addition of another 90,123 new cases. The sustained and record surge in the number of cases over the last two weeks has put a strain on medical oxygen supply in some states. Nikhil Ghanekar explains the issues surrounding medical oxygen, its use, production capacities and procurement.

Casualties of Covid: “The government does not know? We will tell them. We will give a list to them,” said Dr Amarinder Singh Malhi, resident doctor of Delhi’s AIIMS, when asked about the government informing Parliament about the death of a total of 155 healthcare workers and their kin seeking compensation under the Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan package. The information on the death of 155 healthcare workers comes at a time when the medical fraternity is mourning the loss of lives of 3 young doctors in the last three days alone, Sneha Mordani reports.