Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and others pay tribute to ex-President Pranab Mukherjee, legendary Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj and others who passed away this year, during the opening day of Parliament's Monsoon Session amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. | Photo Credit: PTI
Top news of the day: Centre tells Supreme Court no action will be taken to demolish 48,000 slum clusters in Delhi, 25 MPs test positive for COVID-19 ahead of monsoon session, and more
The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Monday that no action would be taken to demolish 48,000 slum clusters situated within safety zones along rail tracks in Delhi immediately. Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said consultations were on among the Railways, the Delhi government and the Union Ministry of Urban Development to reach a solution, taking into consideration the fact that any immediate move would cause the displacement of over two lakh families.
Seventeen Lok Sabha MPs tested COVID-19 positive following the mandatory tests carried out on September 13 and 14, before the monsoon session started on Monday morning. Reports also indicate that more than seven Rajya Sabha members also tested positive including two each from the Congress and the BJP and one each from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Aam Aadmi Party.
Civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Monday paid the ₹1 fine imposed by the Supreme Court as punishment on him for committing criminal contempt with his tweets ‘scandalising the court’.Speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court complex, Mr. Bhushan said the payment of the fine did not mean he had accepted the judgment finding him guilty. He said a review petition was being filed against the verdict.
India on Monday overtook Brazil to register the highest number of COVID-19 recoveries in the world at 37,80,107, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Johns Hopkins University, which has been compiling COVID-19 data from all over the world, put India in the number one position in terms of the number of recovered coronavirus cases at 37,80,107, followed by Brazil at 37,23,206 cases and the US at 24,51,406 cases.
The battle against COVID-19 was still far from over, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said in Parliament on Monday. “We are in the stage of unlock to revive the economy and it’s important that sustained community support is ensured consistently to control the spread of COVID-19 infection and break its chain of transmission,’’ he stated on the first day of the 18-day Monsoon Session.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment did not have any data of migrant workers who lost their jobs and their lives during the COVID-19 lockdown, Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar on Monday informed the Lok Sabha through written replies to several members’ questions.
The wholesale price-based inflation rose 0.16 per cent in August as food items and manufactured products turned costlier. The Wholesale price index based (WPI) inflation was in the negative territory for four straight months — April (-) 1.57%, May (-) 3.37%, June (-) 1.81% and July (-) 0.58%.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren, DMK leader Tiruchi Siva and BJP’s Syed Zafar Islam were among the 15 newly-elected members who took oath in Rajya Sabha on September 14. On the opening day of the monsoon session of Parliament that is being held with several restrictions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MPs walked to the designated spot, took the oath but did not go for the customary handshake with Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rise in COVID-19 cases, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the government had asked people to become “aatmanirbhar” which means they should save their lives themselves as the prime minister was “busy with peacocks”.
Terming ‘Hindi Diwas’ celebration as an “underhand method” to impose the language on people speaking other languages, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday demanded its cancellation. In a series of tweets on a day on which Hindi Diwas is celebrated, the former Chief Minister warned against “imposition” of the language, and said the cordial nature of Kannadigas should not be construed as their weakness.