News Flash (29th September 2020): Top 10 Stories Of The Day

1. UP’s 19-year-old Dalit girl who was brutally gang-raped passes away

In a not so surprising yet heart-wrenching incident, a 19-year-old dalit girl from Uttar Pradesh was gang-raped by four ‘upper caste’ men in Hathras. Succumbing to the injuries, the girl breathed her last in a hospital in Delhi. She was kept in the ICU and was undergoing treatment. She had multiple fractures and her tongue was cut off by the convicts. The girl had managed to give her statement to the police, giving a statement that said she was raped by four men on September 14  when she was out to collect fodder for animals. The four accused have been arrested and are in custody.

2. Amnesty International, an NGO, ceases operations as govt freezes its bank accounts

Amnesty International (AI) India, an NGO fighting against the evils of crucial human rights violations amid growing hostility and the government’s clampdown on civil liberties, has had to reluctantly cease its operations in the country.  This comes after ED froze the NGO’s bank accounts on charges of an alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Responding to the suspension of the operations, AI’s India office has said, “On 10 September 2020, Amnesty International India came to know that all its bank accounts were completely frozen by the Enforcement Directorate bringing most of the work of the human rights organization to a grinding halt.”

3. ‘They are insulting farmers’, says PM Modi on protestors burning farming equipment

Taking the chance to criticize the opposition over the protests held against the controversial farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that some people don’t like the idea of farmers selling their produce independently in the open market and are insulting them by burning the “goods and equipment worshipped by farmers”. “These people are neither with the farmer nor with the youth and nor with the soldiers,” the PM said. Further, commenting on the incident that occurred at Rajpath, where few men, including several members of the Youth Congress’s Punjab unit, burned a tractor, he said, “Today, even when the central government is giving the farmers their rights, these people came down on protest. These people want the farmers of the country could not sell their produce in the open market. These people are now insulting the farmers by setting fire to the goods and equipment that the farmer worships.” 

4. SII to produce 10 cr more COVID-19 vaccine doses and sell at maximum ₹221

Amidst the human trial’s final stage of SII and Oxford’s COVID vaccine, the company has said in a statement that it will make an additional 10 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses for 92 countries including India in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and vaccine alliance GAVI. The vaccine will be priced at a maximum of $3 (₹221) per dose.

5. Ahead of Bihar Assembly polls, Pappu Yadav & Chandrashekhar Azad form alliance

Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party and Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan’s Azad Samaj Party have come together to contest the Bihar Assembly polls under the name Progressive Democratic Alliance. Sharing his views on this alliance, Yadav said, “We will announce the face of the coalition in the coming days.” He further said, “We will welcome everyone who wants to save Bihar.”

6. Scientists discover 2 new species of wetland plants in the Western Ghats

Two new species of wetland plants have been discovered by the scientists in areas along the Western Ghats in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The species hold different floral characters than previously known species. Those found in Maharashtra have been named Eriocaulon parvicephalum and those found in Karnataka have been named as Eriocaulon karaavalense.

7. Amidst border tensions with China, India constructs roads and bridges in Ladakh

As the border tension with China continues to rise by the day, India has speeded up work of finishing the construction of a bridge over the Galwan ‘nallah’ that China had objected to. Government sources said that it has made clear to the Chinese officials that they would continue to construct the bridge. “The work on the bridge, which is about 7 to 7.5 kilometres from the LAC, had started much earlier. However, around 10 May, the Chinese came to know of the construction and objected to it. However, the work on the bridge continues. The ongoing issues have only made us work faster on this bridge,” a senior official in the security and defense establishment told the media. 

8. UNDP rewards Sonu Sood with SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday awarded actor Sonu Sood with the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award for selflessly helping the lakhs of stranded migrants and students by sending them back to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. 

9. World’s COVID death toll surpasses 1mn mark, India in top 3

On Tuesday, 29th September, the world’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed the mark of one million as per data released by Johns Hopkins University. The US stands at the top with the highest number of deaths at 2,05,031, followed by Brazil with 1,42,058, India 95,542, Mexico 76,430, and the United Kingdom (42,090).

10. Andhra CM writes to PM Modi to confer Bharat Ratna to late SP Balasubramanyam

Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to confer the Bharat Ratna award which is India’s highest civilian honor, on the late S.P. Balasubramanyam for his immense and valuable contribution to the music and arts industry. The CM’s letter mentioned, “As a tribute to the legendary singer for his outstanding contribution in the field of music and art, I request you to confer Bharat Ratna award upon him.”