1. Manipur: Four held for killing of 2 students, taken to Assam; Kuki groups protest
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced on Sunday night that four people were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the kidnapping and killing of two Meitei students who went missing in July, and that the government will ensure the maximum punishment for them. Kuki-Zomi organisations referred to the arrests as ‘abductions’ and demanded the release of all the arrested within 48 hours.They threatened a “more intense agitation” in “all hill districts of Manipur” if the accused are not released.
2. Uttar Pradesh terms extra-judicial killings as ‘police self-defence action’
The Uttar Pradesh government termed police encounters as “self-defence action” which are subject to fair and impartial investigation with nothing for the State to hide. The Uttar Pradesh government filed a 286-page report in the Supreme Court in response to a petition filed by Atiq Ahmad’s sister, who claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government and the State police were responsible for killing her two brothers and a nephew in the span of a few days in April.
3. India-US ties are at an all-time high
Dismissing concerns that the ongoing India-Canada diplomatic row may cast a shadow on India-US ties, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised that Delhi’s relationship with Washington is at an “all-time high”, and the two countries have moved to a position where they see each other as “very desirable, optimal and comfortable partners”.
4. No shortage of TB drugs in India: Union Health Ministry
There is no shortage of anti-tuberculosis medicines in India, the Union Health Ministry reiterated on Sunday, slamming media reports claiming that such a shortage exists as “false, motivated and misleading”.
The clarification came days after as many as 113 civil society organisations and 776 individuals from across the world addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and health minister Manshukh Mandaviya seeking urgent intervention in the issue of shortage of drugs for TB patients.
5. TMC's mega MGNREGA protest in Delhi today
Over 50 buses carrying thousands of beneficiaries of the Centre’s flagship schemes for rural jobs and housing left Kolkata for the national capital on Saturday, to protest the Union governent’s “denial of funds” for welfare schemes in West Bengal. Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs and state ministers will hold a peaceful sit-in at Rajghat on Monday (October 2) to protest against the alleged denial of MGNREGA and housing scheme funds to the Bengal government.
