HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 9.30 pm: NATION DEL86 DL-FIRECRACKERS-BAN Complete ban on bursting, sale of firecrackers up to Jan 1 in Delhi New Delhi: The Delhi Pollution Control Committee on Tuesday ordered a complete ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1, 2022.

DEL82 LDALL-PB-SIDHU Cong crisis: Navjot Sidhu resigns as Punjab Congress chief, minister quits in solidarity Chandigarh/New Delhi: Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday resigned as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief, plunging the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the assembly elections in the state.

DEL74 CONG-LD JOIN Kanhaiya Kumar joins Congress New Delhi: Former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar joined the Congress on Tuesday in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, saying the oldest party has to be strengthened to ''save'' the country.

DEL91 DL-VIRUS-LD CASES Delhi records 2 Covid deaths, 34 new cases in a day; positivity rate 0.05 per cent New Delhi: The national capital recorded two COVID-19 deaths and 34 fresh instances of the infection in a day with a 0.05 per cent case positivity rate, according to a health bulletin issued by the Delhi government on Tuesday. DEL62 PM-2NDLD AGRI Climate change big challenge for entire ecosystem; need to step up efforts: Modi New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said climate change is a big challenge not only for the farm sector but also for the entire ecosystem, and efforts needed to be stepped up to address the problem.

DEL76 HEALTH-INDOUS-MANDAVIYA India, US need to work jointly in reforming global health architecture: Mandaviya New Delhi: Both India and the US are global partners and need to work collaboratively in reforming the global health architecture, whose fault lines have become amply visible during the current pandemic, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday.

DEL77 AVI-FLIGHT SUSPENSION Suspension of scheduled international passenger flights extended till Oct 31 New Delhi: The coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till October 31, India's aviation regulator DGCA said on Tuesday.

DEL85 RAJNATH-LD MANUFACTURING Rajnath Singh urges private sector defence industry to invest in R&D New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday urged private sector defence companies to invest in research and development to boost production, stressing that rapid changes in the global security scenarios are expected to increase demand for military equipment.

DEL71 JK-LD GADKARI-TUNNELS Gadkari reviews construction work of all-weather Zojila, Z-Morh tunnels on Srinagar-Leh highway Sonamarg/ Baltal (J&K): Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday reviewed the construction work of strategically important Zojila and Z-Morh tunnels on the Srinagar-Leh highway.

LEGAL LGD26 DL-COURT-RIOTS-PROBE Delhi riots: 'Sorry state of affairs' says court after no progress in probe New Delhi: "This is really a sorry state of affairs," a Delhi court said on Tuesday, coming down heavily on the police for showing no progress in the investigation of a riots case months after registering the FIR.

LGD24 SC-LD WEST BENGAL SC notice to Centre, others on West Bengal plea against HC order for CBI probe into post-poll violence cases New Delhi: West Bengal has "made out" a case for issuance of notices, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while seeking responses from the Centre and others on the state government's appeal against the Calcutta High Court order directing court-monitored CBI probe into the heinous cases of rape and murder during the post-poll violence there.

CAL8 HC-LD POLL-BHABANIPUR HC gives go-ahead for Bhabanipur by-poll, berates chief secretary for ''misleading'' EC Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the September 30 by-poll to Bhabanipur assembly seat, from where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting, saying it does not want to interfere with the Election Commission's decision at this stage.

FOREIGN FGN20 US-PAKISTAN-TERRORISM-LD REPORT Pakistan home to 12 foreign terrorist outfits: US Congressional report Washington: Pakistan is home to at least 12 groups designated as 'foreign terrorist organisations' by the US, including five of them being India-centric like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), according to the latest Congressional report on terrorism.By Lalit K Jha FGN17 JAISHANKAR-LD MEXICO Jaishankar holds talks with Mexican prez Obrador on expanding practical cooperation in various sectors Mexico City: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had an ''open conversation'' with Mexican President Manuel Lopez Obrador on governance priorities and practices, as the two leaders held discussions on expanding practical cooperation in various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, ICT and energy.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)