Daily Bulletin: Modi, Xi likely to make separate statements on informal summit; Shiv Sena may release Maharashtra poll manifesto; day's top stories

On day one of Modi-Xi ‘informal’ summit, Asian leaders discuss trade, ways to stave off terrorism  India and China will issue two separate statements after the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping concludes on Saturday. While the two leaders are not expected to release a joint statement, they will both release individual statements for their countries, commenting broadly on the success of the informal summit. On Saturday, delegation-level talks is also on the cards. After the talks, the prime minister will host a lunch for Xi. Xi and Modi on Friday discussed a wide range of issues including the unbalanced trade that exists between the two countries and ways to counter radicalisation and terrorism. Both India and China agreed that they need to work together to overcome the “common challenges”. Briefing reporters on the first day of the informal “summit” between the two Asian leaders, Foreign Secretary Vijay K Gokhale said that the discussions between the two leaders over dinner extended to nearly two-and-a-half-hour, well beyond the planned time. He added that the two leaders discussed the challenges they face on account of terrorism and said both the countries would work closely to ward off radicalisation and forbid terrorism from affecting the fabric of Indian and China’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. [caption id=“attachment_7486371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram. PTI[/caption] Shiv Sena likely to release poll manifesto for Maharashtra Assembly at 9 am  Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is expected to release party’s manifesto at Matoshree in Bandra for Maharashtra Assembly elections on Saturday. Earlier on Friday, Thackeray expressed confidence that the BJP-Sena alliance would once again come to power in Maharashtra. The Opposition is “tired”, and has been almost wiped out from the political scene, he claimed, campaigning for 21 October state assembly polls in Amravati and Pune districts. In Amravati, he addressed a rally for party candidates Preeti Band who is contesting from Badnera, Sunita Fiske (Achalpur) and Rajesh Wankhade (Teosa), and BJP’s Dr Sunil Deshmukh (Amravati). Thackeray also added, “The Sena aims to make farmers debt- free, rather than making them avail loan waiver.” Praising the Modi government’s crop insurance scheme and the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, he said he would make every effort to provide six free gas cylinders per year to those in the"extremely poor’’ category. BJP ups ante after triple murder in West Bengal, to meet President, Amit Shah over ‘breakdown’ of law in state  After the murder of a family of three, including a child, in Murshidabad district, the BJP has upped the ante against the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government and has sought time from President Ram Nath Kovind and Home Minister Amit Shah to apprise them about the “complete breakdown” of the law and order situation in West Bengal. Party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday criticised the state government over the killings and the alleged attack on BJP workers across the state. “We have sought time from Home Minister Amit Shah ji and President Ram Nath Kovind to apprise them about the worsening law and order situation in Bengal. People are being killed in broad daylight,” Vijayvargiya told PTI. According to BJP sources, the party would prepare a memorandum with details of more than 80 party workers killed in the state in the last two years. The brutal murder of a school teacher, his wife and minor son in Murshidabad acquired political overtones on Thursday with the BJP and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar hitting out at the TMC government over the killings. The RSS claimed that the teacher was its supporter. Unnao rape survivor accident case: CBI drops murder charges against ex-MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar The murder charges against expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar  and his associates were dropped in a car crash case involving the Unnao teen survivor who had accused the former MLA of raping her. However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged Sengar with criminal conspiracy and intimidation in the accident case. In it’s charge-sheet filed before a special CBI court in Lucknow on Friday evening, the agency said the car crash in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli on 28 July that left two of the rape survivor’s family members dead was “caused by negligence”. The FIR filed by the CBI had booked Sengar and nine other associates for alleged criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and criminal intimidation. The woman, allegedly raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor, battled for life after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer in Rae Bareli district Truck driver Ashish Kumar Pal has been charged under IPC sections related to causing death by negligence, causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others and rash driving or riding on a public way, the officials said.     Proteas struggle for survival as Virat Kohli’s double ton puts India in driver’s seat in 2nd Test Indian captain Virat Kohli struck his seventh double ton to put India in the driver’s seat at the close of play on Day 2 of the second Test. Kohli’s unbeaten 254 coupled with fifties from Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja helped India declare in first innings at 601/5. South Africa find themselves in a spot of bother having lost three key wickets in the last hour of day’s play and will resume innings on Day 3 at overnight score of 36/3 with Theunis de Bruyn (20) and nightwatchman Anrich Nortje (2) at the crease, still trailing by 565 runs. Mary Kom, Manju Rani, Lovlina Borgohain and Jamuna Boro aim to book spot in World Boxing Championships 2019 finals India’s Mary Kom, who is assured of a record eighth world medal, would be aiming for her seventh gold when she takes Turkey’s European champion Busenaz Cakiroglu in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Boxing Championships 2019 in Russia. The focus will also be on Manju Rani (48kg), Jamuna Boro (54 kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) who will be competing for a spot in the finals on Saturday. Mastercard, Stripe, and eBay leave Facebook’s Libra Association Just a week after PayPal decided to depart from Facebook’s Libra Association, other big companies including Mastercard, Stripe, and eBay have now reportedly left as well. The first official meeting of the Libra Association was scheduled in Geneva, Switzerland, on 14 October, but looks like some of the original members won’t be participating any more.