Daily Bulletin: Narendra Modi completes 100 days in office; ISRO plan to soft land on Moon falters; days's top stories

Narendra Modi-govt completes 100 days since NDA’s landslide win in 2019 LS polls The Narendra Modi government on Saturday (7 September) completed 100 days in office since the National Democratic Alliance won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a thumping majority. Most recently, the Modi 2.0 government announced the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on 31 August in Assam, which excluded the names of  over 19 lakh people. The Supreme Court-monitored NRC exercise was aimed to weed out illegal immigrants, mostly from Bangladesh, from Assam which has been facing influx of people from the neighbouring country since partition in 1947. [caption id=“attachment_7134121” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] The other major development was the nullification of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The government also bifurcated the state by carving out Ladakh as a separate Union territory. The second term of the Modi government marked a productive Parliament session, in which a total of 38 bills were introduced, of which 28 were passed with a majority. It has been successful in passing the triple talaq bill, Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019, amendment of Right to Information Act, amendments to the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act), etc. However, what remains to be seen is that how will the government pull out the economy from its lowest point in recent times and ensure its goal of making India a five trillion dollar economy stays its course. Modi to lay foundation stones for three metro corridors in Mumbai, perform ‘bhoomipujan’ for Aarey project Ahead of the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay foundation stones for three more metro corridors in the megapolis worth over Rs 19,000 crore on Saturday. During the visit, Modi will also perform bhoomipujan for the controversial Metro Bhavan at the Aarey Colony, a major green lung of the city . It can be noted that the entire metro project has attracted lots of criticism from environmentalists and activists following the state’s decision to build the main metro and the casting yard which will lead to felling of tens of thousands of trees at the green lung, which is an extension of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the northern side of the city. Environmentalists and activists have been out on the city streets seeking to shelve these plans earlier this week. The three metro projects — all elevated lines — that Modi will announce are the 9.2-kilometre Gaimukh-Shivaji Chowk (Mira Road) metro-10 corridor; the 12.8-kilometre Wadala-CST metro-11 corridor; and the 20.7-kilometre Kalyan-Taloja metro-12 corridor. The 32-storey Metro Bhavan, which will be the integrated operations and control centre for the proposed 14 metro lines in and around Mumbai, is proposed to be built on a 20,387-square-metre plot with a developable area of 1,14,088 sqmt within the Aarey Colony. ‘India is with you’: Modi to ISRO scientists after Chandrayaan-2 landing fails  Urging the ISRO scientists to refrain from being disheartened by the hurdles in the moon mission Chandrayaan-2, Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that there will be a “new dawn”. ISRO’s plan to soft land Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module on the Lunar surface did not go as planned in the early hours of Saturday, with the lander losing contact with ground stations during its final descent. Addressing the scientists hours after ISRO announced that it had lost communication with the lander, Modi also said that the country’s determination to land on the moon has become even stronger. “We came very close, but we need to cover more ground…. Learnings from today will make us stronger and better,” he told the scientists, adding, “The best is yet to come in our space programme. India is with you.” Modi had visited ISRO centre in Bengaluru to watch the proceedings as the lander began its descent towards the moon surface. IMD sounds heavy rainfall alert for Vidarbha, Madhya Maharashtra and Odisha; thunderstorms, squall likely over Andaman and Nicobar Islands India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that isolated places over Vidarbha, Odisha and Madhya Maharashtra are likely to receive heavy rainfall on Friday. The weather forecasting agency has also predicted heavy downpour over Konkan, Goa and Telangana. IMD predicts heavy rainfall for Vidarbha, Madhya Maharashtra and Odisha today; thunderstorms, squall likely over Andaman and Nicobar Islands Representational image. ANI “Heavy rainfall at isolated places over Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Coastal and South Interior Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe”, the IMD stated in its All India Weather Warning Bulletin. Thunderstorms accompanied with squall is very likely over Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Strong winds, speed reaching 40-50 kilometres per hour, are very likely to prevail over central and southwest Arabian Sea and central and adjoining south Bay of Bengal. Union Bank of India board meeting on 9 September to approve amalgamation State-owned Union Bank of India on Wednesday said its board will meet on 9 September to approve amalgamation of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank with itself. Besides, the board would also take up the matter related to capital infusion of Rs 11,700 crore, Union Bank of India said in a regulatory filing. In a separate filing, United Bank of India said its board meeting will be held on 6 September to approve its amalgamation with Punjab National Bank. The government on 30 August unveiled a mega plan to merge 10 public sector banks into four. Serena Williams faces Bianca Andreescu in US Open final Serena Williams once again chases her 24th grand slam title when she faces Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu in the final of the US Open. Serena has lost three consecutive major finals and has not won a slam since 2017 Australian Open as she chases Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles. Andreescu, meanwhile, could become first Canadian to win a singles slam with a win in what is just her first main draw appearance at Flushing Meadows.