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The Congress party on Friday disassociated itself from the political row sparked by former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil's remarks and called it "unacceptable". The veteran Congress leader said that "the concept of `jihad` finds mention not only in the Quran but in the Bhagwad Gita and in Christianity as well". Addressing the audience at a book launch event of Congress leader and former Union Minister Mohsina Kidwai on Thursday, the former Lok Sabha Speaker and Union Minister Patil stated "Lord Krishna taught jihad to Arjun and the concept of jihad is not just in Islam but also in Bhagavad Gita and in Christianity." Taking to Twitter, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday shared an excerpt from Jawaharlal Nehru`s "Discovery of India" where the former PM talks about Geeta`s `universality`. 

In a major setback to TMC, the Supreme Court today rejected party leader Manik Bhattacharya's plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering matter in connection with the WB SSC scam. Notably, Bhattacharya is the former chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education. Manik is to remain in the custody of the ED.

The Top Court on October 18, had reserved its order on Bhattacharya's plea.

Serum Institute of India's owner and CEO Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said the company stopped production of the Covishield vaccine in December last year and some 100 million doses it had in stock at the time were dumped upon expiry. "Since December 2021, we have stopped production of Covishield. The booster vaccines have no demand as people now seem fed up with Covid. Honestly, I'm also fed up. We all are," he said while speaking to the press on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN). The three-day conference began in Pune on Thursday.

Covovax, the new jab that SII has developed, will be part of the mixed booster regime. Poonawalla said, "Now, Covovax should be allowed in two weeks. Going forward, when people take a flu shot every year, they may take a Covid vaccine along with it. But in India, there is no culture of taking a flu shot every year, like we have in the West."

The Delhi government on Thursday issued an order withdrawing the Rs 500 fine for not wearing masks in public places in the national capital. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had in a meeting last month decided to stop levying the penalty after September 30 amid a decline in Covid-19 cases in the national capital.

However, no official notification had been issued.

Continuing his attack on Nitish Kumar, political strategist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday (October 19, 2022) claimed that the Bihar Chief Minister is in touch with his former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that he may join hands with the party again if the situation demands so. Talking to the news agency PTI, Kishor, who has earlier worked with the Bihar CM both as a professional and a party colleague, said that Nitish Kumar has kept a line of communication open with the BJP through Janata Dal (United) MP Harivansh.

"People who are thinking that Nitish Kumar is actively building a national alliance against the BJP will be surprised to know that he has kept a line open with the BJP. He is in touch with the BJP through his party MP and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh Ji," the 45-year-old activist said.