A look at the top headlines of the day:

  1. Attack on Salman Rushdie is an assault on freedom of expression, say writers and politicians: The Council on American-Islamic Relations raised concerns that people might rush to blame Muslims or Islam after the author was stabbed at an event in New York.
  2. India-China ties can’t be normal unless there is peace on border, says S Jaishankar: The situation remains unresolved in spite of 16 rounds of commander-level talks between both the countries, the foreign minister says.
  3. Himachal Pradesh Assembly passes Bill that bans forced mass conversions: The proposed law also increases the punishment for illegal conversions to 10 years from seven years.
  4. Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’ was banned due to law and order concerns, says ex-Congress minister: K Natwar Singh made the statement after the author was stabbed at an event in New York and the Congress was being criticised for banning the novel.
  5. Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin’s son among four fired from government jobs: Assbah Arzoomand Khan, the wife of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front militant Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, was also among those who were sacked.
  6. Caste panel clears former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede of allegations about fake certificate: The Mumbai District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee said that it has been proven that Wankhede belongs to the Scheduled Caste category.
  7. Sonia Gandhi tests positive for Covid-19, two months after last infection: The 75-year-old Congress chief was admitted to the Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi in June.
  8. Ranveer Singh summoned by police in complaint about nude photos on Instagram: Mumbai Police officials went to the actor’s house on Friday to serve him a notice, but were told that he was not in the city.
  9. FBI seized ‘top secret’ documents from raid on Donald Trump’s home, court documents show: Information categorised in such a manner is meant to be accessed only in a secure government facility.
  10. Punjab government notifies ‘one MLA, one pension’ scheme: The rule allows providing pension to MLAs for just one term, deviating from older norms when the legislators would get the payment for successive stints.