Weekend news wrap: Prime Minister Modi’s Brunei, Australia visit, and more

Here is the weekend wrap of top stories that made headlines from politics to international relations from September 1 to September 6. Check here: 
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled the prototype Vande Bharat sleeper coach at BEML’s facility on Sunday.
“The coach will undergo rigorous trials and tests in 10 days before rolling it out on the track for further testing,” Vaishnaw said, as reported by PTI.
Speaking on the safety measures, Vaishnaw noted, “There are a lot of safety features on this train. Also, a lot of innovations have been made in design. A separate cabin has been made for the maintenance staff…This train can be compared with the best trains in the world.”
A shooting incident has been reported outside the home of Punjabi singer and rapper AP Dhillon in Vancouver, Canada, on Monday.
According to reports, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Rohit Godara gang has taken responsibility for the shooting.
The gang had reportedly warned AP Dhillon to “stay within his limits, or he will meet a dog’s death,” referencing his alleged connections with Bollywood actor Salman Khan, reported India Today.
The shooting incident occurred just weeks after the release of AP Dhillion’s music video “Old Money,” which features Salman Khan. Read here.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday hailed the West Bengal anti-rape bill. In defending the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal and the Bengal Police, CM Mamata Banerjee flagged that there is an abnormally high rate of crimes against women in ‘states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat’.
The West Bengal Assembly, on Tuesday, unanimously passed the anti-rape bill after Opposition BJP lent full support. The anti-rape bill proposes capital punishment for the rapist if the victim is dead or in a vegetative state.
Titled the ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024,’ the legislation aims to strengthen protections for women and children by revising and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences. Read here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a three-day visit to Brunei and Singapore. The visit, marking the first bilateral engagement by an Indian Prime Minister in Brunei, coincides with the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Read here.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has reintroduced lesbianism as a ‘sexual offence’ in its curriculum, which had been removed in 2022 per a Madras High Court directive. According to reports, the NMC, India’s apex medical education regulator, had revised the forensic medical curriculum to reintroduce lesbianism as a ‘sexual offence’.
The curriculum will also teach the ‘importance of the hymen’, ‘the definition of virginity and defloration’. Read here.
Muhammad Yunus insisted on Thursday that ousted Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina must remain silent until Dhaka requests her extradition. The remark appeared to be a reference to her August 13 statement demanding “justice” and calling for investigation and punishment for those involved in recent “terror acts”, killings and vandalism. This has been the only statement made by Hasina after she fled.
“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh [the government] wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet. She is there in India, and at times, she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” Yunus told PTI.
Opposition Congress has accused the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of “out and out corruption,” claiming that she received rental income from an entity affiliated with Wockhdart that was placed under probe for various cases, including that of insider trading.
Throwing a fresh set of allegations, Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that between 2018 and 2024, Buch — as a whole-time member and later chairperson of capital market regulator SEBI– had been receiving rental income amounting to ₹2.16 crore from “Carol Info Services Limited”, a company affiliated to Wockhardt Limited. Read here.
(With inputs from agencies)