News in Short

• The Jammu and Kashmir government extended the detention period of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA), by another three months.
• Ms. Mufti is the only top mainstream leader who remains behind bars under the stringent PSA. All other top leaders, including the National Conference leaders, Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, were released earlier this year.
• Ms. Mufti, like other mainstream leaders, was detained on August 5 last just a day ahead of the revocation of J&K’s special status.

• Scientists have found neutralizing antibodies to the SARS CoV-2 virus, that causes COVID-19, in a small proportion of household cats and dogs sampled in Italy, suggesting that the pets may be susceptible to the disease.
• While no animals tested PCR positive for the virus itself, 3.4 percent of dogs and 3.9 percent of cats had measurable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies.
• Dogs from COVID-19 positive households were significantly more likely to test positive than those from COVID-19 negative households.

• Legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham has been made a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament.
• The 64-year-old Botham, a former captain, was among 36 new peers announced by the government to join the unelected House.
• Botham, who played 102 Test matches for England between 1977 and 1992, is a prominent Brexit supporter. He was knighted in 2007 in recognition of his services to charity and cricket.
• He is the first cricketer to be awarded a peerage since former England women’s team captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint in 2011. David Sheppard, Colin Cowdrey, and Learie Constantine were the others who were honoured with House of Lords seats earlier.

• The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the logic behind keeping places of worship closed even post lockdown, saying “e-darshan is no darshan”.
• The court was hearing a plea by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against a Jharkhand High Court order restricting worshippers to virtual darshan at Baidyanath temple in Deogarh during Shravani mela.
• The court requested the Jharkhand government to allow worshippers into the temple on a limited basis and set up a mechanism by which there was no huge congregation and devotees maintained physical distancing.

• Princepal Singh became the first NBA Academy India graduate to be signed for NBA G League next season.
• Princepal will be the third Indian after Satnam Singh and Amjyot Singh Gill to play in NBA's G-League. Satnam was selected by the Dallas Mavericks as the 52nd overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft was acquired by the Texas Legends, the G-League.
• Amjyot plays for the Wisconsin Herd after being undrafted in 2014. Palpreet Singh Brar was listed in the 2016 NBA draft but remains unpicked.