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Tue, 10 December 2019
Don't spread misinformation on CAB: Sonowal

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23:22   Don't spread misinformation on CAB: Sonowal
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday asked protesters to not spread 'misinformation' over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, as the state came to a grinding halt due to a day-long strike called by nearly 20 organisations against the legislation.

Sonowal, speaking at a programme in Guwahati, said no one should allow 'divisive forces' to destabilise the state.

"In order to put Assam strongly on the world map, we all must work dedicatedly. Building a robust work culture in the state should be the prime objective of everyone and youths must not be misled to join agitations," he said.

Normal life was paralysed in Assam's Brahmaputra Valley during the shutdown that was led by the All Assam Students' Union and the North East Students' Organisation (NESO).  -- PTI
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22:27   Priyanka calls for protests against CAB
Terming the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha an effort to implement the 'vidhaan' (law) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written to party workers in Uttar Pradesh, urging them to register strong protests against it.

In the letter, Gandhi wrote that because of the faulty policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party government, economic activities in the country have come to a standstill, trade has been destroyed and unemployment has reached a new high, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said on Tuesday.

"Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written a letter to all the party workers. In the letter, she has termed the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha an effort to implement the law (vidhaan) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Bill does not intend to view people equally, instead it advocates seeing them in a discriminatory manner," Lallu said.

The BJP knows that it cannot control the slowdown in the economy and hence, is opting for the 'divide and rule' policy of the British, she was quoted as saying in the letter.

"Destroying India's Constitution will affect every religion, caste and culture. If we allow this to happen today, then tomorrow, this government will target every person, institute, culture, caste and religion which does not endorse the Sangh's 'vidhaan'," she said.

Making a fervent appeal she wrote, "It is the duty of every citizen of this country not to allow destruction of India's Constitution, and also not allow implementation of the Sangh's 'vidhaan'.

"To defend the Constitution, every worker of the Congress should take a pledge to agitate in every village and city in the country to courts and in Parliament."

She also urged every Congress worker in the state to fight with full strength to save the Constitution, Lallu said.   -- PTI
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21:45   AASU to challenge citizenship bill in SC
The All Assam Students Union (AASU), which is spearheading the anti-Citizenship Amendment Bill protests in the state, on Tuesday said that it will move the Supreme Court against it.

The AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre for thrusting the contentious piece of legislation on the people of the North East said it will not be accepted 'under any circumstance'.

"We will take legal recourse to fight the CAB. We have talked to our lawyers and we will move forward in moving the Supreme Court as per their advice.

"We will, however, continue with our democratic movement against the Bill through which the divisive BJP-led government at the Centre is attempting to polarise the North East region ... The bill will take away our rights and we have to agitate against it," Bhattacharya maintained.

Protests against the Bill were held by the Silpi Samaj (artists society) and the general people near the chief minister's official residence, the Raj Bhavan and in front of the student union's office in the city during the 11-hour North East bandh.

The Centre, he alleged, is dividing the north eastern region by giving inner line permit to Manipur in addition to Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, where it already exists.

It also seeks to keep out of the purview of the Bill the tribal areas of Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya which are under the sixth schedule of the Constitution.

"The seven north eastern states are politically different, but are emotionally one unit. The success of the total shutdown of the entire north east today has proven it," claimed Bhattacharya, who is also the chief advisor of the apex North East Students Organisation (NESO).  -- PTI
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21:16   Sena, BJP can come together; Uddhav to decide: Manohar Joshi
Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi on Tuesday said his party and Bharatiya Janata Party can come together in near future.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will take a decision on this issue at the right time, Joshi told reporters.

"Instead of fighting over small issues, it is better to tolerate some things. It is good to share issues which you feel strongly about. If both parties work together, it is beneficial for both," he said.

"It is not that Shiv Sena will never go with the BJP again. Uddhav Thackeray will take the right decision at the right time," Joshi said.          -- PTI
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20:16   Now, EU expresses reservations against CAB
The European Union on Tuesday hoped that the principle of equality enshrined in Indian Constitution will be upheld in the proposed law which seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Ambassador of European Union to India Ugo Astuto said he was confident that outcome of the ongoing parliamentary discussions on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) will be in sync with standards set by the Indian Constitution.

"The Indian Constitution guarantees equality before the law without any discrimination. These are principles we share. These principles underpin EU law... I trust that the outcome of the discussions will be in line with the highest standards set by the Indian Constitution," he said.

Astuto was replying to a question the CAB at a press conference. Diplomatic sources said the European Union has already taken up the issue with New Delhi as it was concerned over certain provisions in the proposed legislation.

The comments by the EU envoy came a day after the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called the CAB a 'dangerous turn in the wrong direction' and asked the US government to consider imposing sanctions against Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other Indian leaders if the bill with the 'religious criterion' is turned into a law.

On its part, the External Affairs Ministry has rejected the USCIRF statement.

The bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution.

The opposition parties have come down hard on the government on the proposed legislation.

The Lok Sabha passed the bill on Monday.

The Rajya Sabha is slated to take it up on Wednesday.  -- PTI
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19:49   RJD resolves to make Tejashwi its CM candidate
The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Tuesday resolved to nominate Lalu Prasad Yadav's heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate in Bihar and defeat the Nitish Kumar dispensation in the assembly election due in 2020.

The resolution was passed by the RJD's national council meeting in Patna, which was for the first time held in the absence of its founding president Lalu Prasad Yadav as he is serving sentences in fodder scam cases in Ranchi.

The RJD also authorised its jailed supremo for forging alliances with like-minded parties and asserted that the 2020 assembly polls will kick off the process for 'unseating the anti-people Narendra Modi government' at the Centre in the next general elections.

The meeting-cum-open session was attended by Lalu's two sons -- Tejashwi and Tej Pratap -- who have not been on the best of terms since their entry into politics four years ago.

His wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi and daughter Misa Bharti, an MP, remained conspicuous by their absence.

Rabri is in poor health and is away from public functions, and Misa Bharti is a member of the Rajya Sabha where the Citizenship Amendment Bill is being debated.

The meeting saw the presence of veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav, who had formed his own outfit Loktantrik Janata Dal after parting ways with Nitish Kumars Janata Dal-United which he had headed after a long time.

Yadav had fought the Lok Sabha polls on an RJD ticket before merging Loktantrik Janata Dal with the party.

RJD veterans like its national vice-presidents Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Shivanand Tiwary and state unit chief Jagadanand Singh were present.

The open session also saw former state minister Vrishan Patel, a party hopper whose father Birchand Patel was a towering OBC leader from Bihar in his times, returning to the RJD after a gap of more than a decade.  -- PTI
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19:12   Tripura shuts Internet, SMS service for 48 hrs
The government of Tripura has suspended mobile internet and SMS services in the state for 48 hours after state police found that rumors being mongered about ethnic clashes between tribals and non-tribals in Manu Kanchanpur areas.

Chief Minister Biplab Deb said the ban was not a fallout of anti-Citizenship Amendment Bill protests in the state, asserting that tribal areas are protected from the CAB.

Earlier in the day, agitators participating in a bandh called by the North East Students' Organisation set a market, where shops were owned mostly by non-tribals, on fire in Dhalai district, police said.

However, no one was injured in the incident and the blaze at Manughat market was doused, a senior police officer said.

"Security forces have been deployed in the market but the incident has created fear among the non-tribals who owned most of the shops," the officer said.

The bandh threw normal life out of gear in Dhalai, West Tripura and Khowai districts with residents remaining indoors while attendance in offices was thin, he said.

Train services in the entire state came to a complete halt and vehicular movement was affected, the officer said.   -- ANI/PTI
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18:41   BHU protests end after Muslim prof resigns
The sit-in protests which were going on in Banaras Hindu University for over a month ended on Tuesday following the resignation of Dr Firoz Khan as an assistant professor in the faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan (SVDV) department.

The students were protesting against Khan's appointment in the department.

Dr Firoz Khan resigned from his post at SVDV last night and has joined the Arts Faculty of the University.

Chkarapani Ojha, the student who was leading the protests said, "We were protesting for over a month. We are ending this 'andolan' (protests) on the basis of letter received. In the letter, it has been mentioned that Dr Firoz Khan has resigned from the SVDV department."

"Now that our demand has been accepted...we want to say that we have no ideological rivalry with Dr Firoz Khan. We wish him well and may he scale greater heights every day and keep serving the Sanskrit," he said while adding that they will cooperate with the exams. -- ANI
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18:39   Adequate security given to kin of Unnao rape victim: Police
Police on Tuesday said they have made 'adequate' security arrangements for the family members of the 23-year-old Unnao rape victim, who died last week of burn injuries after being set ablaze by five men, including the two rape accused.

"Adequate security arrangements have been made for the family of the Unnao rape victim. A circle officer, a SHO along with the police force and PAC will be present there," Unnao Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir told reporters.

"The police force will also be deployed at the grave of the victim," he said.

He also said the police will file chragesheet in the case before soon.

"As far as investigation is concerned, we are collecting evidences. A team under Additional Superintendent of Police has been formed for this and he is monitoring the probe on a daily basis. Our endeavour is to file the chargesheet in the case as soon as possible so that the case can be fast-tracked," he said.

On a question about statements by some family members of some of the accused that they are being deliberately framed in this case, and that they were forcibly picked-up by the police when they were sleeping, the officer said, "All these facts are being looked into. We are not going to spare the guilty."

The police officer also said the post-mortem report of the victim has come from Delhi.

Asked if the police will also take statement of the victim's lawyer with whom her long conversations have surfaced, he said, "We will take his statement also."  -- PTI
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18:11   Bengal Guv-TMC govt face-off intensifies
The relation between the West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Trinamool Congress government in the state hit a new low on Tuesday as he ridiculed it for working at 'snail's pace' and not answering his queries on pending bills on time.

Dhankhar asserted that he will work according to the Constitution and he cannot be blamed for the delay in giving his assent to the bills.

"I will work as per the Constitution of the country. It is not my fault if the government moves at snail's pace in answering the queries. By blaming me they can't evade their responsibility," Dhankhar told reporters.

The discontent in the TMC over West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for allegedly 'withholding' his nod to several bills echoed in the assembly on Tuesday with the party MLAs staging a protest.

The TMC lawmakers slammed Dhankhar over the delay in clearing the bills and demanded his removal.

Speaker Biman Banerjee had last week adjourned the House for two days as bills slated to be placed in it were yet to get his nod.

Dhankhar has been at loggerheads with the TMC government over a number of issues since assuming charge as the governor.  -- PTI
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17:47   Vet rape-murder: Bodies of accused shifted to govt hospital
The bodies of four men accused in the rape and murder of a woman veterinarian, who were killed in an alleged exchange of fire with police on December 6, were on Tuesday shifted to the state-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad from Mahabubnagar district.

"The bodies of the four people were brought to Hyderabad and are preserved in the mortuary of Gandhi Hospital on Tuesday," a senior hospital official told PTI.

The Telangana high court on Monday directed authorities to preserve their bodies till December 13 and ordered that the bodies can be shifted to Gandhi Hospital if the government hospital at Mahabubnagar does not have the facility to preserve them till that date.

The bodies were kept at the government hospital at Mahabubnagar after autopsy following the alleged encounter on December 6.

The HC was treating as a petition a representation received in the office of the Chief Justice alleging that the 'encounter' was extra-judicial killing and requesting judicial intervention.

The four accused were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman by smothering her and burning her body.

They were gunned down by police on December 6 at Chattanpalli about 50 kms from Hyderabad when they were taken to the scene of crime near the culvert, under which the charred remains of the 25-year old veterinarian were found on November28, to recover her phone, wrist watch and others pertaining to the case.

The Cyberabad police had said its personnel resorted to 'retaliatory' firing after two of the accused opened fire at their personnel after snatching their weapons besides attacking them with stones and sticks, resulting in injuries to two policemen.  -- PTI
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17:16   Unnao rape case verdict on Dec 16
A Delhi court on Tuesday reserved verdict for next week in the case of alleged kidnapping and rape of a woman by expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao in 2017. District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said he will pronounce his judgement in the case on December 16. CBI had concluded its arguments in the case on Monday and recording of statements of defence witnesses was completed in in-camera proceedings on December 2.


The woman was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor. The court has also framed charges against co-accused Shashi Singh in the case. In July, the car of the woman who had accused Sengar was hit by a truck and she was severly injured. The woman's two aunts were killed in the accident and her family had alleged foul play. 


Incidentally, December 16 is also the day when the 2012 Delhi gang-rape took place.
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17:10   Thousands sign petition demanding withdrawal of citizenship bill
Over 1,000 scientists and scholars have signed a petition demanding that the Citizenship Amendment Bill in its current form be withdrawn, with noted academician Pratap Bhanu Mehta saying the legislation will transform India into an "unconstitutional ethnocracy".


The scientists and academicians said the use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed bill would mark a radical break and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the Constitution. 


The Lok Sabha passed the bill a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours. It seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there. 


After the passage of the legislation in the Lower House, civil rights activist Harsh Mander said if the bill is passed, he will practise civil disobedience. "I will officially register as a Muslim. I will then refuse to submit any documents to NRC. I will finally demand the same punishment as any undocumented Muslim -- detention centre & withdrawn citizenship. Join this civil disobedience," Mander tweeted. Mehta, a signatory to the petition, said the citizenship bill will convert a constitutional democracy into a unconstitutional ethnocracy. 


"We can debate the past forever. But with CAB India takes a giant step to officially convert a constitutional democracy into a unconstitutional ethnocracy," he tweeted. 


Academician Ramchandra Guha hit out at Home Minister Amit Shah and said he was a professed Savarakrite and had no issue with Muhammad Ali Jinnah's two-nation theory. "Savarkar, 1943: I have no quarrel with Mr Jinnah's two-nation theory. We Hindus are a nation by ourselves and it is a historical fact that Hindus and Muslims are two nations'. The home minister, a professed Savarkarite, has no quarrel with Mr Jinnah's two-nation theory either," Guha tweeted. 


The petition said the idea of India emerged from the independence movement, and as enshrined in Constitution, is that of a country that aspires to treat people of all faiths equally. -- PTI
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16:50   Nirbhaya convict files review plea
One of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape-murder case, Akshay Singh, has moved a review petition in the Supreme Court against his death penalty saying he is dying of air and water pollution. The convict -- Akshay -- in his review petition pleaded and requested the Supreme Court to consider his prayer and review its earlier judgement of May 5, 2017, in which the top cop sentenced him to the gallows.

"We are requesting the apex court to conduct the review petition hearing in an open court," Dr AP Singh, the lawyer for the convict, told ANI.


The latest review petition against the death penalty in the Nirbhaya case once again brings the long-pending punishment in the gruesome rape-murder case under doubt.

The review petition has been filed and accepted by the Supreme Court registry.


Two other convicts in the case, Vinay and Pawan Kumar Gupta, will not file a curative in the Supreme Court now. According to the lawyer for the convicts, only after the disposal of Akshay's review petition, the three other convicts will file a curative petition together.


Another convict in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-and-murder case, Pawan Gupta, who was lodged in the Mandoli Jail, has been shifted to Tihar.Pawan Kumar Gupta, who was lodged in the Mandoli Jail, was recently shifted to Tihar, Director General (Prison) Sandeep Goel said.Gupta is lodged in Jail No. 2 of Tihar, where two other convicts in the case -- Mukesh Singh and Akshay -- are also lodged, while Vinay Sharma is in Jail No. 4 of Tihar, another jail official said.


Image: Delhi gang rape convicts Akshay Thakur, left, and Mukesh Singh. 
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16:43   Same view not always possible: NCP on Sena backing CAB
With its Maharashtra alliance partner Shiv Sena backing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, the NCP on Tuesday said the two are different parties and it is not possible always for them to hold the same view on all issues.


NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik, however, said the parties are committed to ensure that no injustice is meted to anyone on the grounds of religion, caste, language and region in Maharashtra. Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant also said that though the Shiv Sena has backed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in the Lok Sabha, it was hopeful the Uddhav Thackeray-led party will stick to the common minimum programme (CMP) while governing the state. 


The Sharad Pawar-led party earlier said the CAB is "anti-constitutional" and the BJP-led Union government is pushing it only for political benefits. The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress formed government in Maharashtra last month after the Thackeray-led party severed its ties with the BJP. 


In the CMP formulated before government formation, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress mentioned that issues regarding constitutional provisions and having a bearing on the state and national secular fabric will have to be discussed among them, and only then any of the three parties can decide on its position. -- PTI
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16:18   Pak Hindu migrants celebrate CAB nod in LS
The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha brought cheers to the Hindu migrants from Pakistan who are living in the city and they are now looking forward to the bill getting a nod from the Rajya Sabha. 


Premchand, who had shifted to India from Pakistan in 2005 and applied for citizenship later, expressed happiness over this development. "The government has given a new life to us. We express our gratitude to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP government for giving us a chance to live in India with dignity," he said, adding that he has applied for citizenship Hindu Singh Sodha, the president of the Seemant Lok Sangathan, an organisation fighting for the rights of the migrants, said this amendment would make more migrants eligible for citizenship.


"This amendment would make more migrants eligible for citizenship sooner. People had earlier been compelled to wait for 11 long years in this country before applying for citizenship," said . He said earlier the bill could not get the nod of the Rajya Sabha.


"We look forward to the bill being passed in the Upper House as well," Sodha said, adding that the process of granting of citizenship also needed to be expedited as it progressed at a snails pace. Earlier, the migrants applying for citizenship were required to have stayed in India for at least 11 years, but under the proposed legislation the required period of stay has been reduced to six years. -- PTI

Image: Hindu refugees from Pakistan. 
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16:04   Rs 15 cr+ raised by auctioning off PM's gifts
The culture ministry on Tuesday informed parliament that Rs 15.13 crore were raised from the auction of mementos and gifts presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last five years. In an answer to a query in Rajya Sabha, Culture Minister Prahlad Patel said that the money had been raised during three auctions -- February 18-20, 2015, January 27-April 1, 2019 and September 14-October 24, 2019. The proceeds were given to the Namami Gange project of the Union government, he said. -- PTI
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15:45   Won't hail CAB till there's clarity: Uddhav
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the Shiv Sena won't back the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha till there is clarity on the party's queries posed in the Lok Sabha.


The Lok Sabha passed the Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there, a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours. The Sena supported the Bill in the Lower House.


Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai that a detailed discussion and debate on the Bill was necessary. The Modi government needs to worry about the economy, job crisis and rising cost of living, especially the onions price rise, more than the implementation of the Bill, he said.


"We need to change this notion that one who supports the Bill and the BJP is a patriot and one who opposes it is anti-national. The government should answer all the issues raised on the Bill," he said. -- PTI
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15:15   Congress whip to RS MPs, CAB to be tabled tomorrow
Congress has issued a three-line whip to its Rajya Sabha lawmakers asking them to be present in the Upper House tomorrow as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 is likely to be tabled on Wednesday.


The Lok Sabha, on Monday, passed the Citizenship Bill with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes where 391 members were present and voted.The Bill seeks to give citizenship to refugees from the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zorastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The cut-off date for getting citizenship under the bill is December 31, 2014.In the Rajya Sabha, the Modi government requires the support of at least 123 MPs in the 245-member House to pass the bill. -- ANI
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14:59   The end? All Nirbhaya convicts brought to Tihar
As speculation is rife on whether the four Nirbhaya convicts will be hanged to death this month, here comes another clue. One of the convicts in the December, 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-and-murder case, who was lodged in the Mandoli Jail, has been shifted to Tihar, jail officials said on Tuesday. 


Pawan Kumar Gupta, who was lodged in the Mandoli Jail, was recently shifted to Tihar, Director General (Prison) Sandeep Goel said. Gupta is lodged in Jail No. 2 of Tihar, where two other convicts in the case -- Mukesh Singh and Akshay -- are also lodged, while Vinay Sharma is in Jail No. 4 of Tihar, another jail official said. 

The other clue that the four remaining convicts -- Ram Singh died in jail and the juvenile has been released -- may be hanged comes with this news that a jail in Buxar district of Bihar, known for its expertise in manufacturing execution ropes, has been directed to keep 10 pieces ready by the end of this week, triggering speculations that these might be meant for the 2012 Nirbhaya case convicts.


The Buxar jail, the only prison in the state having the required knowhow, received an instruction to the effect last week, though it was not known where these ropes -- strong with a short shelf-life -- would be dispatched.


File pic of convicts Vinay Sharma and Pawan Kumar Gupta 
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14:36   Speaker asks ministers to speak from their seats in LS
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday asked union ministers and members to speak from their seats in the House.The Speaker gave the directions after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi urged him to strictly follow the rule that members should speak from their seats as their name is displayed on the screen.


He said that when Somnath Chatterjee was Speaker he had implemented a rule for members to speak from their seats.Joshi said the wrong name is displayed when members do not speak from their seats and urged the Speaker to strictly implement the rule.


Birla asked if the House agrees with the minister and noted that it works with the agreement of members. "Honourable members, the ministers will also reply to members from their seats from today," he said to applause from members.


The Speaker also asked members to raise their issues under Rule 377 in one minute and take a maximum of 30 seconds to wind it up.He said the members who want to read their issues should practice at home so that they can finish reading it in a minute in the House.  -- ANI
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13:47   From Make in India to rape in India: Adhir
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up on the issue of rising instances of crimes against women in the country.


"Unfortunate that Prime Minister who speaks on everything is silent on this issue (crimes against women). From Make in India, India is slowly heading towards rape in India," Chowdhury said in the Lok Sabha.


Chowdhury was speaking in reference to the recent instances of rape and killing from Uttar Pradesh and Telangana.While a woman veterinarian in Telangana was first raped and burned to death by the accused (who were later killed in an encounter by the police), in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao the perpetrators had set the victim on fire, after getting out on bail, leading to her death.


Earlier today, Congress lawmaker Kodikunnil Suresh had given an Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha over the 'violence on women, children, SC/STs in the country'. -- PTI
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13:43   Assam students protest against CAB
The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) on Tuesday carried out protests in Guwahati against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday.Samujjal Bhattacharya, AASU advisor accused the Centre of attempting to make the north-east a "dumping ground for the illegal immigrants".


"They are trying to kill the Assam accord through this, they are adopting the CAB only to protect the illegal Bangladeshis. We will not allow the north-east to become a dumping ground for them," he said.The AASU advisor said that not only Assam but the entire north-east region is with the state over the issue."First the Congress, while it held power in the Centre, had imposed the IMDT Act on the people of Assam to protect the illegal Bangladeshis and now the BJP is trying to impose the CAB to do the same. The Centre is trying to divide the people of Assam but on the call of AASU the people of the north-east region have come out to send a warning to the Centre," Bhattacharya told ANI here.Bhattacharya said that the CAB was an attempt by the Centre to grant citizenship to the illegal Bangladeshi migrants who were living in the region."We want to send a message that the Centre should not try to divide the people of the north-east through this communal and unconstitutional CAB. All seven states of the region are opposing this bill. Our question is that if the CAB is bad for the Inner Line Permit areas, the sixth scheduled covered area then how can it be good for Assam or the rest of the region," he added.


Image: Various organisations continue to protest in Guwahati against the CAB. Assamese actors Barsha Rani Bishaya and Utpal Das also present.
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13:16   CAB discriminatory: Pakistan
Pakistan has condemned as "regressive and discriminatory" India's Citizenship Amendment Bill and called it a "malafide intent" by New Delhi to "interfere" in the affairs of neighbouring countries.


The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there, a little past midnight on Monday.


The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement issued post mid-night said: "We condemn the legislation as regressive and discriminatory, which is in violation of all relevant international conventions and norms, and a glaring attempt by India to interfere in the neighbouring countries with malafide intent".


It said that the law "is premised on a falsehood and is in complete violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants on elimination of all forms of discrimination based on religion or belief.' 


"The Lok Sabha legislation is also in complete contravention of various bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India particularly the one concerning security and rights of minorities in the respective countries,' the statement said.
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13:11   Maharashtra: Onion prices continue to surge in Nagpur
The price of onions in the markets of Nagpur continued to soar, creating severe distress for the consumers."We are unable to buy onions any more. Earlier, we used to purchase 2 kilograms of onion, now we have to make do with 250 grams," said Chandrakant.


Arjun Sahoo, a shopkeeper in Nagpur, told ANI: "The price of onions has reached Rs 120 per kilogram. Furthermore, we are receiving damaged stocks. So we are unable to sell onions in the markets, which has created problems for us as well as our customers."


He further stated that shopkeepers are unable to make any profit as more than 5-7 kilograms of onion pe sack are discarded as they are damaged. 

-- ANI
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12:55   India's tryst with bigotry: Priyanka on CAB
Hitting out at the Centre, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said that India's tryst with bigotry and narrow-minded exclusion was confirmed when the Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill.


"Last night at midnight, India's tryst with bigotry and narrow-minded exclusion was confirmed as the CAB was passed in the Lok Sabha. Our forefathers gave their lifeblood for our freedom. In that freedom, is enshrined the right to equality, and the right to freedom of religion," Priyanka tweeted."Our constitution, our citizenship, our dreams of a strong and unified India belong to all of us," Priyanka added.


The Congress leader said that she will fight against the "government's agenda to systematically destroy the constitution"."We will fight against this government's agenda to systematically destroy our constitution and undo the fundamental premise on which our country was built with all our might," she said.


The Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to refugees from the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zorastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday.


Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Bill with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes in the Lower House where 391 members were present and voted.In Rajya Sabha, the Modi government requires the support of at least 123 MPs in the 245-member house. -- ANI
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12:41   President flags crimes against women
President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday flagged the recent incidents of violence against women, saying such heinous crimes force people to think if the society has lived up to the vision of equal rights for all. In his address at an NHRC function, he also said the ideal way to mark Human Rights Day will be for whole world to introspect what more needs to be done to live up to the sacred text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "Gandhi had said that human rights and duties are two sides of the same coin... Our failings in human rights, as in violence against women, often stem from failing in our duties," he said. -- PTI
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12:29   Not a bullet fired, Kashmir normal: Amit Shah
 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the situation in Kashmir valley is completely "normal" and not a single bullet was fired.


"The situation in Kashmir valley is completely normal. I can't make Congress's condition normal, because they had predicted bloodshed after the abrogation of Article 370. Nothing of that sort happened, not one bullet was fired," Shah said in Lok Sabha today.


The Home Minister also said that 99.5 per cent of students gave the examination and 7 lakh patients visited OPD in Srinagar. He also highlighted that curfew has been withdrawn from all police station limits in Jammu and Kashmir and not a single person died due to police firing.

"For Adhir Ranjanji this is not normalcy? 7 lakh people availed OPD services in Srinagar. But for Adhirji only parameter for normalcy is political activity. What about local body polls which were held? We don't want to keep them (politicians under detention) even a day extra in jail; when administration thinks its right time, political leaders will be released. Farooq Abdullah's father was kept in jail for 11 years by Congress, we don't want to follow them. As soon as administration decides, they will be released," the Home Minister says. 


In August, the government abrogated Article 370 that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the region into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
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11:57   CAB: Sri Sri bats for Lankan Tamils
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Tuesday urged the Centre to consider giving citizenship to more than a lakh Sri Lankan Tamils living in the country as refugees for more than three decades. 


"I request the Government of India to consider giving citizenship to more than one lakh Tamil Sri Lankans who are living in this country as refugees for the last 35 years. #CABBill," he said in a tweet.


Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's plea to the Centre comes a day after the Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. According to the proposed legislation, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan by December 31, 2014 and faced religious persecution in those countries, will not be treated as illegal immigrants and given Indian citizenship. Tamil Nadu has a significant number of Sri Lankan Tamils living in various parts of the state, including in government camps. PTI
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11:52   CAB in RS on Wednesday; BJP confident of its passage
The BJP is confident of the passage of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha which will be introduced in the upper house on Wednesday, sources said on Tuesday. 


The bill piloted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah was comfortably passed in the Lok Sabha on late Monday night as the ruling BJP enjoys a clear majority in the house. Sources in the party said that the legislation will also sail through the Rajya Sabha as the ruling NDA has the numbers. 


As per the calculations of the BJP's floor managers, the effective strength of the Rajya Sabha is 238. The NDA's current strength is 105 in the House, including 83 members of the BJP, six of Janata Dal (U), three of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), one each from LJP and RPI(A) and 11 nominated MPs. The BJP is in talks with AIADMK which has 11 members, the BJD with seven members, YSRCP with two members and TDP with two members. 


The saffron party is confident of their support as all these parties had backed the bill in Lok Sabha. With support of these 22 members, the BJP-led NDA will have the support of 127 members in the House which is above the majority mark of 120. -- PTI
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11:45   Muslims bigger patriots: Azam Khan
The row on CAB has now boiled down to the patriotism test.


Samajwadi Party and Lok Sabha MP Azam Khan has said that Muslims had the choice to go to Pakistan following partition in 1947, but opted not to do so, and are therefore bigger "patriots" than those who did not have that choice.


"In 1947, the country was partitioned. Those who did not go to Pakistan, they had a choice. No one else had that choice except Muslims. Those who did not go to Pakistan are bigger patriots than those who did not have that option. If this is the punishment for their patriotism, then what can I say as it seems that only heads are counted in democracy, not brains," Khan told ANI on Tuesday after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.


The SP leader alleged that the opposition was not heard by the government during the debate on the Bill."The decision (passing of the CAB) was based on power (numerical superiority). The opposition does not have the numbers and so they were not heard. In a good democracy, the government should listen to the opposition and consider what they have to say," he said.


The CAB Bill was passed in Lok Sabha with 311 MPs voting in favour of the bill and 80 voting against it.It will be tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. BJP-led NDA requires the support of at least 123 MPs in the 245-member house for the bill to be passed. -- ANI
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11:41   Elderly woman killed, body burnt by man to avenge humiliation
A 65-year-old woman was allegedly killed and her body burnt with paddy straw by a man in Maharashtra's Nagpur district, police said on Tuesday. The accused, Rajesh Sontakke (22), apparently wanted to take revenge for the humiliation he was subjected to by the woman's son, Weltur police station's assistant inspector Anand Kaviraj said. 


The incident took place on December 3 when Lilabai Suryabhan Wasnik, a resident of Kalamna area in Nagpur city, went to stock paddy straw at her farm in Dongarmouda village under Kuhi tehsil, located around 40 km from here. 


A day before that, on December 2, Sontakke's cattle strayed into Wasnik's farm which led to a fight between her son and the accused. Wasnik's son had then slapped the accused, which angered him, the official said. 


When Wasnik visited her farm on December 3, the accused, on finding her alone there, allegedly hit her on the head with a rod, killing her on the spot, he said. He then kept the body on the paddy husk lying in the farm and set it afire, the official said. When the woman did not return home, her family members launched a search for her. 


On December 8, when her daughters went to the farm, they found a skull along with some burnt bones, he said. They immediately informed the police, who rushed to the spot and sent the charred remains to a forensic lab for DNA test, he said. In the meantime, the police also received a tip-off, based on which they arrested Sontakke late Monday night. "During interrogation, he confessed to have committed the crime," the official said. -- PTI 


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11:28   Tropical mountain top glaciers may melt by next decade: Study
The last remaining glaciers in the Earth's tropical zone -- between the Himalayas in the North, and the Andes in the South -- will disappear within the next ten years, or possibly sooner, due to the ongoing climate crisis, according to a study. 


The researchers from Ohio State University in the US said the first glaciers to go could be the ones in Papua, Indonesia, which they called "the canaries in the coal mine" for other mountain top glaciers around the world. 


The study, published in the journal PNAS, noted that the melting of mountain top glaciers on the western half of New Guinea have increased rapidly due to a strong 2015-2016 El Nino. The researchers explained that the El Nino -- a phenomenon that causes tropical ocean water and atmospheric temperatures to get warmer -- is a natural climate process, but has been amplified by global warming. 


According to the researchers, the New Guinea mountain glaciers will disappear in the next 10 years -- most likely during the next strong El Nino. Study co-author Lonnie Thompson said it is likely that other tropical glaciers, such as those on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and Quelccaya in Peru, will follow. 


"I think the Papua, Indonesia, glaciers are the indicators of what's going to happen around the world," Thompson said. The researchers have been monitoring the glacier since 2010, when they drilled ice cores to determine the composition and temperature of the atmosphere around the glacier throughout history. -- PTI
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11:00   Don't blame Nehru for economic slowdown: Sena
The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said centralisaton of power in the Prime Minister's Office was one of the main reasons for the "poor" economic health of the country.


The central government wants the finance minister and RBI governor under its control, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' claimed, adding that the present BJP-led dispensation is not ready to listen to economists as it considers the economy as a "share market gamble".


It supported concerns raised by former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, who recently said India is in the midst of a "growth recession" with signs of deep malaise in the economy that is being run through extreme centralisation of power in the PMO and powerless ministers. India's economic growth slowed to a six-year low of 4.5 per cent in the July-September quarter. 


With inflation rising, fears of stagflation -- a fall in aggregate demand accompanied by rising inflation -- have resurfaced. The Shiv Sena said former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi cannot be held responsible for the country's present economic situation.


"Centralisation of power in PMO and powerless ministers - this situation is not good for the economy," the Marathi publication said. "The present government is not ready to listen to economists as it considers the economy like a 'share bazaar satta'. What is Nirmala Sitharaman's contribution as finance minister - 'I don't eat onion, you also do the same'," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said in taunting remarks. 


The government wants the finance minister, RBI governor, finance secretary and Niti Ayog chairman under its control, it claimed, adding that this is the main reason for the country's "poor" economic health. The economy is "paralysed"and former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's "diagnosis" is absolutely correct. 


"The government is not ready to accept the economic slowdown. When the onion prices touch Rs 200 per kg, the finance minister says 'I don't eat garlic, onion, so don't ask me'," it quipped. 


The Sena said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "not trying" to improve the situation. "When he was the chief minister of Gujarat, he had expressed concern over the rising onion prices," it noted. The Sena claimed that when Modi was the CM of Gujarat, he had said onion is an essential commodity and it has become so costly that it will have tobe "kept in lockers".  -- PTI
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10:42   Mutilated rape victim's dad wants H'bad justice
The father of a seven-year-old rape and assault victim, who is admitted in a hospital and has undergone multiple surgeries since June, demanded brutal death for the perpetrators, similar to the encounter of the four accused in the rape and murder case of the Telangana veterinarian.


"My demand is that the perpetrators in my daughter's case too should be encountered, similar to what happened in Telangana and no action on the police should be taken for it," the victim's father told reporters.


"Every country has different laws to deal with rapists, the government should formulate a law here too which enables strictest possible punishment for the rapists so that any person shudders before committing such a crime," he added.


The accused after raping the minor girl on May 31 had also attempted to murder her using blades, resulting in multiple cuts on her body, for which she needed multiple surgeries and intensive care.


The minor is admitted at the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College in Karnal, where she is being taken care of and has undergone multiple surgeries at the PGI Medical Education and Research facility in Chandigarh for the injuries, according to the Director of Kalpana Chawla Medical College, Dr Himanshu Madan.


"The child was admitted to our hospital on June 9 and at that time we did not have a pediatric surgeon so she was referred to PGI, Chandigarh where she underwent surgery. Her next surgery is planned for December 27 in the same facility in Chandigarh, she is being kept with us for safety, according to court orders," Madan said. -- PTI
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10:30   Sensex drops 33 points in early trade; IT stocks drag
Market benchmark BSE Sensex on Tuesday slipped over 33 points in early trade, due to losses in select private banks, IT and auto stocks amid fresh infusion of funds by foreign investors. 


The 30-share index was trading 33.67 points or 0.08 per cent lower at 40,453.76 in morning trade. The broader Nifty was trading 11.00 points or 0.09 per cent down at 11,926.50.


Top losers in the Sensex pack in early trade included Yes Bank, TCS, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, Infosys, Axis Bank, ITC and IndusInd Bank, falling up to 2.22 per cent. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, HUL, ONGC, HDFC, Bajaj Finance and SBI gained up to 1.76 per cent. -- PTI
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10:27   NE students' unions call for 12-hour bandh against CAB
The North East Students' Union and All Assam Students' Union have called for a 12-hour bandh as a mark of protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday.


Meanwhile, people in Jorabat staged a protest today against the Bill that seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.


The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Bill with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes in the Lower House where 391 members were present and voting. -- ANI
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10:08   Bodies of accused in vet's rape-murder case moved
The bodies of the four accused in the veterinarian rape and murder case were shifted to Gandhi Hospital from Mahabubnagar Government Medical College on Tuesday after the Telangana High Court ordered to preserve their bodies till December 13. The four accused were killed in an encounter last week.


On Monday, the high court had directed that the bodies will be transported to Gandhi Medical College and will be preserved there till December 13 and scheduled the matter for further hearing on December 12.


The case was adjourned as the Supreme Court will on December 11 hear a plea seeking action against police personnel involved in the encounter.


The petitioner has sought registration of an FIR, investigation and action against police personnel who were involved in the encounter.The accused -- Mohammed Arif, Naveen, Shiva, and Chennakeshavulu -- were killed in the police encounter at Chatanpally, Shadnagar on the morning of December 6.On Sunday, a complaint was filed against Cyberabad Police alleging that the four suspects were killed in a fake encounter.


The Telangana government has constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the police encounter against the four accused.The veterinarian was gang-raped and killed by the accused before they burnt her body in Telangana's Shamshabad on November 27. Her charred body was recovered on November 28
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09:55   Rupee rises 10 paise to 70.94 against US dollar in early trade
The rupee appreciated by 10 paise to 70.94 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday as easing crude prices and sustained foreign fund inflows strengthened investor sentiments. 


At the interbank foreign exchange the rupee opened at 70.98, then gathered momentum and touched 70.94 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 10 paise over its previous close.


On Monday, the rupee had settled for the day at 71.04 against the US dollar. Forex traders said investors were optimistic about the US-China trade talks. Domestic bourses opened on a cautious note on Tuesday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 60.61 points lower at 40,426.82 and Nifty down 15.45 points at 11,922.05. 


The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.02 per cent to 97.62. Market participants, said foreign fund inflows supported the local currency and took it past 71-level.  -- PTI
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09:41   Amit Shah to move Arms Amendment Bill for passage in Rajya Sabha
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to move the Arms Amendment Bill for passage in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a Bill which seeks to increase punishment for illegally making or selling prohibited arms and ammunition after a reply by Home Minister Amit Shah.


The minister also moved an official amendment to The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which makes provision that a person can keep two licenced weapons.


Shah said punishment for those manufacturing illegal weapons has been enhanced."It is very necessary to effectively control arms and ammunition for safety and security, and maintaining law and order in any country," Shah said during his reply.


He assured the members that no sportsperson will be affected by the provision of the Act.


The Bill provides seven years to life imprisonment for manufacturing and selling illegal weapons, seven to 14 years jail for possessing illegal weapons and life imprisonment for snatching the weapon of police personnel, he said.The Bill seeks to amend Arms Act, 1959, "to effectively curb crimes committed by using illegal firearms".  PTI


Image: Amit Shah during the discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha, yesterday. 
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09:38   Citizenship bill battleground to shift to SC: PC
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram described the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as "patently unconstitutional" on Tuesday and said with its passage in Parliament, the battleground will shift to the Supreme Court. 


He claimed that the elected lawmakers were abdicating their responsibilities in favour of lawyers and judges. According to the proposed legislation, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan by December 31, 2014 and faced religious persecution in those countries, will not be treated as illegal immigrants and given the Indian citizenship. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it, 80 voting against it and zero abstentions, after a heated debate. 


"CAB is unconstitutional. Parliament passes a Bill that is patently unconstitutional and the battle ground shifts to the Supreme Court. Elected Parliamentarians are abdicating their responsibilities in favour of lawyers and judges!," Chidambaram said in a tweet. "That is the price we pay for giving a party a brute majority that it uses to trample over the wishes of the states and the people," the former Union minister said in another tweet. -- PTI
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09:22   Scholars call for withdrawal of Citizenship Bill
A public statement floated by a group of academics against the Citizenship Amendment Bill received endorsement by scientists, academicians, students and thinkers from India and abroad. 

The statement, released through Google forms on December 7, saw over 1,120 verified endorsements within 48 hours.

Signatories included scholars from IITs, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Harvard University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Yale University, University of Massachusetts and others.

The statement read, We understand the Bill seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The stated intent of the Bill is to provide refuge to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries. While we support this laudable objective, we find it deeply troubling that the Bill uses religion as a legal criterion for determining Indian citizenship.

It stated, The idea of India that emerged from the Independence movement, and as enshrined in our Constitution, is that of a country that aspires to treat people of all faiths equally. The use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed Bill would mark a radical break with this history and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the Constitution. We fear, in particular, that the careful exclusion of Muslims from the ambit of the Bill will greatly strain the pluralistic fabric of the country.

The statement further read, We note that Article 14 of the Constitution prohibits the State from denying to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. While it is the job of legal experts to determine whether this draft bill violates the letter of the Constitution, it seems certain to us that it violates its spirit.
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09:12   SC to hear petitions against removal of Art 370
The Supreme Court will on Tuesday begin hearing on a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the revocation of the provisions of Article 370. 

The Article, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was withdrawn by the Centre on August 5 this year.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice NV Ramana and comprising Justices SK Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, BR Gavai and Surya Kant will begin the hearing on the plea filed by National Conference, Sajjad Lone-led J&K Peoples Conference and CPI(M) leader Mohd Yousuf Tarigami.

In a detailed affidavit, the Centre has justified the decision, claiming that the presence of Article 370 in the Constitution for over seven decades had created a separatist mindset among the Kashmiris. 

The 61-page counter-affidavit of the ministry of home affairs had said Article 370 was replaced on August 5 to fully integrate the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. The government had claimed that Article 35A itself was ambiguous and a serious obstacle to the socio-economic development of Jammu and Kashmir.
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08:42   BJP members worked against us during Maharashtra elections: Eknath Khadse
BJP leader Eknath Khadse on Tuesday said that he has audio and video evidence against party cadres who worked against the party during the recent Maharashtra assembly elections.

"In the elections (assembly elections), some prominent workers of our party worked against us. I have given Chandrakant Patil (BJP Maharashtra president) some audios and videos as evidence and requested him to take action against such people," said Khadse.

Khadse earlier said that some of the leaders of the party were responsible for the defeat of party candidates Pankaja Munde and his daughter Rohini Khadse in the assembly polls in the state.

"People from BJP themselves worked against their own candidates. They are responsible for the defeat of Pankaja Munde and Rohini Khadse (my daughter). I have given their names to the party and requested disciplinary action against them," he had said.

Instead of Khadse, the BJP had given the ticket to his daughter Rohini Khadse in the assembly polls. But she lost to Chandrakant Patil from Muktainagar.

-- ANI
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07:53   11-hour northeast bandh begins over CAB
The 11-hour northeast bandh called by an umbrella body of students' organisations of the region to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill began at 5 am on Tuesday.
 
The North East Students' Organisation, backed by various other bodies and political parties, will observe the shutdown till 4 pm against the bill which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Security was beefed up in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
Nagaland has been exempted from the purview of the bandh in view of the ongoing Hornbill Festival there.
The Manipur People Against CAB, which was spearheading the agitation in the state, has announced suspension of its stir on Monday, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the to be brought under Inner Line Permit regime.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there. They will be given Indian citizenship after residing in the country for five years, instead of 11 years which is the current norm.
Indigenous people of the northeastern states are scared that the entry of these people will endanger their identity and livelihood.
Various organisations of the region have launched a series of agitations against the Bill.
Parties and organisations such as the Congress, AIUDF, All Assam Students Union, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union, Khasi Students Union and the Naga Students Federation are backing the NESO to observe the bandh.
A total of 16 left-leaning organisations such as the SFI, DYFI, AIDWA, AISF, AISA and the IPTA has also called a 12-hour bandh in Assam, coinciding with the NESO-organised shutdown.
Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University in the state have postponed all examinations scheduled for tomorrow.

-- PTI
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01:07   Prashant Kishor disappointed as JD-U backs CAB
Janata Dal-United national vice-president Prashant Kishor on Monday expressed disappointment over his party supporting the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the Lok Sabha, holding that the legislation discriminates against people 'on the basis of religion'.

In a tweet late in the night when the Bill was put to vote and passed by the Lok Sabha with a resounding majority, Kishor sought to underscore that the Bill was 'incongruous' with the Constitution of the party, headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which swore by secularism and Gandhian ideals.

'Disappointed to see JDU supporting #CAB that discriminates right of citizenship on the basis of religion. It's incongruous with the party's constitution that carries the word secular thrice on the very first page and the leadership that is supposedly guided by Gandhian ideals,' the poll strategist-turned-politician tweeted.

Participating in the debate on the Bill, the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, said on the floor of the House that the JD-U was supporting the legislation since it was 'not against secularism'.

Notably, the JD-U had till recently been in opposition to the National Register for Citizens (NRC) and the CAB, notwithstanding its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, holding that the moves discriminated against the Muslim population and could trigger massive unrest in the north-east.  -- PTI
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00:29   PM lauds Shah on passage of citizenship bill
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets:

'Delighted that Lok Sabha has passed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 after a rich and extensive debate. I thank the various MPs and parties that supported the Bill.

'This Bill is in line with India's centuries old ethos of assimilation and belief in humanitarian values.

'I would like to specially applaud Home Minister Amit Shah Ji for lucidly explaining all aspects of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

'He also gave elaborate answers to the various points raised by respective MPs during the discussion in the Lok Sabha.'
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00:08   Lok Sabha passes Citizenship Amendment Bill
JUST IN: Lok Sabha passes Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

Division of votes:
AYES: 311
NOES: 80
ABS: 0
TOTAL: 391

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