NATIONAL

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: On December 12, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the legislation of The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and thus it became an Act of law. According to an official notification, the Act comes into effect with its publication in the official gazette on December 12. According to the Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

Sabarimala temple: The Supreme Court on December 13, declined to pass any order on the pleas by two women activists seeking a direction to the Kerala government to ensure safe entry of women in the Sabarimala temple under police protection. The top court said the issue was “very emotive” and it did not want the situation to become “explosive”. A bench, headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, said the “balance of convenience” required that no orders are passed in the mater today as the issue had already been referred to a seven-judge bench.

Citizenship Act:  Some People, today blocked tracks at the Uluberia railway station in West Bengal’s Howrah district, vandalised the complex and some trains, injuring a driver. They were agitating against the amended Citizenship Act. The blockade started around 3.22 pm and train movements in both the up and down lines are affected, South Eastern Railway spokesperson Sanjoy Ghosh said.

Nirvaya Case: The mother of the victim in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder case appeared before the Supreme Court today opposing the plea filed by one of the four death-row convicts seeking review of its 2017 judgement awarding him the death penalty. The counsel appearing for the victim’s mother mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde and said they are opposing convict Akshay Kumar Singh’s review plea, which is scheduled to be heard by a three-judge bench on December 17.

India&Japan: India declared today that the annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, which was scheduled to be held in Guwahati, has been postponed due to the massive protest against the amended Citizenship Act. Abe was scheduled to arrive in Guwahati on Sunday on a three-day India visit to hold summit talks with Modi.

INTERNATIONAL

U.S: President Donald Trump signed off on a phase-one trade deal with China preventing the Dec. 15 introduction of a new wave of U.S. tariffs on about $160 billion of consumer goods from the Asian nation. The deal presented to Trump by trade advisers included a promise by the Chinese to buy more U.S. agricultural goods, according to the people. Officials also discussed possible reductions of existing duties on Chinese products, they said. The terms have been agreed but the legal text has not yet been finalized, the people said. A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

U.S: US lawmakers today approved two charges against Donald Trump and set up a full House of Representatives vote to impeach the president over his alleged misconduct. Democrats and Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee voted along strict party lines, 23 to 17, appearing somber as they put Trump on track to become only the third president to be impeached in US history.

ECONOMY

PNB: A special CBI court today refused to cancel a non-bailable warrant issued against fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the alleged Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. Special CBI judge V C Barde refused to give relief to Choksi after hearing arguments by his lawyers and the Central Bureau of Investigation’s counsel A Limosine.

ArcelorMittal: Global steel giant ArcelorMittal has started payment for the acquisition of debt-ridden Essar Steel for Rs 42,000 crore, sources said today. The decks for the acquisition of Essar Steel by L N Mittal-led company was cleared by the Supreme Court last month.

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