West Bengal: Protests over the amended Citizenship Act continued in various parts of West Bengal for the third consecutive day on Sunday as sporadic incidents of violence were reported from Nadia, Birbhum, North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts of the state, police said on Sunday. Similar protests were reported from Domjur area of Howrah district, parts of Burdwan and Birbhum, with agitators taking out rallies and shouting slogans against the Narendra Modi government.
Muslim Violence Delhi: Following Muslim vandalism in South Delhi’s New Friends Colony area on Sunday evening in the name of CAB, Delhi Police personnel allegedly marched into the Jamia Millia Islamia University campus and brought about 150 students out of the premises. In a statement, the Jamia Millia Islamia University said that it has already declared winter vacation and postponed semester examinations after a clash between the police and students on Friday. The university will remain shut till January 6. Buses were torched, cars and bikes smashed by the Muslims under leadership of APP MLA Amanullah Khan.
PM on CAB: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reiterated its importance and said it allows persecuted religious groups from neighbouring countries to become Indian citizen. He said the decision was “1000 percent correct”. “Our Parliament made a significant change related to citizenship law due to which a small number of people religious minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who were being oppressed there will get shelter here… Our decision is 1000% right and actions of the Congress prove that all decisions taken in Parliament are correct,” he said at an election rally in Dumka for the Jharkhand assembly polls.
Rahul Gandhi: Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday demanded an “unconditional apology” from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his ‘My name is not Rahul Savarkar’ remark. “Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should tender an unconditional apology over his remarks on Savarkar. He does not seem to have studied India’s history of the Independence movement,” Fadnavis said.
Mayawati: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday accused the Congress of duplicity by upholding its alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra despite the former supporting the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Parliament. In a series of tweets, Mayawati said, “The Shiv Sena remains committed to its basic agenda, and that is why it supported the Centre on the Citizenship Amendment Bill. And now it is not ready to tolerate the Congress’ stand even on Savarkar.”
Trump Jr: Donald Trump Jr, the oldest son of the US president, has said that he would like to see the United States maintain its global leadership and work with “incredible allies” like India to make the world a safer place. Trump Jr also promised that his father’s re-election campaign in 2020 will be as entertaining as Bollywood films but, “with a lot less dancing”.
Nepal: A bus carrying pilgrims drove off a highway and crashed in Nepal on Sunday, killing 14 people and injuring 18, police said. The pilgrims were returning home after visiting the famed Hindu Kalinchowk Bhagwati temple when the bus veered off the highway about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the capital, Kathmandu, police official Prajwal Maharjan said.
Pakistan: PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday accused the government of disregarding the people of Balochistan in charting out the route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and keeping them deprived of their share of benefits from the project.
North Korea: North Korea said Saturday that it successfully performed another “crucial test” at its long-range rocket launch site that will further strengthen its nuclear deterrent. The test possibly involved technologies to improve intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially reach the continental United States. The announcement comes as North Korea continues to pressure the Trump administration for major concessions as it approaches an end-of-year deadline set by leader Kim Jong Un to salvage faltering nuclear negotiations.
Sudan: A Sudanese court on Saturday convicted former president Omar al-Bashir on charges of corruption and illicit possession of foreign currency and sentenced him to two years of detention in a reform facility. The presiding judge said Bashir, 75, who was ousted in April following months of street protests against his three-decade rule, was being sent to the reform facility, rather than a prison, on account of his age.