National Headlines
Mamata U-tern: Making a U-turn over her remark demanding a UN referendum on the Citizenship Amendment Act and nationwide NRC, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee clarified that she had only suggested an opinion poll be conducted by impartial experts of the country, the process for which could be observed by the United Nations, reported PTI
Muslim Violence: At least five people have died in anti-CAA protests across Uttar Pradesh, confirmed state administration. Protests against the amended Citizenship Act spilled over to parts of western Uttar Pradesh on Friday after the Jumma Namaj as agitators resorted to arson and stone-pelting.
CAA Benefit: Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) does not apply to Indian citizens, the Home Ministry said the process would “ensure no Indian citizen is unduly harassed or put to inconvenience. Citizenship of India may be proved by giving any document relating to date of birth or place of birth or both. Such a list is likely to include a lot of common documents to ensure that no Indian citizen is unduly harassed or put to inconvenience.”
Farhan Akhtar: A police complaint was lodged against Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar in Hyderabad for his alleged ‘seditious post’ Friday. Saidabad police Friday received the complaint filed by advocate K Karunasagar, who is also president of Hindu Sanghatan. In his complaint, Karunasagar alleged that the actor has tweeted certain seditious content in order to create fear, chaos and thereby instigate Muslims, transgenders, atheists, and Dalits to wage war against the Nation.
Assam Accord: A group of Assam MLAs met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday to push for steps towards protection of Assamese language and the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, while informing him about their experience of the violence last week.
Media Advisory: The government on Friday issued an advisory asking news channels to refrain from broadcasting content which is “likely to instigate violence or which promotes anti-national attitudes”, a second such communication in less than 10 days. The last advisory by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry was issued on December 11 when the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha, after which protests had broken out in several parts of the country.
Kerala: The Kerala government on Friday said it has ordered a stay on all activities in connection with the National Population Register (NPR) in the state considering ‘apprehensions’ of public that it would lead to NRC in the wake of the controversial citizenship act. While a government order said the NPR had been put on hold in view of apprehensions that it would lead to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said the action was taken as the NPR “deviates from Constitutional values” and also because the matter was before the Supreme Court.
Unnao Rape Case: Delhi Tis Hajari court on Friday sentenced expelled Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to life imprisonment till last breath in jail for raping a minor girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, holding that as a public servant he betrayed people’s faith. Pronouncing his order four days after convicting 53-year-old Sengar of rape, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma also imposed an exemplary fine of Rs 25 lakh on him and ordered it has to be paid within a month.
International Headlines:
Pervez Musharraf: Furious over a special court’s verdict to drag Gen (retd.) Pervez Musharraf’s corpse to be hanged for three days, the Pakistan government on Friday said that it will move to the Supreme Judicial Council to unseat the “mentally unfit” head of the Special tribunal. In its 167-page detailed judgement authored by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, who headed the three-member bench, the special court said the “convict be hanged by his neck till he dies on each count as per charge”. On the other hand Outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa on Friday said a malicious campaign has been initiated against the judiciary but the truth shall finally prevail.
Erdogan: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Pakistan decided to stay away from the recently concluded Kuala Lumpur summit because of Saudi Arabia’s threats of economic sanctions, Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported on Friday.
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RBI Loan: The Indian government had Rs 310.03 billion ($4.36 billion) outstanding loans with the central bank under ways and means advances in the week ended Dec. 13, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly statistical supplement released on Friday.
SEZ Law: The government on Friday announced reforms to the existing SEZ legal framework whereby provisions for minimum land area and sector specific and multi-product SEZs have been amended. Henceforth, all existing and new SEZs would become multi-sector SEZs thereby enabling coexistence of a SEZ unit from any sector along with any other SEZ unit.