RD: India marks its 71th Republic Day today, the occasion commemorating the Indian Constitution coming into effect after careful deliberations in the Constituent Assembly. The day marked the completion of independent India’s transition towards a nation that defines itself a republic.

CAA: The European People’s Party (EPP) Group, a centre-right group that is the largest with 182 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), said the CAA “is selective and excludes Muslims from provisions provided to other religious groups” and expressed concern about the “wide range of negative consequences that it might have for India’s international image and internal stability”.

MAN KI BAT: In his “Mann ki Baat” programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said the insurgency in the Northeast had reduced significantly due to “peaceful dialogue”. “Those who had strayed towards the path of violence, have expressed their faith in peace and decided to become a partner in the country’s progress and return to the mainstream,” Modi said, adding that as many as 644 militants of eight different militant groups had surrendered in Assam.

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ANANDA MAHINDRA: Despite the Indian economy facing a slowdown, industrialist Anand Mahindra said that the economy has been going through a process of  ‘detoxification’. Since the negative impact of disruptions is now over, the economy is expected to see an upside in FY21, Bloomberg TV reported chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra as saying at an event in Davos, Switzerland. “The prime minister has been quite obsessed with the kind of growth he wants and that is about transparent, free of corruption and any rent-seeking,” he also said.

SC ON DEATH SENTENCE: While hearing a plea to commute the death sentence of two convicts for killing a family of seven, the Supreme Court Thursday underlined that the “finality” of death sentence is extremely important and said that condemned prisoners should not be under the impression that the death penalty remains “open ended” and can be challenged all the time by them. The court asked lawyers Anand Grover and Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the convicts, whether “good behaviour” of convicts post their conviction is reason enough for commuting their sentence. “I thought it is the crime that is punished. If one goes by innocence of a human being, even the worst criminal has an innocent heart. There is no one who is a criminal at the deepest level,” CJI Bobde observed.

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DERADICALISATION CAMP:  On Thursday, Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat had said that “girls and boys as young as 10 and 12 are now being radicalised” in Kashmir, and that those who are “completely radicalised” need to be “taken out separately” and put in de-radicalisation camps”. Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh Monday said terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen was on the verge of being wiped out from the south Kashmir region. He added that if de-radicalisation camps do come up in Kashmir, it will be a “good sign”, as it will help people who have “gone astray”.

BJP PRESIDENCY: BJP leader J P Nadda took over as the new party president on Monday after he emerged as the only candidate for the top post following the conclusion of nomination process at its headquarters here. He was a leader from Himachal Pradesh worked his way up as an “excellent” organisational leader, be it in the RSS students’ wing ABVP or the BJP youth wing, and was also a successful health minister in the first Modi government.

CAA PROTEST: Former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung who joined a sit-in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) outside Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia university on Monday said that the controversial law needed a revamp to make it inclusive.“I feel that the Citizenship Amendment Act needs a revamp. They should either include Muslims or remove other names. Make it inclusive…. If PM calls these people and talks, the matter will get resolved,” Jung said.

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Kapil Sibal: No state can deny the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) when it is already passed by the Parliament, said Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday. “If the CAA is passed no state can say ‘I will not implement it’. It is not possible and is unconstitutional. You can oppose it, you can pass a resolution in the Assembly and ask the central government to withdraw it. But constitutionally saying that I won’t implement it is going to be problematic and going to create more difficulties,” said the former minister of law and justice on the third day of the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF).

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Jaising got Rebuttal: The mother of the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder victim has hit out at senior lawyer Indira Jaising for asking her to forgive the four men, who are on death row for committing the brutal crime against her daughter. The mother was reacting to Indira Jaising’s tweet on Friday. “Who is Indira Jaising to give me such a suggestion? The whole country wants the convicts to be executed. Just because of people like her, justice is not done with rape victims. I can’t believe how Indira Jaising even dared to suggest such this. I met her many times over the years in the Supreme Court, not once did she ask for my well being and today she is speaking for convicts. Such people earn a livelihood by supporting rapists, hence rape incidents don’t stop,” she said.

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