News18 Daybreak | Amit Shah Says NRC Will be Carried Out Across India, Including in Assam Again and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For

Today’s Big Stories

Amit Shah says NRC will be carried out across India, including in Assam again; Mamata says won’t allow

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) process will be carried out across India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, clarifying there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion. On the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, which seeks to provide citizenship status to non-Muslims refugees - Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Sikhs and Parsis – he said the government feels they should get citizenship and this is why the bill has been brought in. Following Shah’s announcement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government will not allow the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be implemented in West Bengal.

Cong promises stable Govt in Maharashtra as talks with NCP set to continue; Sena says process will wrap up soon

The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance on Wednesday gave its most categorical indication about joining hands with arch rival Shiv Sena. Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan expressed confidence of forming a "stable" government  in the state after a marathon meeting of senior leaders of the two parties in Delhi. Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament and apprised him about farmers' distress in Maharashtra. Reacting to the development, the Congress said the timing of the meet could have been better. According to sources, the final announcement of government formation in Mahrashtra is likely to be made tomorrow. The Congress-NCP leaders are slated to meet again today after which they will fly to Mumbai to hold talks with the Shiv Sena.

In Other News

Privatisation drive: In the biggest privatisation drive, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved sale of the government's stake in blue-chip oil firm Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and onland cargo mover Container Corporation of India (Concor), as well as decided to cut shareholding in select public sector firms below 51% to boost revenue collections that have been hit by slowing economy.

5,000+ detentions in J&K: Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday said that over 5,000 people were taken into preventive detention after the Centre on August 5 scrapped Article 370 which accorded special status to J&K.

Insolvency ahead: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday superseded the board of the debt-ridden Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) due to governance concerns and defaults by the non-banking finance company. The company has been placed under an administrator and banks will now have to declare DHFL loans as non-performing assets (NPAs).

Water war: The war of words between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan continued on Wednesday as the latter questioned the Consumer Affairs Minister regarding the water samples collected from Delhi by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Their spar came after a BIS study stated that Delhi along with Kolkata and Chennai had failed in almost all parameters of drinking water.

New Sri Lanka PM: Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday named his elder brother and former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new prime minister after incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe announced his resignation from the post following the election debacle.

On Our Specials

Hard times: On November 17, the government relocated Kashmiri political detainees to the government facility from the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), which had been converted into a sub-jail to detain top Kashmiri politicians since August 5. Relatives of the politicians rue that the detainees are being harassed during meetings and the MLA hostel, which has been turned into a detention centre, does not have conducive living conditions. Aakash Hassan reports about the seemingly abysmal living conditions in which the politicians are being forced to live in.

A well-known face: Dayamani Barla is one of the most-known tribal activists in the country. For the last 25 years, she has been fighting the state and several multinationals over issues of land rights and the identity and culture of tribals. And now, for the second time in her life, she is about to contest elections. Suhas Munshi speaks to Khunti, who has been at the forefront of a civil disobedience movement called Patthargarhi.

 ​