Today’s Big Stories
Despite Oppn slamming it as "anti-constitutional", Lok Sabha passes Citizenship Bill after fiery discussion
The Lok Sabha on Monday cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill after a long and fiery debate in which several members of the Opposition parties labelled it as “anti-constitutional”. The Bill was passed with 311 ayes and 8 no's.
The defence: While introducing the bill, Amit Shah said the Congress had "divided" the country on the basis of religion, making it necessary to bring the bill. He added that it was brought on the basis of reasonable classifications provided under the Constitution. "This bill is not even 0.001% against Muslims. It is against infiltrators," he said.
In his final reply, Shah also said that there is no doubt that the National Register of Citizen (NRC) will be implement across the country.
The Opposition: The Opposition fumed over the Bill terming it as "anti-constitutional". Asaduddin Owaisi even tore the Bill, saying it was aimed at making Muslims "stateless" and will lead to another partition.
Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, Shashi Tharoor and Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy were among others to oppose the Bill.
The legislation is likely to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Yediyurappa Govt Retains Majority in Karnataka Bypolls, Top Cong Leaders from State Announce Resignation
The ruling BJP on Monday swept the Assembly by-polls in Karnataka, winning 12 of the 15 seats to help the four-month-old BS Yediyurappa government retain a majority, in a morale-booster for the saffron party after its recent setback in Maharashtra. The BJP sweep had an immediate fallout in the opposition Congress, with its Legislature Party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao quitting their posts. The Congress's poor showing, winning only two seats as against the 12 it held of the 15 which went to the polls, threw the state unit into a turmoil. The by-polls were held on December 5.
In Other News
Panipat row: Several theatres in Jaipur stopped screening Ashutosh Gowariker's Panipat, amid criticism by Jat groups over the film's portrayal of Bharatpur's Maharaja Surajmal. According to the management at some cinemas, the shows were cancelled followed instructions from the administration.
'Pre-planned' move: BJP leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday alleged the Shiv Sena's alliance with the NCP and the Congress was a "pre-planned" move to keep his party out of power in the state.
Tragic: New Zealand police have said no more survivors were expected to be rescued from an island volcano that erupted suddenly on Monday, suggesting as many as two dozen people could have died.
Doping ban: Russia was banned from the Olympics and world championships in a range of sports for four years on Monday after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) ruled to punish it for manipulating laboratory data.
On Our Specials
Up in flames: Mohammed Sonu, 16, woke up gasping for air on Sunday morning. Dense smoke had filled the small room that he shared with four others in a building in Delhi’s Anaj Mandi. Everywhere around him men were screaming and beseeching for help through the grilled windows. Angana Chakrabarti reports on the horrific fire tragedy, the second-most severe Delhi has witnessed, which claimed 43 lives.
Drag Shows, Books and Films: On a cold December weekend amid rainbows and fairy lights, Delhi welcomed its first, one of kind, queer literature festival, the Rainbow Lit Fest. Spread across two days, the festival lived up to its name to express the multi-hued nature of the LGBTQ experience and community in India. Rakhi Bose reports about the festival that brought together the spectrum of people within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Curated and compiled by Karan Anand and Angana Chakrabarti
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