December 2019

‘We Are Not Criminals’: NC MP Farooq Abdullah Writes to Shashi Tharoor from ‘Sub-Jail’ “We are not criminals,” says Lok Sabha member and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah in a letter to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on his personal letterhead which mentions his residence as “sub-jail”. Abdullah, under detention since August 5 and subsequently booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on September 17, is at present at his residence in Gupkar which has been declared as a sub-jail. Abdullah is among a host of political leaders who have been detained on August 5 after the Centre withdrew special...

Manmohan links Rao to anti-Sikh riots, sparks row Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks that the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 could have been averted had the then Home Minister P V Narasimha Rao called in the army to intervene and stop the violence triggered a row. source:

Rajiv Gandhi to Blame for 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, Says Union Minister Badal Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday blamed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying he held back the Army, and sought an apology from the Gandhi family. Badal, a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a BJP ally, said the anti-Sikh riots which took place in the aftermath of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination were a blot on the country’s history. “The 1984 massacre of Sikhs is a blot in the history of mother India and for this Rajiv Gandhi was...

No mercy for rapists, says President Ram Nath Kovind President Ram Nath Kovind on December 6 said there should be “no mercy for rapists”, adding that these kind of crimes “shock the whole nation”. Speaking at an event in Sirohi, Rajasthan, President Kovind said, “I recommended that there should be an amendment in the Constitution with regard to mercy petition. In my opinion, people convicted under POCSO Act should not be allowed to come under the ambit of mercy petition.” source:

‘India belongs to everybody’: Rahul Gandhi says Congress will oppose Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the party will oppose the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill aimed at providing citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. His statement comes as the contentious citizenship bill, which has created strong resentment in the northeastern states, is set to be tabled in Parliament. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday had given its clearance to the draft law. “Congress party is against any form of discrimination against anybody in this country. So, anybody who discriminates against anybody who...

NRC, Citizenship Amendment Bill only to divert attention from economic slowdown: Mamata Banerjee Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP-led central government of trying to divert attention of the public from the economic slowdown by taking up the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). “NRC and CAB two sides of the same coin. Will oppose both of them tooth and nail,” PTI quoted her as saying at a programme of the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata. “NRC and CAB are being taken up to divert attention from economic slowdown,” said Banerjee who has consistently...

Kamala Harris, first Indian-American woman in US presidential race, bows out of 2020 bid Kamala Harris, the first Indian American woman to run for the White House, announced Tuesday she was suspending her bid for lack of funds. First-term Senator Harris’s campaign was struggling with depleting resources and several offices had been shut down in recent weeks and staff downsized. There had also been reports of bitter in-fighting among factions in the campaign. Harris told her supporters in an email she was suspending her campaign because of lack of funds. “I’ve taken stock and looked at this from every angle,...

IAF chief, officials were at Pearl Harbor military base when gunman opened fire Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria and his team of air force officials were present at the historic Pearl Harbor military base in the US on Thursday when a gunman opened fire at the establishment in Hawaii. At least three people have been injured in the firing while two of them are critical. The team of Indian Air Force officials is unharmed and safe. Air chief RKS Bhadauria was visiting Hawaii for the Pacific Air Force Chiefs Conference (PACS-2019) at the American military base...

Joe Biden uses clip of Boris Johnson ‘laughing’ at Trump in 2020 election advert Joe Biden has used footage of Boris Johnson and other world leaders apparently laughing at Donald Trump in a new campaign advert. Mr Johnson was filmed with Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron appearing to mockingly discuss Mr Trump’s behaviour at the Nato summit on Tuesday. Although he wasn’t mentioned by name, the president reacted angrily to the video and called Mr Trudeau “two-faced” when asked about the clip. In the campaign video, Mr Biden said world leaders are laughing at Mr Trump and claimed he is damaging America’s standing in the world. source:

‘Child Deserves Privacy’: Melania Trump Defends Son as Professor Names Him in Impeachment Hearing US First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday publicly rebuked a scholar who used her 13-year-old son’s name to make a point during an impeachment hearing against the president. Constitutional law professor Pamela Karlan invoked Barron Trump, the son of Donald and Melania Trump, to demonstrate how the Constitution imposes distinctions between a monarch’s power and that of a president. “The constitution says there can be no titles of nobility,” Karlan told lawmakers during the House Judiciary Committee’s first hearing on impeachment, which featured four constitutional scholars....