Citizenship (Amendment) Bill Clears Parliament, Soon To Be Law Amid Protests

New Delhi: 

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, with 117 voting for it and 92 against, two days after its passage in the lower house.The controversial legislation was tabled in the Rajya Sabha, which had a majority mark of 105, by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The bill has been slammed by rights groups as well as opposition parties for allegedly discriminating against Muslim migrants and violating Article 14 of the Constitution, which mandates equality for all.The Lok Sabha had cleared the bill on Monday with MPs supporting the bill outnumbering those against it 334 to 106. The controversial legislation was passed by the Lok Sabha during the first stint of the Narendra Modi government earlier this year too, only to be stalled in the upper house.

1. Home Minister Amit Shah, tabling the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, said Muslims of the country need not fear because "they are and will remain citizens of the country". Hitting out at what he called "attempts to spread misinformation", Mr Shah claimed that the bill was only for minority communities in neighbouring countries and had "nothing to do" with Muslims in India.
2. The Congress's Anand Sharma made an impassioned plea against the bill, saying that it "hurts the very soul of the Constitution of India". "I am convinced this bill is an assault on the very foundation of the Constitution of India. It hurts the very soul of the Constitution of India. It goes against the very preamble of the constitution," he said.
3. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien warned the Rajya Sabha that India was "moving from a democracy to a dictatorship". In his address, Mr O'Brien invoked images from Nazi Germany and compared them to the Citizenship Bill and the NRC, starting with an "eerie similarity" between concentration camps and detention camps in the North East.
4. The BJP's JP Nadda also spoke on the Citizenship Bill, vehemently denying the opposition's claims that the Citizenship Bill was discriminatory. "That is absolutely incorrect," he said, stressing that the proposed law was "purely for minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh". "It has nothing to do with Indians at all," he added.
5. Congress MP P Chidambaram, out on bail in the INX Media case after a prolonged legal struggle, posed several key questions to the centre, including asking why only three of India's neighbours had been considered in the bill and why other communities and faiths - such as Sri Lankan Hindus - have been excluded.
6. Even as the Rajya Sabha debated the matter, the Army was deployed to parts of Tripura and Assam to quell protests against the bill. Sources said two columns were dispatched to the Kanchanpur and Manu areas of Tripura and two others were sent to Bongaingon and Dibrugarh in Assam. 
7. The Assam government has suspended mobile internet and data services in 10 districts of the state and imposed a curfew in Guwahati, the state's largest city. Guwahati has seen chaos of a magnitude unseen since the violent six-year movement by students that ended with the signing of the Assam accord in 1985.
8. On Monday, while defending the bill in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah called for an end to protests by North-East states, saying appropriate measures have been made to ensure the region's identity would be intact. Protesters have expressed concerns refugees allowed by the bill could endanger identity and livelihood of indigenous people.
9. Earlier today Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed BJP MPs and said "some parties" were speaking the same language as Pakistan on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. "Citizenship Bill will be written in golden letters, it will give permanent relief to people who fled religious persecution," he said.
10. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the bill and the centre today, terming it as a "criminal attack on the northeast" and an attempt by the centre to "ethnically cleanse" the region. A Lok Sabha MP, Mr Gandhi said he stood in solidarity with the people of the North East and was at their service.

#இப்படித்தான் வாழ்க்கை இருக்க வேண்டும்

#. ஒருமுறை முல்லா நஸ்ருதீன் தன்னுடைய கழுதை மீது அமர்ந்து படுவேகமாகப் போய்க் கொண்டிருந்தார். கடைவீதி வழியே போகும்போது அங்கே இருந்தவர்கள், "எங்கே இவ்வளவு வேகமாகப் போகிறீர்கள்?" என்று கேட்க, அவர் " எங்கே போகிறேன்னு எனக்கே தெரியாது, என் கழுதையையே கேளுங்க அது எங்க போகுதுன்னு?" என்று கூறிக்கொண்டே பறந்து விட்டார். மாலையில் அவர் மெதுவாக திரும்பி வருகையில், ' எங்கேதான் அப்படி போய் வந்தீர்கள்?' என்று கேட்க, அவர் சொன்னார், " நான் எங்காவது போகனும்னா இந்தக் கழுதை முரண்டுபிடிக்குது. இதோட போராடிப் பார்த்து அது வியர்த்தம்னு தெரிஞ்சுகிட்டேன். அது என் வழிக்கு வர்றதில்லை. அதனால அதோட வழிக்கு நான் போயிட்டேன். அது அதனோட இஷ்டத்துக்கு எங்கெங்க போகுதே அங்கெல்லாம் நானும் போயி, எனக்கு உண்டான வேலை அங்கிருந்தா அதெல்லாம் முடிச்சுக்கிறேன்". அதனால் தான் எல்லா ஞானிகளும் கழுதையை அதன் போக்கிலே போக விட்டுவிடுகிறார்கள். எதிர்பார்க்கும்போதோ, ஆசைப்படும்போதோ அது நடைபெறவில்லை என்றால் ஏமாற்றமும் பிரச்சினைகளும் தோன்றுகின்றன. என்ன கிடைத்தாலும் சரியே என்று ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளும் போது வாழ்க்கை ராஜநடை போடுகிறது. என்ன கிடைக்கிறதோ அதை விரும்பிவிடு. அதை ஏற்றுக் கொள். அதை அனுபவி. அதைக் கொண்டாடு. அப்போது வாழ்க்கை சந்தோஷமாக நகர்கிறது. நம்மிடம் இருப்பதையே நாம் விரும்ப முடியும் என்றால் எந்தப் பிரச்சனையும் இல்லை. எந்தத் தொல்லையும் இல்லை. எந்தக் கவலையும் வருவதில்லை. எல்லாமே வெகு எளிதாய்ப் போய்விடும் ! *#ஓஷோ_முல்லா_ஜோக்ஸ்*

Daily updates 30 November 2019

National News

1. Central Govt extends deadline for FASTags to 15th December

i. The Transport Ministry has extended the 01st December deadline for 100% electronic toll collection across National Highways in the country by two weeks (15th December). This comes as the government wants to allow a 15 days’ breather for vehicle owners to switch to FASTags.
ii. FASTag is a sticker that has to be put at the front windshield of your vehicle. This sticker becomes the radio frequency identity of your car which is automatically read by the sensors placed at the toll plazas.

Important Takeaways for LIC Assistant Mains and IBPS SO Prelims:

• Nitin Jairam Gadkari is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Government of India.
• The total expenditure on the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for 2019-20 is estimated at Rs 83,016 crore.

Banking/Economy/Finance News

2. RBI Imposes Rs 1.50 crore penalty on Corporation Bank

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.50 crore on Corporation Bank for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI. The penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in the RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Section 46 (4) (i) and 51 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Important Takeaways for IBPS Clerk Mains and IBPS SO Prelims:

• PV Bharathi is Chief Executive Officer of Corporation Bank.
• Corporation Bank headquartered in Mangalore.

3. India's GDP growth further dips to 4.5% in July-Sept

i. India's GDP growth hit an over six-year low of 4.5 percent in July-September 2019, dragged mainly by deceleration in manufacturing output and subdued farm sector activity. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was recorded at 7 percent in the corresponding quarter of FY 2018-19. In the previous quarter of the ongoing fiscal, the economic growth was 5 percent.

ii. This GDP growth data for the September 2019 quarter is the lowest since January-March of 2012-13, when it was registered at 4.3 per cent.

4. Aditya Birla Finance becomes first NBFC to list commercial paper on bourses

i. Non-bank lender Aditya Birla Finance became the first company to list its commercial papers borrowing of Rs 100 crore on the bourses. The Kumarmangalam Birla-led company listed its CPs on NSE with a value date of November 28, 2019 and maturity date on February 7, 2020 on BSE and NSE, both the bourses.
ii. ABFL is a diversified non-banking finance company (NBFC) with a long-term credit rating of AAA (Stable) from both Icra as well as India Ratings.

5. HR Khan Appointed as chairman of MFI panel

i. Former deputy governor of RBI, HR Khan has been appointed as the first chairman of the steering committee of the Code for Responsible Lending (CRL) in micro-credit. The CRL is a self-regulatory step for the micro-credit industry making diverse entities like banks, NBFC-MFIs and NBFCs adhere to standards of customer protection.
ii. CRL was launched in September by MFIN and Sa-Dhan, an RBI-recognised association of MFIs, along with Finance Industry Development Council, an association of NBFCs.

Sports

6. Australian Steve Smith becomes fastest Cricketer to reach 7,000 Test runs

i. Steve Smith became the fastest crickter to score 7,000 Test runs, shattering a record that had stood since 1946, while moving past Donald Bradman to become Australia’s 11th highest scorer. The 30-year-old took a single off Muhammad Musa during the second Test against Pakistan in Adelaide to reach the milestone and take possession of a record held for 73 years by English great Wally Hammond.
ii. Hammond reached the mark in 131 innings, while Smith, who played his first Test nine years ago, made the grade in his 126th. India’s Virender Sehwag is the third fastest in 134 innings.

Obituries

7. Former PM of Japan, Yasuhiro Nakasone Passed Away

i. Yasuhiro Nakasone, one of Japan’s longest-reigning Prime Ministers and known for his friendship with Ronald Reagan, has passed away at the age of 101. Nakasone, Prime Minister from 1982 to 1987, shared the world stage with Reagan and Margaret Thatcher while battling with bureaucrats over domestic reforms.
ii. In 1983, he became the first Japanese premier to officially visit South Korea, mending fences with a country that Japan had brutally colonised from 1910 to 1945.

Important Takeaways for IBPS Clerk Mains and IBPS SO Prelims:

• Shinzo Abe is the current Prime Minister of Japan.
• The Yen is the official currency of Japan.