Top news: Mamata Banerjee attacks Narendra Modi, asks him if he is Pakistan’s envoy

CAA protests: Over 60 people detained in Vadodara, large demonstrations held in Bengaluru

The police in Gujarat’s Vadodara city on Friday detained students and activists for protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. Activist Anand Mazgaonkar told Scroll.in that he was detained along with 60 others at the police headquarters in the city’s Pratap Nagar area.

CAA protests: Bail granted to activists Sadaf Jafar and Mohammed Shoaib, ex-IPS officer SR Darapuri

A sessions court in Lucknow on Friday granted bail to Congress worker and activist Sadaf Jafar, retired Indian Police Service officer SR Darapuri, activists Pawan Rao Ambedkar and Mohammed Shoaib, and many other civil society members. The four were among hundreds of people arrested in the city on December 19 as protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act erupted.

CAA: Centre’s next step will be to deport Rohingya refugees, says Union minister

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, said on Friday that the Centre’s next step will be to deport Rohingya Muslim refugees from India, The Indian Express reported. Singh, at a function in Jammu, said that the government is considering ways to deport the Rohingya.

CAA: Amit Shah says Centre will ‘not move back an inch’ even if all parties unite against law

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that even if all other parties come together to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will “not move back even an inch”, ANI reported. Shah accused Opposition parties of spreading misinformation, and said they could continue to do so, but the Act would not be repealed.

CAA protests: Mamata Banerjee asks Modi , ‘Are you Pakistan’s envoy?’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of frequently comparing India and Pakistan while criticising his opponents. “India is a big country with a rich culture and heritage, why does the PM regularly compare our nation with Pakistan?” the Trinamool Congress leader asked at an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act rally in Siliguri. “Are you the prime minister of India or the ambassador of Pakistan? Why do you refer to Pakistan in every issue?”

Ratan Tata moves Supreme Court challenging Cyrus Mistry’s reinstatement

Industrialist Ratan Tata on Friday moved the Supreme Court against the reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairperson and also against his immediate reinstatement as director of the Tata Sons, Business Standard reported.

We will not determine if Faiz’s poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’ is anti-Hindu, clarifies IIT-Kanpur

The Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur has clarified that a six-member panel set up to investigate a December 17 campus protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act would not investigate if sentiments of Hindus were hurt by the recital of Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s iconic poem Hum Dekhenge, The Hindu reported on Friday.

J&K: No one called three former chief ministers in detention ‘anti national’, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the decision to detain three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir – Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and Omar Abdullah – was a professional decision that was taken because of provocative statements they allegedly made, PTI reported on Friday. No one had called them “anti national”, Shah said at a news summit organised by ABP News on Thursday.

Delhi gets marginal respite from severe cold and air pollution

Delhiites woke up to a relatively clearer morning on Friday as the respite from the severe cold snap of the past few weeks continued. The minimum temperature on Friday was around 7.6 degrees Celsius, which is considered normal for this time of the year, according to PTI.

Union minister lied to Parliament about effect of curbs on J&K tourism: The Wire

Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel lied to Parliament about the impact of the prolonged security lockdown and other restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir on tourism in the region, according to information unearthed by two Right to Information activists.

Now, Kerala’s Republic Day tableau proposal rejected, minister calls it politically motivated

The Centre has rejected the Kerala’s government’s Republic Day tableau proposal for the second consecutive year, The News Minute reported on Friday. So far, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar’s proposals have also been rejected by the Narendra Modi-led government.

Anti-NRC pamphlet: Uttar Pradesh police charge three activists with hurting national integration

Uttar Pradesh police has charged three activists in Varanasi with promoting enmity between groups and harming national integration by making and distributing pamphlets against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.

Activist Sadaf Jafar’s arrest: Allahabad HC seeks UP government’s reply on quashing of FIR

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to respond to a petition seeking the quashing of the First Information Report filed against social activist Sadaf Jafar within two weeks.

Centre rejects Maharashtra’s tableau in Republic Day parade, Opposition says decision is prejudiced

The Centre’s decision to reject the Maharashtra government’s Republic Day tableau proposal has sparked off a political controversy. The Maha Vikas Aghadi – the alliance of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress – on Thursday accused the Centre of acting “vengeful” with “mala fide intention”.

Congress attacks Modi for ‘fake nationalism’ and criticising Pakistan but never China

Congress leaders on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using fake nationalism to hide his government’s failures and alleged that he rakes up Pakistan every time he is cornered, The Indian Express reported. They wondered why he did not speak up about China instead. Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that Modi had taken up Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s work and was fulfilling his “two-nation theory”. This will only spell disaster for India’s future, he warned.

Bihar: Two Hindu fringe outfit members charged for murder of teenager during Citizenship Act protest

Two men affiliated to fringe Hindu outfits were among the six arrested in Patna, Bihar, for the murder of a teenager, who was found dead 10 days after protesting against the amendments to the Citizenship Act on December 21. The deceased, 18-year-old Amir Hanzla, worked at a bag stitching unit in Phulwari Sharif area and was last seen with the national flag in hand at a protest called by the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

West Bengal: Internet suspended, prohibitory orders imposed in North 24 Parganas after clashes

Prohibitory orders were imposed in three panchayat areas of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Thursday following clashes between members of two communities, PTI reported, citing police. Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure – which bans a gathering of more than four people – is in place in the area. Internet services were also suspended in Duttapukur, Amdanga and Deganga areas of the district.

‘Never underestimate the power of Faiz’: Poet’s daughter responds to IIT-Kanpur controversy

Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s daughter Salima Hashmi on Thursday said people should not be sad about the decision of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur to set up a panel to investigate if her father’s poem Hum Dekhenge was anti-Hindu. “A group of people investigating the poem’s message is nothing to be sad about, it is very funny,” she told PTI in an interview. “Let’s look at in another way, they may end up getting interested in Urdu poetry and its metaphors. Never underestimate the power of Faiz.”

Indian Army is ready to attack PoK if ordered, says new chief MM Naravane

Indian Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane on Thursday told NDTV that the Army had “various plans” for operations in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and was ready for any task. “We have our forces deployed all along the border including Jammu and Kashmir and we have various plans and if required, those plans can be put into action,” he told the news channel. “We will carry out and carry out successfully any task that we are tasked to do.”

CAA protests: Man dead for six years booked by UP Police, 90-year-olds on list of troublemakers

The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district included a deceased man in its list of 200 potential troublemakers who, according to it, could disrupt peace during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Others who were given similar notices by the state police include 90-year-old Sufi Abar Hussain and 93-year-old Fasahat Meer Khan.

Students of Christian schools eat beef abroad since they don’t learn Indian culture: Giriraj Singh

Union minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday stoked controversy by claiming that most students in Christian schools earn a place at Indian Institutes of Technology and become engineers, but “eat beef in foreign countries” because of lack of education in Indian “culture and traditional values”.