Morning Digest: JNU students, staff seek V-C’s ouster; new satellites to help Gaganyaan crew, and more

A select list of stories to read before you start your day

New Delhi, 06/01/2020. JNU Students staging a protest demonstration at the JNU Campus Main Gate, against the brutal attack on students by the masked mob yesterday night in New Delhi on Monday, January 06, 2020. Photo by R V Moorthy / The Hindu

JNU students, staff seek vice-chancellor Jagadesh Kumar’s ouster

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) and the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) on Monday demanded the immediate removal of JNU Vice-Chancellor M. Jagdeesh Kumar following the brutal attack by masked goons on the university campus on Sunday night.

Dilution of Art. 370, CAA needed to clear out accumulated problems: Jaishankar

India should take a lesson from China in “problem-solving”, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said. He defended the actions taken by the government, including dilution of Article 370 and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as necessary to deal with India’s “accumulated” problems.

CAA-NPR-NRC is sinister plan to divide country, says Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday asserted that the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) was a ‘sinister and mischievous plan’ to divide the country and was part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-Bharatiya Janata Party effort to push its agenda of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

New satellites will help Gaganyaan crew

India plans to ring in its own era of space-to-space tracking and communication of its space assets this year by putting up a new satellite series called the Indian Data Relay Satellite System.

State can regulate minority institutions, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday held that the state is well within its rights to introduce a regulatory regime in the “national interest” to provide minority educational institutions with well-qualified teachers in order for them to “achieve excellence in education.”

JNU violence: Masked miscreants used ‘code words’

The Delhi police have said that the masked miscreants used “code words” during the violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday to avoid beating up their own people.

SC bats for children left out of Assam NRC

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that children excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam but whose parents/guardians/caregivers were part of the final list, should not be sent to detention camps or separated from their loved ones at any cost.

Letter on US pullout from Iraq a ‘mistake’

The U.S. military on Monday told the Iraqi government American troops were preparing to pull out of the country but a top U.S. general in Washington said the message was sent by “mistake“.

Data | How many people died during anti-CAA protests?

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) occurred in at least 94 districts across 14 States. Close to 48% of protests recorded at least one violent incident or police action such as detention/lathi charge or both. Deaths of at least 31 people were related to the violence that ensued during the protests.

Harvey Weinstein indicted on new sex crimes charges in LA

Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on new sex crime charges in Los Angeles, just as his trial on separate rape and sexual assault charges in New York was poised to get underway, prosecutors announced Monday.