The rules of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are likely to be notified before the announcement of the next general election, a senior government official said on January 2. Members of the Pakistani Hindu community who had entered India legally and their documents expired while awaiting citizenship will also be eligible to apply online under CAA, the official added.
The CAA, which was passed by the Parliament in December 2019, is yet to be implemented. It is only after the rules are notified that the Act will come into force.
The Hindu had reported on December 29, 2023 that there is a one-month window for the CAA to be implemented before the next Budget Session, which is expected to start on February 1.
The legislation facilitates citizenship to undocumented people, who entered illegally without visas and passports, belonging to six non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The official added that if the need arises, the 2014 cut-off can be extended by bringing in necessary legal changes. The total number of undocumented people, particularly in West Bengal and Assam, who will get citizenship under CAA has not been specified by the Ministry.
Amid nationwide strike on enhanced punishment in hit-and-run cases, Home Ministry to meet transporters body
The transporters, which include bus and taxi unions, have called a nationwide strike from January 1 to 30 to protest Section 106 of the BNS, which was enacted to replace the Indian Penal Code, that prescribes a maximum ten-year imprisonment in cases of rash and negligent driving.
A top government source clarified that if a driver has accidentally hit someone and informs the police in time, then he or she will face a lesser punishment of five years imprisonment. The duration of sentences in such cases has been increased to 10 years because of observations made by the Supreme Court, another government official said.
Kultaran Singh Atwal of the All India Motor Transport Congress said that it was the drivers who have gone on strike, adding that as transporters, they were obliged to support the protest.
“Whenever an accident takes place, the case is always registered against the driver of the heavy vehicle, even though the driver of the small vehicle is at fault. There are chances of being thrashed and in some instances drivers have been lynched. Drivers are an unorganised lot, they do not have a leadership. Since this impacts them the most, they have gone on a strike,” Atwal told The Hindu.
He added that the impact of the strike was felt all over the country, especially in the northern States of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh, but also in West Bengal, Odisha, and the southern States.
“There are instances when someone who has caused an accident flees the scene for fear of being attacked by a crowd. In such cases, the person can move away from the scene of crime and call the police. If one calls the police, then they will escape harsh punishment,” the government source said.
Planes collide and catch fire at Japan’s busy Haneda airport, killing at least five; hundreds evacuated safely
All 379 people on Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 got out safely before the plane was engulfed in flames, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed. The pilot of the coast guard plane escaped but the five crew members died, Saito said.
Tuesday’s accident was the first time one of the Airbus A350, among the industry’s newest large passenger planes, was severely damaged. It entered commercial service in 2015.
The Japan Airlines A350 had flown from Shin Chitose airport near the city of Sapporo, the Transport Minister said.
Coast guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima said its Bombardier Dash-8 plane, which is based at Haneda, had been due to head to Niigata to deliver relief goods to residents affected by a deadly earthquake in the region on Monday. The turboprop Dash-8 is widely used on short-haul and commuter flights.
The coast guard pilot reported to his base that his aircraft exploded after colliding with the commercial plane, Vice Commander Yoshio Seguchi told reporters.
Shigenori Hiraoka, head of the Transport Ministry Civil Aviation Bureau, said the collision occurred when the JAL plane landed on one of Haneda’s four runways where the coast guard aircraft was preparing to take off. Transport safety officials were analyzing communication between aviation control officials and the two aircraft and planned to interview JAL officials to determine what led to the collision.
Hiraoka praised JAL for “taking appropriate procedures” to safely evacuate all passengers and crew members.
Swede Anton Deibe, 17, a passenger on the Japan Airlines plane, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that “the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes. We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them.
“The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was a hell. We have no idea where we are going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos,” Deibe added.
Another passenger told NHK television that cabin attendants were calm and told everyone to leave their baggage behind, then all lights went off and the temperature inside the cabin started rising. The passenger said she was afraid she might not get off the plane alive.
The transport minister said officials were doing their utmost to prevent any delays in the delivery of relief goods and other operations for the disaster-hit region. Transport officials said the airport’s three other runways had reopened.
Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays.
Haneda is the busier of two major airports serving the Japanese capital, with many international and transcontinental flights. It is particularly favored by business travelers due to its proximity to central parts of the city.
The twin-engine, twin-aisle A350 is used by a number of long-haul international carriers. More than 570 of the aircraft are in operation, according to Airbus.
JAL operates 16 of the A350-900 version aircraft, according to its website. It recently announced details of 13 of the newer A350-1000 variant it plans to bring into service, saying it will become “the airline’s new flagship for international service after nearly 20 years.” The first of those planes arrived a few weeks ago, slated for the Haneda-New York JFK route.
The International Air Transport Association trade group said on the X social media platform that its thoughts were with those aboard the two aircraft, saying that “the last two days have been difficult for Japan.”
Centre’s allocation to Tamil Nadu has risen by more than 2.5 times under BJP rule: PM Modi
The Centre’s financial allocation to Tamil Nadu has gone up by more than 2.5 times in the past 10 years under the BJP rule when compared to the decade prior to 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a function to mark the inauguration of the new terminal of the Tiruchi International Airport on January 2.
Over the past 10 years, huge investments have been made to strengthen the physical and social infrastructure of the country. “India is now among the top 5 economies of the world. Big investments were coming to the country and Tamil Nadu too benefited from this and the State has turned a brand ambassador for Make in India. India will progress along with Tamil Nadu,” Modi affirmed.
The PM inaugurated, laid foundation stones and dedicated to the nation ₹20,140 crore worth of airport, railway, highway, seaport, petroleum and natural gas, atomic energy and higher education projects in Tamil Nadu, including the new terminal of the Tiruchi Airport built at a cost of ₹1,112 crore.
Many of the new projects, Modi said, would boost travel and create thousands of employment opportunities in the State.
Presenting a slew of demands to the PM, Chief Minister M.K.Stalin said they were meant for public welfare and not mere political sloganeering.
Stalin reiterated the demand to declare the recent rains in Chennai and the southern districts as disaster of severe nature and release of funds from the National Disaster Response Fund. He also pleaded for the early release of Centre’s contribution for the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project.
While thanking the Prime Minister for inauguration the new terminal of the Tiruchi airport, Stalin said steps were being taken for acquiring lands for modernisation and expansion of the Tiruchi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Vellore and Thoothukudi airports at a cost of over Rs.3400 crore.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Centre had “democratised” the civil aviation sector in the country and made air travel accessible to all through huge investments.
Modi then arrived at the Lakshadweep islands on January 2 as part of his two-day visit to the archipelago.
He was received by Praful Patel, Administrator of Lakshadweep and other senior officials at the Agatti airport. In his address at a public function in Agatti, Modi said that the Centre is fully committed to the overall development of Lakshadweep in sectors including health, education, tourism, infrastructure and sustainable energy, according to a release.
He said that the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fibre Connection would ensure faster and reliable internet in the islands while promoting digital initiatives like telemedicine, e- governance, e-learning and digital banking. He later proceeded to Bangaram island.
Modi would attend a public function in Kavaratti island on January 3, where he would inaugurate and lay the foundation of various projects worth around ₹1,200 crore, it said.
Hectic political developments in Jharkhand; BJP thinks Chief Minister Soren to resign and anoint his wife
The ED had summoned CM Soren for the seventh time on December 29, asking him to decide date, time and place for questioning in connection with the ongoing money laundering case within seven days.
In the present scenario of political uncertainties in the State, Soren is likely to redo former Bihar CM and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad who had anointed his wife Rabri Devi as the CM in July 1997 following arrest warrant issued against him in corruption cases related with multi-crore fodder scam.
Soren on January 2 is said to have began his day meeting with the State Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan and then going straight to meet his father and patriarch of his party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Shibu Soren.
Later, he called ruling coalition parties legislators meeting on January 3. However, the Opposition BJP said a party delegation would soon meet Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan to “urge him to seek suggestions from legal experts and the attorney general in case the Hemant Soren government proposes to anoint the Chief Minister’s wife as his successor”.
Few days back, three-time MLA Sarfraj Ahmad of JMM from Gandey assembly constituency of Giridih district had resigned from his seat triggering speculations that Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren may contest this Tribal-Muslim dominated constituency to remain the CM of the State.
However, Ahmad refuted all these speculations explaining he has resigned out of some “personal and family reasons”. Meanwhile, the newly appointed Jharkhand in-charge of the Congress Party Ghulam Ahmad Mir reached Ranchi, state capital of Jharkhand and said that his priority of the visit is “to take feedback from party workers and interact with them, following which we will decide on the future course of action”.
The investigating agency, earlier, had served summons to Soren on August 14, 24, September 9, 23, October 4 and December 12but Soren never appeared before the agency citing different reasons and said the summons as “politically motivated”.
Pleas in the Supreme Court challenge new law on appointment process for Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commissioners
The CEC and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, diluted the Supreme Court judgment by replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister, a petition filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur said.
It argued that the exclusion of the CJI had “nullified” the committee.
“The Prime Minister and his nominee (Cabinet Minister) would always be the deciding factor,” Thakur’s petition, filed through advocate Varun Thakur, said.
In another petition, Gopal Singh, whose petition was filed by advocate-on-record Sanjeev Malhotra and drawn by advocate Anjale Patel, asked the court to implement an “independent and transparent system of selection, constituting a neutral and independent selection committee for appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners”.
The plea sought the court to injunct the implementation of the gazette notification of December 28, 2023 rolling out the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Condition of Service and Term of Office) Act.
“The pivotal legal question placed for the court’s consideration in the writ petition revolves around the constitutional inquiry of whether the Parliament or any legislative assembly possesses the authority to promulgate a gazette notification or ordinance to nullify or amend a judgment previously rendered by the Supreme Court, particularly when the judgment emanates from a Constitution Bench,” the petition submitted.
In Brief:
Armies of India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on January 2 kick started the inaugural edition of a two-week military exercise in Rajasthan’s Mahajan area, reflecting the growing defence engagement between the two countries. The exercise ‘Desert Cyclone’ is aimed at enhancing interoperability in sub-conventional operations in desert and semi-desert terrains under the broader framework of U.N. charter on peacekeeping operations, the Indian Army said.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
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