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Opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress on Thursday criticised the Assam government's decision to make NRC application a pre-condition for obtaining an Aadhaar card, stating the state has turned into a "banana republic" under CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP. In an effort to link the Aadhaar card with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Assam government on Wednesday decided that all applications for the unique identity card will be rejected if the applicant or their family had not applied for the NRC. The decision was taken in view of infiltration attempts by citizens of trouble-hit Bangladesh, Sarma said at a press conference. "The problem of fake beneficiaries is huge in Assam. Government data itself shows how crores of public funds was wasted in the implementation of PM Kisan," deputy leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said in a post on X. Sharing a news link of PTI on the Aadhaar-NRC decision by Assam Cabinet, he said people in the state are paying GST, cess
The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting in view of an infiltration attempt by citizens of trouble-hit Bangladesh, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a press conference here
Such nefarious acts on social media platforms can disrupt communal harmony, possibly inciting unrest or conflict between different communities
The Delhi High Court will hear on November 25 the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid and student activist Sharjeel Imam in a UAPA case related to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the communal riots here in February 2020. The two bail pleas, along with similar pleas by other co-accused in the case --'United Against Hate' founder Khalid Saifi and others -- were on Monday listed for fresh hearing before a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur. The bench, however, did not assemble. The cases were earlier before a bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait but the judge was recently transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court as its chief justice. Khalid, Imam and several others have been booked under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The violence had erupted during the protes
The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the trial court not to pass a final order on framing of charges till September 23 in connection with the case of alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The high court's order came while hearing a plea by riots accused Devangana Kalita seeking direction to the police to provide her certain videos and WhatsApp chats in two cases, including one under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, related to the communal violence during the 2020 protests against the CAA and NRC. The counsel for respondent (State) appears through video conferencing and submitted that he does not have the case file with him and seeks adjournment. The counsel for the petitioner opposes the prayer for adjournment on the grounds that arguments on framing of charges are ongoing and this petition pertains to supply of unrelied/relied documents under section 207 of CrPC. Considering the submissions made, the matter be listed for argumen
All new applicants for Aadhaar cards in Assam need to submit their NRC application receipt number (ARN), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. 'Applications for Aadhaar cards are more than the population...It indicates that there are doubtful citizens and we have decided that new applicants will have to submit their NRC application receipt number (ARN)," the chief minister said at a press conference here. This will "stop the influx of illegal foreigners" and the state government will be 'very strict" in issuing Aadhaar cards, he said. "It will not be easy to get Aadhaar in Assam," Sarma said. Submission of the NRC application receipt number will not be applicable for the 9.55 lakh people whose biometrics were locked during the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, and they will get their cards, he added. Sarma also said his government will "intensify the process of identification of illegal foreigners as several Bangladeshis were apprehended in the last two .
Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said what is happening in Bangladesh can happen in the country though "everything may look normal on the surface". The former Union minister was speaking at the launch of academician Mujibur Rehman's book Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims. "Everything may look normal in Kashmir. Everything may look normal here. We may be celebrating the victory, although of course some people believe that that victory or that success of 2024 was perhaps only marginal, perhaps a lot more needs to be done," he said. "The fact remains that under the surface there is something," he said. "What's happening in Bangladesh can happen here... the spread in our country prevents things blowing up in the manner in which they've blown up in Bangladesh," he said. Addressing the event, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha spoke about the Shaheen Bagh agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens and said it has no
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Bengal will not accept the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Register of Citizens and Uniform Civil Code
The Manipur assembly on Friday passed a resolution urging the central government to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. Speaker Th Satyabrata said, "The House resolves to reaffirm its previous resolution passed on August 5, 2022, and also to urge the Government of India to implement NRC in Manipur in the interest of the state in particular and of the nation in general." In another development, Chief Minister N Biren Singh informed the House that eight FIRs have been filed regarding the February 15 incident in Churachandpur, where a mob vandalised and partially torched the DC and SP office. Responding to a calling attention raised by Congress MLA K Meghachandra, Singh said, "Eight FIRs have been registered, of which two have been handed over to the CBI." He further mentioned that six police personnel and 43 civilians sustained injuries during the incident, and 20 people involved in the violence have been identified. Video recordings suggest the presence o
More than 1.59 lakh people have been declared as 'foreigners' in Assam so far, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday. He said that another 96,000 have been marked as 'Doubtful' (D) voters. Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, said 100 Foreigners' Tribunals (FTs), which deal with the citizenship issue of D-voters in the state, are currently functional in the state. He was responding to a question by opposition AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam in the assembly. The chief minister said that 1,59,353 people have been declared as foreigners by these tribunals till December 31, 2023. The FTs have disposed of 3,37,186 cases till the end of last year and 96,149 cases are pending before various FTs, he added. In reply to another question from Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed, Sarma said as per data, there are 96,987 D-voters in the state as of date. He said a total of 41,275 D-voters are yet to receive FT notice as it is served after following due procedure and it takes time t
In the first session of Parliament after the 2019 elections, Parliament made instant triple talaq illegal and invalidated Article 370 on August 5, 2019
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday cautioned the people of Karnataka against the BJP poll manifesto promising Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) by calling these topics "a pernicious agenda" of the ruling party to divide and polarise the state. BJP's election manifesto for Karnataka released on Monday said: "We will implement the UCC in Karnataka based on the recommendations given by a high-level committee which is to be constituted for the purpose. We will introduce the National Register of Citizens in Karnataka and ensure speedy deportation of all illegal immigrants in the state." Addressing a press conference here, Chidambaram termed the UCC and NRC as the "pernicious agenda that is creeping into the south of India" and said they (BJP) are looking for a gateway in Karnataka". The former Union minister also said he was not worried about anything else in the BJP's manifesto as "those are irrelevant". "I am concerned deeply about the promi
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday asserted that the country should have a National Register of Citizens (NRC) to ensure that government schemes reach the deserving.
The spectators coming to watch IPL matches in four cities including Delhi, Mohali, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, will not be allowed to carry protest banners related to Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), according to a specific advisory. 'Paytm Insider', which is the ticketing partner of Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings, has listed a few 'prohibited items' and one of them is banners related to CAA/NRC Protest. It is understood that the advisory has been issued by the franchises, that manage the ticketing business of their respective home matches. It is usually done in consultation with the BCCI as marquee sporting events do not allow any publicity of any sensitive political or policy issues. The Citizen Amendment Act, 2019, better known as CAA was passed by the Parliament of India on December 12, 2019. The CAA allowed minorities like Sikhs, Parsis, Jain
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The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has flagged the risk of data tampering in the NRC for Assam, due to improper software development related to data capture and correction during the updation process of the citizenship document. A highly secure and reliable software was required to be developed for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) updation exercise, but during the audit, lack of proper planning in this regard came to the fore. The updated final NRC, which validates bonafide Indian citizens of Assam, was released on August 31, 2019, with total 3,11,21,004 names included out of 3,30,27,661 applicants, though it is yet to be notified. The CAG submitted a report for the year ended in 2020, on the last day of the winter session of the Assam Assembly on Saturday, which pointed out that 215 software utilities were added in a haphazard manner to the core software. It was done without following the due process of either software development or selection of vendor through ..
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its report pointed out that due to time over run initially conceptualised National Register of Citizens, the project cost escalated to Rs 1602.66 Crore
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the BJP was "using" Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) with an eye on the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo asserted that she will never allow the implementation of CAA in West Bengal. Banerjee also accused the saffron camp of trying to fan separatism in West Bengal by raking up statehood demands, and iterated she will never allow the division of the state. "Whenever any election approaches, the BJP speaks of implementing CAA and NRC. With upcoming Gujarat assembly polls later this year, and Lok Sabha elections just a year-and-half away, it has again started to flare up the CAA issue. "Will the BJP decide who is a citizen and who is not? Matuas are very much citizens of this country," Banerjee said, while addressing party workers in Krishnanagar. The politically powerful Matua community has its origin in East Bengal or present-day ...
Former NRC State Coordinator of Assam Hitesh Dev Sarma claimed that a large number of illegal foreign citizens' names were included in the last list of NRC which was published on August 31, 2019
Reacting to the Shah's remark that the West Bengal government is not cooperating with the Centre to tackle the infiltration issue, Banerjee said that the Home Ministry should safeguard their borders